Biggest gaming moments of 2026 so far

2026 has been a strange, busy year for games: one of the biggest horror launches in years, a Pokémon game nobody expected to be this cosy, Nintendo’s new console shrugging off a price rise – and, looming over everything, Grand Theft Auto VI. Here are the moments that defined the year so far, in order. We’ve only included events we could verify against publishers, platform holders or reliable reporting; dates are worldwide unless noted.

January: free-to-play gets two big arrivals

• 2XKO – Riot’s 2v2 fighting game, set in the League of Legends universe, fully launched around 20–21 January (depending on time zone) on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.
• Arknights: Endfield – launched worldwide on 22 January on PC, PS5 and mobile.

Both are free to play – see our best free-to-play games for more.

February: Resident Evil Requiem

Capcom’s new Resident Evil launched on 27 February on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC and – notably – Switch 2 on day one, alongside Switch 2 versions of Resident Evil 7 and Village. According to Circana’s US data, it was 2026’s best-selling game in the US through March.

March: a very busy 5 March, and Death Stranding 2 on PC

• Pokémon Pokopia (5 March, Switch 2) – a life-sim where you play a Ditto turned human, building a paradise with Pokémon. Nintendo later said it performed well in Japan and other regions and helped drive Switch 2 hardware sales.
• Marathon (5 March) – Bungie’s sci-fi extraction shooter went live on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S with cross-play and cross-save.
• Death Stranding 2: On the Beach reached PC on 19 March, after launching on PS5 in June 2025.

May: Switch 2’s record first year – and a price rise

Nintendo reported that Switch 2 sold 19.86 million units in its first fiscal year (to the end of March 2026), beating both its original forecast of 15 million and its revised 19 million. At the same time, it announced price increases: in Japan from 25 May, and in the US, Canada and Europe from 1 September.

June: GTA VI pre-orders open

Pre-orders for Grand Theft Auto VI opened on 25 June, with the standard edition priced at $79.99 in the US. Take-Two’s CEO later called the level of pre-orders “unprecedented and astonishing”. The game is due on 19 November 2026 for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.

Summer: Switch 2 passes the GameCube

By 30 June, Switch 2 had sold 23.68 million units worldwide according to Nintendo – already more than the GameCube’s lifetime total of 21.74 million.

Autumn: horror season arrives early

• Silent Hill: Townfall launched on 24 September on PS5 and PC.
• Clive Barker’s Hellraiser: Revival followed on 8 October on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch 2 and PC.

More in our best horror games for Halloween.

Still to come in 2026

• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 – 23 October, on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC and Switch 2.
• Grand Theft Auto VI – 19 November, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.

For the full picture of what’s next, see our November 2026 release calendar and this week’s what to watch, play and stream.