The 2026 Video Game Calendar: From GTA 6 to Resident Evil, What's Coming This Year

On a Tuesday in early February, Rockstar Games' parent company Take-Two Interactive held yet another quarterly earnings call. The headline, as it has been for years now, was Grand Theft Auto 6. CEO Strauss Zelnick reaffirmed the game's release date of November 19, 2026, and confirmed that Rockstar will begin its official marketing campaign this summer. The call also included forward-looking financials predicting record bookings in the fiscal year following launch. Translation: this game is going to print money.

But GTA 6, while undoubtedly the year's biggest title, is far from the only reason to pay attention to 2026. The year marks the first full calendar for Nintendo's Switch 2, and we'll see plenty of sequels to popular franchises alongside a number of brand-new games across console and mobile. If 2025 belonged to indies and mid-budget surprises, 2026's calendar is filled with triple-A games, suggesting a resurgence for big-budget titles coming from well-known studios.

The GTA 6 Situation

GTA 6 was originally expected to arrive in late 2025, but Rockstar pushed the date back twice: first to May 26, 2026, then later to the current November 19, 2026 slot. Each delay was attributed to polish. The studio has said little else. That's typical for Rockstar, which operates under a cloak of secrecy that would make most intelligence agencies envious.

The game returns to Vice City with an expanded map including the surrounding state of Leonida. It introduces two protagonists named Jason and Lucia, marking the first dual-protagonist system in the mainline series. The map is set to be the largest in the history of the Grand Theft Auto franchise.

Here's the catch for PC players: Rockstar's console-exclusive launch window creates a hardware dilemma. With no scheduled PC release date and historical patterns showing 12 to 18 month delays for PC ports, millions of PC-only players face upgrading to consoles or waiting until 2027 for a potential PC version.

The pricing appears settled. Former Rockstar North technical director Obbe Vermeij addressed $100 price rumors, stating that figure doesn't align with the company's business model. Multiple sources indicate the standard $70 price point remains likely for the console release.

Early 2026: Survival Horror Returns

Nioh 3 was announced last year during Sony's State of Play, and it's the first of the series with a simultaneous console and PC release. Team Ninja's third Soulslike set in feudal Japan launches February 6. A demo is available now, and early reports say it runs well.

Later that month, Capcom takes us back to Raccoon City with Resident Evil Requiem on February 27, introducing new lead Grace Ashcroft. Leon Kennedy returns as well. The ninth installment in the iconic survival horror series was honored with numerous awards at gamescom 2025. The latest main installment takes you back to Raccoon City in either third or first-person perspective.

"Resident Evil Requiem looks to capture everything that's special about the action of Resident Evil 4 as well as the classic survival horror and modern horror of the wider series." (ESPN)

Since Resident Evil VII revived the series, every new release or remake has been a big event. Requiem has two campaigns, which hasn't happened in a main Resident Evil game since Resident Evil 6. The first campaign stars Grace Ashcroft and is more horror-focused, while the second stars Leon and is more action-focused, like Resident Evil 4.

The Switch 2 Library Grows

Nintendo confirmed that the Switch 2 has now sold 17.37 million units since launch in June 2025. The company has a lineup designed to keep that momentum going.

Nintendo is gearing up for its next Switch 2 release of the year in Mario Tennis Fever, which will serve up multiplayer fun and an adventure mode on February 12, 2026. The game features 30 different Fever Rackets, each with their own special abilities, and 38 playable characters, the most in series history.

Other Switch 2 highlights include Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave, a brand new entry in the Fire Emblem series, and The Duskbloods, a brand new multiplayer title from FromSoftware available exclusively for Nintendo Switch 2. Pokémon Pokopia lets players control a Ditto to shape an empty land into a home for various Pokémon, collecting supplies, building furniture, and growing vegetables.

Big Swings from Sony and Beyond

Saros, from Returnal developer Housemarque, brings new energy to the bullet-hell genre with gameplay that encourages and rewards aggression. The release date was moved from March 20 to April 30, 2026.

Marvel's Wolverine was announced more than four years ago. During September 2025's State of Play, we got our first look at in-game footage. The game will be voiced and mo-capped by actor Liam McIntyre, and will feature characters like Mystique and Omega Red as well as locations like Canada and Japan. The release window is Fall 2026, which could put Marvel's favorite mutant right in the blast radius of GTA 6. That window ranges from September through December.

007 First Light, developed by IO Interactive, is an origin story portraying a 26-year-old Bond fresh out of his assignment as an Aircrewman in the Royal Navy. The character is voiced by Irish actor Patrick Gibson. It's the first James Bond game in 14 years, and has an original story with a new take on 007, featuring wit, action, cool cars, and memorable villains.

The Open World Competition

Crimson Desert, the spiritual successor to Black Desert Online, will be released in March 2026 after numerous postponements. The game promises a gigantic and graphically impressive open-world role-playing game with a Nordic-inspired fantasy setting. It combines elements from games like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Dragon's Dogma 2, and GTA with course gameplay from Assassin's Creed Shadows.

Forza Horizon 6 doesn't have a firm date, but we know the next installment will take us to Japan and reflect the country's entire car culture. Microsoft has also announced Fable and Halo: Campaign Evolved as multiplatform day-one releases.

What to Watch

The calendar looks stacked now, but release schedules are living documents. Dozens of games delayed themselves out of the later half of 2025 to make way for GTA 6, and then Rockstar delayed into 2026 as well. More shuffling is possible, maybe likely.

Take-Two and Rockstar executives have publicly dismissed claims that GTA 6's physical copies will be postponed. With marketing set to begin this summer, fans should expect new trailers, possibly including a gameplay breakdown. That's when things get real.

For now, the first quarter belongs to Capcom and Team Ninja. The middle of the year will test how many games can coexist with GTA 6's gravitational pull. And November? That's when we find out if a decade of anticipation was worth the wait.