Hundreds of video games were revealed or detailed this past week, as the industry sticks to its traditional June showcase season inspired by the long-defunct E3 expo. Shows from Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo were flanked by dozens of smaller community or publisher events, and after consuming more than a dozen hours of trailers I’ve seen a few major themes emerge.
Then, there’s the multibillion-dollar elephant in the room. The shifting launch date of Grand Theft Auto 6 has scattered release schedules, as publishers scramble to avoid Rockstar’s juggernaut. With what is likely to be history’s biggest entertainment launch now locked for November 19, companies are either stacking their 2026 games into September and October or delaying them to 2027.
Here are 30 games that caught my eye during this year’s June showcases.
| Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag Resynced | PC, PS5, Xbox | July 9 Ubisoft’s 2013 pirate adventure was the last time an AC game was released, and nobody complained loudly. So now it’s rebuilt from the ground up with new tech, overhauling the combat, stealth and naval traversal systems while replacing the original modern-day office segments. |
| Halo: Campaign Evolved | PC, PS5, Xbox | July 28 This year is the 25th anniversary of the original Halo, so it’s an apt time to reset the series after a mixed reception for the most recent game. Campaign Evolved remakes the iconic 2001 hit with improved graphics, sound and mechanics. This week’s trailer highlighted the inclusion of three wholly new missions. |
| Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy | PC, PS5, Xbox | August 27 The Plague Tale games are celebrated for their cinematic storytelling and grim world, but here developer Asobo appears to be expanding the gameplay to include more combat, exploration, puzzle-solving and challenge. Resonance is set 15 years before the events of the original 2022 game. |
| The Blood of Dawnwalker | PC, PS5, Xbox | September 3 From a new studio composed of veteran Witcher 3 developers, this is a dark fantasy action-RPG set in 14th-century Europe. As a human warrior by day and a supernatural vampire by night, all the player’s choices affect the story, the world, companions’ loyalties and whether they ultimately save their family in time. |
| Marvel’s Wolverine | PS5 | September 15 After three largely kid-friendly open-world Spider-Man adventures, Sony’s Insomniac is pivoting to a more linear story and bloodier, more visceral action with Wolverine. In a world before the X-Men have been established, Logan travels the globe to prevent a force of cybernetically enhanced humans from wiping out mutant-kind. |
| Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave | Switch 2 | September 17 Nintendo’s strategy series, which blends turn-based tactical combat with relationship-building, looks bigger and more beautiful than ever in this new entry centred around gladiatorial games. Players choose one of four distinct protagonists, but will also need to pick up recruits (and keep them alive) along the way. |
| Silent Hill: Townfall | PC, PS5 | September 24 Co-published by Konami and Annapurna, this psychological horror spin-off shifts the franchise into a tense first-person perspective. Set in a fog-drenched 1996 Scottish coastal town, players guide Simon as he uses a handheld TV radio to detect enemies and piece together a fractured, haunting past. |
| Control Resonant | PC, PS5, Xbox | September 24 Remedy continues to expand its scary, surreal universe in a game that pivots away from the brutalist indoor locations of 2019’s Control. In a warped, open-ended outdoor Manhattan, players defy gravity and wield a shape-shifting melee weapon to contain a terrifying new extradimensional crisis. |
| Gears of War: E-Day | PC, Xbox | October 6 Serving as a prequel to the legendary franchise, this cover shooter from Microsoft’s The Coalition takes place 14 years before the 2006 original game to experience the horror of a human city invaded from below. |
