Video Gamers Podcast - The BIGGEST Games Still Coming in 2026! – Gaming Podcast

Episode Date: July 13, 2026

Gaming hosts Josh, Ryan, and Ace are counting down the biggest remaining video games still set to launch in 2026. Which titles have the best chance to live up to the hype, and which ones are flying under the radar? We’re breaking down the releases we’re most excited to play, the surprises we think could steal the spotlight, and the biggest reasons these games have us talking. Set down your video games and listen up for another fun gaming discussion packed with bold predictions, great debates, and plenty of laughs. Don’t miss this must-listen gaming episode from the Video Gamers Podcast   Thanks to our MYTHIC Supporters: Redletter, Disratory, Ol’ Jake, Gaius, Jigglepuf, Phelps and NorwegianGreaser, Dettmarp and NightWizard63   Thanks to our Legendary Supporters: HypnoticPyro, PeopleWonder, Bobby S.   Connect with the show: Support us on Patreon: ⁠patreon.com/videogamerspod⁠ Join our Gaming Community: https://discord.gg/h2cHKAvSmu Follow us on Instagram:⁠ https://www.instagram.com/videogamerspod/⁠  Follow us on X:⁠ https://twitter.com/VideoGamersPod⁠  Subscribe to us on YouTube:⁠ ⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@VideoGamersPod?sub_confirmation=1⁠    Visit us on the web:⁠https://videogamerspod.com/⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

and welcome to the video gamers podcast. Somehow we are halfway through 2026 already. Some incredible games have come and gone, and we've got a lot more to look forward to in the back half of this year. But how has 2026 stacked up when it comes to gaming? Has there been one absolute standout game, or has it been more of a gaming buffet? Lots of choice, but little to get excited about.

Well, on this episode, we're breaking down the, year in gaming so far and what's left to come. Before we get to that, some introductions are in order. I am your host, Josh, and joining me, despite all the games this year, the only one that he actively tried to get me an ace to play was Fortnite. It's Ryan. Guys, the sprites are kind of cool now. I'm not going to lie. Ryan can't even deny it. He was like I can't deny the fact that this is the one game where I reached out and said, hey, Josh, hey, Ace, do you guys want to play this game with me? And we were like, what game?

And he's like, it's Fortnite. Listen, I have a nine-year-old son and he plays. We end up playing a lot of Fortnite together. So yeah, you guys want to play Fortnite? Ryan's like, I got, I got nothing. I got nothing, man. I got nothing. And joining us, the indie scene this year has had some strong.

entries, but what's 2026 looking like as a whole for the indie scene? Has it been trumped by AAA releases or is there hope of a 2025 repeat this year? Well, if anyone knows, it's him. It's Ace. I don't think it's any secret. The right now there's like nothing really for the AAA scene that stood out enough to make a splash. But you know, we'll get to it. We'll talk about it some. All right. Well, you know, that's what we're here. for people, we are going to be breaking down the games that have released this year. We actually each have our top five games of the year so far. And then we put, we did a lot of work to make sure that we are covering everything that is set to release for the back half of this year as well.

So we have a lot to talk about fellas, whether it is games that have released, what are, you know, claims are for game of the year at this point. And then what do we have to look forward? to we got to just dive in guys. Yeah. There is a lot, man. A whole lot to talk about. I want to just start off. Now, Ryan, you just, you just re-released our draft, our game of the year draft.

But for anybody that might have missed that, every year, we start off the year by drafting the games that we think are going to be game of the year contenders. Okay. And so here's a quick breakdown. This happened, I mean, I don't know, January. first week of January, I think is when we did this episode. So here were the games, just a glimpse back in time as we were approaching 2026 where we were at what our thinking was.

So, Ryan, your list of games that you drafted for Game of the Year contenders were Judas not going to happen. Wolverine, looking pretty good. We'll find out soon enough. GTA 6, a very, very strong contender for Game of the Year if all the rumors are to be believed ill, which looks incredible, but not going to happen this year. Path of Exile 2. You're still a jerk for stealing that one for me.

If it releases fully this year, there's a chance because that game's fantastic, but I don't think it's going to make it. Fable, not going to happen this year. Gears of War, E-Day. Maybe. It is releasing this year. Is it going to be Game of the Year material? We'll find out.

Atomic Heart 2. We haven't heard a darn thing on that one, so I'm assuming. not. All right. My list, Witchfire, looking better and better every single day, a phenomenal game. I just don't know if it will fully release in 2026. If it does, which fire is a strong contender because that game is fantastic. Phantom Blade Zero, this is my last hope for anything that's going to approach the game of the year award. So please be good, Phantom Blade Zero, like really, really good because the rest of this list ain't I don't know I got another game on here

Toxic Commando a lot of fun but not going to win game in the year Replaced Yeah replaced just wasn't the game I was hoping it was going to be it's not a bad game just wasn't the game of the year type contender I thought it was going to be squadron 42 I don't think that's coming out this year so that one unfortunately I think is just a ghost for 2026 My other strong contender, 007 first light

really good game. We did a deep dive on that. If you want our thoughts on that, go check that one out. This one really hurts because I was really excited for this this year. Lords of the Fallen 2 recently got delayed to 2027. I think that only happened in the last week. It was looking real good. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And then they said, nope, we're going to polish that. Saros came out. A lot of people like Saros, but there's just not enough buzz for that to be considered a game of the year. So wamp, wamp, for Josh. And then A's with quite possibly the strongest list that doesn't include GTA 6. Resident Evil Requiem, very strong contender so far.

I put a lot of tides of annihilation. If it comes out in 2026, I think has a strong chance of being incredible. And we still don't know. There's not been a confirmation either way. So reanimal, fantastic game. Fire Emblem Fortune's Weave, we just covered. on the Nintendo direct episode looking pretty good, not going to win game of the year or anything like that.

Thick as Thieves. I got catfish. Pretty moderate reception. Not going to win game of the year. Clockwork Revolution. You did kind of get catfished with thickest thieves. I got catfished on thickest thieves. I absolutely got catfished on thickest thieves.

Not the game that Ace drafted when they pivoted away from PVP on that. Clockwork Revolution is one of the most impressive games. we have seen in a while but not coming out in 2026. Womp, Ace. Crimson Desert, one of the most hyped releases of the year. Don't think it's going to get nominated for Game of the Year,

but I don't know. It should. It should. That one's a, that one's a tough one to call. It should. And then Control Resonate, which will be releasing this year.

High hopes. High hopes for control. The studio's pedigree. Yeah. All right. So here's, that's what we drafted, guys. That was our standings at the very beginning of the year. Now, Ace, I'm going to let you run down some of the games because what we did when we did this draft was had games that were announced.

But a lot of these, we only had 2026 and we didn't have release dates. And so now we have release dates for a lot of these games. And then a couple that got moved to 2027. So Ace, why don't you break down the announced list? And now that we know when these games are fully releasing, that'll be a good update for what's to come or has already happened in 2026 for us. Okay. Well, what we knew was announced is enshrouded, you know, spring 20206. Now, what is it?

October 15th is when that'll be out now. Confirmed release. Confirmed release. A full 1.0 for October 15th for Enchrouted. Marathon. This was one we were not sure of, it did release in March 26, March 5th, actually, which we, you know poor marathon poor poor yeah we didn't know much about marathon

going into the year yeah nobody drafted it because we didn't know what the heck the game was even going to be really weren't sure where to go with that one uh wolverine fall 2026 september 15th this is going to be one of the big ones for ryan i think aside from gta six uh wolverine actually looks yeah wolverine looks really good

slay the spire two entered early access this year march 5th Slay the Spire 2 kicked some major butt. Super Meat Boy 3D, really March 31st. That did pretty well. I didn't hear a whole lot about it. Mix tape. This May was a massive release.

Obviously, there was some controversy around next tape. Dude, mixed tape. All we knew was 2026 and we do nothing else other than the couple trailers that we saw with it. You know what I mean? And then I know it's going to seem weird in hindsight, but we just knew 2026. That was it. And then we got, hey, it's coming out May 7th.

You know, and then it came out. Again, we did a deep dive on that. If you want to know our thoughts on that one, you can check that deep dive out as well. Yeah. And then thickest thieves, the game that catfished you? Biggest thieves.

The game I thought was going to be this amazing multiplayer PVP, PVEE experience where you get to do heist with your friends. ended up being a multiplayer PVEE experience where you do heist with your friends and that launched this year in May, you know, May 20th. Blood of Dawn Walker, none of us drafted Blood of Dawn Walker. Why is that?

No. Why is there so much concern about Blood of Dawn Walker? I don't know, man. Because I think the pedigree of this game, this is from XCD Project Red Devs that worked on the Witcher. You know, they've got the pedigree. the game, we've seen multiple trailers in gameplay at this point. This game looks good.

Yeah. I think it's, I think this is one of those like, it looks really good, but this is a wait and see. But none, we knew this game was releasing in 2026. We didn't know when. Yeah, but now we, we do have a confirmed release date of September 3rd, but we knew this was coming this year and nobody went for the safe pick there. Was it a safe pick though?

Uh, I mean, if you knew it's coming this year and you think it would have any kind of pedigree with its devs, but apparently none of us had quite enough faith in it to pick it. Right. Control Resonant. We knew that's coming this year, but we did get the final, you know, release date September 24th for that. I'm pretty confident in this one.

I'm pretty confident in Control Resonant. That's because you drafted it. That's why you're pretty confident. Yeah, that's like, yeah. Maybe that's exactly what. Maybe that's exactly why I'm pretty confident. Every game I drafted, it's going to be amazing, guys.

Oh, which fire. We knew that was coming out this year, but we haven't heard anything yet. But late 2026, you think? You think it's going to make it? I think they're pushing for 2026, to be honest. And Years War I De, we knew that was coming this year. But we got the confirmed release date for October 6 for that. Could be big.

Could be a small splash and a big ocean at that point for how late it's releasing. I don't know. Personally, since I don't have any experience with the franchise, not that much high for me. I think EDA is going to be great. I think it's going to be great. I think it'll have its day. I think Xbox is, they have a lot writing on this game. I think it's going to be big.

Yeah, this is going to be a big one. For the 360 with the original Gears War, like, what it meant to that system, like, was a lot. And I think equally so, like trying to put Xbox on a good platform, bringing this back and doing it the right way. I think they have, like you said, Josh, a lot riding on this one. Yeah. This one, did anyone else think this one was canceled?

Like, just because you had to earn? Yes, I did actually. Yeah, Marvel Rise of Hydra, which is supposed to be coming this year, but it will be coming sometime next year instead in 2027. I totally thought it was canceled. Didn't think we were going to get it at all, but you know, here we are.

Oh, God. Hellrace to Revival. A game I am infamous for posting the trailer of without watching the contents of said trailer. Yeah, that's a Not safe for work. It's a little not safe. For work.

Yeah, it's a little not safe for work. This game's not safe for work. Yeah, the whole game is not safe for work. But we knew that was coming this year. It'll be out on October 8th. I'm actually kind of excited for this one. I think it'll be a great single player horror experience. And to those of us who enjoy the Hellraiser horror franchise,

it's something where we'd want is a game like this. Squadron 42, the mythical game that we've heard absolutely nothing about all year long. Yeah. We were supposed to. a shot on that one. Yeah, you really took a shot on that one. Supposed to be 2026. Probably going to be 2027.

Then it'll be maybe 2028. Definitely 2029. 2030. And then guys, don't worry. It will be 2030. Absolutely. Lock it in. You know.

Oh, yeah. They're just going to keep moving that back. Or maybe they'll just drop it in early access and never drop it for real. You guys are just hating on all the celebrity cameos that are in that game. Like, it's going to be so good. There's a lot, dude. There's a lot. Gary, old.

Henry Cavill. There's like, yeah. Oh, Valor Mortis, which we knew was coming this year, but I think it looks better and better every time we see it, honestly. Valor Mortis has come a long way. It's now like one of those games where you're going like, I think this game looks awesome, man. Yeah, we got a confirmed release date of October 13th for that, finally.

That game looks sick. I'm actually very excited to get my hands on that. Kingmakers. I'm supposed to be this year. And definitely. We have no idea when we're getting Kingmakers. No clue. it all. Bro. What happened

to Kingmakers, man? One day. One day. One day. I don't know what happened to this game. Like, like, legitimate. I mean, it's still being made, we think, but it was one of those, like, I think they started getting a ton of traction. Like, what happened? Yeah. You think they backpedaled the hair to like make sure everything was really, really good with the attention they got? No, well, that was the thing, if you remember, so if you remember, it was supposed to release in 2026, and then they said, we're kind of in over our heads on this.

Yeah. We refuse to sacrifice our vision for this game because every building's destructible. Like everything in this game has purpose. Every wall you're able to like to destroy and things like that. And so I think they said, look, we're going to make the game that we wanted to make. It's just going to take us a lot longer than we thought. I hope that's the case for Kingmakers because this game looks like dumb fun.

But at this point, they didn't even say 2027, dude. They just said the game's delayed indefinitely. Yeah. And then, home me breach the king. Castle on a dirt bike with a machine gun? Like, come on. Like, it's not that much to ask. That's all I want to do.

That's all I'm asking. It's too hard, Ryan. It's too hard. And then Fire Emlum Fortunes Weave, we knew it was coming this year, but we did get the confirmed release state of September 17th. I think that is, was my sleeper pick of the draft, quite frankly. Yeah. Uh, maybe.

No, but I mean, I know. We'll see. It'll review well. It'll give me points for good review. I'm sure. I'm sure. All right. Hases sleeper picks off.

crack me up because it'll sell like a million copies. He's like, that was such a solid. That was such a solid pick. For the cost. I mean, look how much I paid for it. I paid 10 bucks for that. That's it. He did.

That was his pick where you and I were just like, we don't even know what this game is. We're going to just let you have it, Ace. And he was like, okay. All right. So then we had some really big titles that were going to be rumored for 2026. This is the Womp Wompwomp kind of part of it. Um, because yeah, this is the, they're still in development, but we're probably not getting them in

2026. Lords of the Fallen 2. That one hurts. Yeah. That hurts me specifically because I drafted it. Uh, also the game just looks awesome. This is the one that we still have the chance. We mentioned it already, Tides of Annihilation.

Yeah. If you have not seen a trailer for Tides of Annihilation, you need to watch the trailer because this game is one of the most impressive looking games that I think I've seen in a very long time, uh, between the combat and the style. I don't know. You know, the tides of annihilation looks freaking fantastic. Judas, not happening. What's weird is I saw something that said that Judas isn't even set for 2027 now.

So I don't know what's going on with Judas. What? Really? I don't know if that's true or not. I don't know if that's true, but I did see something that said we don't even know at this point what's going on with Judas. What we do know is Clockwork Revolution looks amazing, dude. amazing. The more we see on this game, and it is confirmed for 2027. We're just not getting it this year. And then a couple others that we've mentioned before that you may want just a quick reminder on, and that's why we're mentioning it. Greed fall two, no release date, blood message, which is a phenomenal looking game. No release date for. on toast

which I remember being excited about but I'll be honest I don't remember what the heck on toast is. I'm not the only one thank God. Yeah, okay. So I'm like,

what the heck is this on toast game, man? I remember the name but I'm like, I don't know what this is. I don't even know what an ontose is. Yeah. Fable.

Fable looks incredible but we're not getting it this year. We're getting it early next year, February 27th, 2027. Atomic Heart 2. It was targeted for this year. Maybe they haven't said no, but yeah, it's just been really quiet.

Ill, we know we are not getting this year. Spooky. Chrono Odyssey, I looked up something on Chrono Odyssey a little while back, and I think they're getting closer to like the U.S. release on this or whatever, but it's still not happening this year that I know of. Yeah. And then Path of Exile, too, which I have been absolutely cracking out on for the last hundred hours or so. maybe we're getting the full release but I'll be honest the early access for Path of Exile 2 is

such a full-fledged game at this point you're you should just pick it up if you're interested in it so you made Ace and I wait for you so you could play with Matt while we were like waiting for over one you wouldn't play it anyway Mr. Diablo I don't realize there's a better game than Diablo out there refused to play because I don't want my illusions shattered for your Diablo

Fandom. Yeah, yeah, I said it, Ryan, because Path of Exile 2 is infinitely better than Diablo. So, all right, listen, you are caught up now, but we got a lot more to talk about because there's games that we didn't even know were announced at the beginning of the year and we still have to talk about the most anticipated games for the back half of 2026. This was all to just get you caught up on what was rumored, what was delayed, what we drafted and why, and now we're going to move into the what you have to look forward to. And there is a lot, and we're going to talk about it right after this break. Right now, for a limited time, everyone's part of the Buick team, even you.

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That's how it's done. The Hawk, only on Netflix, July 16th. All right, we're back, guys. Now we are to the exciting part, where we get to talk about what is left to come in 2026. But before we do that, we're going to pause. We're going to take a little time out because I want to talk about the games that released and I want to know what your top five games are so far for 2026.

Okay. So top five games, your personal opinion. Ryan, I'm going to throw it to you first. All right. With the games that have released, what are your personal top five for this year so far? Okay. So there's obviously some games coming near the end of the year that will dethrone a bunch of these. but so far within this year,

I have a decent list, in my opinion. 007 First Light was a really cool just throwback to like a good Bond game, a good shooter, a good action game, something that had a good cinematics, good story, kind of made you dive into it and get sucked into that world. That's one of them.

Resident Evil 9, I absolutely love that. I hadn't played an R.E. game in a very long time. And I at least like fully, like all the way through like I did with this one. And this one, it kind of brought me back to where I'm going to be looking out for the next Resident Evil game. After that, I had Karen, awesome indie game, something that if you have not played it, If you like cozy games or adventure games or anything just like with a beautiful world setting or something that's a little bit challenging, Karen will set the stage for you and it'll do well. Pragmata was another one that I really enjoyed.

I know it wasn't your cup of tea, Josh. But for me, I genuinely enjoyed my gameplay and my playthrough with that one. I love the ability to have to do little puzzles to have to have. the other characters and to work my way through those levels that way. And I think it was beautiful graphics, beautiful world building. I love the stage that they set. And then probably the biggest one is Crimson Desert. It's, there's a lot more there than people realize.

And I think it's kind of like almost the diamond in the rough where you really got to get through all the exterior to get to the nuts and bolts in the... core, the what this game has. Like the stuff you see is awesome online and what you can do. And I mean, there's a dude that's got like an army of cats. He's, he's like trained and he's running around. And there's just so much more. And I haven't even, we play so many dang games because of this podcast.

But like, I haven't even got to get into like the real depths of this game. And I already know that there's so much more than people really see. So yeah, that's a big one for me this year. That's probably my top, top tier for that, but that's my five. All right. Ace. All right. What are you looking at for your top five, buddy?

I think for my top five, I'm going to have to start it off with Karen. Karen was absolutely like the game that kind of set my standard for games for the rest of this year, just because I was blown away by the quality of it, by the storytelling, by the characters, by just what it is and what it does with its emotional core and how it affects things. absolute banger of a game to start the year with. And then, of course, Reson Evil Requiem. I love Reson Evil. Huge Resonable fan.

Requiem just exceeded my expectations for what I wanted from this game. Seeing Leon come back into the limelight as a character again, you know, meeting grace and just getting into this quite convoluted plot like most Resident Evil games. But it was really good and I really enjoyed it. A.007 First Light actually makes it into my top five for sure. I enjoyed the story. I enjoyed the combat. I enjoyed just the overall feel of the game and the vibe.

And I said like on there, I was like, I've never wanted to go to Vietnam before until I saw that resort on the Vietnam beaches. I was like, man, that's pretty. I want to do that. That looks good.

My number four game is actually Mouse P.I. for hire. It's just a really, really good boomer shooter with an awesome aesthetic to it. Like this like cartoony rubber hose aesthetic with the P.I. It's cheesy jokes and things like that. It's just a good time, man. It was just a great game and a good time.

And then to round it off is mixtape, I think even though mixtape didn't have a lot of gameplay elements or a lot of, you know, game things going for it, it's just a really good story and a really good just feeling. You just have a good feeling when you play mixtape. That's interesting to see that Ace not growing up in that era that he still had mixtape on there. Like, that's cool.

That's cool to see. Yeah, mixtape still hits. I was a little bit outside of that era. like I was born in 88, so like I was like, you know, when I was in 98, I was 10, you know, and so Josh was in that world more. But I, I would skate to places. I would listen to music and we had, we had CDs instead of, uh, not VHS, but like tape cassettes and stuff, but it hit for me, probably more so for Josh, but then like for it to

like resonate with you and just to see that world, that's, that's cool to see. So I'm glad that that was close on my list for big time. It was close. I think like games with an emotional poor. Like just that's something you can connect with regardless of where you're from and what you're doing. It's funny how we have similar games on our list, but we all vary just a little bit. So my top five, I do have mixtape on my top five. That game was awesome.

I mean, especially for me, that's, you know, I know what's said in the 90s. I grew up in the 80s, but it's like that it was very, very similar. Resident Evil Requiem is probably one of the front runners for game of the year at this point. I'd say so. I think 007 was great. It was a ton of fun to play. I don't know if it's going to get nominated because it was a little, it didn't, it was a great game, but it really didn't push the envelope in any kind of way. You know what I mean?

Like it was just a really well done game all around, but I don't know if it was unique enough that it's going to impress enough people, even though it was a rock solid video game. One that neither one of you had that I really enjoyed was reanimal. I had a blast playing reanimal day. It was close. It was on my list. Yeah, it was close. I'll tell you where I think the difference is, is both of you played Cairn, and I did not play Cair. And so I think Reanimal is kind of like my replacement for Cairn on the list.

That makes sense. And then this one is going to come out of left field, and I know there's going to be a lot of people that are going to go like, Josh, what? But I'm putting Marathon on this list. No, you would. You would. You love the marathon so much. I put in over a hundred hours into. Marathon, dude. And I had a blast playing Marathon. Now, is it a Josh type of game? Absolutely. Did I get to play with buddies? Absolutely. Does that improve the experience? Absolutely. You know what I mean? Like, we have people in our community that played Marathon solo and they were like, bro, this game ain't it. But if you had what I had and you had a consistent group of friends to play with and this is your kind of game, Marathon was a top notch game. Now, it's not doing so well. But again, this was our personal top five for games.

that released so far. So I had to throw Marathon on there because I had an absolute blast playing it. And at number one for all of us, Overwatch. Yeah. I mean, still, that's every year, A, so. By the way,

Marathon only has 6,000 people in it right now. Yeah, it's like dropping. Every, like, two weeks it drops. Like, I think it's losing a thousand players. That's bad for them. Yeah, I think it's losing like a thousand players a week, basically. I bet you Destiny 2 has. five times or 10 times more. Oh, I'm sure. I'm sure they do. So all right. Well,

Ryan looks up numbers because that's what he loves doing. We are going to talk about the games that are yet to be released this year that you should probably have your eyes on. Before we get to that, a couple big announcements that we covered through some of these. You know, God of War Lafay is coming in 2027. We think we didn't get a release day for that, but that was one of the larger kind of game reveals that we got. got in some of these showcases. We talked about Clockwork Revolution. That game looks incredible. We talked about Fable. That game looks incredible. Like there are so many insane looking games coming up in 2027 that I think 2027 is shaping up to be an absolutely quite possibly banner year

for gaming when we get there. But all right, guys, for 2026, I'm not just, I'm not just just because we've been kind of each talking, but I want to kind of go round Robin on this one. Like, Ryan, name a game yet to come in 2026 that you were excited about. Gosh. Well, the obvious answer is GTA. Like, that's, I mean, that's the one that we've all been waiting for, for, was, 13 years. Like, easily the biggest release of the year. Like, hands down, you can't argue it.

Like, biggest release of 2026 by far. And it hasn't even released. I would challenge to say the biggest release of all time. Of all time? Of all time. What release of a video game has more pressure on it and more people surrounding it than GTA 6? Probably GTA 5. I mean, I don't even think that that was that big of a deal.

I mean, it was big. Could you argue God of War? Could you like the God of War remakes where it was like, hey, this is the redoing of a beloved. series. No, not even close. I think you're right. Like, honestly, I don't know. Like, we talked about this, right? We said, hey, what's a game that would outshine

GTA6 or Red Dead 3, right, if it came out? And the only game we could come up with was Half Life 3. Yeah, Half Life 3. Which we're not going to get ever. Which we're not going to get ever. So, yeah, I mean, I think you're right. I'm not sure that there is a more anticipated game release or something that people have been looking forward.

to, can it live up to that expectation is the question. It won't. It won't. It won't. It will not live up to that expectation. No, it can't live up to expectation. But that doesn't take away, it doesn't take away from what this game will be. Because if it's even close to as well as, are as well developed or designed as the other GTAs have been, I know it's a new crew.

It's going to be awesome. It's got new tech, new, you know. New world building. Like, all the stuff is, is going to be different. But if it's even close to that, it's going to be an all-timer. And it's just how much, like, further it's going to go with, with that world. So we'll see. I have high hopes.

And I hope I'm not wrong. Yeah. I think, I mean, everybody has high hopes. Yeah. And I do agree that you can get to a certain point where the hype is almost untenable. Like, you know, you can't. Yeah. It's not going to live up to it.

No way. Yeah. My big thing is just show me the next evolution of games. And that's what Rockstar is always done. And that's what they, I really, really hope they continue to do. If they do that, I'm happy, dude. Like legitimately, everything else aside, like, just show me the next generation of gaming. You know, ready player one?

Like, ready player one, like this, I feel is the first iteration of, like, the oasis. The quote unquote, I have a feeling this is going to be a legitimate, um, multi-market space that is going to be, real world consumables and money and all these things are going to be based on this game. And I think it's going to really go to a next level. So I mean, we'll see. Yeah. All right. Ace, what's the game still to release in 2026 that you are super excited for? Castlevania is Belmont's curse. I think I'm absolutely like for that. I know one of us is going to bring this up. Yeah, I'm absolutely high for that. I love a good Metroidvania. And this is the granddaddy of the Metroidvania. So let's see what Pat, Pat, Pat, Pat's got.

Yeah. We'll see if they can keep up with the big dogs. Belmont, let's get the whip. Yeah. Kill those demons. Yeah. Shocker that A's picked a Betroydvania to get excited. I was going to say the other one I'm really excited for is Mariahe Legends, but that's

not out yet. So I only know it's coming this year. I don't know the release date yet. Dude, Belmont's curse. We've talked this game up before. But if you were not excited for this, you need to be excited for this. This looks like quite possibly one of the best maturedvanias like I've seen. if what the trailers and gameplay lead us to believe the art style, the action, the being true to the

Castlevania series, like everything about Belmont's curse is just screaming that this game is going to be amazing. And so that one comes out October 15th, people. So that's another October game to be excited about. I will jump in here with, I mean, guys, come on. I feel like y'all save this one for me. you guys save this one for me but this is my most anticipated

game of the year next to GTA6 and that is Star Wars Galactic Racer now this is Pirac Racing Guys we didn't know that this game existed in January No this is why I love

This is why I love it dude Because this is one of those games That came out of nowhere Is releasing this year And is easily At the like the top of my hype meter we just got done like a couple weeks ago seeing a lot more of the previews for this game where they really got to showcase like the open world, the rogue like nature of this game,

like the racing, the little hub area and stuff like that. Everything about Galactic Racer is just hitting all the right buttons for me. 12 player online, you know, racing with your buddies and stuff like that. I mean, I could not be more excited for a game. A Galactic Racer is up there for me. October 6th is the release date on this one. We are already planning community nights. Ryan and Greg are planning like a tournament-style bracket for this, like a league.

I mean, I just want to have fun racing people and sending them into the wall, man. I love it. I love it. All right. Ace, I'm going to bounce back to you just to mix it up. What's another game in 2026 that people should be excited? for. It's already out. So I guess when this comes out, this will already have been out. But

Black Flag Remank, baby. Black Flag Resynx is already out. But I'm probably enjoying the heck out of it right now as you're listening to this. Yeah. We all are because we're going to be doing the deep dive on this one. Yeah, we're all going to be played it. But yeah. Yeah. I'm excited

to dive into this, dude. Like, honestly, I'm really excited to dive into this. I loved the Assassin Creed franchise for a very long time. And then I hated the franchise for ever since. And so Black Flag is the game that is like this was the the heyday, the love letter, you know, before the whole thing fell apart. The last good one. Yeah. Like honestly. So, and yeah, it's out. So I guess we'll have a little bit better idea what that's going to play like.

And Ryan, what's another one? I was going to say, don't sleep on hell let loose Vietnam. It got pushback. It got pushed back. Yeah. It got pushed back. but it'll be coming out soon enough. And I genuinely think if you love, if you love war games, if you love maybe a little bit more of a war sim, something that's a little more realistic, something that makes your palm sweaty

when you're crawling through a bush and you could just die with one shot because you get a shot with a bullet. Like, that's this game. Head let loose was awesome, the first one that I played. So this one is another that I genuinely, like, would love to go to Vietnam and play this, you know, explore this world and see what they have to offer.

Okay, so we want to go to Vietnam for different reasons. Yeah. Ace wants the Vietnam from 007. Ryan wants the Vietnam. You want to completely let loose. Yeah. All right. I'm going to throw these games out for all of our survival crafting fans out there.

You have a lot to be excited about for the rest of this year. We are getting the enshrouded 1.0 release. You and I played that. Intrata was so good, dude. It's so good, people. It's like, it is just an absolute top-notch survival crafting exploration game. The combat's great. The world is great.

The upgrades, the skills, the base building. I mean, everything about Entrouted is incredible. I'm very excited to dive back into Entrouted when it fully releases. So, you know, I'm a huge fan of survival crafting games. How is the organization? Good? That's pretty good. Oh, yeah, absolutely.

It is pretty good. I know that's important. I know that's important for you. It is very important. So, and then we have Valheim, the 1.0 release of Valheim is happening this year. We have played through Valheim a couple times now. This is the complete game. If you have not experienced Valheim, you are missing out. But the 1.0 release for Valheim is September 9th. So that is coming up. And then already out, but sure to be making waves, is Powell World, the 1.0 release for that is July 10th. So if you are a fan of survival crafting games, you have your pick of which awesome one to play.

I just grouped all of them up together there for people because they're honestly, they're all fantastic in their own right. So all right. Guys, we got to wrap this up. Let's do some quick fire. Are there any other games coming out this year that you go, look, people, you guys need to know about this game. We didn't know about it before, but we know about it now.

put it on their radar. Is there anything left for you, Ryan, that you feel like people need to know about? Gosh, man. I'm looking at our list. I don't, I mean, we've covered so many freaking games. Yeah, we've hit a lot of them already. We've hit basically everything that's good.

I really just want to, I just want to harken back on like, I genuinely think, um, Galactic Racer. I think people like, and I know you guys, you're,

don't you laugh, Ace. I just laugh at because we're trying to hit one we missed and we're jumping back to one. I know. I want people to understand how much this means to people from like our generation. Yeah. Seeing the preludes or the prequels and stuff and getting another good pod racing game. And one that looks like it's actually well done.

There's there's a lot there. And I would the sun could crash into the earth and I would still try to buy this game. So, like, it's, it's going to be good. So check it out. Even if you're not a big racing guy, like, check it out. Like, it's, it looks like it's going to be good. I'd say the only other thing really worth watching for personally for me is the Ocreen of Time remake that's supposed to come this year.

Because I just. Oh, yeah, that's a good one. I was going to mention that if neither one of you did. Yeah, I want to know what it looks like. I want to know how it plays. Like, what have they changed? What's the exact same? Did you play the original?

Yeah. Yeah, I played Ocourine of Time and I've played Bates. man, I've played Majors Mask. I just prefer Majors Mask. We know you presume. Yeah, we know. It's all right. It's all right.

It's different. It's okay to be wrong. I mean, some people are wrong. Like, it's fine. Yeah. I'm sorry, I'm not basic. Oh, there it is. I'll just rapid fire a couple for people here as we get to the end of this episode.

Residence of Plague Tale, that's the next one in that franchise. I know that's beloved by a lot of people. That's August 27th. We've got a new Warhammer Don of War game coming. I know that is a very popular franchise for a lot of people. We're getting Dawn of War 4, September 17th. For your Star Wars fans out there and your turn-based fans, which I am both, Star Wars Zero Company is looking mighty fine.

That's coming out August 27th. We've got Beast of Reincarnation that is coming out August 4th. I think that game is looking really, really good. We cover this on our July game releases, but hey, we should mention it more time. Halo campaign evolved July 28th. And then you know, we've got just

like Dino Blade, July 23rd. We covered that on our July releases. I've been seeing a lot of people that are super excited for Onamushi Way of the Sword. That's coming out September 4th. The new Silent Hill game, Townfall, I feel like they're just cranking out Silent Hills now. They're trying to

revive the franchise, I think. Like, I don't know. It gets me less excited every time I see a Silent Hill this one doesn't look too but the Silent Hill Town Falls come in September 24th All right Yeah but you don't revive it by just

Playing games out Putting it over and over and over And then a couple of games That are out already That we did not have on our game of the year draft But I'm going to mention them Because we don't want you to miss these games And they're big names

So Pokemon Pocopia took the world by storm My wife put like 300 hours into that game She absolutely loved it Um, four is a six for you racing fans out there. Esoteric ebb, uh, is breaking. Oh my gosh. It's one of the highest reviewed games of like the year, man. So don't sleep on esoteric ab because that game's apparently incredible.

Meena of the hollower came out and broke the internet with its review scores and stuff and how much people were enjoying that. Never could have guessed. Um, we don't mention the series very often, but Nio3, uh, is another game that, you know, probably should have been mentioned at some point. And then we've got like, you know, subnotica too. came out in early access. It's a little early for that one still, but, you know, hey, it's precon-subnotic. It sold a lot of copies. So, yeah, oh, yeah, it did. Of course. All right, guys, one last question before we get out of here. I want your top five most anticipated games for

the rest of the year. Ryan, go. Oh, my gosh. Definitely hell let loose, uh, Vietnam. Okay. That's a big one. GTA. Okay. Absolutely. Galactic Racer is the big one. Lufay. I'm interested to see.

Luffy. Luffy? Luffy. That's not coming out this year, Ryan. So you got to pick a different one. You got to pick a different one. That's not this year? No, we don't think that's coming this year.

No, we just got the trailer and the announcement this year. Okay. Well, then I'll go with the Okerina at Time. make. That one, that one's going to be a big one. Dino Blade. I am excited to fight everybody as a dinosaur with the sword. And then everyone wants to go back to the classic of Halo, Master Chief, the beginnings, the origins, and I'm going to go with the campaign involved.

All right. Ace, top five most anticipated yet to release. yet to release. I'm going to start with Hellraiser Revival. I'm actually very excited to play that and get into the world of Hellraiser. Get up close and person. Not safe for work. We know. Yeah, not safe for work, revival, you know.

I'm very excited to get my hands on Fireman Fortunes Weave as a massive Firenum fan. Absolutely love those games. Grew up with them. Don't really want to give up that nostalgia and hopefully they can recreate it for me. Valor Mortis is actually when I am very. That game looks so good. It looks sneaky good. It looks like creepy good. Yeah, it's like a creepy weird kind of good.

Yeah. Control Resonant. I think Control Resonant's going to be an absolute banger and sort of fix a lot of the issues I had with control where it felt very slow and cover shootery where this is a lot more actiony. And then what do I think? Finally, man. There's just so much. I really, really want Tides of annihilation to come out. Like, I really.

Yeah, I'm with you on that one, dude. It's not unconfirmed, so I kind of want to say Tides of Annihilation. It's not unconfirmed. It's not unconfirmed. So I'm going to say Tides of Annihilation and hold out hope that it's coming. If I knew that Tides of Annihilation was coming out, it would absolutely be on my list. Like, I'm just going to say that. It's not on my list because I don't know if it is not.

Otherwise, the Castlevania Belmont's curse. That's the actual one. Yeah, that's a good one. That's the actual one. That's the actual one. The most excited one. My top five, Galactic Racic racer, GTA6, Phantom Blade Zero. Both of you guys forgot about that game, dude.

I know I drafted him. Yeah, I did. Yeah, I did. Man. Phanamblay Zero is so good. It's going to be so good. It's looking sick, dude. Yeah. Castlevania Belmont's curse and Gears of War E-Day.

I have high hopes for E-Dew. Oh, I forgot about Gears of War too. Oh, man. You didn't mention it, so it's mine now. Yeah, whatever. All right. It's better. Whatever.

One final question. What's the game that you're most curious to see if it's good? Like, it's just, it's kind of on your radar. You don't have high expectations, but it's like, I want to kind of wait and see what people think about this game. The mound. I think the mound, Omen of Cthulhu, to see how people react to it.

I'm genuinely curious. That's a pretty good one. Very unique looking game. Could be really, really good. Looks creepy. Looks well done. I'm curious about that one too, Ace. What about you, Ryan?

I actually, I would like to see whether the Okerina time holds up. Yeah, that's a good one too. If they remake it, and if it holds the same place in our hearts that it used to, like with new people playing or us replaying it if it plays the same as we remember. So I'm interested to see. Yeah.

Mine's blood of Don Walker. That's a good. Yeah, that's a good answer. And it's like, I think that game could be incredible or it could be not incredible. And so that's the one where it's like, I'm actually really curious about that game to see if it's as good as it looks like it might be. Yeah. But I'm also not like going to bet money on it at this point. either. Yeah. All right. I also hold on. I have to correct it. It's Ocarina. Paul would yell at me.

Oh, no, I say Ocarina. I know, but Paul would always yell at us. So it's whatever. It's Ocarina. No, wait. Dang it. I said it wrong now. It's Ocarina. You got me to say Ocarina. Dang it. All right. Well, listen, people, there you go. 2026. I mean, so far, I'll say this. So far this year, it has been a good year of gaming. I will say we have not. had that absolute banger of a game that just has the entire world talking about it. Like we had Expedition 33 last year or Arc Raiders last year. I don't feel like we've gotten that yet. I'm still holding out hope. There's a lot of really good games to come. I mean, let's be honest, GTA6 is like you said, Ryan.

You know, one of the most anticipated games ever and we're getting it this year. So it remains to be seen what, you know, what is left? I will say that I am optimistic that the back half of the. of 2026 is actually going to be better than the front half of 2026. When we talk about these games, I think the best is yet to come for this year, and that gets me really excited. We want to hear from you, people. We want to know your most anticipated game for the remainder of the year.

So let us know what game has your attention other than GTA6. Let's get some different answers. We know everybody in the world is excited for GTA6. But let's hear which game you are most excited about that is yet to release this year. and let us know what game you think has been the best game so far this year. We love hearing what you gamers out there have to think, and we love seeing your answers on that. So leave a comment on the episode.

Come join our Discord server. We can chat about it there as well. It's very active. It's awesome. There's a ton of people in there. I think we're over 1,350 gamers in there. And we love chatting games with everybody. There's a link in the episode description for you to join that.

Man, there's a lot to be excited for, guys. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. And yeah, we're getting there. Once fall arrives, it's going to be a whirlwind frenzy of just incredible games. Going to hibernation like a bear. Just playing games. Thank you, everybody, for joining us.

Here's to a fantastic back half of 2026. Remember to follow the podcast, hit that plus button, that follow button. And if you would like to support what we do and you enjoy this podcast and you want to keep it going to the world, you can support us over on Patreon at patreon.com slash video gamers, Paul. There's also a link in the episode description that'll take you right there. Until next time, everybody, happy gaming. See ya. Peace out.