Well, I can confidently say one thing about being “the Xbox guy” at IGN: it’s never boring. Granted, it is often frustrating, depressing, weird, and occasionally shocking. But there’s almost never a dull moment. So went Xbox’s 2025. As I looked back on last year’s version of this column, I found that I got plenty of my forecasting right, a few things wrong, and there was some stuff I could’ve never predicted. And so as I look ahead to Xbox’s 2026, I will once again expect the unexpected – but I’ll also dig into everything we can reasonably surmise about what could maybe, possibly be the last full calendar year of the Xbox Series generation before Microsoft seemingly gears up to release a console/PC hybrid.
The thing is, a month ago, this piece would’ve been a heck of a lot easier to write. It would’ve been all about Microsoft’s Big Four – Halo, Gears of War, Fable, and Forza – all returning in the same year for the first time in over a decade(!) to deliver Xbox’s biggest and possibly best lineup since the Xbox 360 days. But then Galactus, aka Grand Theft Auto 6, showed up to consume everything in its path, as it’s been delayed from May to November of 2026 and will now effectively have November onwards – a key holiday-shopping window of Q4 every year – all to itself. Any game company executive that willingly ships a game anywhere near GTA 6 should be fired and institutionalized. It’s not just a bad idea, it’s business suicide.
Clash of the Titans
And yes, nearly every major publisher will be affected by this to some degree; Sony has the long-anticipated Marvel’s Wolverine slated for the Fall, and Nintendo…well, maybe Nintendo is the exception to the Grand Theft Auto rule. But Microsoft is potentially the most screwed by Rockstar’s shifted timeline. Halo: Campaign Evolved is surely intended to ship right near Halo’s 25th anniversary on November 15. Uh-oh. Meanwhile, Gears of War: E-Day was almost certainly scheduled for the Fall (to wit: none of the five mainline Gears games has ever shipped outside of the Fall season), Fable’s hugely anticipated revival was probably penciled in for the holiday season after Playground Games delayed it, and Forza Horizon 6? OK, I’d bet on that one dropping sooner rather than later, because a Forza Horizon game doesn’t need a big public relations or marketing campaign. It’s such a powerhouse franchise with a sterling reputation that all fans need to know is where it’s set (Japan), what new cars are in it (TBD), and how soon they can play it. Once Forza Horizon 6 was announced at the Tokyo Game Show in late September, I figured it would probably be out within six months. And I still think that.
And what about Call of Duty for 2026, which the franchise’s alternating development timeline suggests is probably Modern Warfare 4 from Infinity Ward? Historically, Activision’s annual juggernaut always arrives within a two-week window between the last week of October and the first week of November. Considering how much overlap I’d guess there is between Call of Duty and GTA in the Venn Diagram of Casual-Leaning Gamers Who Only Buy a Couple Games a Year, which one do you think those people are going to choose if they can only afford to buy one of them (particularly given that they’re each likely to cost at least $80)? I know which one I’d pick…
Step Up or Back Off?
In fact, what happens to all of Microsoft’s big presumed Fall plans now that Rockstar has planted its flag in the ground for November 19? The short answer is that I’m not sure all five of Xbox’s biggest first-party games can ship in 2026 anymore. Not if Microsoft wants to make any money on them, anyway. The good news is that all of these games have a great chance to be fantastic titles that score big with critics and fans alike. Microsoft just has to make sure they don’t get squashed like bugs under Grand Theft Auto 6’s Godzilla-sized feet. It’s reasonable to expect one or both of Fable and Gears of War: E-Day to push into the first half of 2027, while I’d bet on Call of Duty being moved up as much as possible – mid-October might be as far forward as they can pull it without crunching all of its developers to death. And if Forza Horizon 6 isn’t already planned for the first half of 2026 (and again, I’m confident that it is), I’d guess that somewhere around August is the new plan.
And that’s not even everything. State of Decay 3, Clockwork Revolution, and Hideo Kojima’s OD feel like they’re a little further out than next year, but there’s one lesser-known game that might stand toe-to-toe with anything else Xbox has coming up: promising pixel-art potential masterpiece Replaced. The debut game from Sad Cat Studios will finally land as an Xbox exclusive in 2026. I’ve played it, and it sets off my Spidey Sense as something that could be truly special – a possible generation-defining indie game, like how Limbo and Braid were for the Xbox 360 and Inside was for the Xbox One.
The Cavalry Has Arrived
Regardless of exactly when each of Xbox’s blockbusters finally drop, though, the Xbox’s Big Four couldn’t be lining up to land at a better time, because the Xbox brand image is in tatters. Repeated mass layoffs. Game cancellations. Studio closures. Halo heading to PS5, which was the biggest, clearest white flag Microsoft waved to tell gamers, “It’s fine, you don’t need an Xbox; you can play any and all of our games on other platforms if you want to.” It was a Covenant energy sword through the heart for long-loyal Xbox fans.
All Xbox gamers have ever wanted is a Sony-like pipeline of awesome games on a consistent basis. It would seem we’ve finally got what we’ve wanted – over the past 12 or so months, Xbox has shipped Black Ops 6 and 7, STALKER 2, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, Avowed, South of Midnight, Flight Simulator 2024, Doom: The Dark Ages, Ninja Gaiden 2 Black and Ninja Gaiden 4, Gears of War Reloaded, The Outer Worlds 2, and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered — but not without the monkey’s paw curling in the process.
Split Personality
And so as we look ahead to what to expect from Xbox in 2026, software shines brighter than ever. Hardware…well, rumors of the next-gen Xbox/PC hybrid are flying fast and furious, so could that mean an official announcement at the 2026 Xbox Showcase in June followed by a release in Fall 2027? And as for the platform? I’m not sure what, if anything, can be done to revive excitement in that.
So where does that leave Xbox heading into Year 6 of the Series X|S generation? Paradoxically, it is both better and worse off than it’s ever been, for all of the reasons I’ve already gone over. Exclusives are dead, but great games are plentiful. Hardware is more expensive than it was at launch, but there’s a pretty sweet handheld now. Life as an Xbox fan is both awesome and terrible, and I’m not sure I can sum it up any better than that.
Ryan McCaffrey is IGN’s executive editor of previews and host of both IGN’s weekly Xbox show, Podcast Unlocked, as well as our monthly(-ish) interview show, IGN Unfiltered. He’s a North Jersey guy, so it’s “Taylor ham,” not “pork roll.” Debate it with him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan.
