Archives — January 2026

Zenelss Zone Zero's Encore for an Old Dream has a good excuse for introducing some new mechanics to the action game. Zenless Zone Zero’s latest Special Program has delivered a tonne of information about the game’s big upcoming update, Version 2.6. This latest addition kicks off celebrations in New Eridu, and it’s dubbed Encore for an Old Dream.

Chromatic Beings Everbright, the latest major Infinity Nikki update, has arrived, bringing Chinese New Year celebrations vibe to the game. Infinity Nikki, the free-to-play, open-world dress-up RPG, has delivered yet another big content drop in the form of Chromatic Beings Everbright. The latest update brings the game up to version 2.2, and introduces a new narrative chapter, and gameplay taking place around a festival narrative.

Here are the start and end times for the second Spellcasters Chronicles closed beta, as well as what's new in this latest test. Quantic Dream has opened up its upcoming fantasy MOBA for a second closed beta weekend starting from today, January 29, until 9AM UTC on Monday February 2.

If you’re looking for a way to check out one of the biggest releases of early 2026, Team Ninja has made it easy for you. Nioh 3 is one of the most anticipated games of 2026, and it’s easily among the biggest releases of February. We’re a few days away from the start of that month, however, but we don’t have to wait until then to actually play Team Ninja’s next major release.

Super Mario Bros. Wonder getting the Switch 2 Edition + expansion treatment in March feels like Nintendo making the correct call, and I couldn't think of a better game to be getting that bit more attention on the new system. To mark the new-gen upgrade and the arrival of the Meetup in Bellabel Park DLC, Nintendo is also rolling out three brand-new amiibo tied to the game. Each one costs $24.99 and they all launch on March 26, the same day the new content goes live. Pre-orders are already open.

The first couple of months of 2026 in the world of Arc Raiders look pretty promising, but the big guns are being held back for now. After weeks of waiting, Arc Raiders developer Embark has officially unveiled the first few months of the game’s 2026 roadmap. The plan is split into four months, covering January to April, collectively dubbed Escalation.

As promised, Battlefield Labs is coming back to bring us a preview of some of Battlefield 6’s upcoming Season 2 content. Battlefield 6’s Season 2 was recently pushed back by a month to give Battlefield Studios time to polish up its content. Now, the developer has revealed how it plans to use some of that time, and the first port of call is Battlefield Labs.

Heartopia players didn't actually end up having to wait too long to play the game on Steam, which is certainly not what anyone expected. Heartopia has officially arrived on Steam, only a little over a week after it launched on iOS and Android. When the game’s release date was announced back in December, developer XD said it was pushing back the Steam release without offering any hints about how long the delay was going to be.

The first Battlefield 6 patch of the year is almost here, bringing a smattering of changes, including one that doesn't quite make sense. Battlefield 6’s promised, season-extending update has been officially detailed. The patch, version 1.1.3.5, arrives tomorrow, January 20 right when Season 1 was supposed to end. Part of the update’s goal is to extend the current season, until Season 2 kicks off in the middle of February.

Ahead of its official release next week, Arknights: Endfield has already surpassed 35 million pre-registrations from players around the world. Arknights: Endfield developer Gryphline has a good reason to celebrate, as the upcoming free-to-play action RPG has achieved yet another milestone. The developer announced today that Endfield already has over 35 million pre-registrations.

The Sims Medieval had a short but powerful run back in 2011, and now many of its best features are finally coming to the main franchise. The Sims 4 developers recently promised an exciting year for the game, and the franchise as a whole, and we just got an early look at one of those first events. After some light teasing, the developer unveiled Royalty & Legacy, the game’s next expansion.

The FC 26 Team of the Year brings new end-game special cards for meta favourites and Icons, as well as upgrades for free Heroes. EA Sports has revealed the much-anticipated Ultimate Team of the Year cards for the 2025/26 season, including a slew of meta favourites from the likes of the evergreen Virgil van Dijk, super-fast Kylian Mbappe and unplayable queen of FC 26 Claudia Pina.

Battlefield 6 has pushed back its next season by nearly a month in order to refine Season 2 content and implement more of players' feedback. Battlefield Studios has released its first official communication in 2026. Rather than unveil the second season of Battlefield 6, however, the developer instead announced a delay. The currently ongoing Season 1 was initially meant to end on Tuesday, January 20, hence why the developer had to communicate something this week.

As part of a free update, The Sims 4 has kicked off a new collaboration with Coach, which means there's free stuff for everyone. The Sims 4’s first update of the year is here, though it may not be quite what you might have expected. The game’s latest patch mainly centres around a collaboration with Coach, the luxury fashion brand.

The team behind one of EA's most diverse franchises has issued a statement about its future under the soon-to-be Saudi-owned publisher. In their (slightly belated) new years message to players, the developer of EA’s The Sims series of games has lightly addressed concerns about its future within the publisher in a wide-ranging letter to the community.

Diablo 4's first big moment of 2026 is nearly upon us, and it's one feature many have been looking forward to for actual years. Diablo 4 is about to deliver on Blizzard’s years-old promise to add a challenging, leaderboard-driven experience to the action RPG. The beta for The Tower, and its associated Leaderboards are about to kick off.

If you've been waiting for a discount, the time is now. Donkey Kong Bananza is down to $62.99 at Amazon right now, $7 off its original list price, and a 10% saving for those counting. That’s a pretty rare discount for a Nintendo game not that long after release, 6 months at most by my estimates.

Amazon is putting on a huge 4K UHD movie sale right now, and there are some of the best films from last year, as well as several all-timers up for grabs. The deal is simple: it’s three films for $33. Quick reminder that the PS5 or Xbox Series X you're sporting features a handy 4K Blu-ray drive, which you should absolutely be taking advanage of right now. Considering streamers are just getting worse, and definitely can't be trusted to have all your favorites, building up that 4K Blu-ray collection should absolutely be a priority for all us film buffs going forward.

Heartopia is officially the first big mobile launch of 2026, as the game grabs the attention of millions worldwide. Heartopia, the new cosy life sim from XD Games, has officially arrived on mobile, right on schedule. If you’ve been keeping up with Heartopia news, you’re likely already aware that the game has pushed back its Steam release to an indeterminate point in 2026.

Switch 2 storage just got a whole lot cheaper, thankfully. If you got your hands on a shiny new Nintendo Switch 2 last year, first of all, congrats, it's a wonderful console, and a whole lot of fun. Second, it is probably, unfortunately, already yelling at you about storage. The console ships with 256GB of onboard space, which sounds generous until you download a couple of chunky first-party games, dabble in a few third-party ports, and suddenly find yourself doing mental gymnastics over which titles you can afford to delete.

The first major Genshin Impact update in 2026 is almost here, bringing characters we've been waiting a while to play, and more besides. Genshin Impact’s latest Special Program has spilled all the beans on the game’s next major update, Luna 4. The update, which arrives on January 14, kicks off 2026 with several bits of new content, including some previously-teased characters.

Love and Deepspace is getting a big update to celebrate its second anniversary, and there's a lot to dig through. If you can believe it, Love and Deepspace is almost two-years-old, and Infold Games is celebrating the moment in a few major ways. The Throne of Eros update brings the game up to version 5.0, and it’s one for fans of all love interests.