The Witcher 4 has been voted Most Wanted Game at the Golden Joystick Awards 2026, beating the likes of Fable and Resident Evil Veronica. CD Projekt Red production director Małgorzata Mitręga accepted the award near the end of the November 11 show, just before Resident Evil Requiem was crowned the night's big winner. It's a step up from last year, when The Witcher 4 came in a close second in the same category with 16.68% of the vote against GTA 6's 18.03%. GTA 6, which launches on November 19, wasn't on this year's ballot. Here's what Mitręga said on stage:

This is a huge, huge honor for us, but it's also a great responsibility. We all know it. We are working hard, giving heart and soul there, all the skills we have, passion we have, and moments like that are such a boost for us, for the stamina, to (keep) it going, to deliver (for) you when the time is right.

Welcome to November and we kick off this month with a somewhat slow start, as even this week's major release is technically a re-release of a game that's over 20 years old. The rest of this week's new releases includes a lot of early access games and kicks off with a pack of hounds in space, followed by a family friendly, multiplayer life/farming sim and an open world MMORPG. This is followed by an extended medieval city builder and we end the week with a haystack and you get to guess what you have to find in it. Don't forget to check out this week's other releases as well.

World of Warcraft: Forever / This week's major release / Wednesday 4 November
WoW: Forever is an invitation to take your first steps in a legendary world of untamed frontiers, warring factions, untold perils, and unseen mysteries. Experience an Azeroth that grows from the roots of WoW's first age, continually evolving through regular content patches and updates that promise never-ending adventure.

Digital Extremes, the game studio behind Warframe, has been working on its latest game, Soulframe—an open-world, co-op fantasy action RPG with a strong focus on melee combat—for a number of years, with ongoing invite-only alpha testing having been live since 2023. Although it looked like the game was preparing to launch in some capacity over a year ago, Digital Extremes has waited until November 9 to launch the full-scale open alpha test of Soulframe. This means that the game will no longer require an invitation to play.

Digital Extremes announced the Opem Preludes along with the reveal of the upcoming Verse of the Veilands update, which introduces rideable wolf companions, which players can raise from pups, alongside new weapons and pacts, bosses, and the Veilands, described as a new "environmental world progression system." Soulframe features crafting, weapon progression, story-driven quests, and highly customizable combat and skills.

Warhorse Studios, the Czech developer behind Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, has confirmed that it was hit by a cyberattack. In an official statement on its website, the studio says the attack involved unauthorized access to company systems and company data. Warhorse is working with cybersecurity experts to secure its systems and assess the full impact, and says it is coordinating with the relevant authorities, though it didn't name them. A much shorter message also went up on the studio's X account on October 27, telling players it was sorry to share the news and thanking them for standing with the studio.

CEO Martin Frývaldský called it "a serious incident for Warhorse Studios and everyone affected," adding that the priority is to secure systems, establish the full extent of the breach, and protect employees, partners, and the community. Other details are thin, however. Warhorse hasn't said when the attack happened, who is behind it, what kind of data was accessed, or whether anything was actually taken, and it isn't giving interviews or further comments while the investigation is ongoing.

Welcome to the last week of October and we end this month with what looks to be a big release for those that are into martial arts action RPGs. This week's regular releases are a bit of a mix, starting off with a co-op cooking game, followed by a pixel graphics action RPG and some potentially stolen property. We round off the week with an open world Sci-Fi survival game and a first person dungeon crawler action RPG. Don't forget to check out this week's other release as well.

Phantom Blade Zero / This week's major release / Thursday 29 October
Framed for murdering his master, Soul suffers a devastating wound to the heart, leaving him just sixty-six days to live. Alone and hunted, he roams the Wulin, determined to unravel a conspiracy that has ensnared the martial world. Through rain and blood, kindness and vengeance, he embarks on a journey where love and hatred intertwine in search of a heart. Steam link

Boutique publisher SNEG, in collaboration with Wizards of the Coast, a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc., are proud to announce the restoration of heritage Dungeons & Dragons title Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor will be available for the first time digitally on November 6th. You won't have to wait that long to play it, however, as a demo is available today through October 26th for Steam Next Fest - and your progress will transfer over into the full game!

Originally released in 2001 by Ubisoft and developed by Stormfront Studios, Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor is a turn-based party RPG set in the Forgotten Realms. It returns to the legendary Pool of Radiance, one of the most storied legacies in CRPG history - now updated to run smoothly on modern systems!

Welcome to a new week of games and this week's AAA release comes with a fishy smell, which kind of goes with its Friday release, but it looks like fans of the franchise will be having a good time based on advanced access feedback. As for this week's regular releases, we kick off with a couple of very different Sci-Fi games, the first is a co-op puzzle, whereas the other one is set in a much more familiar universe, but is set on a planet rather than a star ship. This is followed by a zombie action RPG where you're the zombie, a pixel-art version of a famous JRPG and finally we end the week with cats, but not the kind that is napping on your lap. Don't forget to check out this week's other releases as well.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 / This week's AAA release / Friday 23 October
A young squad of South Korean soldiers fight to survive on the collapsing front lines, while half a world away a vengeful Captain Price wages a personal war from the shadows as he stays one step ahead of those hunting him. As Price's off-book mission collides with the forces behind the invasion, the war spreads beyond anyone's control. Steam link

After a few busy weeks of new game releases, this week is a bit slower, but it doesn't mean that there aren't a lot of new releases, just nothing that really stands out. This week's major release takes us off-roading in a very colourful game. We kick off the week with some RTS planning in a WW2 setting, which is followed by a first person RPG set in the Napoleonic era, followed by another first person game, but this time with trolls in the Finnish forests and we're not talking about the Moomin kind. We end the week with a 2D platformer set in a familiar universe and finally we have a very different city builder which brings Discworld vibes. Don't forget to check out this week's other releases as well.

Over the hill / This week's major release / Wednesday 14 October
Explore the world in the golden age of offroading. Drive iconic 4x4 vehicles from the 60s to 80s by yourself or with friends through challenging trails and beautiful scenery. Take to the trails solo or with up to three friends. Cruise through scenic landscapes, tackle challenging off-road routes, and work together to overcome the obstacles standing between you and your destination. Steam link

Welcome to the first full week of October and boy do we have a packed week full of new releases and we have two major releases this week, with one being a prequel in a popular Xbox franchise and one being a sequel MMORPG. As for this week's other releases, we start the week with some racing in the Star Wars universe, followed by a game based on a famous horror movie. Continuing on the horror theme we got a 2.5D survival horror metroidvania and we end the week with a seemingly peaceful drive in the countryside valleys. Don't forget to check out this week's other releases as well.

Gears of War: E-Day / This week's first major release / Tuesday 6 October
Experience the horror and brutality of Emergence Day. Fourteen years before the original Gears of War, join Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago in a gripping origin-story campaign as the Locust Horde first erupt from below, igniting a desperate fight for survival. Rally your squad and fight on in multiplayer with a reimagination of Gears' iconic PvE mode, Horde Siege, or go head-to-head with a refined Versus PvP. Steam link

Rumors recently appeared about Sony potentially delaying its digital-only future due to pressure from Microsoft's Xbox Helix, although they were promptly shot down by industry insiders and frequent leakers who said that Sony was dead-set on killing its physical media production—despite data suggesting a large chunk of the gaming audience still relies on physical media. Following this, however, Kenzo Saruhashi, CEO of long-time JPG developer who depends on physical media, suggested in an interview with Kotaku that there may still be hope for physical media at Sony.

Speaking for myself, I know that a big part of our business model, particularly with NISA, is producing our physical limited editions and that's an important part of our business and we, for our part, intend to continue making those physical editions and delivering the exceptional quality that our customers are expecting of us... In our discussions with Sony so far, I think that they're hearing a lot of the feedback from customers and so while that may be one destination that we arrive at, it's possible that the discussion may change in the future, so we'll have to see what happens, what comes of it

The Moirai have woven a long thread - after roughly a year and a half of hard Early Access labor, that thread is finally nearing its final knot. Hermes, herald of the gods, has descended to the mortal realm to announce the decision of the Pantheon: the Olympians are pleased with the efforts of hundreds of thousands of mortal adventurers, who already faced their Nemesis. In their eternal, divine greatness, they are granting us: a release date! Hermes is pleased to announce that Titan Quest II will leave Early Access and launch into full release on January 19th, 2027, for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S.

The Titan Quest II Odyssey has been long and full of epic adventures, right from ancient Greek mythology. Guided by feedback from a vast number of heroes during Early Access, Titan Quest II has been expanded through numerous updates that added new lands to conquer, new powers to wield, and new treasures to loot along the way. The developers at Grimlore Games have forged an ARPG like no other, with its unique mastery system that offers the players an immense amount of freedom while creating their own unique heroes. Version 1.0 pulls every strand together into the complete tapestry the Moirai had planned all along - plus a fair bit more.

The Blood of Dawnwalker director Konrad Tomaszkiewicz seems unconvinced that a story-driven RPG needs to run at 120 FPS. Speaking to Eurogamer, the Rebel Wolves boss said the studio is still working on PC performance, but that he doesn't see high frame rates as especially important for a game like this. Discussing the many PC hardware configurations that make optimization difficult, he said:

"We're observing this, we're trying to ask people about the hardware, and we are trying to do the fixes. But yes, when you see that the game works well - over 60 FPS - but people still complain that it's not 120, but 90 or 70... It's like, I understand that but the game is about something else. It's not a shooter - it's not a game where it's so important. But people want to have good performance or performance above good: it's fine. We're working on it and we will still work on it."

As covered in TechPowerUp's most recent This Week in Gaming, Pawprint Studios has officially released Aniimo, a new, free-to-play open-world creature collector RPG—the latest creature collector in a wave started by the wildly popular Palworld, and it seems as though the game's reception is somewhat mixed.

While Aniimo has seen over 127,000 peak concurrent players in its first 12 hours since launch on Steam, peaking at 127,914, according to SteamDB, and dipping slightly to 124,466 at the time of writing, players have seemingly not had a universally positive experience, with the game earning a Mixed review rating on Steam from just 58% of its 1,648 reviews being positive.

As we enter the middle of September, we kick off the week with an open world creature collector that doesn't appear to borrow too heavily from the famous Nintendo franchise, but some parallels can obviously be drawn. As for the rest of this week's release, we start with a different take on an RPG, where you're the guild master instead of the adventurer and we follow this up with an action horror FPS with PvP battles. If you'd rather be a DVD salesman/assassin, we got you covered this week and if that's not your beat, how about part of a JRPG or maybe you prefer an evolutionary resource management automation builder? Don't forget to check out the other new releases this week as well, but be warned that they're all early access games.

Aniimo / This week's major release / Wednesday 16 September
Aniimo is a free-to-play, next-gen creature-catching open-world RPG. Explore the vast continent of Idyll, Twine with unique Aniimo, unlock new abilities. Travel to a sky-floating metropolis, meet other Pathfinders, and battle in exciting competitions. Choose your Aniimo and begin your epic journey. Steam link

Blizzard has officially announced Diablo 5 at BlizzCon 2026, confirming a Spring 2029 release window for the next mainline entry in its action RPG series. The reveal came during the event's opening ceremony alongside a cinematic marking Diablo's 30th anniversary. According to game director Joe Shely, the story picks up a century after Diablo 4, and this time Sanctuary has already fallen. Diablo has won, and it looks like players will be dealing with the aftermath rather than trying to stop it from happening. That's certainly a departure from how past entries have opened.

Diablo 5 is set to be the first mainline game built around a post-apocalyptic Sanctuary from the start, and a follow-up panel added that it will launch with the Demon Hunter and Monk returning, plus a new class called the Plague Knight. Blizzard hasn't said much about gameplay beyond that, so it's hard to say yet how the survival premise will actually play out mechanically. Diablo 4 isn't going anywhere in the meantime. Blizzard says it will keep supporting the game until Diablo 5 arrives, with an Amazon class pack planned for 2027. Three years is a long runway before launch, though BlizzCon teasers like this one usually mean at least a few updates trickle out along the way.

As we enter the second week of September, there are a lot of new releases, but all the more popular games are being released at more or less the same days, so we're going to change things up a bit to cover the most popular new releases. We kick off with what's easily the biggest release this week—but it's also an early access game—which changes up the typical FPS war game by throwing in a third team in the mix. Next up we have a classic horror movie that has been turned into a game, although it seems to be launching over a month too early. If that's not your thing, then we have some battle castles, a sci-fi survival/base building game, followed by a horror RPG farming sim and we end the week with a first person shooter that comes with an optional VR mode for those that own a VR headset.

Wardogs / This week's major release / Early access / Thursday 10 September
Wardogs is an All-Out Warfare FPS that combines tactical gunplay and combined arms combat with building and destruction mechanics in a large-scale, up to 100-player militaristic sandbox. The game mode - Inspired by 'King of the Hill' - has three teams fight for control of randomized 2x2km 'Control Zones' within larger maps. The team with the most players within the Control Zone earns points - the first team to reach 100 points wins the match. Steam link

Rebel Wolves' debut game is certainly off to a strong start. The Blood of Dawnwalker has sold more than 1 million copies worldwide, the studio confirmed on social media, just two days after its September 3 launch on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S. The game hit 1 million sales fast enough that most of it likely came from day-one momentum, though Rebel Wolves hasn't broken down sales by platform. The Blood of Dawnwalker is an open-world dark fantasy RPG set in 14th-century Europe, built in Unreal Engine 5. Players control Coen, who's human by day and a vampire by night, as he tries to save his family within a strict 30-day in-game clock.

Rebel Wolves is led by Konrad Tomaszkiewicz, former director on The Witcher 3, and this is the studio's first release since it was founded in 2022. As expected with a first release, the launch also comes with some rough edges. Performance on Steam Deck and other Windows handhelds has required real compromises to remain playable, and the game's most popular Nexus Mods download reportedly conflicts with its core survival mechanics. However, none of that seems to have slowed sales much so far. It's still early days for the game, but crossing a million copies in under 48 hours is quite rare for a completely new IP.

ProbablyMonsters, an independent video game company creating original AA games with AAA sensibilities, today launched Crimson Moon on PC via Steam and Epic Game Store, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S for $19.99 USD. A $29.99 USD Deluxe Edition is also available and includes an exclusive armor set, weapon cosmetic, and upcoming game expansion.

Crimson Moon is a gothic high renaissance action-adventure RPG built around intense, replayable missions that blend brutal precision with deep character progression. Players take on the role of the Nephilim, powerful human-angel hybrids bound to a dark prophecy and charged with reclaiming the besieged city of Gildenarch from a horde of demons, undead, vampires, and Hellgrowth abominations.

The upcoming release of the Fable reboot has generated quite a bit of hype, with the studio behind the game recently revealing some impressively forgiving minimum hardware requirements for PC gamers. Following that reveal, Polygon published an interview with Xbox about Fable and its content, wherein it was revealed that Fable's actual main campaign would be on the shorter side, especially compared to most modern RPGs.

Will Kennedy, Fable Associate Director, Playground GamesWe have around 15-20 hours of mainline quest gameplay, we have around 15-20 of side and open-world exploration content gameplay. And then, of course, the life systems are limitless, so you can play them for as long as you want.

Welcome to September and we kick off the new month with a AAA RPG game set in 14th-century Europe that might involve vampires. The rest of this week is packed with big game releases and we start with a new take on an oldie first person shooter, which is followed by an action RPG, but this one is of the online co-op variety. Next up we have another online co-op game, but this time we're talking monkeys, bananas and bombs. If you want something with a bit more speed, then we might have what you're looking for in this week's sequel and finally we end the week with another major single release that's full of samurai's and swords. Don't forget to check out this week's other new releases as well.

The Blood of Dawnwalker / This week's AAA release / Thursday 3 September
14th-century Europe. Bloody conflicts sweep the lands, and the Black Death comes for the survivors. It's a moment of weakness - and that's all they needed. Vampires seize their opportunity to walk out of the shadows and claim what they've been denied for centuries: freedom, and the power that comes with it. Other creatures of the night follow their lead. Legends turn into reality, and history as we know it will never be the same. Steam link

Gamescom 2026 has been a smorgasbord of new games, DLC's, and other updates for gamers, and now Pearl Abyss's Crimson Desert joins Worms: Galactic Tactics, The Witcher 3, and Afterworld with a new Enhanced Update that dropped at Gamescom, with reworks coming to address much of the game's weaknesses—the story. Crimson Desert Enhanced launched at Gamescom as a free update to the base game, and those who do not yet own the game, with the Mac App Store being the only platform where the updated version is not available at the time of writing.

Crimson Desert Enhanced, which is officially titled patch 2.00.00, introduces new cut-scenes to the game, expanding on the narrative, which Pearl Abyss says "improved the main story and quests," and the narrative flow of the main story, and "added knowledge, items, memory fragments, dialog lines, and conversations to strengthen the narrative of bosses." Additionally, the update improves the skill leaning system by adding Abyss Link as a new resource shared among all playable characters, meaning when one playable character learns a new skill, it allows other playable characters to benefit from that progress.

Yesterday, during Gamescom's Opening Night Live, Ubisoft announced Heroes of Might and Magic III Remake, a modern reimagining of the critically acclaimed turn-based strategy classic. Developed by Ubisoft China studios in Chengdu and Shanghai, the game will launch in 2027 on Ubisoft+, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation and PC through Ubisoft Connect, Steam, and the Epic Games Store.

Heroes of Might and Magic III Remake offers endless hours of epic adventure, elevating the original's timeless gameplay to modern standards and delivering its iconic blend of turn-based strategy, RPG hero progression, and tactical grid combat. Building on that foundation, the remake introduces a range of quality-of-life improvements and new features, such as enhanced planning and decision-making tools, making for a more intuitive experience while staying faithful to the original.

Archetype Entertainment has finally put a release date on its sci-fi action RPG EXODUS. The game will launch worldwide on April 7, 2027, for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Steam and the Epic Games Store. The announcement came during Gamescom Opening Night Live, where the studio also showed a new cinematic gameplay trailer. The trailer puts the spotlight on Salt, an Awakened octopus who works as a mercenary and bounty hunter. She joins protagonist Jun during the journey and, unsurprisingly, brings some interesting combat abilities to the party.

As described and showcased by the developer, Salt operates a specialized combat mech and focuses on long-range attacks, evasive movement and ink-like smokescreens that can confuse and disorient enemies. She is essentially the game's sniper and support-by-distraction character, although the trailer suggests there is more to her relationship with Jun than simply covering her from a distance. Salt isn't the only companion joining Jun. Emrys, a member of the mysterious Deva species, will also take part in the action. The Deva are described as a Celestial species made up of multiple consciousnesses, and Emrys brings a more traditional support role to the battlefield. Emrys can launch Remnant Orbs that drain and weaken enemies, with the stolen energy then being transferred back to Jun as protection.

Welcome to what is technically the last week of August and we have a week packed with new releases, several coming from known franchises. We kick off the week in a galaxy far, far away with some turned-based tactics, as this week's major release. The week's regular lineup starts with a survival-adventure onboard a very famous ship and we quickly go from there back into space, but this time with some xenomorphs involved. Next up we have some anime-inspired turn-based strategy, followed by a prequel to a 2019 hit game and finally we round off the week with an old school metroidvania type hack and slash game. Check out this week's other releases for some more franchise action and more.

Star Wars Zero Company / This week's major release / Thursday 27 August
Command an elite squad through a gritty and authentic story in Star Wars Zero Company, a single-player turn-based tactics game set in the twilight of the Clone Wars. You will step into the shoes of Hawks, a former Republic officer who leads Zero Company as they are recruited for an operation that pits them against an emerging threat that will consume the galaxy if left unchecked. Steam link

Mortal Shell II has already launched into Advanced Access on Steam, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series consoles ahead of the official August 20 worldwide launch, and it appears to be quite successful already, with nearly 20,000 players logging into the new open-world action RPG at the same time on Steam alone.

According to SteamDB, within five hours of launch, Mortal Shell II played host to as many as 19,242 peak concurrent players—more than 10 times its predecessor's peak concurrent player count on Steam, as recorded by SteamDB. The game's Advanced Access launch has also given avid gamers a chance to post early reviews of the game, most of which sing its praises, earning it an 88% "Very Positive" review rating on Steam. Accounting for consoles, the day-one advanced access peak concurrent player counts number well over 20,000.