Hi everyone—Thomas from Frictional Games here. We're so excited to finally talk about our next game: Ontos, a sci-fi mystery thriller coming in 2026. Since the release of Soma, ten years ago, we've been hard at work trying to take that experience and bring it to the next level. Something that pushes our gameplay, design scope, and philosophical themes further than we've ever gone before, and we're finally able to show a little more for you today.

In Ontos you'll play as Aditi, who has received a message from her estranged father promising to reveal the mysteries of their shared past, including the truth about an inexplicable miracle from her childhood. Aditi's quest for answers will lead her to the repurposed moon hotel Samsara, a shadow of its former glory. Aditi knows the journey ahead will be difficult, but she's driven to get to the bottom of the impossible enigmas that have played on her mind, haunted her even, since she was a kid.

Remedy Entertainment unveiled CONTROL Resonant, the highly-anticipated sequel to Remedy's critically acclaimed, multi-award-winning CONTROL. Players will explore a warped Manhattan on the brink of paranatural annihilation in this thrilling action-adventure RPG. Unleash the extraordinary powers of Dylan Faden as he fights for his humanity and survival against a reality-bending cosmic threat. CONTROL Resonant will be published by Remedy Entertainment. Annapurna Pictures are co-financing and co-producing the game as part of a strategic partnership with Remedy Entertainment. CONTROL Resonant is scheduled to be released in 2026 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC via Steam and Epic Games Store, and Mac via Steam and the App Store.

After years in confinement at the hands of the Federal Bureau of Control (FBC), Dylan Faden's former captors are deploying him at the peak of a supernatural crisis. Charged with combating a mysterious cosmic entity as it alters fundamental aspects of our reality, Dylan must harness his new found powers to take the fight to the myriad threats overwhelming Manhattan. On the path to unlocking the full potential of his supernatural abilities Dylan will also seek out his sister, FBC Director Jesse Faden, as he struggles to comprehend and contain the dangers that have spilled beyond the confines of the Oldest House to tear the world apart.

As the end of the year draws closer, the release schedule of new games is slowing down, just like it does every year. This week kicks off with a game that was supposed to launch a month ago, but got pushed back the day before it was meant to be released, so you might've seen it mentioned in these updates already. The other releases this week include a trip to the underworld on a skateboard, a trip to the spirit world, the end of the world, a world reborn from the ashes and finally a world full of robots that wants to terminate you.

Unbeatable / This week's major release / Tuesday 9 December
Unbeatable is an anime-juiced rhythm adventure where you (figuratively) destroy on stage while you (literally) destroy on stage. During rhythm gameplay, you only need two buttons: a button for up and a button for down. Simple to understand! The complicated part is doing it. Try not to get destroyed yourself. Steam link

Welcome to the first week of the last month of the year and this week we have a pick and mix bag of new releases for you. We kick off the week with a Jurassic Park level survival FSP adventure. Next up we have a 90's arcade inspired Marvel game, followed by a demon hunter game set in the 80's. If these games aren't your cup of hot cocoa, how about some horror? This week we have both a jumpscare horror simulator and the chance to be stuck on an abandoned lunar base. We end the week with a co-op dungeon explorer which could be fun for the whole family this time of the year.

Ferocious / This week's major release / Thursday 4 December
Wake up on an uncharted island where the world feels alive and unpredictable. From ancient ruins to apex predators, every element of the environment shapes your fight for survival. Explore, adapt, and use the island's dangers to your advantage. This isn't just a setting—it's a relentless, ever-changing force that challenges and rewards those who dare to uncover its secrets. Steam link

Just like its predecessor, Planet of Lana II's story is told in a made-up language, and without subtitles. We want players to think of the narrative as another puzzle to be solved and allow them their own interpretation of the characters, their relationships and motivations. But in this article, we thought it would be fun to invite Xbox Wire and other readers to learn a bit more about how Novo itself has changed since the first game, and what to expect ahead of landing on this beautiful, beleaguered planet this time around.

A Changing Planet
The first Planet of Lana followed 11-year-old Lana on a heartfelt rescue mission after her sister and village were taken by cold, mysterious machines. With her adorable companion Mui at her side, she crossed a world filled with danger and discovery to protect their beautiful planet, Novo. But what she uncovered was only the beginning of a far bigger story…

Prepare to face Xal'atath, the Harbinger and the Void in World of Warcraft: Midnight launching worldwide on March 2, 2026, at 3:00 pm PST. Players who have purchased any edition of the Midnight expansion can secure Housing Early Access starting December 2, 2025.

Stake Your Claim with Housing Early Access and Come Home December 2!
With the release of the "The Warning" Midnight Prologue content update, players who have purchased any edition of the Midnight expansion can join a neighborhood, choose a house, and start customizing their new home with Housing Early Access! If you don't have Midnight yet, don't worry. You'll still be able to begin adding to your Housing collection through a variety of activities and achievements, or by purchasing them from vendors throughout Azeroth. Learn more in our previously published article.

Howdy Partners! We did it! Cowboy Life Simulator is live on Steam! Sure, it took us only 3 years…but we did it! Cowboy Life Simulator releases as Odd Qubit's first game, and we are equally proud and humbled! We want to thank everyone who helped us along the way. Playtesters, developer friends, family members, streamers, YouTubers, our Discord community, everyone. We especially want to thank you all for the patience you showed us!

The game combines open-world exploration, ranch building, farming, and story-driven progression set against a detailed frontier backdrop. Players can develop their own homestead, raise animals, craft essential tools, and uncover the region's secrets while interacting with a lively community. Cowboy Life Simulator launches in Early Access with a clear roadmap and ongoing content updates planned.

Hello, Grayshaftians! Of Ash and Steel has reached its long-awaited release, and we want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all the support you've given us over the years. Every comment, every word, every bit of attention you've shared with our team has helped us push forward and reminded us that we're not walking this path alone. Rest assured, we poured everything we had into this game—and then some. We sincerely hope that your adventures on the Fifth Island will bring you many unforgettable memories.

Of Ash and Steel is an old-school third-person open-world RPG set in a cruel medieval world. Make your path from abandoned lowlife to a marshal of fortunes, choose your side, and forge alliances on your journey to discover the truth of who you really are. Rediscover the joy of exploration and let curiosity be your guide; the island where the story takes place promises rich rewards for those who dare to uncover its secrets.

Welcome to the last week of November, which is yet again something of a slower week for new game releases. This week's major release is an online action RPG based on a webtoon, make of that what you want. The week continues with another action RPG, this one set in the medieval era, which is followed by a racing simulator where you get to drive on some of the world's most famous racetracks. If you ever wanted to try out life as a cowboy, then we have just the game for you this week and if that's not your cup of tea, maybe learning some magic in a fantasy world tickles your fancy? We round off the week with some holiday cheer, since we're almost in December anyhow.

Solo Leveling: Arise Overdrive / This week's major release / Monday 24 November
Join Sung Jinwoo on his journey to become the world's strongest hunter! Dive into both the original story from the webtoon and new adventures exclusive to the game! Experience dynamic, gorgeously animated combat that evolves with your choice of weapons and skill combos! Dodge monster attacks with Extreme Evasion and land a powerful counterattack with the perfect parry. Build your own unique combat style through a skill tree that branches into 8 different job advancements. Steam link

As we enter the third week of November, things are slowing down a bit and this week's major release is a modern take on classic arcade games from the 80's and 90's. The other releases this week kicks off with you building your own kingdom, followed by some Bikini Bottom action, your chance of being a crafty merchant, a table top RPG and finally some sailing of the seven seas.

Cleared Hot / This week's major release / Thursday 20 November / Early access
Cleared Hot is a nostalgic helicopter shooter with satisfying physics and light tactical elements. Shoot, dodge, move your squad around the battlefield, and pick up almost anything with your rope and magnet. Steam link

Welcome to the second week of November, which is another week with a couple of big releases. This week's major release might involve something fishy, but also colourful pew-pews and zombies. As for the rest of this week's new releases, we kick off with some Mars colonisation, followed by a psychic toddler and a very different take on the survival game genre that's very much family friendly. Next up is a much awaited Roman Empire strategy game and we end the week with an open world action-adventure RPG set in ancient China.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 / This week's major release / Friday 14 November
The year is 2035 and the world is on the brink of chaos, ravaged by violent conflict and psychological warfare. David Mason leads an elite JSOC team on a covert mission to the sprawling Mediterranean city of Avalon. While there, they discover a sophisticated plot that won't just plunge the world into chaos, it will pull them into their own haunting pasts. Steam link

It's no secret that Amazon Games had been working on some version of a Lord of the Rings MMO, although the game had already been cancelled once due to contract disputes, and the second version, which was being worked on in conjunction with Embracer, hasn't been seen or heard from in a while. The recent news of Amazon's mass layoffs shift towards casual games, and specifically away from MMOs and AAA games, raised questions about the future of the Lord of the Rings MMO, however Amazon had—and still hasn't—made an official proclamation regarding the game's demise.

Ashley Amrine, a software engineer affected by those Amazon Gaming layoffs has more or less confirmed, in a now-deleted LinkedIn post (via Rock Paper Shotgun), that the Lord of the Rings MMO has seemingly been cancelled. In her post addressing the fact that she had been laid off, Ashleigh Amrine, a former engineer at Amazon Games, wrote: "This morning I was part of the layoffs at Amazon Games, alongside my incredibly talented peers on New World and our fledgling Lord of the Rings game (y'all would have loved it)." Her revelation suggests that it would still have been a while before the new MMO launched, but it was previously described as "open-world MMO adventure in a persistent world set in Middle-earth, featuring the beloved stories of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings literary trilogy" when it was first announced. The team working on the game was the same one that had been responsible for New World, which, despite its hiccups, seemed to have largely been a success, managing to hold onto a fairly impressive ~35,000 daily players on Steam alone.

French developer and publisher DON'T NOD has presented a new trailer for Aphelion, its upcoming cinematic third-person action-adventure game launching in 2026, at the ID@Xbox Showcase. The trailer reveals Ariane's fellow astronaut Thomas Cross as a playable character, and showcases brand-new stealth sequences, the never-before-seen alien antagonist, new environments, and the in-game spacesuit patch designed in collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA).

Aphelion is a sci-fi action-adventure on the edge of the solar system. In the shoes of ESA astronauts Ariane and Thomas, players will explore and survey the uncharted planet Persephone and solve the mystery of the crash, all while trying to survive in the terrifying presence of an unknown enemy. At its heart, the game is an emotional tale about love, resilience, hope, and what we bring with us when everything is lost.

Streaming services like Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation Plus provide gamers with a wealth of games to play with the obvious drawback that you don't get to keep the games for an extended period of time. PlayStation Plus's free monthly games, however, skip this caveat and allow players to keep the game as long as it's added to their library during the month the game is featured. According to supposed leaks by DeaLabs, November's monthly free game for PS Plus subscribers will be Stray, and it will be available to claim from November 4. After that, as long as players have a PS Plus subscription, they will be able to play Stray. Stray was previously available to play via a PS Plus subscription, but it was subsequently removed around the game's Xbox launch.

Stray is a single-player indie adventure game that originally launched in 2022 for the PS5, PS4, and PC via Steam, later launching on the Xbox Series X|S, macOS, and Nintendo Switch. The game follows an orange cat as it explores an underground cyberpunk city occupied exclusively by robots in an effort to find its way back to the surface. It largely features puzzle-platformer mechanics, with a particular focus on environmental puzzles. The game will apparently be the flagship title for the month of November on PS Plus, but there will be two other as-yet unknown free games joining Stray at the same time.

All of a sudden, it's the end of October and it's another busy week with two major releases. In the first one, you get to be a scavenger in a futuristic post-post-apocalyptic world, whereas in the other, you get to be the hero no-one asked for, but got anyhow and it too takes place in the future, but on an alien planet. This is followed by a four player co-op survival horror game with several twists, an bloodthirsty monsters island survival horror game, a re-make of a couple of classic RPG games and finally some more survival horror, this time with a '90's theme.

ARC Raiders / This week's first major release / Thursday 30 October
In ARC Raiders, gameplay flows between the surface ruled by lethal machines, and the vibrant underground society of Speranza. Craft, repair, and upgrade your gear in the safety of your own workshop, before venturing topside to scavenge the remnants of a devastated but beautiful world. Play solo or in parties up to three, navigating the constant threat of ARC's machines and the unpredictable choices of fellow survivors. In the end, only you decide what kind of Raider you are - and how far you'll go to prevail. Steam link

Noodle Cat Games is thrilled to reveal that Cloudheim, its physics-based action-RPG built for online co-op, will launch on Steam Early Access and Epic Game Store on December 4th. Get ready to gather loot and combine wild weapon traits with physics for endless emergent experimentation! To commemorate this launch, Noodle Cat has released an all new trailer revealing the release date as part of the Galaxies Showcase today.

The Cloudheim demo was among the most played during Steam Next Fest, so due to popular demand, it will remain available for a while longer so more players can whet their appetite by experimenting with Cloudheim's cavalcade of combos!

Don your dusters, sharpen your spurs and check your canteen's filled: Fallout 76 heads to arid country in Burning Springs, a major free update for all players arriving December 2! Featuring one of Fallout 76's largest map expansions yet, Burning Springs opens the path for players to venture into post-nuclear Ohio. Trek through the area's perilous gulches, encounter new characters and quests and run Bounty Hunting missions for The Ghoul, making his way to Burning Springs from the Fallout television series!

Welcome to the blazing Buckeye State
Expanding the boundaries of Fallout 76's massive Appalachia region, players will explore the charred remains of Ohio, conflagrated during the Great War into a place now called Burning Springs. "Ohio is a desert wasteland now," lays out Creative Director Jonathan Rush. "Burning Springs wasn't ever really explored in the past Fallout games, so this is all new territory for us." As players discover more of Burning Springs, they will also learn of the area's history and how it fits into Fallout's greater post-nuclear world.

The team at Above the Desk unveiled a ten-minute gameplay video from Above the Snow, offering the first look at the everyday challenges of running a mountain lodge high in the Alps. In this high-altitude adventure, players will be accompanied by real-world legends, including American alpinist Ed Viesturs.

Above the Desk presented the first gameplay footage of Above the Snow - a narrative tycoon strategy in which players step into the role of an alpine shelter manager. Their goal is to create a cozy place for travelers by keeping an eye on daily operations, designing hiking routes, and ensuring the safety of everyone who finds their way to the warmth of the lodge hidden among picturesque peaks.

Welcome to the second to last week of October, a week which bloodies its fangs with a major release involving pale skin tones in dark corners of Seattle. The week continues with a fantasy RTS which is followed by ninjas that aren't wearing pyjamas, a different take on super heroes, some old school arcade action but with modern graphics and finally landing in a big sticky mess of a ball. There are a lot more new releases this week as well, just in case none of the other games suits your blood type.

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 / This week's major release / Tuesday 21 October
You are the Nomad—an elder vampire awakening from a century-long slumber, new to the modern nights. Trapped in your Blood is a stranger's voice. This entity, a vampire detective known as Fabien, will be your guide to 21st-century Seattle. You will explore the city through his eyes as well as those of the Nomad, as you revisit a cold case from a hundred years ago that is threatening undead and mortal society alike. Steam link

The newest title from Numskull Games and Triple Eh? launches today on PC and consoles. Rewind the cassette and embark on an adventure through the trailblazing days of '80s & '90s videogames with the sequel to 2016 indie platformer, Lumo.

Lumo 2 expands upon the enchanting world of the first game with breathtaking new environments and interconnected rooms, each one packed with devious puzzles, dangers to dodge and deeply hidden secrets, inspired by the pioneering era of early '80s & '90s videogames, all with the polish of a modern platformer. Rediscover the timeless charm of classic arcade-adventure gameplay. Whether you're a seasoned Lumo veteran, or a first-time explorer, your journey awaits!

As we enter the middle of October, things slow down a little bit and this week's major release is a quacky take on the world of looter-shooters. This is followed by some cleaning of old dusty things, a retro dark fantasy FPS, balls in a pit that has nothing to do with sports, a group of people not returning a ring to a mountain and finally an adventure as a sentient lighthouse (yes, you read that correctly).

Escape From Duckov / This week's major release / Thursday 16 October
You wake from a strange dream to find yourself in the world of Duckov.Beyond the safety of your base, enemies lurk in every corner. In this seemingly peaceful yet perilous world, you must tread carefully, exploring and scavenging for supplies. Start your journey as an Average Duck—ordinary stats, one basic gun. Gather all sorts of curious items, build your hideout, upgrade your gear, and struggle to survive in the world of Duckov—until you make it out alive. Steam link

Get ready to return to one of the most iconic worlds in ARPG history: Ancaria! Sacred 2 Remaster launches on November 11, 2025, for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series S/X. This definitive edition of the fan-favorite adventure will be available at an SRP of $19.99 / € 19.99 on PC and $29.99 / €29.99 on consoles. Sacred 2 Remaster breathes new life into the beloved classic with smoother combat, a modern interface, full controller support, and enhanced visuals. Players can choose from six distinct heroes and carve their own path through a massive open world filled with quests, battles, and hidden treasures.

The remaster packs in every expansion and update, whether you're returning to the battlefield or exploring Ancaria for the first time, it's the ultimate way to experience Sacred 2: Fallen Angel. Sacred 2 Remaster launches digitally on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series S/X November 11, 2025. Gear up, choose your hero, and forge your legend - Ancaria needs you.

Maximum Entertainment, in partnership with Italian studio Little Sewing Machine and Meangrip Studios, proudly announces the worldwide launch of Chris Darril's Bye Sweet Carole, a highly awaited horror adventure inspired by the golden era of hand-drawn animation. The game is now available on PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X, and PC via Steam.

Bye Sweet Carole transports players into a hauntingly beautiful realm where dark fairy tales and nightmarish realities intertwine. Players will follow the story of Lana Benton, a courageous young girl on a desperate search for her missing friend, Carole, in the ominous Bunny Hall orphanage.

After four years of production, the husband and wife team behind Inklingwood Studios, David & Sophie Younger, are proud to announce the release of Foolish Mortals on November 5, 2025. Foolish Mortals is a full-length, fully voiced, hand-drawn game in the classic style, inspired by games like Monkey Island and Broken Sword. Immersed in 1930s Louisiana, players take on the role of young treasure hunter Murphy McCallan, voiced by acclaimed actor AJ LoCascio (Marty McFly in Back to the Future: The Game, Han Solo in LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, Gambit in X-Men '97, and more).

The story? Louisiana, 1933. Thirty-three years ago an entire wedding suddenly & mysteriously vanished on the island of Devil's Rock, and with it went the location of the lost treasure of Bellemore Manor. To find it, you might need to die too.

Welcome to the first full week of October and this week's AAA release is the latest installment in a franchise that started back in 2002 and has produced 12 major PC releases and multiple minor and console spin-offs as well and it might be related to war, at least in all but one installment. If that is not your cup of tea, then we have an action-horror RPG, some dinosaur survival-horror co-op or some open-world co-op survival-horror to pick from this week as well. The week is rounded off with a fantasy MMORPG and finally a second big release—or should that be little?—involving nightmares, which nicely rounds off a week full of horror releases.

Battlefield 6 / This week's AAA release / Friday 10 October
The ultimate all-out warfare experience. Fight in high-intensity infantry combat. Rip through the skies in aerial dogfights. Demolish your environment for a strategic advantage. Harness complete control over every action and movement using the Kinesthetic Combat System. In a war of tanks, fighter jets, and massive combat arsenals, the deadliest weapon is your squad. This is Battlefield 6. Steam link