What Will Be the Best Game of 2026?

It may only be January, but I say it’s never too early to look towards the future and try to predict what the best games of 2026 will end up being. I don’t have a crystal ball or some sort of undiagnosed superpower, but I do have a long list of all the games coming out over the next 12 months and a modicum of taste to guide me, though. 

Of course, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 secured a pretty convincing sweep of wins during the end-of-year 2025 awards, but who truthfully saw that coming before its April release date? So, what could surprise us this year? And will a left-field project have what it takes to steal this year’s IGN Best Game award away from the very obvious contender we can see coming from a mile off?

Let’s take a look ahead and try to predict what will be the 2026 game of the year, fully aware that whatever’s here has a not-insignificant chance of being proven completely wrong, and you can all come back here in December and tell me what an idiot I am.

#IGN #GameOfTheYear #2026Gaming