Summer Game Fest season is officially over now that Nintendo has dropped its latest Direct. And uh, folks, I don’t know if you know this, but there are way, way too many video games launching in the same relatively short span of time. All of them are seemingly doing this to avoid Grand Theft Auto 6 in November. But I really, really hope some of them reconsider.
When the Nintendo Direct wrapped up earlier today with a tiny teaser for the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake coming later this year, I hopped over to my list of games launching between the final days of August and the first days of November and started updating it. It was already a big list thanks to Sony and Xbox and others all trying to avoid GTA 6, which arrives on November 19. But following the last few days of announcements and this morning’s Direct, this list has become hard to look at without wincing in pain. Let’s take a look, shall we:
- Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy – August 27
- Star Wars Zero Company –
- Elden Ring Tarnished Edition (Switch 2) – August 28
- The Blood of Dawnwalker – September 3
- Orbitals – September 3
- Halloween – September 8
- Screenbound – September 10
- Wolverine – September 15
- Trine 6 – September 17
- Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War IV – September 17
- Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave – September 17
- Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight (Switch 2) – September 18
- Dune Awakening (console release) – September 22
- Hot Wheels Infinite Rush – September 24
- Control Resonant – September 24
- Silent Hill: Townfall – September 24
- Onimusha: Way of the Sword – September 25
- Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve – September 29 (Early Access)/ Oct. 2
- Minecraft Dungeons 2 – September 29
- Rayman Legends Retold – October 1
- Dynasty Warriors 3 Remastered – October 1
- Gears of War: E-Day – October 6
- Star Wars: Galactic Racer – October 6
- Kingdom Hearts 1-3 Switch 2 ports – October 8
- Dragon’s Dogma 2: Dark Arisen – October 9
- Planet Zoo 2 – October 13
- Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse – October 13
- Toy Story Retro Round Up / Toy Story 3 Remaster – October 13
- Tales of Eternia Remastered – October 16
- Final Fantasy Resonance – October 22
- Nintendo Switch Sports Resort – October 22
- One Piece Grand Gourmet – October 23
- CoD: MW4 – October 23
- Hello Kitty Party Land – October 29
- Phantom Blade Zero – October 29
- No Rest for the Wicked – October
- Godzilla Destroy All Monsters – November 3
A few things to keep in mind: There are some Switch 2 ports I didn’t include because not all of them are super high-priority, and this list was already so big. Also, it’s very possible I missed something that should be on here. Please let me know in the comments.
That said, the list above is already massive and filled with just about every kind of game you can imagine, from big AAA titles to indie games, to sequels, to remakes, remasters, and retro re-releases. There’s something for everyone. In fact, there’s too much. Far too much. Some of these need to be delayed until 2027. Please.
Some good reasons to delay your game!
Sure, you can argue that you don’t have to play a game on release day. Which is true! But so much of the industry is built around those first few days and weeks when a cool new game (ideally) has its time in the spotlight, perhaps dominating the cultural conversation or at least being part of it. Studios can get shut down if a game flops out of the gate, and that can’t be undone if a game finds its audience later on.
When so many things launch in a short span of time, stuff gets buried quickly by the algorithm and by other games, making it harder for people to even find out that a game they might want to buy has already launched. It’s a bad situation for gamers and devs.
And of course, for us in games media, this list is terrifying. Even if all the sites covering this field that used to exist still did and they were staffed properly, this would be a scary list. But the games media in 2026 isn’t close to being prepared to properly take on the tidal wave of games, big and small, about to hit us in September and October. And that sucks for readers, game makers, publishers, fans, and everyone else involved.
So I’m here to ask that at least, like…20 of these games get pushed back until February or March of 2027. Or maybe one or two can be brave and launch around GTA 6‘s release date. Sure, you’re taking on GTA 6, the biggest video game release in decades. But time it right and you’ll have a full week or more mostly to yourself before Rockstar’s giant open-world game arrives and buries everything.
Anyway, good luck out there, folks. Pace yourselves, wait for sales, and drink plenty of water.
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