Now that we’re in to February, what are some games you’ve been eyeing up with a 2026 release date that you’re excited to pick up? Are you planning to pick them up on release, or are you going to wait until a sale?
Me personally, I’ve got three titles I’m actually feeling quite excited for: Hela, Paralives and the Gothic 1 Remake. I’ve been waiting for Hela and Paralives for years because they look like fun, cozy games built by passionate devs - and the Gothic 1 Remake just popped up in my feed one day and I’m itching to get a chance to have my first Gothic experience!


My backlog is so long that I don’t tend to look forward all that much, I just wishlist and move on and then check in around release for reviews to see if they’re worth keeping wishlisted or not. So I don’t have a huge handle on the exact titles that are slated to be released this year.
I have been following Mouse: PI For Hire for a long time, though, so I am quite looking forward to that one (provided it turns out good).
As if my backlog wouldn’t be long (I have way over 1k games on Steam) enough, Steam forces me to buy games for cheap all the time. Just today I purchased Mortal Kombat 1 with all DLCs for 7.50 or something. How can I say no as someone who plays fighting games from time to time, and want to see how the MK series evolved?
As if that is not enough, I am also emulating old games from 80s up today and even Switch… As if that wouldn’t be enough, I am also playing free to play life service games (only one at a time) like Marvel Rivals…
Honestly, I’ve switched up my habits on that front myself - I’ve started clearing out my backlog of things that I think are cool but I know I’m just not going to play.
Mouse P.I though is an incredible one, I haven’t been following the progress but the rubber hose animation and the attention to detail on their art direction is top notch - I’m hoping it launches as a fun to play game.
It’s been really cool watching the project evolve, it started out feeling like a cool kind of “oh yeah, I guess this is public domain now so you can do something like this” kind of vibe, and slowly it evolved and grew its own distinct identity. It’s so much more interesting now than the initial concept trailers.
Ultimately as an FPS it will live and die by its gunplay, but as long as it’s at least “good enough” I think the art direction and creativity will get it the rest of the way. Sort of the same as with Bioshock (which clearly was a big inspiration for the developers).