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The meteoric rise and sustained success of Embark Studio's new third-person extraction shooter, ARC Raiders, will be one for the history books of the video game industry if things keep going the way they are currently going. A new report from Alinea Analytics claims that for the third consecutive month, ARC Raiders was the number one selling title across Steam, PlayStation, and Xbox. That month was, of course, January 2026, during which Alinea Analytics says ARC Raiders sold an additional 1.5 million copies just on Steam. On PlayStation and Xbox, it combined for an additional 1.7 million copies sold, bringing […]
Read full article at https://wccftech.com/arc-raiders-dominance-continues-reportedly-stands-as-top-selling-game-across-steam-xbox-and-playstation-for-third-consecutive-month/
No other medium can make you wish you'd left your lights on quite like horror games. There's a unique fear these games can generate in you, thanks to their interactive, dynamic nature, and looking ahead, we're expecting our hearts to be subjected to several dangerously high jolts with all the creepy entertainment on the way. Last year saw some terrifically terrifying titles released, but 2026 could raise the bar for the genre thanks to dozens of games that cover everything from Lovecraft-inspired dread to gory body-horror that would make Hollywood director David Cronenberg proud.
To help prepare you for an upcoming fright night, we've rounded up 30 highly anticipated horror games below. Some of them have release dates penciled in–subject to change–but others have yet to commit to a release date ahead of their PC and console releases. While we're expecting many of these games to be out this year, you can also check out our picks for the best horror games to play right now.
Just like your favorite horror movie slasher refusing to stay down for long, there was bound to be a roguelike deckbuilder on this list eventually! The Spirit Lift leans heavily into retro horror in its design, combining '90s vibes with a haunted hotel setting. After discovering a magical elevator that can transport them to 13 monster-filled floors, eight teenagers have to gather cards and gear to prepare themselves for the boss that awaits them at the end, while also battling the creatures roaming the corridors of the hotel in this nostalgic tribute to a decade of screams.
Scream queens are not welcome in I Hate This Place, as one wrong sound can spell your doom. Developed by Broken Mirror Games and adapted from the comic book of the same name by artist Artyom Topilin and writer Kyle Starks, I Hate This Place is a fusion of '80s horror vibes and scavenging gameplay mechanics. With deadly monsters prowling a dark alternate dimension, it's up to the protagonist Elena to scavenge for supplies and fight back as quietly as possible in this dark adventure.
With a 1.0 release on the horizon, fans of survival-horror with a violent edge can soon check out the full version of Folklore Hunter. As a world-renowned hunter of supernatural beasts, it's up to you to track down urban legends across the globe and prepare for a showdown with these nasty cryptids. The game can also be played in co-op mode, allowing hunting parties to set traps, strategize together, and discover deadly secrets in the forests around them.
Slay the Princess developer Black Tabby Games has been playing to its strengths with Scarlet Hollow, an episodic visual-novel game full of hard choices, paranormal mysteries, and creepy monster designs inspired by Appalachian myths. Kicking off in Steam Early Access, each new episode has brought new chills and twists to players so far. The fifth episode--of a planned seven-episode run--is out soon, and we can't wait to see what new horrors are lurking in the sleepy town of Scarlet Hollow.
Horror is at its best when it's a shared experience, and Reanimal aims to deliver some social scares with its co-op adventures. With development led by the creators of Little Nightmares 1 and 2, there's some terrific pedigree to the atmospheric dread on display here. As orphaned siblings on the run and looking to reunite with their friends, players will have to rely on their wits to escape a nightmarish island.
When a cruel god traps her in a deadly prison, Maya is forced to run, jump, and reverse gravity on her quest to reunite with her family. Imagine Hellraiser's set design meets Celeste, and you'll have a good idea of what to expect from this unsettling psychological-horror platformer.
The next mainline entry in the Resident Evil series could be a highlight reel of what makes the franchise so special. With dual protagonists in the form of FBI analyst Grace Ashcroft and legendary zombie-slayer Leon S. Kennedy, there's plenty of room for survival-horror and survival-action as the tension is dialed up to 11.
The early 2000s gave us several of the best survival-horror games that mixed psychological frights for good measure, and two decades later, Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly is getting a new lease on life. The remake aims to capture the same feel as the original 2003 game, with its emphasis on using the camera obscura to fight for their lives. You can expect updated visuals and quality-of-life gameplay improvements in this revival of the cult-classic game.
Do hordes of zombies outnumber you in John Carpenter's Toxic Commando? Absolutely. But are you outgunned? Hell no, because this survival-action co-op FPS wants you to revel in blasting your way through hordes of the undead. While there are some similarities to Left 4 Dead, Toxic Commando puts its own stamp on the formula by scaling everything up to massive proportions. Using Saber's proprietary Swarm Engine--the same one used to build entire zombie armies in World War Z--players will get to mow down impressively massive swarms of monsters across vast swathes of digital land.
A first-person psychological-horror game with a cinematic presentation, Project Songbird is the next title from Summerland and We Never Left studio Fyre Games. When a musician rents a cabin in the remote Appalachian forest to help them overcome their writer's block, things quickly take a sinister turn in this nightmarish journey. Billed as a digestible horror game that can be completed quickly, Project Songbird also features a talented cast of voice actors like Valerie Rose Lohman (What Remains of Edith Finch), Jonah Scott (Date Everything), and Aleks Le (Persona 3: Reloaded).
Billed as an online co-op detective horror for up to three players, Shift at Midnight is all about the drudgery of supermarket employment, stocking shelves, and checking to see if any of your customers are secretly homicidal monsters. Featuring retro PlayStation-era graphics, Shift at Midnight starts as an investigative game where you have to examine your customers and prepare for the monster's arrival. Once you find it, survival isn't guaranteed when all hell breaks loose.
The Dark Pictures Anthology has traveled the world, but for the fifth entry in this horror series, developer Supermassive is headed to space. The Dark Pictures Anthology: Directive 8020 features a doomed spaceship, a crew of future victims, and a lurking alien threat, as well as a big change to how you play this choose-your-own-demise game. The game's monster can disguise itself as other lifeforms, creating a "real-time" threat to keep you on your toes constantly. Throw in stealth gameplay, improvised weaponry, and the new Turning Points save system that acts as a fast-travel system in the narrative game, and you could have a frightfully good time on your hands.
Alien: Isolation 2 was officially announced back in late 2024, and since then, details on the game have been more elusive than a Xenomorph on the hunt. The game director of Alien: Isolation, Al Hope, is helming the sequel. It has some big boots to fill, as 2014's Alien: Isolation is still considered to be a masterpiece of fear that pays tribute to its source material.
The team behind the Twin Peaks-like adventure game Virginia, Variable State, is back for a new horror game that blends first-person suspense with a highlight reel of movie influences. Citing the body-horror of movies like The Thing, The Abyss, and The Fly, the developer aims to capture the scares of the '80s in a first-person metroidvania set in an oceanic research facility. Miles underwater, the game can change dynamically as you play, throwing monsters at you when you least expect it.
First revealed during The Game Awards 2025, the debut of Forest 3 left us with plenty of questions. One thing we do know is that developer Endknight is once again in charge, and considering just how highly regarded The Forest and Sons of the Forest are in survival-horror circles, we can't wait to see what the studio is currently cooking up.
Grave Seasons looks quite different than your usual crop of cozy agriculture games, as it combines the usual themes of that genre--farming, romance, and making friends--with supernatural elements and a neat twist. The idyllic town of Ashenridge is home to a serial killer, and you'd better hope that they don't target you before you're ready to harvest your next crop.
Two studios that have helped turn several of the biggest horror franchises into popular video games--Illfonic and Gun Interactive--are teaming up to work on the crown jewel of slasher movies, Halloween. Players will have the option to step into the shoes of civilians looking to avoid being stabbed by Michael Myers and his favorite kitchen knife, or they can don his William Shatner latex mask and use his supernatural powers to ambush potential victims.
With old-school horror movie IP being mined for new video game projects, it was only a matter of time before the industry came knocking on Pinhead's door. Don't expect this to be another multiplayer game, as Hellraiser: Revival is ready to earn its M-rating. Developer Saber Interactive has such sights to show you, as it's working on a single-player survival-horror game adaptation of the sadomasochistic film series that'll be full of violent and erotic content.
You're stuck in a fortress, a mysterious entity has turned the joint into a body-horror nightmare, and the monsters are unpredictable in Ill. Another game that left us feeling quite queasy the first time we saw it, the impressively gross art direction, visceral dismemberment system, and highly disturbing creature designs should all add up to create a memorable first-person experience when it eventually launches. We're also hoping that our electric bill is paid up, because there's no way that we're playing this in the dark.
We don't know when State of Decay 3 will be out, but Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days looks like a great option for anyone looking to scratch an itch for a zombie apocalypse game where you have to help fellow survivors reach a safe haven. The twist here is that Into the Dead is a side-scrolling shelter survival game where you'll need to craft weapons, scavenge resources, balance your group's needs--and most importantly--keep moving at all times.
The first Jurassic Park movie was full of terrifying moments once the dinosaurs began to run amok, and Jurassic Park: Survival is aiming to capture that prehistoric vibe with an original tale of survival 65 million years in the making. Taking place on the day after everything went to hell in the 1993 Jurassic Park movie, the game focuses on InGen scientist Dr. Maya Joshi as she battles to survive on Isla Nublar.
The creators of Soma delivered a stomach-churning experience when that game was first released, but for Ontos, you're going to want to make certain that you have a bucket nearby. A sci-fi mystery set at the repurposed moon hotel Samsara, Ontos feels like an unsettling exploration of the nature of reality. At the edge of existence, you can expect some imaginative body-horror that'll make you regret digging into a meal before you started playing.
Another game cloaked in mystery, development on Project C is being led by Sam Barlow, the game director behind the acclaimed Immortality. The teasers have been vague, but they hint at these new games using a similar cinematic approach to Barlow's other works.
While details are still scarce on this remake of 1999's Silent Hill, expectations are high for it. With development handled by Bloober Team--the studio behind Cronos: The New Dawn and the Silent Hill 2 remake--it's going to be interesting to see how this dive into classic psychological horror is reshaped for modern gamers.
Now that the Silent Hill renaissance includes superb entries like the Silent Hill 2 remake and Silent Hill F--as well as the terrible Silent Hill: The Short Message--there's still one more mystery game we're waiting to see more of in the form of Silent Hill: Townfall. Announced several years ago, there's been nothing but radio silence regarding this mysterious game, which is currently being produced by horror-genre experts No Code. Maybe 2026 will finally see concrete details emerge.
Frogwares is no stranger to horror and Lovecraftian nightmares, but for The Sinking City 2, the studio is looking to dial up the feeling of cosmic dread for any player brave enough to plunge themselves into the flooded city of Arkham. It looks like it'll tick the boxes for a spooky game, as survival-horror hallmarks like inventory management, optional puzzles, and backtracking are all present, as are the Deep Ones, Mi-gos, occult zealots, and other iconic monsters that you'll have to fend off.
The steaming springs of Stillwater has drawn lost souls to its healing waters in this lo-fi first-person exploration game from the studio behind Gone Home. Designed to evoke memories of late-'90s video games, Springs, Eternal focuses on subtle but unsettling horror as you explore subterranean caverns and meet mysterious characters during your investigation.
While it isn't technically a horror game, Subnautica 2 still has plenty of creepy underwater content inside of it. The open-water survival game is set on an all-new alien ocean world, teeming with life and danger. As a pioneer in this harsh frontier, you'll need to craft vehicles, tools, and bases to help you tame this undersea kingdom.
Point-and-click games from yesteryear seldom ventured into horror territory--pour one out for Phantasmogoria--but Ultrasound looks like a dreadfully delightful way to resurrect the genre for a new audience of fright-fans. As the medical officer serving aboard a space freighter, you'll need to investigate a mysterious infection in the vessel with your portable ultrasound machine, diagnose the symptoms, and perform surgeries on the ship's systems before something monstrous is born from the vessel.
The Initiative was a Welsh government facility that was left abandoned in the '60s following rumors of supernatural threats being unleashed inside of it. Are you brave enough to step inside and figure out just what the heck went wrong in this first-person survival-horror game? Currently in early access, The Victor Initiative has a tempting hook, as you have to make your way through winding halls and survive against the sinister threats lurking in each room.
Seemingly everyone from the history of Marvel movies will be returning to the big screen soon, if not for Avengers: Doomsday, then certainly for next year’s Avengers: Secret Wars. Avengers OG’s Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans are confirmed to be back, as are Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen from the Fox-era X-Men films. Plus, rumors have run rampant about literally anyone else who’s appeared in a Marvel movie.
Is Crimson Desert too good to be true, or is there some catch to all its open-world grandiose? Whatever the case may be, there’s certainly a demand for it, with Pearl Abyss announcing over two million wishlists for the title. Keep in mind that it’s still more than six weeks before the game launches worldwide on Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC.
While it’s likely that momentum really started to build when the release date was announced at last year’s Tokyo Game Show, the first of a three-part series diving into everything probably helped. It’s where we learned more about Kliff’s story, his mission to reunite the Greymanes, the Abyss and those who wished to covet its power, and more. Of course, it’s also where Pearl Abyss confirmed two more playable characters that could traipse around Pywel at will.
But as endearing as the campaign looks, it seemingly represents only a “small percentage” of the game. Marketing and strategic planning expert Will Powers recently revealed that it “truly expanded” after the credits rolled, and that he “had barely scratched the surface of certain factions and their entire quest lines.” That doesn’t include the size of Pywel, which surpasses that of Red Dead Redemption 2.
It’s even possible that Pearl Abyss could add even more content and features post-launch if there’s a demand. Regardless, Crimson Desert arrives on March 19th for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC, and we’re keen to see what else the developer has in store.
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