Autumn is traditionally one of gaming's busiest stretches, but GamesRadar+'s Fall Preview for 2026 suggests this year could be unusually crowded. The outlet has assembled a genre-by-genre Most Wanted list spanning blockbuster action games, survival horror, role-playing adventures, shooters, strategy releases, racing games, and smaller independent projects.
The preview acknowledges the enormous presence of Grand Theft Auto 6, which is set to release on November 19 according to the source material. Rather than center its selections on Rockstar's open-world giant, however, GamesRadar+ focuses on the games arriving around it. The publication notes that September and October appear especially dense, potentially because publishers are positioning releases before and after GTA 6's expected impact on player attention.
That leaves a remarkable number of games competing for the season's calendar. There are returning series with years of history behind them, including Onimusha, Castlevania, Gears of War, Fire Emblem, Final Fantasy, and Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War. They sit alongside newer projects such as Nighthawks, End of Abyss, and Star Wars: Galactic Racer. While any preview is necessarily an early assessment rather than a final verdict, GamesRadar+'s selections offer a useful picture of the genre variety planned for the final months of 2026.
Marvel's Wolverine leads the action-adventure picks
GamesRadar+ chose Insomniac Games' Marvel's Wolverine as its most wanted action-adventure game for the season. The game is described as a Logan-focused adventure with brutal berserker combat, a more concentrated linear structure, and a broad supporting cast. Insomniac's work on Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart and its Marvel's Spider-Man titles gives the studio considerable momentum, but the preview's emphasis is on how different Wolverine's tone appears to be from those previous PlayStation projects. It is scheduled as a PS5 exclusive on September 15.
Capcom's Onimusha: Way of the Sword is one of the runners-up, arriving September 4 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X. GamesRadar+ highlights a duel-focused combat system built around honing swordsmanship against supernatural enemies. Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve, meanwhile, is slated for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X on October 1, promising high-speed aerial encounters and expansive skies for fans of the long-running flight-action series.
Control Resonant and a major Witcher revisit represent RPG ambitions
Remedy Entertainment's Control Resonant is the preview's top action-RPG pick. The sequel moves its paranormal crisis beyond the confines of the Oldest House, with the Hiss reaching New York City and an Altered World Event threatening Manhattan. Jesse Faden's brother Dylan takes the central role this time. According to GamesRadar+, the game expands Remedy's approach into more explicit action-RPG territory, with a shapeshifting melee weapon called the Aberrant, substantial character development options, and power combinations designed for fast combat. It launches September 24 on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X.
Other action-RPG choices include Phantom Blade Zero, set for PC and PS5 on October 28, and Minecraft Dungeons 2, coming September 29 to PC, PS5, Switch 2, and Xbox Series X. GamesRadar+ points to the latter's expanded depth and four-player co-op as reasons it could appeal to players seeking an accessible alternative to loot-heavy action games.
For traditional RPGs, the outlet's winner is The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Remastered. The September 29 release is positioned as a major reworking of CD Projekt Red's celebrated fantasy RPG, with visual upgrades, a revised skill tree, a new looting system, combat adjustments, and further enhancements. GamesRadar+ reports that the remaster will be free for owners of the original game and will include its acclaimed expansions, even for players who did not previously purchase them. The source does not specify platforms for the remaster.
Final Fantasy Resonance is another notable RPG selection. Described as Square Enix's first HD-2D Final Fantasy game and a reimagining of Brave Exvius, it will bring turn-based battles and pixel-art-inspired presentation to PC, PS5, Switch, and Xbox Series X on October 22. The remake project Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter follows on September 17, continuing a trilogy that updates the original games with an anime-styled presentation and hybrid real-time, turn-based combat.
Silent Hill and Hellraiser headline a horror-heavy October
Survival horror has a prominent place in the Fall Preview. GamesRadar+ selects Silent Hill: Townfall as its most wanted horror release, calling it a particularly intriguing experiment for Konami's renewed Silent Hill line. Developed through a partnership between Screen Burn and Annapurna Interactive, the game takes place in the fictional Scottish town of St. Amelia. Its first-person viewpoint, stealth emphasis, and reliance on a CRT-style handheld device for protection evoke comparisons to Alien: Isolation in the preview. Silent Hill: Townfall is due September 24 for PC and PS5.
Remothered: Red Nun's Legacy follows on October 27 for PC, PS5, Xbox Series X, and Switch 2. GamesRadar+ sees the Italian horror series as spiritually connected to the pursuit-and-evasion tension of Clock Tower, and notes that Maggie Robertson, known for her role as Lady Dimitrescu in Resident Evil Village, voices the title character. Before then, Hellraiser: Revival arrives October 8 on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X. The outlet expects a boundary-pushing first-person survival horror treatment of Clive Barker's creation, mixing graphic imagery with combat and puzzle-solving.
Gears, Star Wars, and the return of classic formats
On the shooter front, GamesRadar+ gives the top slot to Gears of War: E-Day. The Coalition's prequel returns to Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago during 24 hours of catastrophe in a single city on Sera. The preview frames that tighter setting and more linear campaign as a purposeful return to the foundations of the series: heavy third-person gunplay, cover-based combat, and an overwhelming invasion. It is expected October 8 and is described as a key console-exclusive release for Xbox Game Studios, though the source does not list its platforms.
Modern Warfare 4 is next, scheduled for PC, PS5, Switch 2, and Xbox Series X on October 23. GamesRadar+ says Infinity Ward's package will include a cinematic campaign, multiplayer built from the foundations of Modern Warfare 2, and a revised DMZ mode. Witchfire, the gothic first-person shooter from The Astronauts, is also expected to leave early access on PC this fall after two years of refinement.
For Metroidvania fans, Castlevania: Belmont's Curse is the standout. Led by developers associated with Dead Cells and The Rogue Prince of Persia, it returns the series to side-scrolling exploration, whip movement, combat, and customization. It reaches PC, PS5, Switch, and Xbox Series X on October 15. End of Abyss and Silver Pines, both launching October 1 and October 8 respectively on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X, bring darker takes on the format. The former is a twin-stick action game from Section 9, while the latter combines exploration with survival-horror-inspired resource management.
Racing also gets an unexpectedly varied selection. Star Wars: Galactic Racer, the category winner, is a run-based arcade racer from veterans of Criterion. Due October 6 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X, it takes players into underground Outer Rim racing, with customizable vehicles, online multiplayer, a story campaign, and Podracer action. Hot Wheels Infinite Rush arrives September 10 on PC, PS5, Switch 2, and Xbox Series X with four islands and more than 150 vehicles, while Over the Hill takes a slower off-road route across an open world on October 14.
Strategy, survival, and indies round out the calendar
GamesRadar+'s strategy choice is Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 4, which launches December 3. The RTS will introduce the Adeptus Mechanicus faction and aims to modernize large-scale 40K warfare while retaining the spectacle of the tabletop setting. Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave, due September 17, is another major strategy prospect, with multiple heroes and intertwining story paths. Planet Zoo 2 arrives October 13, bringing its animal-park management across land, sea, and air.
The live-service and survival selections are led by RuneScape: Dragonwilds, which leaves early access September 15. GamesRadar+ sees Jagex's open-world survival game as a potentially compelling cooperative alternative to the studio's browser MMO legacy. Valheim reaches version 1.0 on September 9 for PC, PS5, Switch 2, and Xbox Series X, while Dune Awakening is planned for PS5 and Xbox Series X on September 22 alongside a single-player mode.
Finally, Nighthawks tops the indie category. The vampire RPG comes from developers with experience on projects including Sunless Seas and Hob's Barrow. Players take the role of a fledgling vampire rebuilding a nightclub sanctuary in a world where the supernatural is exposed, with alliances, secret vampiric abilities, 10 companions, full voice work, and more than 800,000 words of text. It is expected later in September. Toem 2 follows September 29, and Grave Seasons, a dark cozy simulation with horror elements, is expected this fall for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X.
Whether every game meets its early promise remains to be seen. Yet GamesRadar+'s Fall Preview makes one thing clear: even with GTA 6 looming in November, the months around it are filled with ambitious alternatives for virtually every kind of player.
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