Game Control: Game Awards Sweep The Month Of December; Exciting Releases Await in 2026
Console: This year’s Game Awards show concluded one of the best years in gaming with an award sweep from 2025’s Game of the Year, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Overall, this has also been the year for long-awaited franchise successors, all likewise nominated for Game of the Year: Hades 2, Hollow Knight: Silksong, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, and Death Stranding: On The Beach. The trend is likely to continue, especially considering some of the trailers and game announcements made during the award show. Alongside Larian Studios’ Divinity and Remedy Entertainment’s Control: Resonant trailers, Housemarque’s Saros announcement is likewise one of the most surprising moments in the show. English actor Rahul Kohli stars as Arjun Devraj in the world of Carcosa - a literary reference to the 1895 work “King in Yellow” - searching for answers in the face of a dying Sun and an ever-changing planet. Saros is going to be a cosmic horror roguelite just like Returnal (2021), which was highly rated for its atmosphere and gameplay. Kohli expressed his excitement over the role in a post on Instagram, stating that it was a “dream come true.” The game is set to release on April 30, 2026.
Compulsion Games’ South of Midnight, originally released in April 2025, won the award for Games for Impact at the Game Awards this past week for its story, which draws from Southern American and Deep South folklore. Starring American actress Adriyan Rae in the role of Hazel Flood, South of Midnight has successfully revitalized the Gothic American narrative genre and high-quality and detailed stop-motion animation in video games. The game focuses heavily on family ties, with Hazel and her mother Lacey’s relationship being the main point of the overarching story, and it delivers a bittersweet ending for everyone involved. As a result of the nomination and subsequent win, South of Midnight is going to be released on Nintendo Switch 2 in 2026. This was announced during the award acceptance speech by the developers on stage.
Nintendo and Retro Studios’ Metroid Prime 4: Beyond was finally released on December 4, 2025, nearly eighteen years after 2007’s Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. Starring Erin Yvette as legendary intergalactic bounty hunter Samus Aran, the 4th instalment in the Metroid Prime line-up is an incredibly polished experience, whether in terms of gameplay or art/sound direction. Many have praised the controls and how seamless gameplay felt in pivotal moments, and the visuals have been praised for how faithful they are to the original setting while at the same time a step-up from older graphics. It has been labeled by IGN as the franchise’s “best entry point to the series,” which is a lot of praise considering how important Prime 4’s predecessors are to gaming culture, with Samus in particular being a staple in video game main characters.
Mobile: Wuthering Waves, developed by Chinese studio Kuro Games, won the Players’ Voice Award despite stiff competition against current Game of the Year Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and the newly-released Dispatch. Even though the game lost the Best Mobile Game award to fellow showstopper Umamusume: Pretty Derby, this bodes very well for the mobile game industry in general, as it proves they can stand up to bigger PC and console games. There was an additional trailer shown during the awards show of a new update to the game to roll out January 2026, and rewards are expected for players as a ‘thank you’ for the award.
Another exciting announcement for gacha and RPG game fans is the final release date for Arknights: Endfield, set for January 22, 2026. The game was announced with fanfare at the Game Awards, with American pop rock band One Republic performing the game’s title track, Give Me Something. Endfield is a spin-off from the original tower-defence-oriented Arknights, with similar worldbuilding but more action-RPG oriented. The game’s musical trailer was a pivotal part of the songs showcased during the Game Awards, and the performance was highly lauded by critics.
PC: The Gang of Dragon trailer premiered at The Game Awards as the new game from former Yakuza/Like a Dragon director and Sega veteran Toshihiro Nagoshi. The game will star Korean actor Ma Dong-seok - known in Hollywood for his role as Gilgamesh in Marvel’s Eternals and also for his breakout role in Train to Busan - navigating a thrill-sought life thematically similar to Nagoshi’s previous work. Considering the cheers of the audience during the trailer and subsequent online buzz, it’s safe to say Nagoshi’s return to Yakuza-style games has not gone underappreciated. The game has no release date yet.
