A drinking game you could have played during today’s big Sony State of Play would be to take a shot every time a game was shown to be launching later in the year, but nowhere near Grand Theft Auto 6‘s November 19 launch date. You shouldn’t play that game, though, as you’d be completely shitfaced and passed out by the end of the event, as every publisher is seemingly unwilling to compete with GTA 6 later this year.
During June 2’s big State of Play, every single game that had a release date attached to it or revealed during the event avoided November like the plague. Every single time a game announced or reconfirmed a release date, it was sometime between mid-August and mid-October. The few exceptions were games that just skipped 2026 altogether and hopped into 2027, like Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis.
Here’s a list of all the games at the event that had a release date attached beyond just “2027” or “Coming Soon.”
- Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls – August 6
- Marvel’s Wolverine – September 15
- Dune Awakening console release – September 22
- 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
- Rayman Legends Retold – October 1
- Dynasty Warriors – October 1
- No Rest for the Wicked – October
- Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis – February 12, 2027
Not a single November release date in that pile. That does mean all of these games get to avoid launching near or right after GTA 6, likely to be one of the biggest video game launches in history. But now a new problem has become clear: All of these games are about to crash into each other in a late-September/October pile-up the likes of which I’ve not seen before.
Keep in mind that the list above is just games that appeared during today’s State of Play. There are other games launching in this same crowded window. Here are some more games coming out in that time period:
- The Blood of Dawnwalker – September 9
- Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IV – September 17
- Star Wars: Galactic Racer – October 6
- Planet Zoo 2 – October 13
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 – October 23
Yeah…that’s a giant mess. I imagine at least some of these games are going to slip out of 2026 and into 2027 to avoid the pile-up, but not every publisher can do that, and some of these are going to have to launch as planned. It’s going to be a wild mess. It almost makes you wonder if some of these publishers should have slipped in right before GTA 6 to avoid the crowd.
And there’s more Summer Game Fest 2026 to come this week, so I bet a few more big games will plant their flag in September or October. Good luck to game critics out there trying to review and cover all this later in the year, and to players everywhere trying to budget for the onslaught.