I love trying out new first-person shooters, but the genre doesn’t seem to drop games regularlyanymore. Let’s take October 2026 as an example: aside from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, what other major FPS games debut that month? Unless somebody keeps a very close eye on the non-franchise side of things, they probably won’t be able to answer that question. New shooters don’t feel like a big deal in 2026.
While not stacked with triple-A releases, October actually has an exciting lineup of FPS games, one of the best of the year. The month has 2026’s biggest shooter, a Warhammer 40K throwback, a cult classic remaster, and even gore-filled indie darlings. Heck, you could even count Valor Mortis as a Soulslike shooter, although melee seems to be that game’s priority.
All these games confirmed their release dates a while back, so this article breaks down what is to come in one accessible place. I’m only covering FPS titles releasing in October.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 Launches On October 23
October’s Triple-A FPS Game
- Confirmed for PC, PS5, Switch 2, and Xbox Series
- Developer: Infinity Ward
- Single-player and multiplayer
Well, we can’t ignore the biggest elephant in the room. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 is the only October FPS game that matters to thousands of players, and they have every right to be excited about Infinity Ward’s upcoming entry. Sure, COD isn’t coming off a particularly strong run of games, but MW4 seems to be taking steps to move things in the right direction.
Honestly, the most exciting news is the platform lineup; specifically, Modern Warfare 4 isn’t anchored to last-gen hardware. Activision finally decided to drop the PS4 and Xbox One for new releases, including confirming that those consoles will no longer run Warzone once MW4’s first season begins.
Beyond that, Infinity Ward has confirmed a few other things for MW4:
- The single-player campaign focuses on a full-scale invasion of South Korea and moves away from Makarov. The story splits its time between Task Force 141 and the Republic of Korea’s forces.
- DMZ returns in Modern Warfare 4, with an overhaul. This mode seems set to incorporate extraction-shooter mechanics, potentially making it a new pillar of modern Call of Duty.
- At launch, MW4 will have 12 core 6v6 multiplayer maps, a fairly lean lineup.
RetroSpace Kicks Off October In Style
A Disco-Punk FPS Game (And Immersive Sim)
- Confirmed for PC, PS5, Switch 2, and Xbox Series
- Developer: The Wild Gentlemen
- Single-player FPS game
- Check out RetroSpace‘s Steam demo
Releasing on October 1, RetroSpace comes from the team behind Chicken Police, although the upcoming shooter is pretty far removed from that noir visual novel. Blending immersive sim and cosmic horror elements, this disco-punk FPS drops you into a research station stuck in a black hole, with a groovy 1970s aesthetic. While the mustaches might suggest a comedic edge, RetroSpace instead embraces the terror of space through flashes of body horror and mutated monstrosities.
Like System Shock and Prey before it, RetroSpace drenches its setting, the Aurora 5 station, in atmosphere and personality, while crafting an interconnected map that encourages exploration and experimentation. Speaking of experiments, you can inject yourself with DNA mutations to unlock abilities, although Mutamods come with costly side effects.
I love a good boomer shooter, but not every FPS game needs to play like Doom. RetroSpace fills an often-overlooked niche, and the world could always use new immersive sims. Hopefully, this one delivers.
Paperhead Brings The Weird On October 9
A New FPS Game Set In A Cardboard World
- Confirmed for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series
- Developer: Paperhead te4m
- Single-player FPS game
- Check out Paperhead EP.0 on Steam for free
Yes! Let’s get to my pick for the most exciting-looking October FPS game, and I just love how different Paperhead seems from its contemporaries. Once again, you find yourself trapped in an abandoned research facility; this time, it’s built entirely out of cardboard, paper cutouts, and masking tape. Crucially, the facility has become overrun by animated drawings gone feral, and they present a danger far greater than a paper cut.
Paperhead is hardly the first game to blend “cute” with “oh my god, the blood,” but its papercraft and cardboard aesthetic presents a neat change of pace for a shooter. The novelty extends beyond the visuals, as traditional guns exist alongside the deadliest weapon imaginable: a pencil. You wield graphite as a world-changing weapon, allowing you to draw bombs on enemies, sketch escape doors, and solve puzzles. Maybe the pencil is mightier than the shotgun.
Focusing on the actual gunplay, Paperhead is a fast-paced boomer shooter with a satisfying dropkick and dismemberment physics. If you are remotely interested, I recommend trying Ep.0, which serves as a prologue anddemo.
Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2 Lands On October 14
A Pure Boomer Shooter
- Confirmed for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series
- Developer: Auroch Digital
- Single-player FPS game
- Check out the free Boltgun 2 demo on Steam
Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun was a pleasant surprise, and it is pretty comfortably among the franchise’s best FPS games. Admittedly, that’s not saying a lot, but it works well enough to be worth playing even by those who have never hailed the Emperor. Boltgun 2 builds directly on its predecessor’s ideas, and the campaign continues directly from the first game’s conclusion.
The sequel introduces a Sister of Battle, Nyra Veyrath, as a brand-new playable character designed to be considerably quicker than Malum Caedo, the Ultramarine protagonist of the first game (who is also playable in Boltgun 2). Their different playstyles seem to be the most game-changing innovation in the upcoming game, though we will also get new weapons to play with.
I enjoyed Boltgun quite a bit, but it wasn’t anything special compared to other modern boomer shooters. Boltgun 2 could be the jump-up the series needs.
You Are Empty Returns From The Dead On October 27
A Lost FPS Game Finds Its Way Onto Steam
- Confirmed for PC
- Developers: Digital Spray Studios, Mandel ArtPlains, Jordan Freeman Group
- Single-player FPS game
Remasters are a dime-a-dozen nowadays, but You Are Empty: Absolute Edition deserves a special mention for reviving a cult classic FPC game that has been abandonware for more than a decade. Although infamously buggy, the original 2006 release drew a small following for its oppressive atmosphere and desolate alternate-reality Soviet setting.
The Absolute Edition should fix most bugs and crashes and add modern quality-of-life features; you know, standard practice for a remaster. The real highlight is that You Are Empty will finally be available on Steam, hopefully introducing it to a new audience. We need more remasters like this.
