As Summer Game Fest season (aka not-E3 time) winds down and the dust settles, we can take a look at all the games that were announced. There were certainly a lot of games revealed, as well as a bunch of previously announced games that we got new looks at during this year’s summertime video game extravaganza. And a lot of what we saw was remakes, remasters, and re-releases.
It was during the PC Gaming Show on Sunday, when both a Thief and Company of Heroes remaster were revealed, that I realized just how many old games were being brought back in some form during Summer Game Fest season. Sitting down to put together a list, I kept discovering more and more remasters or remakes that had been announced between shows or during smaller showcases.
Here’s the full list of video game remasters, remakes, and/or retro re-releases that were either announced during the last week or so or were shown off in some capacity via a new trailer or teaser. Keep in mind some of these, like the Hitman trilogy and Barbie Rewind, contain more than one remastered game.
- The Wolf Among Us Remastered
- Rayman Legends: Retold
- Rayman Origins Enhanced
- Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee Remastered
- Arizona Sunshine (Non-VR remake)
- Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced
- Hitman Classic Trilogy Remastered
- Persona 4 Revival
- Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis
- Final Fantasy 7 Revelation
- Halo: Campaign Evolved
- Resident Evil: Veronica
- Company of Heroes: Definitive Edition
- Thief: The Dark Project Remastered
- Barbie Rewind
- Toy Story Retro Round-Up
- Toy Story 3: Complete Edition
- Dynasty Warriors 3 Remastered
As that list grew, I started feeling a strange mix of emotions. Some of these are definitely games I will play and enjoy. I’m very excited, for example, to have an easy and convenient way to play Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee. That sounds very nice. I’m also excited to play that new Tomb Raider and even more pumped to see Capcom remake Code Veronica.
But looking at that massive list of titles, I also can’t help but feel like the game industry is in a really bad place. Studios are struggling to get funding. Publishers are killing projects and getting more frugal. And layoffs are common across all game studios and companies, both big and small. Console prices are going up. Game prices are going up. People are buying fewer games in general as everything gets pricier and development cycles get longer and longer. Nobody wants to take a risk anymore.
So it makes sense that so many game publishers and studios are looking backwards at what succeeded in the past, what people liked and bought once upon a time, and bringing it back with a fresh coat of paint or some new features in the hopes that these appeals to nostalgia, which are cheaper and faster to produce, can keep everyone’s head above water for another quarter.
And remember, this is just a list of stuff that showed up during the Summer Game Fest shenanigans. There’s plenty of other remakes floating around, including a complete remake of the God of War Trilogy and a Splinter Cell remake. So this isn’t a new trend, but the last week or so has made it impossible to ignore that remakes, remasters, and retro re-releases are becoming a big part of the game industry.
While I’m happy that devs got to work on these games and weren’t unemployed, I’m also sad that this is what things have come to in 2026. And I dread what happens when even this strategy of reviving the past starts to fail and flop. Then what? I don’t know, and I have a feeling a lot of publishers don’t have an answer either. In the meantime, I’ll enjoy that new Rayman remake at least.