Top Games 2026

0:00 We rank The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Nintendo's Switch 2 remake, the number 1 game of 2026. It holds a Metascore of 96 and an OpenCritic average of 95 from 73 critics, both read Nov 11, 2026, for a score of 95.5 under our rule, three points clear of Forza Horizon 6 at 92.5. It leads without any audience bonus: six days after its Nov 5 launch, Nintendo has published no sales figure, and the only measure so far is a UK boxed chart where it opened at number 1, about 35% ahead of Breath of the Wild's launch. We think the sharper story is below it: five games tie at 91.0, and the one with the lowest review average of the five, Phantom Blade Zero, drew the biggest Steam crowd of any game on the list. This is 2026 so far, read on Nov 11, 2026, with Grand Theft Auto 6 still to come.

We think Grand Theft Auto 6 takes number 1 from Zelda before the year ends. Rockstar's page gives it a release date of Nov 19, 2026 on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, and we expect a review average of 93 or more plus the full 3 point bonus once Take-Two states its sales, which would put it above 95.5.

Confidence: Likely. Check by: Jan 2027.

The top 22 games of 2026

Best first: each game's score is the average of its Metascore and its OpenCritic average, plus 0 to 3 points for sales its maker has stated or its all-time Steam peak, all read on Nov 11, 2026.

Each clip is the maker's or publisher's own upload: a launch trailer where one exists, otherwise an announcement, release date or main trailer.

The top five, and why they sit where they do

1. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (95.5). A remake, out Nov 5, 2026 on Switch 2 only. OpenCritic shows 100% of its 73 critics recommending it. Its score is pure reviews. We think that makes its lead the safest on the page in one way and the weakest in another: nothing here can catch it on reviews, but it is the only top five game whose audience we cannot yet measure.

2. Forza Horizon 6 (92.5). Out May 19, 2026. Playground Games said more than 6 million people played in the first week, a count that includes Game Pass, and SteamDB records an all-time peak of 302,645 on May 24, 2026. Either figure alone earns the +2. OpenCritic's average rests on 168 reviews, more than twice Zelda's count.

3. Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter (91.0). Nihon Falcom's remake, out Sep 17, 2026, has the second-best review average of the year (90 and 92) and no sales statement we could find. We think it is the most underrated game on the list: it sits level with Resident Evil Requiem on score while appearing nowhere on the Golden Joystick shortlist.

4. Big Walk (91.0). House House's game, out Aug 4, 2026. Its publisher, Panic, announced a million copies six days after launch. Its Steam peak, 46,409, falls just short of our 50,000 line, so the sales statement is what earns its point.

5. Resident Evil Requiem (91.0). Out Feb 27, 2026. Capcom's own list puts it at 8.50 million units as of Sep 30, 2026, and SteamDB records a peak of 344,214 on Feb 28. It loses the tie with Big Walk and Trails only because its review average is a point or two lower.

Pokémon Pokopia and Phantom Blade Zero complete the five-way tie at 91.0. Pokopia has the same 89 and 89 as Requiem on 131 OpenCritic reviews against 238. Phantom Blade Zero, out Oct 29, 2026, reaches 91.0 from the lowest review average of the five (88) because its Steam peak of 833,921 on Nov 1, 2026 is the largest of any game ranked here.

How we ranked

Score = (Metascore + OpenCritic top critic average) / 2 + audience bonus.

• Review scores. Metascores come from Metacritic's 2026 list by Metascore (pages 1 and 2, down to 82). OpenCritic averages and review counts come from each game's own OpenCritic page, found through OpenCritic's 2026 list (pages 1 to 7, down to 81). All read on Nov 11, 2026.
• Audience bonus. +1 for 1 million copies sold or players stated by the maker or publisher, or an all-time Steam peak of 50,000 on SteamDB. +2 for 5 million or a peak of 250,000. +3 for 10 million or a peak of 500,000. A game gets the larger of the two, never both added. Analyst estimates do not count.
• Who can be ranked. A game first sold in 2026, with a score on both sites and at least 40 critic reviews on OpenCritic. Full remakes count as new games. Remasters, ports, collections, new editions and expansions of games from earlier years do not.
• Ties. The higher review average goes first, then the larger OpenCritic review count.

What that leaves out, by name:

• Re-releases and expansions: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Remastered (92 at Metacritic), Resident Evil 2: Deluxe Edition (93), Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition (90), DOOM: The Dark Ages - Revelations (91) and Dave the Diver: In the Jungle.
• Games that left Early Access in 2026: Valheim's 1.0 release averages 89.5, but OpenCritic counts only 24 reviews and it was on sale in Early Access before 2026. Enshrouded is left out for the same reason.
• Too few reviews: Mythmatch has OpenCritic's second-best 2026 average, 93, from 6 reviews. Hermit and Pig has 8, Desktop Explorer 7.
• Big names that scored lower: Marvel's Wolverine has a Metascore of 75. Gears of War: E-Day averages 86.0 (87 and 85) with no stated figure. Final Fantasy Resonance averages 85.0 (85 and 85). Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 averages 84.5 (85 and 84), and Activision has stated no sales figure we could find. Onimusha: Way of the Sword reaches 86.0 with its 1.70 million on Capcom's list.
• Not out or not scored: Grand Theft Auto 6 (Nov 19). Slay the Spire 2 and Subnautica 2, both in Early Access, appear on neither site's 2026 list.

What the rule cannot see: console players (only Steam publishes a peak), Game Pass and PlayStation Plus players unless the maker counts them, and any game whose maker stays silent. Late releases are also at a disadvantage, since sales statements take weeks to arrive. Mina the Hollower's last stated figure in our reading is from its first three days.

What we think

We think Metacritic's own 2026 list flatters the year's re-releases. Its second and third places today are Resident Evil 2: Deluxe Edition and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Remastered, new editions of games from earlier years. A list of the best games of 2026 should be made of 2026's games, which is why ours starts the same way as Metacritic's and then parts from it at once.

We think OpenCritic's list has the opposite flaw. Its number 2, Mythmatch, rests on six reviews. A floor of 40 reviews costs our list a few well-liked small games, and we think that is the right trade: a 93 from six critics and a 91 from 168 are not the same kind of fact.

We think the Golden Joystick Awards shortlist undersells the year. Its 12 Ultimate Game of the Year nominees include eight games from our list and leave out Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter, Mina the Hollower and Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave, three of our top nine, while finding room for Control Resonant and The Blood of Dawnwalker, which both sit at 83 on Metacritic. The ceremony was set for Nov 11, 2026, and its result was not published when we read.

We think 007 First Light is the list's most overrated big game by reputation and its most fairly placed by the numbers: Circana's US chart had it third for the year through Oct 3, 2026, yet 87 and 87 put it 14th here. Selling well and reviewing well are different things, and the bonus is capped at 3 so that the first can never fully stand in for the second. Our ranking of online worlds, where player counts matter more than reviews, is a separate page, Top MMORPGs 2026.

Sources

• Best games of 2026 by Metascore, Metacritic, pages 1 and 2, read Nov 11, 2026
• Marvel's Wolverine, Metacritic, read Nov 11, 2026
• Best games of 2026, OpenCritic, read Nov 11, 2026, and its game pages: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Forza Horizon 6, Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter, Big Walk, Resident Evil Requiem, Pokémon Pokopia, Phantom Blade Zero, Mina the Hollower, Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave, Schrödinger's Call, Mewgenics, Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve, Well Dweller, 007 First Light, Denshattack!, Star Wars: Galactic Racer, Saros, Nioh 3, Esoteric Ebb, OPUS: Prism Peak, Pragmata, Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection, Valheim, Mythmatch, Hermit and Pig, Desktop Explorer, Gears of War: E-Day, Final Fantasy Resonance, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4
• SteamDB charts, read Nov 11, 2026: Forza Horizon 6, Resident Evil Requiem, Phantom Blade Zero, Mewgenics, Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve, Big Walk, Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection
• Platinum Titles, Capcom, as of Sep 30, 2026, read Nov 11, 2026
• Sales units of Nintendo Switch 2 software, Nintendo, as of Sep 30, 2026, read Nov 11, 2026
• Grand Theft Auto VI, Rockstar Games, read Nov 11, 2026
• ACE COMBAT 8: WINGS OF THEVE Soars to Million Seller, Bandai Namco Entertainment, Oct 9, 2026
• Forza Horizon 6 surpasses six million players in first week, Traxion, May 22, 2026
• Big Walk has sold over 1 million copies worldwide, Game Developer, Aug 11, 2026
• Nintendo and The Pokémon Company say Pokémon Pokopia hits 5M sold, GamesBeat, Aug 13, 2026
• Phantom Blade Zero sells four million copies in three days, GosuGamers, read Nov 11, 2026
• Mina the Hollower sells 300,000 in 3 days, PC Gamer, read Nov 11, 2026
• Mewgenics sells 1 million copies in just 1 week, PC Gamer, read Nov 11, 2026
• 007 First Light Sold 2.7 Million Copies In The First Week, The Outerhaven on OpenCritic, Jun 6, 2026
• Nioh 3 reaches one million sales, brings series to 10 million, GamesMarkt, Feb 20, 2026
• Ocarina of Time is the UK's second-biggest Zelda launch ever, GGRecon, Nov 9, 2026
• Golden Joystick Awards 2026 opens Ultimate Game of the Year voting with 12 nominees, KeenGamer, Oct 28, 2026
• Circana September 2026, Gaming Amigos, Oct 23, 2026