The 11 most exciting new video game releases for May 2026

The video game highlights of May include exclusives from Xbox and Nintendo, as well as new Batman and James Bond adventures.

April was a stacked month for new video games, with Capcom’s golden streak continuing with the wholly original Pragmata, Xbox’s uniquely quirky multiplayer game Kiln, and Sony’s Returnal successor, Saros.

Meanwhile, on the indie front, Vampire Survivors spin-off Vampire Crawlers successfully translated its moreish formula into an old-school dungeon crawler and Xenonauts 2 helped to fill the XCOM 3 shaped hole in our lives.

Looking ahead, May stands to be just as packed with hotly anticipated games, both from big publishers and indies, which we’ve highlighted below along with their release dates and platforms.

Mixtape

PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch 2, PC

While Mixtape undoubtedly radiates Life Is Strange and Lost Records: Bloom & Rage vibes, Mixtape is not the next game from either Don’t Nod Entertainment or Deck Nine Games, but instead Australian studio Beethoven & Dinosaur.

Much like Lost Records, Mixtape aims to tell a coming of age story set in the 1990s, but the similarities end there as Mixtape centres around a group of teens reminiscing on their school years as they head for a party after their final day of school.

It also features stop motion inspired animation and is billed as being very ‘soundtrack driven,’ complete with music from artists like Devo and The Smashing Pumpkins.

Release date: May 7

Directive 8020

It’s been four years since the last entry in The Dark Pictures Anthology series, Supermassive Games’ horror franchise that has seen multiple releases since it kicked off in 2019.

The fifth game, Directive 8020, has long been promised and we have high hopes for this one since after a rough start, The Dark Pictures has steadily improved with each entry.

This game is sci-fi themed so it’s obviously taking inspiration from the likes of Alien, The Thing, and Event Horizon, with a group of astronauts trapped inside a crashed spaceship with a shapeshifting monster.

Release date: May 12

Call Of The Elder Gods

PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch 2, PC

In 2020, Spanish studio Out of the Blue released its debut title Call Of The Sea, a first person adventure game that saw you solve puzzles as an explorer in search of her missing husband.

It reviewed well and was clearly enough of a success for the studio to move onto a sequel; one that looks to be doubling down on its Lovecraftian inspirations.

Out of the Blue is promising more mind-bending puzzles, with you able to swap control between two playable protagonists, though there’ll be adjustable difficulty settings for anyone who finds themselves struggling.

Release date: May 12

Forza Horizon 6

Xbox Series X/S, PC

The first major Xbox release of the year, Forza Horizon 6 at long last takes the series to Japan, with developer Playground Games boasting a massive open world inspired by the real-life Kantō region.

550 cars will be available at launch for all your racing needs, and you’ll also have access to an estate that you can freely customise and decorate. The trailers hint at some kind of giant robot too, but it’s still not clear if it’s just a decoration or something more.

Forza Horizon 6 is scheduled for PlayStation 5 as well but, unlike other recent Xbox releases, this version won’t be launching until later in the year, despite how successful Forza Horizon 5 was on Sony’s machine.

Release date: May 19

R-Type Dimensions 3

PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo Switch, PC

R-Type and its sequel remain the best 2D shooters of their time, and the R-Type Dimensions EX remasters are perfect for newcomers to the genre and nostalgic fans alike.

So, it’s about time that SNES R-Type 3: The Third Lightning got the same treatment, with R-Type Dimensions 3 promising another modern remake – although thankfully not without the option to swap to the original graphics and music.

Given the original SNES version was famous for its crippling slowdown this could easily be the definitive version, even if the remake graphics seem a bit clinical.

Release date: May 19

Coffee Talk Tokyo

PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo Switch, PC

Visual novel Coffee Talk is among the most darling-est of indie darlings and a go-to for those looking for cosier and chiller vibes in their games, although it lacks the cyberpunk dystopian atmosphere of the similarly structured VA-11 Hall-A.

Instead of cocktails, Coffee Talk has you making coffee for the fantastical cast of characters who visit your shop. As you can guess from the name, the usual Seattle setting has been swapped out for Tokyo and your customers are Japanese yōkai though they’ll still have woes and worries you can help with.

A free demo is already available across all platforms, except for Switch and Switch 2, for some reason.

Release date: May 21

Yoshi And The Mysterious Book

Nintendo Switch 2

After the last couple of Yoshi-centric platformers, expectations were rather low for Yoshi And The Mysterious Book, but after our preview session, this promises to be far more interesting than expected and equally entertaining for little kids and adults.

Discovering and naming the various creatures you encounter is amusing enough, but each one interacts with the environment in different ways, opening up a lot of potential for puzzle-solving and elevating Yoshi And The Mysterious Book above being a perfunctory platformer.

It’ll be interesting to see how this performs, since it’s coming hot off the heels of Yoshi’s appearance in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, which itself has been another huge money maker for Nintendo.

Release date: May 21

Zero Parades: For Dead Spies

PC

The new game from Disco Elysium studio ZA/UM, the developers have made it clear that Zero Parades: For Dead Spies is neither a sequel nor a spiritual successor.

It certainly looks like one though, retaining very similar presentation and role-playing gameplay where progress is determined by dice rolls and skill checks. However, instead of an amnesiac cop, you play as a spy haunted by her failures and caught in a three-way power struggle.

A PC demo is available now but console owners will need to wait for a PlayStation 5 port, which only has a vague 2026 release window at the moment.

It’s worth noting that behind the scenes troubles means many key figures in Disco Elyisum’s development are no longer at ZA/UM, making Zero Parade’s ‘From the creators of Disco Elysium’ blurb a big point of contention.

Those former staff members have all split off to form their own studios and have announced completely separate Disco Elysium successors, such as Tangerine Antarctic.

Release date: May 21

Bubsy 4D

PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo Switch, PC

Amid all the failed 90s platformer mascots, Bubsy has only maintained relevancy into the 2020s thanks to a mix of internet memes and irony, while his games remain amongst the very worst of the era.

Under normal circumstances, we’d be quick to write off Bubsy 4D – the character’s first crack at a 3D platformer since the infamous Bubsy 3D in 1996 – as a bad joke, were it not for the pedigree of developer Fabraz.

The indie studio is responsible for the excellent Demon Turf and its sequel Demon Tides, and while we’re shocked it’d want to associate itself with Bubsy, its track record means we’ll very likely see the first genuinely good Bubsy game. Especially since first impressions of the free demo sound positive.

Release date: May 22

Lego Batman: Legacy Of The Dark Knight

PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC

After a surprisingly long period of no Batman-centric video games, just mandatory appearances in other DC fare like Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League and Warner Bros. crossover Multiversus, the Dark Knight is finally retaking centre stage.

Based on our preview, Legacy Of The Dark Knight is shaking up the Lego games formula quite a bit. Developer Traveller’s Tales is using Batman’s entire history to build an original story, albeit one that riffs on the live action movies, from the 1966 camp classic up to 2022’s The Batman, and various famous comic book stories.

It draws its combat inspirations from the Arkham games by Rocksteady and promises to be chockful of fan service. We just hope it’ll be consistently funny throughout, which it should be when it’s got Matt Berry voicing Bane.

While the game is scheduled for the Switch 2 as well, it still lacks an exact release date.

Release date: May 22

007 First Light

PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC

Hitman developer Io Interactive and James Bond felt like a match made in heaven when 007 First Light was announced back in 2020. This will be the first proper Bond game since 2012, and everything shown so far has us cautiously optimistic.

007 First Light tells a wholly new origin story for Bond, featuring a younger iteration of the character (played by Patrick Gibson of Dexter: Original Sin fame) and showing how he became a 00 agent.

While the game retains the Hitman series’ propensity for stealth and subterfuge, there promises to be plenty of high octane Bond-esque action set pieces and nods to the films.

007 First Light has been confirmed for Switch 2 as well, but it’s not slated to launch until summertime.

Release date: May 27

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