Author: Fran Ruiz

After a tumultuous start to EA's rebooted Star Wars Battlefront series, in 2021 Lucasfilm and Disney decided to open up the development of new Star Wars games by bringing in different publishers and studios under the Lucasfilm Games banner. Now, over five years on, we can confidently say we're entering a new golden era of amazing Star Wars games.

With LucasArts' successor calling the shots and coordinating a multitude of projects set in a galaxy far, far away, even EA's latest efforts like Squadrons and the Jedi series have taken bigger and bolder swings. Now, in 2026, the full potential of the Star Wars universe has become clearer with specific releases squarely aimed at niche audiences.

It's become clear that future Star Wars games needn't be expensive endeavors full of familiar faces or concepts. Star Wars Zero Company and Galactic Racer's restrained scope and confidence have been infectious, and, as it turns out, they're already recognized by all the parties involved as double-A success stories.

Now this is podracing!

A Burnout-inspired Star Wars racer (created by a bunch of ex-Burnout devs) is a fantastic pitch if you know your video games, but looking at EA's recent and current direction, it's easy to see why it didn't happen under their reign. The original Burnout studio, Criterion, would have been an excellent candidate, but instead they were sent to work in the Battlefield mines. Still, someone was interested in the idea, and the end result is glorious.

Fast and furious, Star Wars: Galactic Racer ignores recent racing game trends and bets big on arcade-y vibes, uncomplicated controls, and a high skill ceiling that challenges you with extremely high speeds, tight turns, and unexpected interruptions as other drivers try to ruin your day.

The not-so-secret sauce, however, was its runs-based structure, which injects the flexibility and replay value of roguelite games into the more traditional arcade racing structure that older gamers are familiar with.

Fully confident in its central gameplay idea and devoid of modern live-service baggage, Fuse Games' debut title makes the most of the Star Wars setting within the restrictions of simply making a fun and engaging Star Wars racer.

It's almost the same approach we felt in Zero Company, a turn-based tactical strategy-RPG that comes from the minds of another team of ex-triple-A developers. "Star Wars but XCOM" should've happened earlier, but we're glad it did this year, and, unsurprisingly, it's a banger.

The correct read of their success should be obvious (and so far, it appears the powers that be are seeing it): Let seasoned and fresh developers cook games they're excited about.

Big, medium, or small, players will react positively to experiences that really feel genuine and aren't brought down by tacked-on systems or monetization. Ubisoft's Massive Entertainment also got it right with Star Wars Outlaws, but that ambitious open-world title — hardly a fresh pitch nowadays — also faced high sales expectations due to an inevitably gigantic production budget.

Do or do not. There is no try.

Allowing Star Wars to get weirder and more specific could also help the movie and TV side of things. We know Star Wars has finally locked in clearer big-screen plans for the coming years, and with Disney Plus TV series being seemingly scaled down and targeting more distinct stories better suited for a non-theatrical medium, the crowds' responses to Lucasfilm Games' wins shouldn't be overlooked.

You can't manufacture a viral character like Biddy Blas, arguably Star Wars' most popular new character since Grogu's debut in 2019. It just happens. And it happens naturally if Star Wars is allowed to explore the weird corners of a galaxy.

Devoid of ties to the larger canon and set away from the Imperial era, Galactic Racer makes the post-war period richer by going smaller. It's a reminder of much of the promise introduced by The Mandalorian's first season, before it became distractingly "relevant" to the larger saga.

Even the Clone Wars-set Zero Company keeps things relatively low-profile. Yes, major characters like Anakin Skywalker make cameos, but they don't rob the A-Team and Suicide Squad-inspired tale of camaraderie and subterfuge of its valuable independence. Sure, hits like Andor and Rogue One were obvious inspirations for its tone, but the story stands alone, allowing even Star Wars newcomers to jump in and enjoy it with minimal context.

At a time when giant decades-old franchises often struggle to recruit new fans, the last two Star Wars games reinforce the property's new direction in a medium that can reach more potential Padawans than any other.

The good trick? Just allowing Star Wars to be fresh and smaller — and with no homework required — from time to time. In turn, the larger stories on the horizon will be stronger with the Force.

If you were on the Internet in the early 2000s looking for free browser games to play, OGame was a blooming sci-fi strategy sensation that couldn't be ignored. With online servers providing the structure for a living and evolving universe where players fought, traded, and created empires from scratch, its limited visual presentation was no issue.

Times have changed, but GameForge hasn't gone anywhere. OGame has been ported to mobile devices, and content updates have kept it alive and fresh for much longer than a plethora of installable MMO games.

With the Orion update, which will hit the newly launched universes (servers) on November 6, OGame is introducing conflicts against non-player-character (NPC) enemies, wave-based battles, co-op missions, and completely new systems that can also be disrupted by other players.

The game's endurance and such a major reinvention are stunning achievements, so we asked GameForge's Martin Liedtke (Director, Products of Browser Games) and Enrico Mareth (Senior Project Manager for OGame PC and Mobile) about the many challenges of working on OGame alongside the community for so long, what Orion is bringing to the table, and what's next for this worldwide phenomenon.

Some quotes have been editorialized and lightly trimmed for better flow.

"OGame has an enduring core: You build an interstellar empire, and your decisions matter... Keeping it fresh means adding meaningful choices to that foundation," said Liedtke. "Orion adds missions against automated opponents (PvE) alongside missions open to other players (PvP)... It supports different appetites for risk."

The GameForge veteran noted, however, that it's the community that "supplies another kind of freshness" after the studio releases the new content. "We develop the systems; players create much of the history."

Part of this approach is keeping tabs on how very different kinds of players approach what's available. "Some commanders concentrate on their economy; others enjoy expeditions or carefully coordinated fleet operations... Orion follows that approach; more experienced players can dig into fleet composition, progression, and cooperation. The aim is to offer worthwhile choices."

Liedtke also noted that "OGame's PvP has become a sophisticated contest of information and coordination" over time. Some players like to scout targets and organize combined attacks when enemy fleets are vulnerable. Those battles resolve automatically, but it's the planning that "can be remarkably intricate," especially after so many years of updates.

The PvE in Orion doesn't sacrifice any of those intricacies or density. In fact, it's adding a "more structured layer" that gives players clear objectives. In most cases, they'll have to cooperate to obtain better rewards. "There is a strong case for introducing that kind of cooperative PvE earlier. It gives players another reason to build and use fleets together."

Over two decades later, how people choose to engage with OGame has changed, pushing GameForge to consider supporting new platforms. Today, mobile devices have become essential to free-to-play games' success over time.

Mareth told us their importance "has made touch controls, navigation, and clarity on smaller screens central development considerations," even if thousands of players still remain attached to PC as their main platform. "We're currently working on a design overhaul of the app, combining what we've learned with players' feedback."

Liedtke also said there is more overlap between PC and mobile players than you might imagine.

"The same player might check their empire on a phone and spend a longer session planning in the browser." Liedtke also noted that "Different playstyles also have different needs," adding that activities like mining and trading fit "comfortably" into short mobile sessions, but complex fleet operations benefit from sitting in front of one's PC.

While it's a game of interstellar conflict and sci-fi spaceships, OGame does take a lot of inspiration from real-life science, even if it stretches that science well past its limits. "When ships are destroyed in battle, the debris field can form a moon around a player's planet," explains Liedtke. "The chance (of that happening) is linked to the real lunar cycle: it is higher around a full moon than a new moon."

He noted it's a "playful connection" to astronomy, "rather than a simulation of how real moons form," but the developers thought it was cool to influence the game via things that happen in our own sky.

This possible in-game "event" also led to one of the best examples of player ingenuity in OGame: Moonshots. Liedtke explained that "players organize deliberate battles and exchange sacrificial fleets to help one another obtain those valuable moons. They have turned destruction into a cooperative project. For a designer, the lesson is to examine what players can achieve together, as well as what an individual action rewards."

As the team figured out how to develop "the more imaginative side of science fiction" in OGame's universe, they also decided to explicitly use deuterium for fusion research and as fuel. Star Trek fans will recognize this as the starship fuel of that universe, but it is a real substance: one of two stable isotopes of hydrogen. "Those scientific references give the universe familiar foundations," remarks Liedtke.

In OGame's shared galaxy, Orion is introducing "anomalies" as a central new feature, which Liedtke described as "mission sites you uncover with a new scanner" before it's required to send in ships. "Combat missions ask you to hold position against waves of automated fleets; peaceful missions put your cargo ships to work collecting rewards." The twist is these missions are open to co-op... but also to rival commanders that can attack the objectives marked as PvP. While you can theoretically ignore them, better rewards await for daring commanders.

With PvE bringing all sorts of new design opportunities to the table, Liedtke pointed out the Orion update "gives us a foundation to learn which kinds of missions players find rewarding" as GameForge looks to the strategy MMO's future. "Personally, I would like to explore encounters that make commanders reconsider what to send and how to work together. Discovery becomes more interesting when it changes your plan."

Sounds exciting, though Liedtke quickly added that this isn't an official announcement of future features.

OGame's 25th anniversary is in 2027, and while the team is tight-lipped on what the team has planned, Liedtke noted that "Reaching a quarter of a century in 2027 will be an extraordinary moment for OGame. We owe that longevity to the team's continued work and, above all, to the players who keep building empires, forming alliances, and giving this universe its stories."

OGame is available on PC (via browser and GameForge's own platform) and on mobile devices via the App Store and Google Play. The Orion update arrives on November 6, 2026.

Halo: Campaign Evolved was Xbox’s second attempt at refreshing the 2001 sci-fi FPS classic, and it is perfectly fine. A cromulent remake, if ever there was one, but it’s hardly a franchise-saver, especially as Xbox looks to rethink its studio structure and approach to renowned IPs like Halo or Gears of War.

Halo hasn’t been the same since original developer Bungie — now owned by Sony and working on Destiny and Marathon — departed, leaving 343 Industries (now Halo Studios) to guide the franchise.

Neither Halo 4 nor 5 meaningfully evolved the gameplay formula or overarching narrative. Halo Infinite found more success by reheating what “old Halo felt like” and sticking it into a half-baked open world, but it still felt far from the series’ glory days.

This year’s full remake of Combat Evolved's campaign delivered exactly what it promised: a shiny, 2026 version of the game that made audiences fall in love with the franchise. It was a clear attempt to reignite faith in 343’s vision, but how is a faithful, shinier remake proof of anything?

It might not even matter anymore, as the new Xbox leadership has rocked the ship again, leaving Master Chief and the universe’s future cloudier than ever before. Now, with rumors of a reboot being considered at new steward Activision, is there hope for the Spartans, or will Xbox run into another dead end?

Rebooted or not, Halo needs to leave Master Chief behind

It looks like the ‘Halo Studios’ moniker only lasted a single (remade) game, as Xbox has recently announced that Call of Duty maker and publisher Activision — which houses many FPS-oriented studios — is taking over development, essentially leaving the 343 veterans as a minor support studio, which translates into more layoffs.

If we put aside the human and institutional cost of this whole back-and-forth over the years (a big ask in today’s climate), there are reasons to be optimistic about the quality of an Activision-developed Halo. Regardless of what you think about the Call of Duty IP in 2026 and the publisher’s overall vision for it, it’s clear there’s plenty of talent holding everything together and, more importantly, enough experience to iterate on what Halo’s multiplayer side needs to shine bright again.

But this won’t fix the larger issue with Halo, which is that Master Chief should’ve been left behind long ago. Like it or not, it’s difficult to deny Halo’s “golden era” ended with Halo: Reach (Bungie’s swansong under Xbox) and the Halo Wars spinoffs, which took the series into the real-time strategy genre. These games were wildly different, but they had one core thing in common: they made the sci-fi setting feel bigger instead of smaller, offering the perfect blueprint to build upon in a post-Halo 3 world.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with the Master Chief. Franchises can be built around iconic characters like Mario or Lara Croft. But in the post-Bungie era, his role changed from an extremely competent Spartan soldier to a space messiah. Halo 4, 5, and Infinite used sci-fi nonsense to transform him into this larger-than-life figure, rendering the rest of the UNSC largely powerless in the process.

It’s the same mistake ID Software made with Doomguy, centering the story on how super special he is, and not on the world he inhabits. Now rumours are rumbling that Activision’s reboot might focus on Chief’s origins; that's the last thing Halo needs.

Are Halo 2 and 3 remakes happening?

Forgetting Activision’s next Halo for a second, we were teased with (even if there wasn’t an official confirmation from Xbox) at least a Halo 2 remake via Halo: Campaign Evolved’s alternative ending.

Back in May 2026, renowned insider Rebs Gaming confidently reported that Halo 2 and 3 remakes were in development. But can fans realistically expect them after new Xbox CEO Asha Sharma’s latest shakeup?

Halo Studios could have done a "fine" job with safe remakes of the two original Halo sequels while Activision handles new projects. It’s hard to reject that approach, especially after Xbox finding success with Bethesda’s The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered and confirming two Fallout remasters are in the works. It seems like money waiting to be made, but the remakes could be cooked too.

Xbox and 343/Halo Studios have made plenty of mistakes with Halo, but the killer has always been their lack of conviction in their ideas. And look, nostalgia shouldn’t be the driving force behind a franchise in dire need of reinvention, but I’m far more annoyed by the creative rollbacks, flip-flopping, and now the loss of knowledge and talent accompanying the gutting of Halo Studios.

Xbox Live Action

We haven’t even touched on the mess that was the live-action Halo show. It lasted only two seasons, had John-117 walking around outside the Mjolnir armor for most of its runtime, and was cancelled just as the story finally got to the titular Halo. Why would you stray so far from the source material, and how do you miss the mark so badly?

In many ways, it perfectly encapsulated what’s been wrong with Halo as a whole for so many years. The powers that be can’t decide what they really want from it, and thus it’s stuck, unable to leave the past behind or convincingly establish a new horizon for itself. Other franchises have run into the same issues — looking at you, Star Wars — but Halo has been stuck in this purgatory for 15+ years, as Xbox leaders and strategy shifts come and go.

Could Xbox’s newly-formed XP division deliver the focused big-screen adaptation the series has always deserved? I’m sure that’s the plan, but even a cursory glance back at Xbox’s handling of the franchise for the past decade or so says no.

Halo’s deep problems won’t be fixed overnight, and throwing a bunch of hard-working developers to the curb certainly won’t help. Halo’s current struggles didn’t come from Halo Studios or 343 Industries; they came from impatient and incompetent leadership calling the property-defining shots. I’ve seen nothing to suggest that’s changed.

The writing was on the wall, but the news still hit us like a truck yesterday. BioWare, the iconic RPG studio behind the Mass Effect and Dragon Age series, is no more. Development on the next Mass Effect has stopped, but EA might not be entirely done with the IP.

Variety reported, backed by EA’s own statement and BioWare’s goodbye on socials, that EA is laying off 3% of its global workforce and closing down BioWare. The shift comes shortly after the company went fully private this summer, with Saudi Arabia and private equity acquiring it alongside all its studios and properties.

A new Mass Effect game — meant to serve as a follow-up to the original trilogy — had been in development since the early 2020s, though progress was slow following severe downsizing after 2024’s Dragon Age: The Veilguard failed to meet EA’s expectations. According to Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, only around 50 staff remained at the studio, which would’ve needed to go on a hiring spree to complete development of the massive sci-fi RPG.

The first post-shutdown shocker arrived a bit later, with IGN exclusively revealing that Mass Effect isn't entirely dead, as the upcoming live-action TV show based on Mass Effect is still moving forward at Prime Video.

The series started active development at Amazon in late 2024, but it has yet to reach production status. Little is known about the story, but rumors point to it aiming to bridge the gap between the original trilogy and the now-cancelled new game. Despite closing the studio that created it, EA still owns the Mass Effect property.

Variety’s report, which includes more comments from EA’s top brass about the present and future of the publisher, also contains updates on Marvel’s Iron Man (developed at Motive) and Star Wars Jedi 3 (Respawn Entertainment). Both are still coming, and the more surprising news comes in the shape of DICE and Respawn teaming up for a totally new project, believed to be Star Wars Battlefront 3 after days of strong rumors from a number of reputable sources.

Elsewhere, ex-BioWare developers have teamed up at new studios like Archetype and Arcanaut. The former is preparing to ship Mass Effect-inspired action RPG Exodus in 2027, and the latter recently started work on Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic, with original Knights of the Old Republic (and Mass Effect) director Casey Hudson behind the wheel.

Here’s hoping both studios, as well as the recently laid-off developers, can find success in an increasingly hostile industry.

We’ve had a lot of good Alien video games in recent years, but nothing has quite matched the highs and authenticity of 2014’s Alien: Isolation. It took a decade of players clamouring for a sequel, but in late 2024, our prayers were answered when developer Creative Assembly dropped a trailer announcing Alien: Isolation 2.

Now, we’re slowly learning about what developer Creative Assembly has in store for us. Scary teasers and comments from creative director Al Hope suggest we're looking at a bigger, more ambitious survival horror game beyond an obvious visual glow-up. Our hands-on preview at Gamescom 2026 also confirmed the protagonist isn’t Amanda Ripley, which instantly raises a number of questions.

Ahead of Alien: Isolation 2’s arrival, there are plenty of Alien movies and games to go through – plus Alien: Earth’s stellar first season. Now's also a great time to play through the original Alien: Isolation again, to prepare yourself for the horrors that await us with the sequel.

Now, enough yacking. It's time to get on the express elevator to hell and find out everything that we know about Alien: Isolation 2 so far.

When is Alien: Isolation 2 coming out?

Alien: Isolation 2 doesn't have a confirmed release window yet.

Despite the impressive in-game teaser and gameplay demos, Sega and Creative Assembly still haven’t talked about a potential release window. Though many outlets are running with a 2027 target as possible, the truth is the powers that be aren’t ready to commit yet.

When we know more, you'll know more.

What platforms will Alien: Isolation 2 be on?

Alien: Isolation 2 is launching on PC (Steam), PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch 2.

Though it’s unclear if the game will release before next-gen consoles arrive, the current plan is to target current-gen machines and, of course, PC through Steam.

Given the high-fidelity visuals, a Nintendo Switch 2 version might come as a shock, but looking at the excellent third-party ports the hybrid handheld has received so far, we’re confident the developers can deliver a thrilling experience on it as well.

Alien: Isolation 2 trailers

After the aforementioned teasers, Sega and Creative Assembly finally unveiled Alien: Isolation 2 with the first-ever in-game footage in summer 2026. Watch its ‘Last Chance’ reveal trailer below:

When does Alien: Isolation 2 take place in the timeline?

Alien: Isolation 2 is confirmed to happen a few months after the events of the first game. Amanda Ripley’s battle against a Xenomorph infestation aboard the Sevastopol Station took place roughly 15 years after the events of the original 1979 movie, which places both games closer to Alien: Romulus in the canon timeline.

This time around, however, there are two big differences: Amanda Ripley isn’t the protagonist anymore, and, instead of a space station, we’ll have to survive on a rainy colony planet.

Deeper plot details are a secret for now, but we know the planet’s name is LV-921. There, a Weyland-Yutani employee named Blake and her colleagues come across a crashed part of the doomed Sevastopol station, which was destroyed by Ripley in an attempt to exterminate the aliens at the end of the first game.

The prologue demo we played at Gamescom didn’t offer much more context, but Blake is an administrative employee who’s just arrived at the colony and wants to prove she fits her new role. As you can imagine, that quickly gets her in trouble. A Xenomorph had crash-landed on the planet already, so maybe it’s up to her to finish the job that the previous Alien: Isolation protagonist started...

What type of game is Alien: Isolation 2?

Like its predecessor, Alien: Isolation 2 is a single-player, first-person survival horror game.

The gameplay loop of the original is preserved. This means you'll have limited access to weaponry and survival tools, and you'll face sneaky (and relentless) Xenomorphs that dynamically adapt to player progress and movement through each level. You’re not meant to kill the aliens, but rather to avoid and escape them.

Through patience, stealth, and smart use of supplies for crafting, survival is achievable, but this isn’t a bug hunt with the Colonial Marines. To quote Ash in the original movie, “I can’t lie to you about your chances, but you have my sympathies.”

Does Alien: Isolation 2 have a multiplayer mode?

Alien: Isolation 2 is a single-player survival horror game like the original. At the time of writing, no plans for a co-op or multiplayer mode of any kind have been shared.

At this point, it’s unclear what the whole Alien: Isolation 2 package will look like — and we wouldn’t rule out an extra, mission-based Survivor Mode like the original’s — but it seems Creative Assembly isn’t chasing co-op trends with the sequel in any way. This is a cinematic, high-intensity solo adventure.

Is there a public Alien: Isolation 2 demo?

Though attendees had access to the second Alien: Isolation 2 demo at Gamescom, no wider public demo has been released.

This could change in the future and as the game nears release, but without a launch window in sight, don’t hold your breath. It’ll be a while before most players can get their hands on the long-awaited sci-fi survival horror sequel.

BlizzCon 2026 delivered big gaming news over the weekend, including Diablo 5 and a new Warcraft 3 expansion announcement, but sci-fi lovers were the ones with the most cause to celebrate, as we learned that StarCraft will return in 2030. It's not coming back as a sci-fi strategy game this time, though.

16 years after StarCraft 2's initial launch and after months of rumors, Blizzard Entertainment has unveiled StarCraft, the next chapter in the franchise. Provisional title or not ('Dominion' is just the trailer's moniker), we know that it's set roughly 70 years after the events of the SC2 trilogy and that it's been envisioned as a "narrative-driven open world shooter" without seasonal or live-service elements, at least at the time of writing.

Creative director Dan Hay's (known for his work on the modern Far Cry games) teased a game that's quite different from what's shown in the first CG trailer above. Humans are still fighting against the Zerg, a ruthless hive-like species infesting the stars, and we get to see thousands (if not millions) of marines being thrown into the meat grinder... literally.

We've seen this story before, but the trailer's condensed tale of an eager young man getting turned into ground meat during his first encounter with the Zerg is chilling. It's all well and good when you're floating above the carnage, but the average StarCraft battle looks way more brutal from a boots-on-the-ground point of view.

From the cinematic, you'd think StarCraft is more of a Helldivers-like game, but it seems the focus will be on single-player gameplay with a strong story. I wouldn't rule out some form of co-op or multiplayer, though.

Other hot bits of info straight from BlizzCon confirm it's a third-person shooter, meaning players can customize and see the character and their equipment in action as battles rage on. A fantastic choice given how iconic the StarCraft marine armor is.

It's hard to imagine how the full thing will come together without any gameplay footage to look at — and a lot can change between now and the tentative 2030 release window — but we must admit it's a rather attractive pitch, especially after Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2 did something similar (but with linear levels).

Let's just hope the powers that be haven't completely forgotten about making a third mainline StarCraft game too.