Space is incomprehensibly vast. So huge that the human mind struggles to even conceptualize it. The observable universe spans roughly 93 billion light-years. Even our own humble galaxy, the Milky Way — a few tiny stitches of the universal canvas — stretches across 100,000 light-years and contains hundreds of billions of stars.

It's no wonder, then, that space video games struggle so mightily with anything approaching a "realistic" interpretation of those incredible distances, especially in an age where we have yet to invent a technology that can traverse them in a reasonable time.

The Artemis 2 mission's Orion module got up to speeds of around 25,000 mph during its trans lunar injection burn. Ignoring fuel and safety concerns, at those speeds, it would still take us at least 80,000 years to reach our nearest neighbor, Alpha Centauri.

So how do game developers manage to distill some of the awe of the vastness of space while making it feel like a manageable space? How do they shrink space to a navigable size without making it feel small or claustrophobic?

I spoke to astrophysicist Dr. Jeffrey Bennett, founder of Big Kid Science and author of "The Scale of the Universe", to get a sense of the scope of the problem.

The true scale of space

"On a 1 to 10 billion scale — which makes the Sun about the size of a large grapefruit — Earth is smaller than the ball point in a pen and located about 15 meters (49 feet) away from the Sun," explains Bennett. "On that same scale, the Moon — the farthest a human being has ever traveled — lies only about 4 centimeters (1½ inches) away from us. The planets of our solar system are much farther, though you can still walk to the outermost planets in only 10 minutes or so."

Bennett said most science fiction films and games get the scale wrong by making long-distance travel look too easy. Considering the above 1-to-10 billion-scale representation, for instance, and given that reaching the outermost planets in our system — far further than any human being has ever travelled — would take ten minutes, "to reach the nearest stars, you’d have to walk the distance across the United States."

Just simulating a small part of the existing universe would push current hardware to its limits, even with crutches like procedural generation. Developers use various techniques, like level-of-detail scaling, instancing, and streaming, to create the illusion of vastness without melting hardware.

Bennett also talks about how scale works in the case of interstellar objects like asteroids and maneuvering around them.

Films and games, he says, "tend to make it look very difficult to avoid collisions with asteroids, with spacecraft having to dart this way and that to pass through an asteroid region safely. In fact, while there are many millions of asteroids in the asteroid belt of our solar system, the full region is so large that it would take incredibly bad luck to crash into an asteroid by accident. That is why spacecraft studies of asteroids require careful planning to get a spacecraft close enough to any asteroid to get photos and other data."

The reality is that even in its most populated regions, asteroids are typically hundreds of thousands to millions of kilometers apart in our system's asteroid belt. Standing on one of the asteroids, it would be incredibly unlikely that you'd be able to see even one of the largest other asteroids with the naked eye.

How games cope with the enormity of space

"This absolutely IS a design conflict that all space games have to solve," said Bernd Lehahn, Founder and Managing Director of Egosoft, the company that makes the successful X franchise of space simulators (most recently X4: Foundations).

"On the one hand, space must feel very large, or else players will feel cheated. Space and sci-fi have always been about the dream of infinite distances and exploration in a seemingly endless universe. At the same time, most games, the X games included, do not want to force players through unnecessarily long flight times or, god forbid, boredom."

Lehahn says his studio tries to strike a balance between areas that feel more content dense with regions that feel more like an unsettled frontier, to impart a sense of the true emptiness of space.

"There should be room for both extremes: dense, highly populated regions, often with artificial means of transportation that allow the player to find and visit many important places relatively quickly, but also the empty, remote, fringe areas of space, where the experience is much slower, but where exploration happens, and the uncharted map allows for mystery and secrets."

Finding a solution to modeling and traversing the vastness of space has been an issue for Egosoft from the release of the original X game back in 1999, and continues to be something the studio grapples with today. The reality is that most of space is empty, so empty that you don't even have visual cues to indicate you're moving through it. Traveling through it without some kind of cheat or compression would involve unimaginable stretches of black emptiness with nothing happening, but too much compression begins to feel artificial.

"X4: Foundations probably has the most sophisticated solution to this conflict," Lehahn said. For the latest game, the team combines a number of solutions. It starts with scaled tiers of engine technologies with increasingly limited steering. Faster, more powerful engines allow for increasingly speedy, but more straight-line or on-rails travel.

The team also uses the conceit of "jump gates" to leap across huge swaths of the universe in a blink, as well as teleportation and time acceleration to similarly compress travel. There are also space highways with slipstream acceleration to hurry things along.

Importantly, the X games also often give players things to do during the downtime of space travel. Giving players minor, uneventful tasks or other distractions can help fill out long stretches of uninterrupted travel. Above all else, Lehahn wants to ensure players are enjoying themselves.

"X4: Foundations is still a game. We want it to feel as realistic as possible—allow players to experience the universe and truly believe the 'sectors' are endless, planets are real size, and you can move in relation to planets and even larger celestial objects. But sometimes, if there is a conflict between fun gameplay and realism, then we may have to compromise on realism a bit."

A different approach

Rather than compress space into a manageable slice, the Elite Dangerous team at Frontier Developments takes on a much more ambitious challenge.

"We have a 1:1 scale Milky Way," says Executive Producer Gauthier Verquerre. "Roughly 400 billion star systems."

To create that vast canvas, the team uses a technology called the Stellar Forge, which uses real astronomical catalog data and models phenomena like the collision of stellar systems and the way stars and planets form to procedurally generate systems. The systems are generated once when a system is discovered and regenerated in the same way whenever a player visits them.

One of the most daunting challenges Elite Dangerous faces is that the game doesn't just model the galaxy on a macro scale. It also has to generate planetary surfaces and space station interiors for players to explore.

"Throughout the universe, we have these spectacular stellar phenomena which players are out there discovering every day," said Verquerre. "The flip side of that is that we have players meeting in the same star systems, or on the planetary surface. We have to represent both the huge 1:1 scale of space that we have in the game for interstellar elements like Lagrange clouds or nebulae, and the personal scale of 'I'm on foot in a planetary settlement.'"

Despite releasing way back in 2014, only a tiny fraction of the space the game simulates has been explored by players.

According to Verquerre, "There's still over 99% of the universe out there, waiting to be explored, where any Commander can be the first to add their name to the system and say 'I was the first one to see this'. We also added System Colonisation last year, allowing our players to construct space stations and planetary settlements. That's been really rewarding for us, seeing the rate at which the bubble has expanded."

To empower players to explore that nearly infinite playground, Elite Dangerous (like X4) takes a tiered approach. Three methods of travel provide increasing compression of space/travel time.

"There's Deep Space, where ships move at ‘slow’ speeds (around 300m/s, under Mach 1) to access individual gameplay actions like combat or mining," Verquerre told me, "Supercruise, which is essentially a form of FTL travel within a system useful for scanning systems, and Hyperspace, where players travel between star systems through a tunnel."

The game also recently introduced a fourth tier of movement, dubbed Supercruise Overcharge, which allows players to navigate star systems at a much greater speed. Even with these many systems for speeding up transit, however, traversing such unimaginably vast distances can eat up a huge amount of time, and Frontier has tried to ensure that travel is peppered with events and resource management to keep players engaged.

"It's all about the player," Verquerre explains. "Explorers often want a little solitude, or an unexpected encounter, whilst our traders are considering the risk of what they're carrying. Fuel and heat management tend to be primary considerations; no one wants to be marooned out in deep space! There are also interdictions, where a Commander can be pulled out of a jump and find themselves hunted."

"Additionally, those long trips that our players are taking out into deep space mean that small damage adds up, canopy cracks and moments of tension take the beauty of space and translate it almost instantly into abject fear."

The magic and awe of the staggering scope of space is a core part of the Elite Dangerous mystique, and it's not lost on Verquerre.

"I remember a journey I once made to Beagle Point, one of the most remote star systems found in Elite Dangerous, which I’d consider to be one of the most memorable gaming moments in my life. The sense of achievement in reaching a system that you’ve plotted out at the end of a journey is something very tangible, and it always makes me look forward to the next adventure."

A (nearly) infinite challenge

Space games don't fail to simulate the scale of the cosmos because developers lack ambition or imagination.

The reality is that the universe operates on scales that challenge not only the capacity of the human behind them, but also that of our machines to reproduce them. Bridging that gap requires not just bigger maps, but smarter design, and a recognition that sometimes, the awe of the infinite matters more than the numbers behind it.

"X4: Foundations" and "Elite Dangerous" are both available to play now on PC. You can also pick up Dr Bennett's book, "The Scale of the Universe", on Amazon.

Star Fox 64 is the Nintendo game that refuses to fade away, and we're not complaining, especially when the new Switch 2 remake — simply titled Star Fox — amplifies its replay value and expands the original vision with a bunch of new content.

Roughly a decade ago, Star Fox Zero almost killed the franchise for good. The ill-fated Wii U entry's structure and plot stuck staggeringly close to Star Fox 64 (Lylat Wars for us PAL gamers), but no one could definitely answer if it was a remake, reboot, reimagining, or something else entirely.

It being a remake wouldn't have mattered, except that Star Fox 64 3D (for the little brave 3DS) had already done that with strong results. Now in 2026, we're still flying around the same planets with 'Star Fox'.

Considering Fox McCloud's secondary role in the recent Super Mario Galaxy Movie, you'd expect Nintendo to push onward with an all-new game in the enduring science fiction rail shooter series, yet Star Fox seems fated to play the greatest hits again and again. Fortunately, it nails what made Star Fox 64 so enduring and is the most complete take on Team Star Fox's greatest adventure.

The story is the same: The mad scientist Andross is exiled to the unwelcoming planet of Venom by General Pepper for almost destroying Corneria, the fourth planet of the Lylat system.

When suspicious activity is detected on the doomed world a few years later, Team Star Fox goes to investigate and – spoiler alert – James McCloud is killed by Andross following a betrayal from inside the team. Some time passes, and Andross launches an all-out attack against Lylat's forces, so it's time for Team Star Fox (now captained by Fox McCloud, James' son) to set things right.

And yes, his last name is Fox, and he is a Fox. If you're new to the series, there are no humans in this universe, only anthropomorphic animals.

While Star Fox doesn't sacrifice the original's arcade-y nature (you can 'beat it' in under two hours), it makes space for meatier cutscenes which better define the characters and the high stakes of the story.

It's all simple stuff with no real room for twists and turns that never gets in the way of the game's fast pace, but Velan Studios' effort is a commendable reminder that even extremely faithful remakes can add to a classic formula. Shoutout to the new arrangements of memorable musical themes from the original, too; the orchestral refresh simply sounds amazing.

The character redesigns will no doubt be a point of contention. Fox McCloud doesn't look nearly as stylish as in past Star Fox games — or as he does in this year's Mario Galaxy flick — while team members like Slippy Toad (who seems slippery) and Falco Lombardi land right in uncanny valley territory. There's a distinct charm to Star Fox's art direction — and the conversation surrounding the toons proves it — but the presentation no doubt raises the question of how much realism is too much realism for a property as cartoony as this.

The Arwings, enemy ships, and other vehicles look absolutely dashing and move with a smoothness that would've made Nintendo kids in the 1990s levitate, though. Both during missions and in cutscenes, there's speed and weight to the stars of the show, and smaller touches like laser beams briefly illuminating the environments remind us how far graphics have come.

The same could be said about the colorful levels; from Corneria to Solar, there's a vividness to Star Fox's many space locales that sometimes can be even distracting when the screen is filled with foes and incoming attacks.

Star Fox 64's 'pick up and play' nature remains untouched and only lightly upgraded. The control scheme could be more intuitive, but it's not too complex; moving around the screen, executing evasive maneuvers, and shooting down enemies feels snappy. Some of the latter levels weren't as 'tight' as I'd hoped for, but maybe that's just me still adjusting to the unavoidable nuances that come with a full tech rework under the hood.

The highlight, though, may be Switch 2's unique mouse mode, which is put to great use here; playing through the campaign with it plus the cockpit view feels transformative (It was impressive in Metroid Prime 4). Of course, the action runs at 60 frames per second with sharp image resolution in both docked and handheld modes, helping you achieve high scores, no matter which control option you use.

Blasting through the short (but highly replayable) campaign is just the beginning. There are hidden routes to discover, medals to obtain, new challenges to tackle, and the brutal Expert difficulty to clear. Ultimately, Star Fox is all about perfecting high scores and mastering a new iteration of a classic that's been dominated over the decades by the most dedicated pilots. It's Nintendo offering "one last ride" (hopefully) and inviting vets to reexperience the Lylat Wars in new, more demanding ways beyond the first run. On that front, Star Fox is a resounding success.

But it's hard to usher in a future for a dormant series without betting some chips on the casual crowd and newcomers, and I'd say most folks without an already established connection to the series (rail shooters are incredibly niche nowadays) are likely to go through Star Fox's campaign once or twice and then complain about the price tag.

There's actually a lot to Star Fox, but it mostly boils down to replaying the same missions in different ways. It's a retro sensibility that older gamers find captivating, but times have changed, and you have to wonder whether Nintendo should've gunned for an all-new game instead.

The multiplayer offerings shouldn't be ignored, though. Co-op (local or via the wireless GameShare function) lets two players go through the campaign by splitting the Arwing controls into movement and shooting, which is a nice offbeat bit of fun. Online, things get more interesting with a 4v4 competitive mode across three maps with different objectives and plenty of chaos, with NPC starfighters also fighting for control of objectives alongside players.

Matches are fast and intense, with free flight and plenty of power-ups adding to the spectacle and scale of the action. There's not much variety here, but the bones are strong. If they add more maps and modes, it could be something, but as it stands, it feels like one of those obligatory multiplayer modes every game had in the Xbox 360 era

Players willing to pick up the Switch 2 camera can also 'wear' the look of their favorite Star Fox characters VTuber-style while playing online, which is a silly little extra with incredible comedic potential in the right hands. Hardly a game-selling addition, but it's the kind of playful, family-friendly addition we expect from Nintendo.

Star Fox bets big on already established fans and hopes for the best when it comes to onboarding newbies. Will it pay off? Maybe, but 'nostalgia gains' are declining everywhere, and I'm worried that if this doesn't perform, we may be stuck waiting for a new entry that never comes... again.

Star Fox is available now for purchase on Nintendo Switch 2.

A review code for Star Fox was provided by Nintendo.

Starseeker: Astroneer Expeditions might look like a direct sequel to Astroneer on the surface, but it's a space exploration game with very different objectives. While its predecessor focuses (it continues to get updates and content packs) on base-building and creative tools, this second title instead takes players on shorter, breezier trips all about discovery and mission-based tasks.

Even in its early access state, Starseeker has the bones to eventually become one of the best cozy sci-fi games around, yet some Astroneer veterans might walk into a successor that isn't what they expected. This isn't Astroneer 2, System Era's Adam Bromell — the studio's creative director, CCO, and co-founder — explained to Space around Starseeker's launch.

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

"I've been jonesing for video games that try to foster a sense of community amongst players. I think that when I play with other people, and you share in an accomplishment together, it's really special," explains Bromell. "This goes all the way back to building something with friends inside of Minecraft. When you finally have that moment where you step back, and you go 'Holy shit, look at what we did.' That's a good feeling."

In a way, the original Astroneer already achieved that as a "chill base-building survival experience", yet Bromell and System Era wanted to build an experience with a stronger community element that connected everyone.

"My original inspiration with Astroneer was to pay homage to that feeling Gene Roddenberry gave me with Star Trek when I was a kid. Some hope for the future and also showing what it means to be selfless and lead with generosity, seek justice... I'm still a Trekkie at heart," he explained, showing me part of the Star Trek collection he keeps in his office as he talked.

Bromell's celebratory June 11 post on Medium explored many of the same ideas we discussed during our conversation, such as the game being defined from the get-go as "hopeful science fiction", a suggestion that's attributed to System Era's COO Veronica Peshterianu. A few hours with Starseeker make it very clear that it's a game about helping other players out versus venturing into the unknown solo or with a group of close space pals.

You can still play at your own pace or create a party of people you know, but what you do out there directly affects the global experience through community goals. In fact, a common occurrence is running into entirely different teams during an expedition.

After a short planetside tutorial, Starseeker takes players to the ESS Starseeker. This space station serves as the game's central hub, where players can meet other explorers before taking on missions that task them with recovering lost tech, scanning materials and life forms, or simply exploring more of a newfound planet.

It's a much tighter loop than Astroneer's by design, one that favors short play sessions over huge base-building marathons, and the roadmap shared around the game's early access launch is promising meaty (and free) updates over the coming months.

"Starseeker at early access is the foundation and the bedrock... We're building ourselves a platform for engagement to our community, to show them their accomplishments and to push them out onto these journeys together," Bromell explained. The early access tag will also enable the team to do playful experiments like "morning announcements on the station" or giving squads special rewards based on their performance out there. It sounds like a fluid process as the team "tries to engage with players in that space" based on the feedback it gets.

"Unlike other games in the extraction genre, which we're a piece of, we let you trade directly on the station. You don't have to go in and risk it. We're interested in themes like 'What does a take a penny, leave a penny system in a video game feel like?' Like, how do we even build for that kind of sense of camaraderie?"

Bromell doesn't shy away from comparisons to the booming extraction genre – commonly tied to shooters – but, as expected, losing the loot you find while adventuring isn't as punishing in Starseeker, as no one is actively trying to hurt you. Still, the natural hazards and alien fauna mean there's some real danger to setting foot on uncharted worlds.

A larger narrative — already teased by the game's opening cutscene — is in the works too, though Bromell was coy about revealing details there. When asked about the 'target window' for the culmination of that narrative arc, he confirmed the intention is to wrap it up by the time the game hits 1.0, even if the journey continues after that point. "Between now and 1.0, you'll be introduced to the different antagonists in this game and some of the more extrinsic motivations which the Astroneers have to keep exploring."

Astroneer's cartoony visuals don't make you think "simulation" at first glance, but despite that playful side, there's room for real-world influences and nods to real science. Bromell explained they made sure to put resources in the game that "are real things you can find in the world," even if they don't look the same when it comes to shape and how "they would physically grow and manifest".

He also brought up an example from the early Astroneer days: "When we first launched it, we just picked any color we thought was cool. And then all of a sudden, players were like, 'You're calling it malachite, but it's not the right color.' We're not trying to teach anybody anything with too much depth, but certainly, when we borrow from those things, we need to not alienate completely from the idea of what they are."

Such an approach also applies to the Astroneers themselves; Bromell and the team borrowed from the basic NASA aesthetic with "the whites and the grays" and some more elevated colors. "The core theming and palette of the Astroneers aren't unlike both the NASA and Russian space programs, because those were on my Pinterest board when I was drawing these things back in 2015." He added that System Era's goal always was to make games that are familiar and approachable, but more like "kids playing with toys" rather than "full-on simulations".

In fact, Bromell was quite vocal during our interview about the need for more "silly games" that aren't afraid of players breaking things: "We aren't afraid of our players exploiting the rules that we're putting in front of you... When we did PAX West, the mission we gave everybody was to bring an altimeter as high as you could go. There was one squad that cheesed the shit out of it with some of the tools, and that was my favorite run. That's how we want players to be thinking about this, not on the golden path that we laid them on."

Starseeker has been brewing for roughly seven years, Bromell told me. "The original year and a half was myself and one or two engineers just playing with the physics sandbox." The concept later grew into this focused experience set in the Astroneer universe that had players going on short treks and completing missions together.

"I feel like Astroneer 2 is always there for us to do. We can always do that. What I don't want to do — and thank God I'm not a business person — is not take a creative swing with the momentum that we have as a team that's learning how to make a game," he added. "We're trying to take the idea of the genre, turn it slightly in our direction, borrowing from games like Helldivers [a co-op shooter full of chaos and destruction], and then building our own thing that wraps it in this connective experience."

The conversation could've gone on for hours, I think, as the creative director's heart and mind are in the right place. It's always encouraging to come across developers happy to veer off the main path during an interview, and that sort of defines what Starseeker is as a cooperative online game; the best adventures usually are the ones you stumble upon, not the ones perfectly laid out in front of you.

The game's full vision might take a while to fully blast off, but it's a refreshing one that dares to dream of a better future for space exploration and humanity as a whole. We can always use more of that.

Starseeker: Astroneer Expeditions is now available on PC (Steam & Xbox App), PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch 2 in early access. A PC code for this article was provided by the publisher, Devolver Digital.

You certainly can't accuse Remedy Entertainment of playing it safe and sticking to what they know.

2019's Control was a third-person shooter, last year's multiplayer spin-off, FBC: Firebreak, was a first-person shooter, and now this year's direct follow-up, Control Resonant, is a melee-focused action game. Despite the genre flip, though, it's undeniably Control — a freaky sci-fi horror mash-up that's dripping with atmosphere.

We played 40 minutes of Control Resonant at Summer Games Fest, and spoke with lead level designer Anne-Marie Grönroos about the new enemy designs, architecture, and sci-fi influences. Here's what we learned about one of this year's most anticipated upcoming sci-fi games.

"Control Resonant" has a new protagonist, but we're keeping things in the family as we take the reins of Dylan Faden, troubled brother of "Control" protagonist Jesse. Dylan Faden wakes up inside the Oldest House — a paranormal, space-defying skyscraper in the center of New York that acts as the headquarters for the Federal Bureau of Control (FBC).

Jesse promptly stabs Dylan, who wakes up surrounded by blood, death, and the massacred bodies of his FBC jailers. With no idea what's going on, Dylan flees the FBC to find that the Hiss — otherworldly crimson monsters from another dimension — have overrun Manhattan.

To fight these monsters, Dylan wields a unique weapon called the Aberrant (which just so happens to be the bar that Jesse stabbed him with). Much like Jesse's Service Weapon in the original, Aberrant can morph into multiple kinds of weapons, such as dual swords, an axe, and a scythe.

As a third-person action game (or spectacle fighter), Control Resonant feels like a toned-down version of Devil May Cry. It's just a bit slower and a bit more reserved, but it's still exhilarating to pull off combos and beat the snot out of the Hiss.

Combat is usually locked into arenas, locking you into an encounter until you've killed the Hiss. Larger enemies need to be prioritised, as the smaller Hiss will keep respawning until they're destroyed.

The Hiss are even more grotesque than I remembered from the first game; an observation that Grönroos was happy to confirm. "The enemies are a lot more mutated than they were in the first game," he notes. “They aren't just dudes shooting guns at you. A lot less human and more monstrous."

While Jesse was confined to the Oldest House, Dylan now has the freedom to roam Manhattan to find his sister. The first game's aesthetic was defined by the Brutalist architecture of FBC's surreal headquarters, and while you’ll certainly see that style here in place, Resonant pulls from a much wider pool.

"The further away you get from either the Oldest house or the Field Office, the less and less of that you'll see," explains Grönroos. "But when you see Brutalist architecture, that's also a sign that the FBC has a pretty strong presence here."

Manhattan has been well explored in video games — from Insomniac's Spider-Man and Tom Clancy's The Division through to "inspired by" titles like GTA IV — but Control Resonant's version of New York is a much more self-contained, streamlined version of the city that never sleeps.

Instead of an open world, we get a more linear platforming experience as Dylan navigates the rooftops like platforms, climbing, dashing, and double-jumping his way through the twisted landscape. This, combined with the psychedelic colors and trippy atmosphere, creates a uniquely surreal vibe that we really dig.

The Control universe is rife with sci-fi influences, with the fictional SCP Foundation sitting at the heart. The FBC investigates Altered World Events, where supernatural forces descend into reality and warp it. These lead directly to the creation of Altered Items, which are just objects infused with paranormal powers. It's all dressed up in a sort of 60s and 70s retrofuturism aesthetic, reflecting the space age and rise of media like Star Wars.

Beyond those obvious touchstones, though, there are surprising influences for this latest game. During our interview, Director Mikael Kasurinen mentioned Neon Genesis Evangelion as an influence for Control Resonant, with Grönroos adding that it heavily impacted the geometrical patterning in the game. "We also always have Inception as a reference. When you look at the city environments, this is the most Inception that we can get."

My demo ended with me facing off in a boss fight against a giant floating head with its jaw missing. Throughout the fight, it kept trying to sling rocks at me while keeping its distance, but I was able to keep up with its pace. Eventually, I managed to take it down, and then was taken to The Gap, a mysterious hub area where Dylan could upgrade his abilities.

He has plenty of upgrades to choose from, such as being able to telekinetically throw rocks, use them to form a shield, or conjure up this Aberrant into other weapons like a whip and hammer. I took a quick peek at each of the weapons and skill trees, and it seems like the combo system will definitely get more intricate later on.

There's a huge amount of variety in how to mix and match different weapons to dictate the pace and flow of battle. You can start your combo with a flurry of quick attacks from dual swords, and then come crashing down with a slow but mighty hammer at the end.

The action feels so different from the gunplay of the first game, and yet eerily familiar. Control Resonant also takes a page from Kingdom Hearts' playbook with flashy finishers. Dylan has access to a variety of them, our favorite being using the giant hammer to smash the Hiss into pieces.

Grönroos said that the biggest lesson that Remedy learned throughout developing its recent games, from Control, Alan Wake 2, FBC: Firebreak, and now Control, is giving players more freedom and agency. "Before Control, we used to just make these linear games," she explained. "Control was actually our first game where you could even backtrack, and Alan Wake 2 took that a little bit further, and now Control Resonant as well."

One of the highlights of the first Control game was the Ashtray Maze, a level where players had to fight against waves of enemies as they ran through a kaleidoscope of constantly shifting rooms and layouts. It was an adrenaline-fueled combat gauntlet that was equally exciting as it was fantastical. Grönroos was one of the minds behind designing it.

Can we expect something similar in Control Resonant? "There are definitely surprises," teases Grönroos. "Of course, I can't say what they are, but I think what made the Ashtray Maze really work was how unexpected it was. So I think there's stuff like in Control Resonant that's like that for sure."

Control Resonant launches on September 24 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S.

Defying recent live service trends in gaming, Warframe has been going strong for 13 years. It's one of the best space games out there, and it shows no signs of slowing down with the Jade Shadows: Constellations update.

The online sci-fi action RPG has evolved both technically and narratively over the years, changing from a game where the story has blossomed from background to the emotion-driven forefront of every major update. In 2024, Jade Shadows started the process of humanising Stalker - the player's long-term nemesis - by making him a father.

Jade Shadows: Constellations serves the dual purpose of continuing this story, and taking the first steps down the road of reinvigorating the game's space-based content.

At the end of Jade Shadows, players chose one of two names for Stalker's son; Sirius, or Orion. The surprise hook for Constellations is that both came to be… in a way. Bursting onto the scene from parallel timelines, each has come to claim their father for their own. Sirius takes after their mother, while Orion takes after their father. Both are named after notable stellar phenomena: Sirius is the brightest star in the Earth's night sky, while Orion is one of the most prominent constellations visible from Earth (itself named after the legendary hunter in Greek mythology).

Stalker, when he appears during a mission, will relentlessly chase down the player until he or his target dies. What more appropriate name for the son that takes after him, therefore, than the constellation of the Hunter?

"We thought one of the most impactful ways to end a quest would be letting the player name the child," explains Creative Director Rebecca Ford, "and we held that close to our hearts [...] And these names must come from the cosmos, they must come from space. Then we knew we were going to start going divergent paths pretty quickly."

Warframe's missions are spread across the Origin System, which looks very similar to our own solar system. Players jump between planets and moons with real-life equivalents such as Mars, Deimos, Neptune, Mercury, and Earth. The star Sirius and the constellation Orion also exist in the Warframe universe, and factor into the new quest; although exactly how is under wraps at time of writing.

Constellations is also being used as a springboard for refreshing the game's space battle Railjack content. "I absolutely felt that this update would not work without a Railjack component for the post quest content," explains Ford.

"It did not feel to me like you could do all of this grand space cosmos-like effort without giving players somewhere to use their Railjack. That is a very, very difficult choice in this line of work, where you need to be able to do things very well and very quickly.

"Railjack [is] such a complicated feature, like the code, and the streaming… everything about it is hard, it's making Warframe on hard mode," reveals Ford.

"In this case we said all right, let's just commit, because we have help from our partners at Sumo, who are co-developing this update, and they love Railjack. So that helped! We just had the stubbornness to say it has to feel this big, it needs this; because it needs to acknowledge that that is how big of an event this quest is."

For the uninitiated, Railjacks are combat-focused spaceships — interceptors from the Orikin era of technology. They're equipped with powerful weapons, defensive shields, and Void engines that let them explore… well the void.

Mindful of the fact that not everybody who plays through Constellations will have extensive Railjack experience - or perhaps won't have a Railjack of their own at all - the space gameplay has been streamlined and tweaked for the quest.

The smaller, jetpack-like Archwings cannot be used, but players use an NPC's Railjack, so don't need to worry about having their own being a prerequisite. They'll be earning Railjack-related rewards along the way however, so if they later decide to get their own, they'll be well prepared. Making the onboarding ramp wide enough to accommodate everybody is important, because this is just the beginning of bringing ventures into outer space back to Warframe.

"This is like the prologue to Railjack and space content getting more attention," Ford reveals. This isn't something related to Tennocon, she stresses, but it is something she hopes to be able to speak more openly about afterwards. "I think [Railjack is] a beautiful and fun system, despite its flawed history. It does not deserve to die for any sins it might have committed a lifetime ago. There's nothing like it in a pseudo-MMO like ours."

A new story quest means a new Warframe, and here too the game is breaking new ground. Both Sirius and Orion can be unlocked for play, but as the game's first dual Warframe. Players can switch between the two at any time, via an animation that sees one warring brother knock the other out of the way. They are individually customisable and have unique abilities. The fourth ability will see them clash in the air, dealing damage by using up motes; the accumulation of which is represented in the UI by a constellation-like indicator mimicking a part of Orion, motes lighting up where stars would be.

On the surface or among the stars — indeed, in a virtual world or the real one — space is awe-inspiring. Astronomer or philosopher, scientist or office worker, looking up on a clear night into the enormity of space evokes a myriad of powerful feelings. Humanity has always had the desire to understand and attribute meaning to this infinite canvas, and this is something Digital Extremes aims to tap into with Constellations, hence the name.

"With all science," says Ford, "there needs to be a little bit of, I would say, romance to it. Not in the lovey-dovey way, but the romance of looking to the stars 2000 years ago, knowing that those stars were something, but giving them a meaning beyond the fact that they're just balls of gas in the sky. An ancient Greek from thousands and thousands of years ago, looking up and building a story around, well, what does this mean?

"Why is that star Sirius so bright? The dog star in Orion, the hunter. The constellation is that, right? It is the meaning applied to the stars, and in the case of Jade Shadows: Constellations, it's exactly that. It's looking out to the stars and knowing the beauty and the meaning you can add to what, ultimately, ends up being someone else's story."

Warframe Jade Shadows: Constellations is available from June 17 as a free update. You can play Warframe on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, iOS, and Android.

Like some enticing interstellar object imminently entering our solar system sometime in the near future, Archetype Entertainment's highly anticipated "Exodus" sci-fi RPG adventure game will eventually land on Earth sometime in 2027 if all the cosmic tumblers align… and we sincerely hope they do!

Chris King, Game Director for "Exodus," recently hosted an extended gameplay reveal during the Future Games Show Summer Showcase 2026, and we were treated to an exhilarating advance peek at some "Mass Effect"-style gunplay and epic side quest drama.

The result was a jaw-dropping tour through the upcoming sci-fi RPG's storytelling, dialogue, combat tactics, weaponry, stealth modes, companions, and diverse denizens of this astonishingly rich universe.

The visuals look razor sharp in this 19-minute preview where Jun and friends are first on a perilous salvage mission. Unsurprisingly, it's giving a lot of "Mass Effect" vibes, but now it's supercharged with even more electrifying imagery, detailed backgrounds, realistic environments, and a brilliant soundscape with distinctive weaponry discharge sounds that put you squarely in the midst of a brutal melee.

In this extended reveal, the action and movement seem extremely fluid; Jun's deployable cover is a sweet touch, and his cat-like movements appear organic. Alongside that, the voice acting sounds superb, leveling up the immersion for the far-future adventure that the development team has created.

In previous community updates we've seen some of genetically modified animals populating "Exodus" and here we spend much more time with Jun's Awakened Wolf called Houston, the cute Awakened Octopus named Salt, and the awesome Awakened Elephant. We also spend added time with C.C. Orlev, the mysterious Traveler character voiced by none other than Matthew McConaughey.

The basic narrative premise and backstory of "Exodus" includes fantastic worldbuilding and layered lore by masterful bestselling sci-fi authors Peter Hamilton and Adrian Tchaikovsky, who were brought in from the game's onset.

We roll out 40,000 years in the future, long after humankind has vacated Earth and set up housekeeping on the moon of Lyden in the Centauri Cluster.

Our main protagonist named Jun Aslan. His world is slowly dying due to some intergalactic virus known as The Rot. Jun and his companions set out to try and save their moon as Travelers leaping into the timestream to uncover ancient secrets and locate powerful alien remnants that will aid them in battling back against evolved human descendants called Celestials.

Along the way, gamers will investigate strange planets, derelict spaceships, Remnant Era Celestial technology, and the nefarious posthumans.

What’s most impressive with the way Archetype Entertainment is handling the regular reports on the game's progress is that we as fans and gamers can clearly see the improvements and fine tuning that’s taking place as they ready "Exodus" for its inevitable mass launch next year.

They're taking their time and respecting their customers' intelligence and loyalty in a way that feels as if we're along for the ride, discovering how much love and care go into a project of this magnitude.

This game hails from the same nest of acclaimed game veterans that brought us the phenomenal worlds of "Mass Effect," "Baldur's Gate" and "Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic", and it looks like they're recapturing that old magic here.

Wizards of the Coast and Archetype Entertainment's "Exodus" arrives for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S in Early 2027.

Science fiction is a stalwart genre when it comes to video games, with some of the biggest gaming franchises out there taking us to strange new worlds… or bringing invading aliens down to our world.

The beauty of sci-fi is that it's so versatile; we've got sci-fi shooters, sci-fi racers, sci-fi strategy, sci-fi horror. Want a narrative-driven Among Us spin-off? It's there. How about an X-COM-like strategy game set in the Star Wars universe? Got you covered.

Summer Game Fest was last week, and we scoured the show floor to find the most exciting upcoming sci-fi games coming out in 2026 and beyond. There was a great mix of legacy franchises and fresh blood to experience. I didn't have time to play everything, but these were the seven best sci-fi games I saw at Summer Game Fest 2026.

1. Halo: Campaign Evolved

Halo: Campaign Evolved is a fully fledged remake of the first Halo game's campaign. I played a 30-minute demo and part of the mission, The Silent Cartographer. It’s quite literally the same as I remembered on the original Xbox (as well as the Xbox 360 Anniversary Edition remaster), but that's no bad thing. As soon as I stepped onto those sandy beaches and felt the smooth Warthog driving, the nostalgic memories came flooding back.

The guns feel as snappy as ever, too. The pistol is satisfying to pop headshots with, and of course, I loved getting up and close and personal with the Plasma Pistol to drain enemy shields before finishing them off with a swift melee.

The biggest change is that Master Chief can sprint now — a feature that wasn't added until 2010's Halo Reach. It's a contentious feature among series diehards, but honestly, it feels fine here. From what I played, Halo: Campaign Evolved is still basically the same Halo: Combat Evolved I remember — just much, much prettier.

Halo: Campaign Evolved launches on July 28 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S.

2. Gears of War E-Day

The next big entry in Microsoft’s iconic third-person shooter series, Gears of War E-Day, takes us back 14 years before the events of the first game. On planet Sera, alien creatures called the Locust have popped up and wiped out entire cities and slaughtered civilians, leading to what’s now called Emergence Day, Sera’s darkest time in history.

We'll once again be jumping into the big stompy boots of series protagonist Marcus Fenix, this time experiencing his first encounter with the Locust threat. Marcus will be joined by his best friend Dominic Santiago, as well as two new faces in the form of Lucas Reyes and Mags Carter. There will be returning favorites, including fan-favorite Tai Kalisto from Gears of War 2.

In terms of gameplay, it's classic Gears action with some cool new iterations. The active reload system — which Gears pioneered — has been upgraded. As ever, you can speed up your reload with a well-timed button press (and slow it down with a mistake), but now some shell-loaded guns, like the iconic Gnasher shotgun, allow you to stop your reload prematurely to get out of a sticky situation. It’s a new twist on gameplay, and we can’t wait to see more of it.

Check out our interview with developer The Coalition, where we talk art direction, series lore, and why the studio chose to do a prequel.

Gears of War E-Day launches on October 6 for PC and Xbox Series X|S.

3. Alien: Isolation 2

The king of sci-fi horror games is back! I played about 45 minutes of Alien: Isolation 2, and it was absolutely terrifying. The demo follows a crew consisting of Blake, Cole, and Otto, who find an abandoned spaceship. Convinced that they could search inside it for salvage, they head inside to turn the power back on. Unfortunately, turning that electricity back on meant waking up the horrifying Xenomorph inside.

During my demo, I was completely defenseless. No flamethrower, no nothing. All I could do was hide under tables and behind electronic consoles, hoping to stay out of the Xenomorph’s sight as I traced my steps back to the ship’s entrance.

Whenever you’re hiding, and it comes close, you can literally see the screen shake and the controller vibrating. Plus, it can even crawl into vents. I learned that the hard way when I was cowering in them, hoping to find an opening to escape, only to realize the Xeno was right behind me, lunging at me and giving me the game over screen.

Alien: Isolation 2 shows some incredible potential, and while there’s no established release window, we're eagerly awaiting this one.

4. Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2

While Alien: Isolation 2 is for the survival-horror sickos, Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 is all about the action. You play as a group of Colonial Marines sent to clear LV-558 of a Xenomorph infestation. I spent about one hour playing the demo and had a great time blasting bugs.

This is a multiplayer co-op game, so you’ll be teaming up with three other people to shoot down waves of Xenos. There are six classes to choose from, each with their own special tools, along with new ammo types that let you target certain Xeno's weaknesses.

Fireteam Elite 2 has some meaningful upgrades too, including a bump from three-player co-op to a full four-team squad. This means you can unleash even more bullet fury onto the Xenos. Its new Specialist class also lets you take abilities from others to create your unique playstyle.

Along with a new campaign and crossplay at launch, Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 is positioned to be an even bigger hit than its predecessor. Read our interview with Cold Iron Studios to find out more about the new Xenos, expanded sandbox, and all the new tools available for your next bug hunt.

Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 launches later this year for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S.

5. Gundam Rogue Orbit

Gundam Rogue Orbit is an action game that takes place in a new Gundam Universe.

Now this is what I'm talking about. Big, stompy robots. Gundam Rogue Orbit is an action game set in a brand-new Gundam Universe. It’s meant to introduce Gundam to a wider audience, so those who are unfamiliar with the IP can still enjoy it.

Rogue Orbit follows a young man named Rex, who journeys alongside a mysterious girl named Sophia and his robot companion, Haro VII. Rex pilots a mobile suit called Gundam Helix, who is called upon to defend humanity against an existential threat. How, you ask? With guns, swords, lasers, jetpacks, and all manner of sci-fi weaponry.

While more details are scarce about the gameplay at the moment, I briefly spoke with main producer Yuya Tomiyama and chief producer Shinya Satake. They aim to make piloting Helix like an extension of the human body, saying, “We wanted to have the player be able to really feel like they're in control of the mobile suit[...]what they want the Gundam to do is what's actually happening on screen.”

Gundam Rogue Orbit launches in 2027 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S.

6. Control Resonant

The latest entry in the Control/Alan Wake shared universe, Control Resonant, is beefing up both the horror and sci-fi elements compared to its 2019 predecessor.

This time, we're playing as Dylan Faden, the brother of Control protagonist Jesse Faden, and where Jesse fought with her shapeshifting pistol, Dylan is much more of a close combat guy. His melee weapon, the Aberrant, can morph into many deadly forms to suit your needs, and you'll be making good use of it as you battle the insidious Hiss that have spilled out of the Oldest House and into New York.

This genre shift-up is a huge gamble for developer Remedy, but it looks to be paying off, because in my 45-minute demo, it felt incredible to play. There are plenty of differences beyond the combat, too. While Jesse could float in mid-air, Dylan utilises double-jumps and dashes to get around. This introduces a lot more platforming elements to the game, making great use of New York City’s verticality.

Control Resonant has a seriously trippy aesthetic too, using distillation and other visual effects to make you feel like you’re in a hallucinatory state. The main enemy faction, The Hiss, looks even more grotesque than before, almost otherworldly. We’ve got an interview with developer Remedy Entertainment coming soon, so stick around for that!

Control Resonant launches on September 24 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S.

7. Star Wars Galactic Racer

Now that our rebel spies have broken the imperial codes (read: the embargo is up), I can say that Star Wars Galactic Racer is unlike any other racer I've played before.

During my one-hour session, I was amazed at how smooth it felt, racing across the heat-soaked desert planet of Jakku and the frozen depths of Ando Prime. The environments constantly held new surprises, like Ando Prime's underground lava pools. While I was zipping across them, I briefly pondered the ice and lava's contrasting existences, but quickly snapped back into focus as I zoomed to leave my opponents in the dust for first place.

Drifting is an out-of-this-world experience too. As opposed to more grounded racing games like Mario Kart or Need for Speed, I was able to drift my futuristic space vessel completely vertically on its side, allowing myself crucial extra room to cleanly navigate around tricky corners that I would have a hard time pulling off in more realistic settings.

Star Wars Galactic Racer is developed by Fuse Games, a new studio formed from veterans of Criterion Games, the team behind Burnout. I couldn't imagine a team with a better pedigree, and I'm glad to see podracing coming back in the modern age.

Star Wars: Galactic Racer launches on October 6 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S.

The Alien franchise is doing pretty well right now, and its future looks even stronger for gamers. With Alien Isolation 2 serving the horror-oriented side of the fanbase right now, Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 is bringing the action. Its predecessor set the foundation for some good old multiplayer fun as you and your buddies shoot down Xenomorphs. Now, the sequel is in a good position to take things even higher with meaningful changes.

At Summer Game Fest 2026, I played about an hour of Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 and spoke with Cold Iron Studios director Chris Cross about all of the new additions in this sequel, including four-player co-op, new Xeno beasties, and the new Specialist class.

In Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2, you play as a team of Colonial Marines to check out Storr Boon's Mining Facility on the planet LV-558, which has — big shock — been overrun by Xenomorphs. The level I played was called Rust in Peace, which Cross noted plays heavily into the discovery of what's really going on in LV-558. Each level will help clue players into the mystery.

"I think clarity of narrative and mission was one of the things that we wanted to try and get into with this one," he explained. "It's more than just go here, get to point B, and then shoot the thing. Playing this game, there's an actual throughline with the story."

One change that was immediately noticeable was the inclusion of a fourth teammate. In the first game, squads were made up of three, but a fourth trooper really changes up the dynamic. Not only do you have more offensive and defensive options, but now the levels are wider and more enemies swarm in.

"We pay attention to comments, and that's one of the more frequent ones we got from the first game," Cross explained. "It's 25% more space that you need and 25% more damage. It definitely presented some challenges, but absolutely worth it. [Fireteam Elite 2] is still the same flavor, but it plays better."

There are a total of six classes, and I chose the Hunter, a class that focuses on dealing continuous damage. My other teammates included a Medic, a Machinist, and a Duelist. As I slowed down the waves of Xenomorphs with my electric traps, the Machinist summoned a turret to pick them off. This helped us clear multiple rooms without too many issues. However, if one of us went down, the Medic was always around to patch us up.

Along with the four-player co-op, another big gameplay addition is the new Specialist class. This one actually acts like a "pick-your-own" class, where you can choose which abilities to mix and match to create your ideal build. Does that sound overpowered? Possibly. But more player effort and work are required to build the perfect Specialist, which helps balance it out.

"How we work the Specialist in is that it's like a ping pong between unlocking abilities for your regular classes that then unlocks them for your Specialist," Cross said. "It's actually analysis paralysis to build a Specialist if you haven't been paying attention to the other classes, because there's so many things that you can put in."

Of course, with every new Aliens adventure, you've got to have new Xenomorphs, right? The Harbinger is a horrific Xeno that mostly consists of a mouth (it's like a giant facehugger on legs), while the Siren summons more enemies to the fight. I didn't encounter these during my demo, but Cross went into how designs are typically approved.

"Early on, we went through and wrote down [...] the requirements for creating new enemies and applied them," he said. An example of this is one of the returning Xenos from the first game, the Drone, which only shows up near hives. I came across a few of them in my demo, and they really creeped me out. Not only do they hit hard, but they also disappear into vents, creating an anxious atmosphere. They could come out at any time and strike again, so your entire squad needs to gang up on it.

"In tight cooperation with the IP team at 20th Century Studios, we basically started brainstorming," Cross explained. "Everything has to have a gameplay function, but also we were trying to stay within that classic Aliens look."

To combat these new monstrosities, you'll need to take advantage of the various elemental weapon types, each of which is effective against certain Xenos. Incendiary shots set them ablaze for extra damage, while Cryo can render Xenos frozen and immobile, letting you pile on the hurt. Electric slows down enemies and seems particularly useful against the rogue synthetics that attack you alongside the aliens.

Being able to utilize the different elements tactfully against your enemies can really give you a huge advantage against the Xenos, and can be the difference between victory and defeat.

Additionally, your sidearm pistol now has infinite ammo. This change was made so that players weren't stuck with empty guns if they ran out of ammo for their primary weapons. It also shifted the way I played, too. I'd strategically pick off enemies with headshots from my pistol, and then switch to my more powerful weapons if I needed some extra firepower. This way, I could conserve ammo for the bigger Xenos.

My squad played on the normal difficulty, and even though we were sitting at opposite corners of the room, not talking to each other, we succeeded in repelling the Xenomorph threat. At higher difficulty levels, friendly fire is enabled, so teamwork and communication will be of the utmost importance.

Aliens Fireteam Elite 2 seems to be doing everything that a sequel should. It's got a new campaign, crossplay at launch (which the first game didn't have), and some genuinely game-changing improvements like the bump from three-player co-op to four-player, and the addition of the Specialist class.

The game will also have the fan-favorite Horde mode, where you and your teammates must survive against an endless wave of Xenomorphs. I tried to poke Cross about some of the changes to Horde mode in this sequel, but he wasn't about to spill company secrets.

"I'm not going to talk about the exact changes today, but just know that it's very, very fun," he smirked.

Aliens Fireteam Elite 2 launches later this year for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S.

It's been 12 years since The Coalition took the reins of the Gears of War franchise. After Microsoft acquired the rights to the series from Epic Games in 2014, the team was formed and tasked with remastering the original Gears of War in 2015.

It’s also been a decade since the studio’s first original title, Gears of War 4, and seven years since the studio's last game, Gears 5. Fans were eagerly awaiting the continuation of this story, but instead, The Coalition sought Gears of War: E-Day as a return to the gritty roots of the series. But why?

At Summer Game Fest 2026, Space got a hands-off preview for Gears of War E-Day and sat in a group Q&A with developer The Coalition about the game. We spoke to brand director Nicole Fawcette, creative director Matt Searcy, and art director Aryan Hanbeck about how some of the Gears of War novels were integrated, new gameplay mechanics, and bringing in new characters.

“We did not port any assets. All the animations and movement models were built from scratch, “ Searcy explained. “So this is a game built around the pillars of the original Gears game, but built in 2026.”

According to the team, they wanted to replicate the dark atmosphere that the first three games had, and make a prequel focusing on E-Day, the planet Sera’s darkest moment.

The footage of Gears of War: E-Day starts with series protagonist Marcus Fenix and his best friend Dominic Santiago, 14 years before the events of the first game. In plain clothes, they grab guns to fight off the emerging Locust alien threat, who are bursting out from the ground and slaughtering civilians. The chaos reminded me of the opening hours of The Last of Us, where protagonist Joel has to navigate around town, avoiding the infected as they turn into violent creatures.

Marcus and Dom are younger-looking, but they’re still built like trucks, with massively thick necks and biceps that put Superman to shame. Hanbeck briefly touched on the art style, saying. “Marcus and Dom are quite stylized in their proportions, so we had to work in pre-production quite a bit of back and forth to try to get them to be believable.”

Searcy confirmed that the game doesn’t take place in a single day but across three days, with the story unfolding seamlessly to tell the events of E-Day. The footage also showed off some new gameplay features, including a modernised revision to the active reload mechanic that Gears of War pioneered. As always, players can speed up a reload with a well-timed button press (or slow it down with a bad one).

On some guns, such as the Gnasher shotgun, we can see the individual bullets being loaded into the chamber in the center of the screen. You can stop in the middle of the reload to get out of sticky situations when only a bullet or two is needed to finish the job. The downside is that they’ll have to forgo the active reload bonus, which fully reloads the gun if a button press is timed correctly.

Later in the footage, Macus and Dom head into a grocery store with the other two members of their Bravo squad, Lucas Reyes and Mags Carter. These new members are based on real-life actors (Jake Ryan Lozano and Elizabeth Ludlow, respectively), and since all four of them need to work as a cohesive group, the dev team didn’t want a big visual divide between them.

“We've had to revamp our whole face blend shape system because the themes of this game are quite a bit more serious,” Hanbeck explained. “These guys are talking about burdens and brotherhood. It all really falls flat if they can't pull off really subtle emotions.”

Fans can rest easy because voice actors John DiMaggio and Carlos Ferro are reprising their roles as Marcus and Dom, respectively. Fawcette confirmed that they’ll retain the same voices for the characters as previous Gears of War games, as opposed to sounding different to fit their younger characters. “I think for us it was more important to maintain their iconic voices than to ask them to change or sound a specific age. We had a really good creative discussion about how to approach that.”

In the grocery store, Bravo Squad fights off a swarm of Locusts, but a monstrous and hulking Drone pins Marcus’s neck against a pillar. As he’s about to pass out, a chainsaw rips through the grotesque creature, revealing fan-favorite Tai Kaliso.

He and Marcus have saved each other’s behinds more times than they can count throughout the Gears of War universe, and this moment honored that. In fact, this moment was actually a reference to one of the novels, Gears of War: Jacinto’s Remnant, which depicted the origins of the iconic Chainsaw Bayonet — essentially a chainsaw strapped to an assault rifle.

“We worked really hard to keep the canon and everything. In fact, that one moment of Marcus's bayonet snapping in the grocery store and Tai chainsawing it is lifted directly out of a book, dialogue and everything,” Searcy explained. “It is the moment that was described when somebody used the chainsaw for the first time to cut a drone, and it was really cool to be able to fold that into our E-Day story.”

The alien Locust threat has gone through a bit of a redesign to fit this new prequel entry. The series’s basic fodder enemies, Wretches, usually come decked with armor, but not in E-Day. The wretches here are pale and skinny, like they haven’t seen the sun or eaten anything.

Searcy said, “We played with the idea that it's possible that there were Locusts that were here 14 years before [the first game], so it's possible they were creatures that they fought in the first 10 years that weren’t in Gears of War 1, 2, and 3.”

“I think you'll be surprised by the variants of locusts that we were able to introduce,” Fawcette added.

One of the biggest differences between Gears of War: E-Day and previous games is that the game will take place in a single location: the city of Kalona. “In contrast to Gears 5, where you were globetrotting all over the place, [it’s] quite a departure,” Hanbeck said. “I think it's the right choice for this story because we treat the city itself as a character. The fall of the city is a major theme throughout the game.”

Speaking of Gears 5, we had to ask why E-Day. Why do a prequel instead of finishing the story the team was already telling, especially given that Gears 5 finished on such a cliffhanger ending?

With Gears 5 out the door and the COVID pandemic striking, The Coalition took some time to reevaluate what its next project would be. As opposed to continuing the storyline, the studio decided that it wanted to shape its own Gears of War origin story. The reveal and release of Unreal Engine 5 also played a factor.

“We're going to be starting with an empty hard drive,” Searcy said. “And the opportunity to build out not just our mechanics, but the Locust, our characters, and all those things from scratch, was just too good to pass up.”

Gears of War: E-Day launches on October 6 for PC and Xbox Series X|S. An open beta will begin on August 6.

Strategy games don't come much bigger than the Total War franchise, and the Warhammer trilogy showed how well the formula worked in a fantasy setting. Now, after three hits in collaboration with Games Workshop, studio Creative Assembly is embracing a grimdark futuristic setting with Total War: Warhammer 40,000.

Warhammer 40K is the most famous miniature wargame in the world, with nearly 40 years of legacy behind it. In fact, the 11th edition of the game will be released in June 2026. There have been plenty of Warhammer 40K video games in that time, but nothing quite on the scale that 'Total War: Warhammer 40,000' promises.

In the 41st millennium, the Imperium of Man is besieged by extraterrestrial forces of all sorts and even darker threats, but humanity's defenders are brutal and relentless, too. We covered the basics of the 40K universe while back, but all you really need to know is that 40K's future is defined by a mixture of sci-fi and dark fantasy, colloquelly know as "grimdark".

Now that you're suitably prepared, scroll down and learn everything we know about Total War: Warhammer 40,000 so far (and we'll be keeping this page updated as new info drops).

When is Total War: Warhammer 40,000 coming out?

Total War: Warhammer 40,000 doesn't have a specific release window yet, but we're not expecting it to launch before late 2026 or early 2027.

With a late 2025 reveal during the Game Awards ceremony, publisher SEGA, developer Creative Assembly, and WH40K owner Games Workshop unleashed both striking CG cutscenes and in-game footage, but nothing we've heard suggests Total War: Warhammer 40K is anywhere near done.

What platforms is Total War: Warhammer 40,000 launching on?

Total War: Warhammer 40,000 is set to launch on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC (Windows) via Steam.

The Total War franchise had never escaped the confines of PC gaming, but that's about to change with the engine refresh that's powering Total War: Warhammer 40K, which was confirmed to be invading current-gen consoles day one as well.

No doubt, this also means much of the user interface and the control scheme will have to be adapted to the limitations of gamepads, but we're confident Creative Assembly is building a flexible experience from the ground up for all platforms.

Total War: Warhammer 40,000 trailers

Two Total War: Warhammer 40K trailers have been released so far. The debut trailer shown at the 2025 Game Awards was meaty, showcasing CG cutscenes that perfectly set the dark epic atmosphere and gameplay clips that tease a new level of large-scale warfare across the stars.

You can watch it above.

We also got a shorter, CGI-only trailer at Skulls 2026, Games Workshop's annual video game-focused event. The trailer doesn't show much, as it's just a computer display playing an audio log, but the audio is very revealing.

Commisar Yarrick's voice is unmistakable, and that means only one thing: Total War: Warhammer 40,000 is going to Armageddon. Armageddon is one of the most infamous planets in the 40K setting; the site of a never-ending war between the Imperium and the Orks.

Warhammer 40K 11th Edition will be taking the narrative back to Armageddon for its launch in June. We can't wait to be back there, both on the tabletop and in Total War.

What type of strategy game is Total War: Warhammer 40,000?

Total War: Warhammer 40,000 is a mix of large-scale, real-time tactical battles and turn-based campaigns. On a basic level, it could be considered a blend of RTS and grand strategy, but the Total War franchise has evolved over the decades, almost becoming a unique strategy video game subgenre.

Like in past Total War games, players must choose an army (and species in this case) and conquer a massive campaign map against a varying number of enemies, which are controlled by the computer and/or humans. This involves turn-based movements — more like in a traditional board game — diplomacy, and basic management of cities, outposts, and massive armies. Of course, the Warhammer 40K setting will add in plenty of sci-fi elements and even fleet management, but we've yet to receive proper details on what's coming.

RPG-like progression has also become a notable part of these games, especially in the fantasy settings of Warhammer, with both units and unique heroes gaining new skills, weapons, equipment, and spells over time. Part of the progression is tied to experience gained during battles, while other upgrades come from specific buildings and resources acquired through the conquest of the map, which in this case includes full star systems.

The real-time battles are widely considered to be the main part of the Total War games. They vary depending on the location of the encounters and the size and composition of each army. While it's possible to have them play out automatically without exiting the turn-based layer of the game, it's advisable to take full control of your armies when the advantage isn't clear. Through smart positioning and tactical moves (plus powers) used at the right times, the goal is to either annihilate or repel the enemy forces.

Needless to say, in the Warhammer 40K setting, ranged firepower and vehicles are at the center of these conflicts; we haven't learned much about those elements yet, though.

When in the timeline does Total War: Warhammer 40,000 take place?

Total War: Warhammer 40,000 is set during the Era Indomitus, which is currently the "present period" of the WH40K universe from the point of view of the Imperium of Man. Everyone agrees it began with the Fall of Cadia during the Black Crusade and the formation of the Great Rift – also called Cicatrix Maledictum – across the galaxy.

This tear in reality has also led to a series of warp storms and the emergence of a wave of "ferocious empyric energy and supernatural darkness." The Imperium now remains divided into two halves by the Rift, with the Imperium Nihilus found across the half of the galaxy that's considered "northern" and the Imperium Sanctus covering much of the southern and western part of the original Imperium territory. The latter has access to the psychic beacon of the Astronomican, which is used to correctly navigate the galaxy and the chaos of Warpspace, but in the Dark Imperium (Nihilus), faster-than-light travel has been rendered almost impossible.

During this time, Primarch Roboute Guilliman became the Lord Commander of the Imperium and Imperial Regent, and launched the Indomitus Crusade, the largest the Imperium has seen since the Great Crusade of roughly 10,000 years before. Much of this era steps into the 42nd millennium, but the chronology isn't entirely clear.

The second trailer made it clear that we'll be heading to Armageddon as part of the game, with a story almost certainly centered around the epic battles between Commisar Yarrick and Ghazghkull Thraka, which sets the game around the same time as the launch of the 11th edition of the tabletop game.

What factions are available in Total War: Warhammer 40,000?

Total War: Warhammer 40,000 includes four factions at launch: Space Marines, Orks, Aeldari, and the Astra Militarum. Of course, everyone is expecting more to arrive after the game launches*, but unless some surprises are being hidden, only four factions will be available when Total War: Warhammer 40K releases.

The Space Marines are the most iconic military force of the WH40K universe. As the fist of the Imperium, these genetically enhanced warriors are "few" (only hundreds of thousands for a galaxy-spanning empire), but they are among the most powerful weapons that humanity has access to. As hulking figures covered in armor, they strike fear even into the hearts of the most fearsome xenos.

Orks are almost identical to their Warhammer Fantasy counterparts; an unrelenting and largely disorganized species, but now spread across the stars. They simply love war and throwing endless green mobs against every enemy the horde comes across. Ork weapons and vehicles are unpredictable and clanky, but don't underestimate this species.

The Aeldari (Eldar) are essentially "space elves", a race of humanoid xenos that once had almost complete control of the known galaxy, but now their race has fallen into decline. They rely on precision strikes and ancient – almost magic-like – weapons and psyker powers to win conflicts. Elegance feels essential to their governing aesthetic and style of warfare.

Last but not least, the Astra Militarum (aka the Imperial Guard) is the largest fighting force in the galaxy and represents the bulk of the Imperium of Man's military force. Billions of men and women serve, and their primary combat tactic is to "overwhelm the enemy with their endless numbers", while at the same time hammering them into submission with devastating artillery and crushing them with powerful main battle tanks.

*Editor Ian: Give me my Necrons, you cowards!!!

The best sci-fi games are often pigeonholed into specific genres like shooters, strategy games, and RPGs, and for good reason; franchises like Mass Effect, StarCraft, and Half-Life are all-time classics. But sometimes it’s nice to explore the stars in a safer way... a more chill, vibey kind of way that helps you relax and unwind.

Don’t get us wrong, gunning down aliens and blowing up space stations is obviously fun. But sometimes you’re just not in the mood to overthrow intergalactic governments or have intricate dogfights while soaring through the stars. Luckily, there are some great relaxing sci-fi games out there that span the gamut from tranquil and atmospheric to downright cozy.

From walking sims to farming sims, interactive stories and sandbox creations, sci-fi games don’t always have to be epic, sprawling adventures. They can be peaceful and calming, perfect for decompressing after a long day, or snuggling up on a rainy afternoon.

So grab that oversized mug and a chunky, knitted blanket because we’re about to dive into the 11 best cozy sci-fi games this galaxy has to offer.

11. Abzu

Platforms: PC, Switch, Switch 2, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox X|S | Developer: Giant Squid | Release date: August 2, 2016

Abzu is routinely cited as one of the best cozy games ever, and for good reason. Players take on the role of a robotic diver who explores the oceans of an alien planet. There’s no dialogue or writing throughout the entire game, just a fantastic orchestral score and the enchanting visuals. Instead, each player will build the story in their mind and probably end up with something slightly different.

Throughout Abzu, you dive through various ocean biomes and swim with orcas, manta rays, and even enormous giant squid. No spoilers here, but in the game’s third act, the sci-fi really comes into full view, and what you thought was just a cozy ocean simulator turns into something truly otherworldly.

Visually, the game is pure artwork, with a pastel gloss coating each oceanic biome. Plus, there’s something so mesmerizing about the size of the animals in the game. It’s one thing to hear that blue whales are the size of three school buses…but it’s entirely another to actually swim next to one.

10. Star Trucker

Platforms: PC, PS5, Xbox X|S | Developer: Monster and Monster | Release date: September 3, 2024

Unless you’ve been living on Mars for the past five years, you’ve probably noticed that simulator games are everywhere. Planes, trains, and automobiles have been joined by trams, taxis, ships, tractors, and more. If there’s a thing with a seat and a motor, there’s a sim game for it.

With truck sims being so popular, it seems only natural that eventually one would go to space. Enter Star Trucker, where you load up cargo into your trusty space semi and then haul it across the galaxy.

The campy premise is fun, and the chill gameplay of gliding through space as you make your deliveries is both entertaining and low-pressure. There is a bit of a learning curve, since most truck sims have you going left and right, whereas this one adds in the dimensions of up and down too.

There’s even some spaceflight mechanics stuff in there. Thanks to the thrusters, which don’t work the same way as engines, so there’s a bit of delay in everything you do, giving the controls that sliding-on-ice feel. But once you get the hang of it, the rest is smooth sailing. It’s well worth checking out, so 10-4 good buddy, git-er-dun!

9. Verdant Skies

Platforms: PC | Developer: Howling Moon Software | Release date: February 12, 2018

Verdant Skies is a sci-fi take on Harvest Moon and Stardew Valley, and the second you start playing the game, you’ll immediately see the similarities.

Your mission is to settle the planet, Viridis Primus. You create farms, go fishing, explore caves, and make relationships (both friendly and romantic) with the other colonists. There are some sci-fi twists, though, including a unique plant splicing machine that turns you into more of a bioengineer than a farmer, but the general vibe is chill.

Fans of the genre know who they are, and if that’s you, then Verdant Skies is a great addition to the pantheon. Plus, the game’s hand-painted art style feels welcoming and comforting, and offers something new compared to Stardew’s iconic pixel aesthetic. If you want a cozy game that lets you farm and fall in love — but in space — this is it.

8. Lost in Space: The First Adventure

Platforms: PC, Switch, Switch 2 | Developer: Scary Robot | Release date: February 19, 2026

Long before Netflix's 2018 Lost in Space show (starring the goddess Parker Posey), and even before the 1998 Lost in Space movie that oddly starred Joey from Friends and Eliza Thornberry, there was the original 1965 show that ran for three seasons. Lost in Space: The First Adventure is stylized to look like the original Lost in Space series.

In the game, you play as Will Robinson, who discovers that his family has gone missing on an alien planet. This isn’t just a visual retro throwback to Lost in Space, though; its style also feels reminiscent of old 90s PC adventure games. A mix of exploration, puzzles, platforming, and inventory management makes this little indie gem feel surprisingly varied yet accessible. It's planned to be the first of a five-part series, too.

Because of its retro influences, Lost in Space: The First Adventure has a wholesomeness to it that I can’t fully describe. It’s almost like an episode of Leave It to Beaver, but in space. For anyone wanting something cozy and chill, I think that’s the perfect vibe.

7. Hardspace: Shipbreaker

Platforms: PC, PS5, Xbox X|S | Developer: Blackbird Interactive | Release date: May 24, 2022

If you want a cozy game disguised as something a bit more thrilling, check out Hardspace: Shipbreaker. You play as a worker for the Lynx Corporation, and your job is to break apart and salvage old ships to collect useful materials.

There’s a good amount of action for a “cozy” game, and wrong moves can cause detonations, devastating crashes, or explosive decompression. Players can even die, and probably will die numerous times. Luckily, this is a Mickey 17 situation, and the good folks at Lynx own your DNA and clone you every time you die, sending you right back into the mission!

The game expects you to die, and even encourages it, allowing players to have fun, get wacky, and try out experimental techniques to break down the ships. It’s almost like Lego in reverse, as you systematically dismantle ships, figuring out the best way to pull everything apart without damaging the expensive components.

There’s no fail state — you’re just out here trying to do the best you can. This creates some really fun, stress-free gameplay, turning what could have been a tense, dystopic space drama into an easy-going romp.

6. Virginia

Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox X|S | Developer: Variable State | Release date: September 22, 2016

Best described as a cross between The X-Files and Twin Peaks, the narrative walking sim Virginia tasks players with becoming an FBI agent on a missing-persons case. But there’s also a secret side mission, where you’re tasked with watching your partner, who the FBI has flagged for suspicious behavior.

What follows is a series of unexpected events that may or may not be connected, including secret government programs, a demonic cult, scandalous affairs, and an alien abduction. While the premise seems suspenseful and full of mystery, the game is actually surprisingly chill.

There’s no combat, no dialogue, and no need to rush. Each level is essentially a scene, and players are free to roam the space as much as they want before choosing to progress the story. That, combined with the game’s cinematic score performed by the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, makes Virginia a surprisingly deep, yet also calm experience.

5. Lightyear Frontier

Platforms: PC, Xbox X|S | Developer: Frame Break | Release date: March 19, 2024

Look, we’re probably never going to get Titanfall 3, and that’s a damn shame. But for any mech-obsessed gamers out there, Lightyear Frontier is a must-play.

Players explore an alien planet in their trusty mech in this genre-busting title that’s part exploration game and part farm sim. It’s basically a high-tech take on Stardew Valley, but instead of a 2D pixel world, Lightyear Frontier is lush, colorful, and fully 3D, making it really fun to explore the planet.

It’s especially great for anyone who loves farm sims (and I know there are lots of you out there) since a majority of the gameplay is harvesting wild plants, growing your farm, and tending to alien livestock, all inside your giant mech.

4. Return to Grace

Platforms: PC, Xbox X|S, PS4, PS5 | Developer: Creative Bytes Studios | Release date: May 30, 2023

In Return to Grace, players take on the role of a future archaeologist who lands on a frozen alien planet to investigate a giant station that houses the godlike AI entity called Grace. But when you arrive, the station is abandoned, and Grace is offline. Where is everyone, and why has Grace gone dormant? It’s your job to find out.

Return to Grace is a narrative walking sim, so even though there’s a bubbling mystery pushing the game forward, it’s still a super slow-paced, chill adventure. Plus, the station is designed with a retrofuturistic jet age aesthetic, making it a visually stunning space to explore. Despite the leisurely gameplay, Return to Grace has a great story packed with emotion.

3. Europa

Platforms: PC, Switch, Switch 2 | Developer: Novadust Entertainment | Release date: October 11, 2024

There’s lots of talk about Jupiter’s moon Europa, and whether it might have subsurface oceans that contain some form of life. But imagine a realm where Europa has been terraformed into a vibrant world teeming with life. As an android boy, you run, fly, and surf across the planet, discovering mythical alien creatures while trying to figure out what happened to humanity.

Like many games on this list, Europa is so effective because it takes a big, daunting question (like the downfall of humanity) and wraps it up in a relaxing, cozy world. Europa is heavily inspired by the artwork of Studio Ghibli films, and has some definite Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom vibes, but it's less focused on puzzles or combat, and more on the sheer joy of exploration.

2. Astroneer

Platforms: PC, Switch, Switch 2, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox X|S | Developer: System Era Softworks | Release date: February 6, 2019

Astroneer is a base-building sandbox game where you — or you and some friends — can settle various alien planets. You can explore the worlds, harvest resources, and build a variety of structures and vehicles. Think of it like Subnautica without all the dangerous animals.

While you can die, the game has a pretty chill Minecraft-style respawn system where you spawn in at your last-used shelter and have all your resources waiting for you at the spot where you died.

Also like Minecraft, it’s got a catchy lo-fi soundtrack that’s great for vibing out to. So I guess the game can best be summed up as Subnautica + Minecraft - combat = Astroneer.

1. I Was a Teenage Exocolonist

Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Switch 2 | Developer: Northway Games | Release date: August 25, 2022

We love games that blend genres together, but “I Was a Teenage Exocolonist” goes places we were not expecting. It’s a surprisingly cozy story-driven, part visual novel, part roguelite, and part deck-building game with 29 different endings.

I Was a Teenage Exocolonist follows the triumphs and struggles of a young colonist on the distant planet of Vertumna IV. You engage in card battles to tackle the various challenges in your life as you learn new skills, form friendships, and shape the future of the colony. We simply adore the gorgeous art style that’s packed with vibrant colors and sci-fi flourishes.

Unlike in most cozy games, you’re going to die here, and you’re supposed to. With each death comes a different ending, and new unlocks that give you additional options and choices for your next playthrough that help you change outcomes for the better.

Despite all the death, I Was a Teenage Exocolonist still feels surprisingly cozy. You can have romances, make friends, study at school, and take up some odd jobs. For the ultimate example of video game cozification, I Was a Teenage Exocolonist even forces you to slow down and take rest breaks to lower your character’s (and your own) stress levels.

Video games have come a long way since their inception, but you’ll find the furthest they’ve gone (so far) is the depths of space itself. No, we're not talking about video games set in space; these actually went into space.

From individual missions to tours aboard the ISS, video games have featured surprisingly often in the inky blackness of space. Astronauts are pretty busy when they're on a mission — it's quite expensive to get them into orbit, and the taxpayers don't want to spend millions of dollars so Victor Glover can play Halo in orbit — but they do occasionally get to take games into space.

So strap in and prepare to blast off as we look at our brief history of sending video games to space.

1993 — Tetris becomes the 1st game In space (that we know of)

In the early 90s, the newly born Russian Federation was still managing the world’s first modular space station, Mir.

One of the brave cosmonauts tasked with a 196-day mission aboard the world’s pre-eminent space station was Aleksander Serebrov. When Serebrov wasn’t busy setting the world record for the number of space walks (a record later surpassed by Anatoly Solovyev), he found time to enjoy his Game Boy with a copy of the seminal Russian puzzle game, Tetris.

Not only does this make Serebrov the first person to play video games in space, but it also marks a spectacular piece of technological patriotism.

In 2011, Serebrov’s Game Boy and copy of Tetris were auctioned off in New York for $1220 USD, along with a note of provenance reading: "Like all cosmonauts, I love sport. My particular favourites are football and swimming. During flight, in rare minutes of leisure, I enjoyed playing Game Boy."

1998 — And now for something completely different

Keeping things with the Mir station, in 1998, one of the final missions to the station, STS-89, was launched from Kennedy Space Centre.

Onboard was a crew of American astronauts, including mission specialist Andy Thomas. Alongside being an excellent mechanical engineer, aerodynamic scientist, and mission specialist, he’s also a bit of a gamer — at least, if his choice of entertainment aboard the Russian space station is anything to go by. Andy bought with him a PC game called ‘Monty Python’s Complete Waste of Time’.

If you haven't heard of it, consider yourself lucky. It’s basically an FMV mini-game collection that is, aptly, a complete waste of time. We’re not 100% sure why someone would want to lock themselves in a cramped, ageing space station for 6 months with this terrible game, but it cemented itself in history as the second game played in space.

1999 — Folks, we’re going international

The longest continually manned space station in history, the International Space Station (ISS), is a modern wonder of the world. Along with a host of astronauts, it's also briefly been home to one of the greatest space strategy games ever made.

In 1999, space mission STS-96 delivered the first crew to inhabit the station, including Daniel Barry, who brought with him a copy of StarCraft because he happened to be a big fan of the franchise. Where better to enjoy a sci-fi RTS than the cold vacuum of space?

While his mission aboard the ISS only lasted around 30 days, in an interview in 2017, Barry said that part of the reason he chose Starcraft as a way of connecting with his far-flung family.

Barry used to Zerg-rush his partner and daughter back on Earth, so this was a way of taking that bond into orbit. Sadly, he wasn't able to actually play the game, but the copy he took to space now resides in Blizzard’s headquarters.

2001-2005 — A mystery game

Sometimes, kids are given the chance to speak to real astronauts and ask them questions, and even more rarely, they’re allowed to do it with the President of the United States.

Back in 2009, a bunch of school kids and the 44^th President of the United States, Barack Obama, called the crew of the ISS, including one John L Phillips, to ask them questions.

When asked by one of the kids if they were allowed to play video games in space, Phillips admitted that on one of his previous missions, he had brought a PC with him to get some gaming in on his off time.

This means that during his 6-month mission aboard the ISS in 2005, he managed to bring some undisclosed video games with him and spent his free time gaming. Although by the sounds of the interview, his free time was pretty thin on the ground.

2016 — The future of gaming and space

When it comes to the future of gaming, enthusiasts may tell you that it lies in the twin avenues of AR (augmented reality) and VR (virtual reality). While the veracity of those statements is, at best, questionable, the final entry in the saga of games going to space features Microsoft’s AR HoloLens technology.

In 2016, astronaut and former jet pilot Scott Kelly tweeted a picture of himself wearing Microsoft’s AR-enabled HoloLens goggles, with a link to a YouTube video talking about NASA’s ‘Project Sidekick’. This project mostly focused on enabling crews to benefit from ground-based assistance when completing highly technical procedures aboard the ISS or other spacecraft.

While the project is focused on using the goggles as a productivity aid, that doesn’t mean they’re entirely devoid of fun uses as well. While Kelly and fellow astronaut Tim Peake were trying out the headsets, they came under attack from virtual aliens and had to blast lasers from their fingers to fend off the attack.

It’s not immediately clear which game they’re playing, but the likely answer is RoboRaid, a HoloLens game that sees you pinching your fingers to fire lasers at invading aliens.

While news on Project Sidekick has been a little slim over the past few years, outside of a Hologramatic Doctor being beamed to the ISS in 2022, there’s still every chance that the crew aboard the ISS is still blasting alien robo-bugs in space to this day.

And there you have it, all of the times (so far as we know) that video games have made their way into space.

With gaming an ever-more ubiquitous part of our lives, it only makes sense that this trend will grow into the future, and we might even see the fateful day where someone plays FNaF 57: Freddy in Space, actually in space.

It's impossible not to be optimistic about our future among the stars at the moment. The Artemis 2 mission just blasted four astronauts in a loop around the moon, taking humanity one step closer to once again setting foot on our natural satellite.

But, ironically, NASA's achievement doesn't exist in a vacuum, and it’s time for a reality check. As rocket launches become more common, and the goal shifts away from exploration for the good of humanity towards exploitation for the profit of billionaires, interest and excitement around spaceflight is waning.

That's the cold future that the upcoming space game "Lunar Strike" presents. Cognition, the developers behind the game, gave us a sneak peek into the lore and backstory of their upcoming narrative-driven adventure, which sees you step into the boots of a junior archivist sent to document humanity's final lunar settlement.

Set in the year 2119, Lunar Strike imagines a world where humanity's reach for the stars fizzled out with a whimper, as problems at home forced us to refocus our efforts. Global warming led to international tensions, and a mixture of religious fanaticism and failures in governance gave way to nuclear annihilation. Suffice to say, this string of disasters left humanity risk-averse. As an in-universe essay notes, "humanity recoiled and retrenched and withdrew and atrophied".

It's a strangely pragmatic look forward that we rarely see in games. Sure, sci-fi can be bleak — there's no end to the cosmic horrors and savage alien races that game developers can conjure up — but that almost always comes as a result of humanity's success in space. We get to reach for the stars, develop faster-than-light travel, and explore the cosmos … and then run into extraterrestrial nasties.

Despite being set on the moon, Lunar Strike offers problems entirely of our own Earthly creation, and the only solutions are those within our current understanding of science. Given that it's set nearly 100 years in the future, we've made some progress, though, including a lunar base at the moon's south pole.

The lunar south pole is the intended landing sight for Artemis 4, and for good reason. "It offers access to some of the moon's oldest terrain, as well as cold, shadowed regions that may contain water and other compounds," Artemis lunar science lead Sarah Noble said in a 2024 press release.

With a century to build on our real plans, this settlement will be much more than a few prefabricated habitats, though, with the developers striving to make it feel like a real, lived-in space. We often romanticize our future amongst the stars, but Lunar Strike aims to put the reality of that struggle at the forefront. As humanity's interest in lunar exploration has faded, the moon base has succumbed to the ravages of time. Parts have to be repaired and reused. Maintenance and vigilance are a daily reality for the residents. Some people spend their entire lives on the moon; some people are born on the moon, spending their entire lives inside pressurised corridors, under artificial lights.

It's a far cry from the pomp and circumstance of the Artemis 2 mission and NASA's dreams for sustained, peaceful lunar habitation under the Artemis Accords. A world where our past accomplishments and discoveries are being forgotten, cast aside as survival and pragmatism become the priority. But out of this bleak future, a small light emerges in the form of the ARCK project.

Named for the real-life non-profit founded by Cognition's director, Brian Pope, this fictional organisation has the same mandate as its namesake: to preserve humanity's history. As the developer puts it, "Its mission is to collect and preserve scientific research, technical documentation, cultural records, and traces of everyday human life - not as a retrospective archive, but as a living system that must be maintained, curated, and defended."

And that's where we'll come in as players. As a junior archivist on the moon, our job is to scan, document, and preserve the knowledge and history of humanity's time on the moon … Well, it is when we're not also trying to prevent a terrorist attack, anyway.

Economic and ecological strain have left the public with a cold attitude towards space travel, and in some cases, that disapproval has grown into outright opposition. Earth-first movements have sprung up, and while most are purely political organisations, some have taken to more … extreme measures. One such extremist offshoot — known as the MudBoots — serves as the antagonist during the game. While we can't spoil their plans for you yet, it's ambitious and potentially devastating for the lunar base.

It's not all doom and gloom, though, as Lunar Strike does offer some optimistic looks at how we deal with technological advancement — specifically AI. With the current wave of AI automation, and the real-life discussions around automating the settlement of our solar system, it would seem logical to extrapolate out a future where computers and robots are running the show, but this isn't the case in Lunar Strike. As the devs explain, "AI does not run the colony. It supports the person standing inside it".

We've still yet to get our hands on the game, but we're excited to explore the world of Lunar Strike more as the launch approaches. There is no locked release date yet beyond 2026, but when we know more, you'll know more.

Lunar Strike is coming soon to PC. You can add it to your wishlist on Steam.

Over 20 years after its debut, the “re-imagining” of Battlestar Galactica remains a key part of modern TV and sci-fi as a whole. After some smaller video game adaptations, including the notable turn-based strategy title Battlestar Galactica: Deadlock, developer Alt Shift and publisher Dotemu's take on the bleak universe with Scattered Hopes finally feels like a perfect match.

After barely escaping the annihilation of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol at the hands of the Cylons, a scrappy human fleet tries to survive as it aims to reunite with humanity's last hope — the mighty Battlestar Galactica. Anyone familiar with the show knows what comes next probably won't be pretty, but even diehard fans will be shocked by how brutal Scattered Hopes can be.

The roguelite school of design is in vogue right now, and it comes in many forms. From Saros's live-die-repeat sci-fi shooter action to Balatro's wild take on poker. Whatever the style, the underlying core remains the same: repeating short but punishing runs in an attempt to clear the whole journey in one go.

Usually, failure comes with rewards in the shape of new bonuses, weapons, and tools to overcome obstacles more easily in the future, so dying several times is part of the loop. But of course, no victory is gifted, so you need to improve your skills and make the right choices to secure the ultimate win.

As it turns out, the relentlessly downbeat Battlestar Galactica universe is an ideal candidate for a game infused with failure at its core. Scattered Hopes is packed with high-intensity situations for skilled Admirals to overcome. If you're looking for relaxed fun, though, look elsewhere.

At its core, Battlestar Galactica: Scattered Hopes is a "game of menus". You'll spend most of your time clicking through many layers of crew management, resources, and dialogues. The dangerous journey is split into turns, during which you have to deal with a variety of crises, from malfunctioning tech to disagreements between the survivors to off-ship missions that might yield very valuable rewards... or even more early demises.

Normally, you can take as much time as you want weighing options and trying to predict what might happen, but you'll have to learn from your failures to live another day ... either now, or in the next run. And Cylons aren't the only threat to your survival.

Unfortunately for humans, almost every decision comes with downsides. Scattered Hopes is a constant juggling act of resources. Focus on fuel – required to jump to new star systems – too hard and you'll likely run out of the scrap required to fix damaged ship systems; neglect interpersonal drama and pilots will perform below the expected performance levels when the Cylons come knocking. There's a daunting list of things that can go wrong before you even get to space warfare.

Space battles are a thing in Scattered Hopes, but they don't play out as you'd expect. Whenever Cylon ships find you, your goal is not to destroy all of them, but to hold them back and save what you can as the fleet prepares to jump away.

Battles play out in real time, but you can pause at any time to better manage your fighter squadrons and capital ships' cooldown-based weapons, including tactical nukes that can wipe out entire Cylon waves if timed correctly. However, people have pointed out the lore-inaccurate representation of some iconic spacecraft, such as the Raptors, which are mounted with railguns and don't have the ability to FTL jump. They just feel like random sci-fi ships beyond the visuals.

Every battle can mean the loss of ships and lives, both of which are limited resources, so combat never feels like something you'll seek out, at least not until you're confident enough in your pilots and the fleet. It's a simple but oppressive approach to procedural design that Alt Shift has already toyed with for Crying Suns, their previous spaceship tactical roguelite.

Like in FTL: Faster Than Light (roguelite royalty at this point), each run will improve your chances of success as you gain better equipment, ships, and upgrades for the next attempt. And yet, even after tens of hours, I don't feel overpowered. I just have more tools. One wrong decision, one political misstep, and it can still all come crumbling down.

In a way, you could look at Scattered Hopes like "FTL but Battlestar Galactica" and have a blast with the options and different paths to victory (and failure) it gives you. While we love a good space battle, Alt Shift's game excels when it presents sudden events, like a rebellion inside the capital ship, or explores grudges between a generous supporting cast. There's no "right" way out of any of those key moments, but the game will judge you and reshape what lies ahead. Victory can be obtained at any cost, with total destruction being the only "game over" condition.

It all makes for a thrilling adaptation of the TV show, capturing the unpredictability and refreshing focus on human drama and politics at the edge of an apocalypse. Facing the endless Cylon onslaught in the void of space is terrifying even in 2D battles, but many of Scattered Hopes' gut punches happen during unexpected narrative events or tough choices that doom entire ship populations. It's a good reminder that a video game doesn't need to be “cinematic” to deliver riveting stories.

The early hours can be frustrating, since the “metagame” and progression take a good while to take off, and there's also the aforementioned lore-related annoyances, but if you're committed to overcoming that barrier, Battlestar Galactica: Scattered Hopes lands most of its shots and proves there's plenty of fuel left in the FTL-inspired roguelite formula.

So say we all.

Battlestar Galactica: Scattered Hopes is available now for purchase on PC (Steam & GOG).

A review code for Battlestar Galactica: Scattered Hopes was provided by Dotemu.

One of the core tenets of science fiction has always been the unknown, both the promise of mankind exploring vast new frontiers and the dangers of encountering life forms we know nothing about.

Some of the greatest sci-fi of all time, from Alien and The Thing all the way back to Lovecraft, have revolved around the sheer terror of facing something we simply know nothing about. As humans, we find comfort in having control, and stripping that away can reduce us to our basest instincts. That’s the idea at the heart of Directive 8020, the latest entry in the Dark Pictures series by Supermassive Games.

As the “start” of the Dark Pictures second season, Directive 8020 is a pretty astounding success that not only modernizes sci-fi’s fear of the unknown but boils it down and internalizes the idea into actual design mechanics, teasing as to where Supermassive’s series might go next.

Content warning: There's some fairly grotesque body horror in this game (it's an 18+), one image of which can be seen below. If that's not your bag, turn back now.

Be Kind, Rewind

Directive 8020 wears its inspirations quite openly on its sleeve — a general vibe and aesthetic heavily influenced by The Expanse mixed with grotesque body horror in the vein of The Thing. It’s a game not afraid to fully lean into those inspirations and have fun with it, while adding its own unique interpretation as a heavily choice-based narrative experience.

If you aren’t familiar with The Dark Pictures, it’s a series of narrative horror games that are loosely connected by some overarching characters and themes, with each of the four previous games hitting a different sub-genre of horror. For example, The Devil in Me hits the slasher experience, while Man of Medan is more of a psychological ghost story.

With Directive 8020, the series branches out to sci-fi and cosmic horror, focusing on the crew of the colony ship Cassiopeia, on an expedition to find humanity’s new home on the planet Tau Ceti f, in the wake of Earth becoming nearly uninhabitable. In the midst of that journey, the crew encounters an alien lifeform and is forced to crashland on Tau Ceti f. Before long, it becomes clear that whatever this lifeform is, it can copy and imitate humans.

When I talk about the “fear of the unknown” in Directive 8020, the most obvious way that applies is directly in the narrative. Most sci-fi horror has an element of this, where the main characters don’t know what the cosmic horror is, how it functions, or what its goal is. This is an easy way to create tension and stakes — the sheer nature of an otherworldly being digs into primal horror. And even from that most surface-level, Directive 8020 mostly succeeds at what it sets out to do.

These Dark Pictures games are consistently interesting with their setups, because we’re largely dropped into the middle of a story. In Directive 8020, we don’t initially know anything about these characters or who they are, slowly discovering those pieces along the way and making key decisions that shape how you view them.

But there’s something inscrutable about the writing of Directive 8020, with characters occasionally making bizarre decisions that feel a bit off. But I read that as an intentional choice in this case, deliberately playing into the paranoia that the main narrative is supposed to invoke. It could be written off as bad writing, but it feels deliberate. Part of the game's efforts to put you off balance.

All of the Cassiopeia crew was given mental and moral tests before the mission, meant to assess how fit they were, and guarantee they wouldn’t break. But introducing the alien lifeform is an unknown variable, and that fear of the unknown is given a double layer, creating paranoia over both the alien and how other people will react to it.

Although you make decisions for these characters, they are defined characters, and part of the “unknown” quantity of the game is how your decisions might affect their personalities — and you’re essentially guessing in some cases.

The other layer here, of course, is the branching narrative that can split, with every character having multiple chances to die and the story carrying on without them. Previous games have forced you to make decisions, then after the end of the game, you unlock a feature to go back and reload any section, and make key choices to change the narrative. Directive 8020, however, is the first game to give you that ability right from the get-go. While you can choose a mode that locks in decisions, the standard mode now gives you a story web you can view at any time, seeing the various nodes and turning point decisions, and reloading whenever you want.

It’s a fascinating shift in design that changes the entire way you approach the game, largely letting you focus more on piecing together the overall narrative, exploring scenes, and uncovering secrets. The game’s writing accommodates this by packing in more collectibles and stringing out the core mystery — and it works.

But I find that it pairs well with the game’s core theme of the unknown, by creating a story that’s more concerned with overall intrigue rather than visceral moments (even though those are still there). And that’s especially true when you account for the vastly tweaked gameplay, where Supermassive is clearly experimenting with new ideas — exploring what an uncertain future means for The Dark Pictures.

Rewriting the Formula

Up until now, The Dark Pictures games have stuck to the sort of Telltale-style of narrative games, with some very light exploration alongside focusing almost solely on dialogue and choices.

Directive 8020 starts to integrate more “gameplay” elements, namely stealth sections where you avoid creatures, a few puzzles for things like unlocking doors, and the aforementioned collectibles, which reveal how this game is linked to the series at large. The ties are more mysterious and understated than ever, but equally interesting. Mixed with the ability to rewind story choices, these are clear bids to make Directive 8020 more involved than past Dark Pictures games, which have oftentimes been compared to interactive movies.

It’s fascinating to see Supermassive clearly thinking about those criticisms and trying to make Directive 8020 feel more “video game-y,” so to speak. And while I largely feel that the game becomes over-reliant on stealth segments, the sheer fact that Directive 8020 uses them gives me more confidence for the future of the franchise.

Directive 8020, narratively and mechanically, feels quite a bit different from previous games, and it shows a willingness to experiment on Supermassive’s part: a willingness to evaluate what the “Dark Pictures formula” actually is. Therein lies the metatextual context of Directive 8020’s fear of the unknown, an uncertain future for the series where it has to adapt and change to survive.

That makes Directive 8020 far more interesting than it could be as just a standalone horror story, and I can easily see this game taking on even more context as future Dark Pictures games are released. This multilayered approach to Directive 8020’s core theme helps the game punch far above its weight, giving it extra context as both a homage to one of sci-fi’s most important sub-genres and a living piece for the series itself.

Somehow, The Dark Pictures has managed to carve out a successful niche for itself, clearly catering to a playerbase craving a kind of narrative experience that is underserved. With Directive 8020, Supermassive questions why all that worked in the first place, and what the series needs to do to adapt going forward.

It's strangely introspective, but it works, crafting a narrative that can effectively explore that core idea of uncertainty and the hope of a better future.

Directive 8020 is available now on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S.

A review code was provided by the publisher.

Let’s be honest here, and no disrespect to venerable family board games, but Monopoly is kind of boring. There, we said it. Oh sure, it's iconic — the real estate-hoarding classic has been with us since 1903, when it was called "The Landlord Game" — but have you ever actually enjoyed a game of it?

Behold the potential antidote to Monopoly ennui in the form of Ubisoft's new "Star Wars"-themed spinoff release, "Monopoly: Star Wars Heroes vs Villains." This new twist on a time-worn game could recalibrate your thoughts on the 90-year-old land acquisition diversion when it lands on PC, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 1/2 and Xbox Series X|S on June 11, 2026.

No, this isn’t Monopoly’s first venture into the galaxy far, far away, as a basic tabletop "Star Wars" edition came out in 1996, followed by a video game adaptation in 1997. However, this latest incarnation has some sensational digital magic attached that has piqued our interest.

"Assemble your team, build your roster of iconic 'Star Wars' characters, and battle with your friends and family for control of the galaxy as you move across storied planets and locations," states the official description.

"Choose from a wide array of 'Star Wars' heroes and villains, each with their own unique abilities. Whether you're teaming up with Luke Skywalker or unleashing Darth Vader, every match is packed with team strategy, surprises, and classic 'Star Wars' moments. No two battles unfold the same way; the fate of your team is yours to shape!"

Based on the trailer and gameplay overview, the game allows teams of two or three to join forces on and offline to take control of the Monopoly board, using specific character attributes and skills found within the greater "Star Wars" canon.

Something called "Dynamic Go Events" promises to infuse an air of unpredictability into the action with fun moments that can "alter the deal” significantly. Plus, thrilling cinematic clips will help bind players to the "Star Wars" franchise while acquiring their "properties."

We know you all were really hoping for EA to deliver "Battlefront 3" or Quantic Dream to accelerate "Star Wars Eclipse" instead of a Monopoly crossover, but while you wait for those upcoming Star Wars games, this new "Star Wars Monopoly" just might be the way to address your lack of faith in that moldy old family game night favorite.

"Monopoly: Star Wars Heroes vs Villains" launches for PC, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 1/2, and Xbox Series X|S on June 11, 2026.

Following rumors, Nintendo has just announced yet another remake of Star Fox 64 (Lylat Wars in PAL regions), and it's coming sooner than anyone expected.

With a surprise 'Star Fox Direct' released on May 6, Nintendo finally confirmed the existence and arrival of a new Star Fox game on Nintendo Switch 2. The original Nintendo Switch won't be getting this reimagining of the excellent rail shooter, which sports a complete overhaul of its presentation and substantial content additions.

Beyond the shinier, vastly more detailed visuals and overhauled audio, the core journey remains the same, but an extra Challenge Mode and competitive online multiplayer (with free flight) add more replayability and value to the package. There's also an optional co-op mode, which allows two players to split the controls of the Arwing starfighter and other vehicles; one person pilots them while the other shoots at enemies.

Other unique features include mouse aiming with the Joy-Con 2 if you're gunning for the highest possible scores, and a link to Switch 2's video chat capabilities that allow you to “become” a member of Team Star Fox, VTuber-style. Those redesigns might not be everyone's cup of tea, but we think there's an old-school charm to them that reminds us of the original SNES puppets used in marketing materials.

Overall, Star Fox – yes, that's the definitive title – seems like a return to simpler times and the sort of well-calculated reboot the franchise needed after so many ups and downs, and being absent for 10 years following Star Fox Zero's failure.

Its new modes can help it stand out, but for the most part, we're thinking this is Nintendo's attempt at refreshing the fan base with new blood after Fox McCloud's surprise supporting role in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.

Star Fox will launch on Nintendo Switch 2 on June 25, and pre-orders – at a lower price point than usual – are now open. The original Star Fox 64 is playable via the Nintendo Switch Online service.

Saros might be PlayStation's first blockbuster of 2026, but it also feels like a direct answer to the more padded adventures currently flooding the gaming space. It's fast and brutal, but players aren't expected to be stuck on Carcosa for too long. It's a more refined and accessible roguelite third-person shooter... but also one with less bite.

Developer Housemarque is no stranger to choosing an arcade-y rhythm and less typical structure over cinematic or sandbox approaches, and Saros could be a sequel to 2021's Returnal, if it weren't for the completely different setting. There's a human protagonist stuck on a seemingly doomed, faraway world trying to break a time loop. There are lots of sci-fi guns to play with. There's a huge mystery at the center of the adventure... the list goes on.

And why not? Returnal was a fantastic game. The studio was right to be confident about what it did with its first roguelite sci-fi actioner, and it has directly addressed player feedback to improve this follow-up.

A big “problem” with Returnal was that a shockingly low number of players finished it even years after its release. Roguelite games are traditionally hard, but Returnal took things a bit further, as you didn't get many permanent upgrades the more you played.

Each run was also remarkably long, even with the added shortcuts. Some of Returnal's post-launch updates – such as the addition of co-op – softened the ruthless odyssey a bit, but it was a truly demanding roguelite that didn't get easier the more you failed.

Come back stronger

Saros takes a sledgehammer to that approach almost from the get-go. After all, “come back stronger” is the game's tagline. It's Housemarque directly telling players this one is safer to approach. This isn't necessarily a bad thing; the biggest modern roguelites – like Supergiant's Hades – are filled to the brim with meta progression. I don't think it harms Saros too much that it can be played like a more conventional shooter if you want a cohesive story with spicy gameplay... but don't have the time or patience to bang your head against a boss for days or weeks.

On Carcosa, a planet often bathed in the light of ominous eclipses, the Soltari megacorp (you can't have a proper sci-fi horror story without one of those) is looking for the Lucenite resource. Its potential applications are never entirely clear, but Soltari just consumes all it touches. “This is ours now, we'll figure out what it does later.”

In the actual game, the Lucenite allows main character Arjun Devraj — a gruff and determined Soltari enforcer played by Midnight Mass' Rahul Kohli — to become stronger through suit upgrades at Echelon IV's (the last of four groups sent to the planet) base of operations.

The upgrades are applied with a typical skill tree that boosts Arjun's stats and (rarely) adds new abilities like having a “second chance” after falling in combat the first time. This is all fine, and in line with other roguelites' school of design. Push past the second area boss, though, and you'll also get an extra layer of help with boosts that can heavily reshape the overall experience.

From massive damage upgrades to complete health regeneration before bosses, these buffs give you a sizeable advantage in exchange for some minor negatives, like losing more Lucenite when dying or accumulating more corruption, which lowers your max health when hit by certain enemy attacks.

This is the sort of “modifiers package” that's usually delivered after you beat the game, the way it was intended to be played, once. Here, it's a weirdly timed crutch that makes everything after the first two biomes easier, which is an odd choice that dilutes much of what the game is going for and even the story structure. While not engaging with it is an option, the game doesn't tell players it's basically a misplaced difficulty options menu.

A tale of two games

Okay, but let's assume Saros is ideally meant to be beaten in just a handful of seamless runs, landing closer to a traditional third-person shooter than a grueling roguelite. The progression systems in place would support such a vision.

Sadly, the game's plot — an otherwise intriguing cosmic horror tale with psychological thriller elements — gets in the way of the roguelite format that, difficulty complaints aside, worked great in Returnal. By attempting to marry up the classical storytelling of other PlayStation blockbusters with Housemarque's in-house style of retro-ish, direct fun, Saros often ends up as lost as the Echelon IV crew.

Until you hit the credits, Saros is basically broken up into little pieces tied to the story progression. Even if you feel like you're performing well enough and want to push onwards, you'll be forced to return to The Passage (the base of operations) to sit and watch cutscenes that generally aren't near the level of quality expected from first-party PlayStation studios (pre-rendered ones excluded).

Kohli proves to be a great lead who can show both restrained emotion and raw anger as required, but Saros's greatest allure is Carcosa's sun-bathed, hellish environments and the carnage that brings them alive with a dance of lasers, plasma beams, and whatnot.

While hitting Act 3 — essentially the game's epilogue — allows players to do longer runs with the credits rolled, the ultimate final boss requires a return to base since they're in a different area, effectively ending the regular runs and resetting the temporal progression (artifacts, better weapons, etcetera) found during them.

It's yet another odd choice that underlines how the game is at odds with itself, at least structurally. Updates could add more to the experience and provide alternatives, but as it stands, Saros fails to find its footing as a highly replayable, run-based adventure. Shockingly, even the level chunks and weapon selection are poorer and way more predictable than in Returnal; variance is minimal, and it's not long before you recognize map patterns every couple of bite-sized runs or so.

Still, most of these negatives don't matter much when you're in the heat of the action, dashing through walls of colorful energy orbs, blocking and parrying more dangerous attacks, and unleashing hell on twisted, almost demonic monstrosities that answer to a King in Yellow (Ambrose Bierce and Robert W. Chambers are required reading here) who may or may not be behind the reality-bending catastrophe afflicting Carcosa.

The kings of sci-fi action return(al)

I'm sure there won't be a big-budget action game this year that plays as well as Saros. That's the one part where Housemarque fully delivered a straight upgrade over its past games.

Of course, Saros is also yet another stunning showcase of the PS5's more unique features. The worn-down majesty of the environments is stunning, and it never feels cluttered or obscures the action. Likewise, the bullet hell action is pure chaos, but somehow also incredibly readable; it reminds me of Doom: The Dark Ages' more frenetic battles, but taken up to eleven.

Split-second defensive and offensive decisions are informed by the system's 3D spatial audio, which is put to great use by Housemarque alongside the DualSense's haptic feedback and adaptive triggers. Returnal was a remarkable showcase of what the PS5 could do in the right hands, and Saros' overall feeling and presentation has the studio telling everyone else to step their game up. Oh, and a special shoutout to Sam Slater's absolute banger of an original soundtrack.

It's a shame Saros' roguelite effort is so half-hearted, but this is what happens when you try to please everyone.

While not super elegant, the story and characters are enticing enough, Kohli convinces as a tormented action hero, and Carcosa's mythology will linger in my memory for a while. Those elements elevate the truly fantastic moment-to-moment gameplay and consistently exciting boss battles, daring to ask whether roguelite games could be more. Whether they can pose the big questions.

It just hasn't fully come together this time around, but this is still a recommendation for sci-fi action game fans… just one with a few big caveats. Hopefully, Housemarque leveled up on this run, and their next one will be better.

Saros is available now for purchase on PS5.

A PS5 review code for Saros was provided by Sony.

Lucasfilm Games is hard at work coordinating with various publishers and developers to craft all sorts of new games set in the galaxy far, far away, but Star Wars: Galactic Racer’s announcement caught everyone off guard in the best possible way. There’s no Force to rely on here, only quick reflexes.

It’s a new era inside and outside the Star Wars universe, which means this spiritual successor of sorts to the previous Racer games — which were all about podracing — needed new tricks and substantial features that could set it apart from the competition. Thankfully, it seems that Fuse Games (a studio started by Burnout veterans) perfectly knew how to shake things up while retaining the speed, danger, and raw excitement of the older Star Wars racing titles. Now this is podracing!

As we march into a new era for Star Wars games defined by more genre-specific pitches and a more varied pool of creative talent, it can be a bit hard to keep track of all the games currently in development, so don’t forget to regularly take a look at our list of every upcoming Star Wars game announced and in the works.

When is Star Wars: Galactic Racer coming out?

Star Wars: Galactic Racer is set to launch on October 6, 2026.

How do we know this? Because some poor soul accidentally uploaded a pre-order infographic to the Steam page. Whoopsie daisy. Not long after that snafu, Secret Mode and Fuse Games confirmed the release date with an official press release.

With a late 2025 reveal during the last Game Awards ceremony, Lucasfilm Games, publisher Secret Mode, and developer Fuse Games had quickly confirmed the plan is to launch Star Wars: Galactic Racer before 2026 ends, so this all tracks with expectations too.

What platforms is Star Wars: Galactic Racer launching on?

Star Wars: Galactic Racer is set to launch on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC (Windows) via Steam and the Epic Games Store.

As we approach the tail-end of this generation of consoles, big-budget game projects like this one have left last-gen machines behind. Powered by Unreal Engine 5, the team behind Star Wars: Galactic Racer aims to deliver cutting-edge visuals at high speeds, and while we wouldn’t rule out a Nintendo Switch 2 port at a later date, nothing has been promised on that front yet.

Star Wars: Galactic Racer trailers

Thankfully, there wasn’t an extremely long wait between Star Wars: Galactic Racer’s big reveal trailer and a second one featuring a closer look at the gameplay and more of its racers, including a couple of podracing legends.

We also got the release date trailer on April 30, showing off some more gameplay and all the exclusive racers and skins that come with the deluxe edition.

Watch all the trailers released so far below:

What type of racing game is Star Wars: Galactic Racer?

Star Wars: Galactic Racer is a highly competitive but casual-friendly arcade racer in the style of the two previous Star Wars podracing games released over 20 years ago: Episode I – Racer (1999) and Racer Revenge (2002). The key difference is that more vehicle classes — and not just podracers — are allowed in this new era of galaxy-wide racing: land speeders, the smaller speeder bikes, and even the new skim speeders all compete against the podracers from the olden days.

Players are introduced to the Galactic League — “an unsanctioned racing circuit born in the lawless Outer Rim” — through a single-player campaign with a traditional narrative that’s a main part of the package. We can also look forward to online, player-versus-player multiplayer modes that support cross-platform play across consoles and PC for up to 12 players. Ride customization is confirmed, too, but we haven’t seen the system in action yet.

Though veteran gamers will think of Burnout (developer Fuse Games was founded by Criterion Games veterans after all) almost instantly, Galactic Racer seems to be using lots of ideas from Evolution Studios’ MotorStorm series. That is, there’s a focus on the unpredictable racing and carnage that comes from the mix of different vehicle classes and off-road racing versus well-defined circuits. Of course, “takedowns” of sorts are part of the moment-to-moment mechanics, meaning that you can just take out foes by force as you try to conquer the top of the leaderboards.

When and where does Star Wars: Galactic Racer take place?

Star Wars: Galactic Racer is set in the New Republic era, right after the fall of the Empire, who had outlawed podracing and other dangerous vehicular competitions led and organized by criminal syndicates and Outer Rim governments.

With the Empire finished and the New Republic struggling to maintain order across so many inhabited star systems, “gambling, entertainment, and glory” fuel the fires of an underworld on the rise. While other Star Wars stories (such as The Mandalorian) are focused on the remaining threats to the galaxy and difficult politics, Galactic Racer is all about the lawless frontier where the people demand the return of high-speed racing.

So far, five planets have been shown in the trailers and promotional materials: Jakku, Tatooine, Sentinel One, Lantaana, and Ando Prime. While Star Wars fans are familiar with the first two, the toxic volcanic planet Sentinel One and the lush Lantaana were created specifically for this game. Ando Prime, meanwhile, is a returning snow world from the original Episode I – Racer.

Who are the new and returning characters in Star Wars: Galactic Racer?

Star Wars: Galactic Racer follows “lone racer” Shade as he takes on the villainous Kestar Bool, who’s currently dominating the Galactic League, “an unsanctioned racing league” created and organized by Darius Pax. When Pax fears he’s about to lose control of his creation, he convinces Shade – who has an unknown “personal grudge against the Bool family” – to take down Kestar.

The branching-path campaign includes a colorful roster of supporting characters, with the mechanic Hibi helping Shade out with new upgrades and tools. We also know the troublesome Sebulba and even fan-favorite (but unlucky) Ben Quadinaros are making triumphant returns, though it remains to be seen if they play major roles in the story or are simply part of the playable roster outside the story campaign.

We finally got to see some combat gameplay for "Exodus" — Archetype Entertainment's upcoming sci-fi RPG — earlier this month, but the more conversational side of this "Mass Effect"-inspired sci-fi odyssey has been more elusive... until now.

The talented design crew at Archetype Entertainment is back this week with another interesting Community Update that focuses on the advanced conversation system in "Exodus", which they say allows for natural interactions between characters that shape a player’s chosen path. So far, we're liking what we see.

Here in this work-in-progress demonstration video, "Exodus"'s main Traveler character, Jun Aslan, is engaged in an in-game, real-time conversation with a combat companion named Phaedra while out on a daring mission inside a corroding Celestial facility hunting for Remnants.

It's nice to see this all happening in real-time, and not taking the "Fallout"/"Mass Effect" approach of teleporting us into the conversation pocket universe where everyone stands perfectly still and stares bug-eyed at each other.

Questions and responses flow as a continuous interplay of thoughts instead of operating in abrupt pull-away dialogue boxes. At this point in the gameplay, Phaedra has been infected by a Celestial virus, which has left her blind, but her roaming drone still feeds her environmental data.

An unexpected consequence of her sudden infection has given her an uncanny ability to interface with ancient Celestial glyphs. As the conversation progresses, dialogue options branch in real time as Phaedra shares more intimate details of what she's been going through and how the virus is evolving within her.

According to Archetype, the designers' ultimate goal is "to make every exchange feel immediate, grounded, and reflective of the player’s evolving role in the world."

Heralding from Wizards of the Coast and Archetype Entertainment and arriving sometime in 2027, "Exodus" is an ambitious sci-fi action-adventure RPG created by the same industry veterans who helped deliver the worlds of "Mass Effect," "Baldur's Gate," and "Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic."

Its epic storytelling has players facing humanity's evolution some 40,000 years in the future by exploring extraordinary alien worlds and confronting time itself to shape the fate of generations.

"Exodus" is slated to arrive sometime in 2027, but stay tuned for more work-in-progress video updates, including Extended Gameplay Reveals this summer.

SOL Shogunate was one of the most enticing upcoming space games shown at last December's PC Gaming Show: Most Wanted. Set in an alt-future solar system, it imagines a Moon ruled by the shogunate where samurai families and ruthless clans battle for dominance.

As impressive as its reveal trailer looked, the project — which is targeting a PC and PS5 release at the time of writing — is still far away from its release. As dev diaries begin to drop, we had the chance to sit down for a chat with Chaos Manufacturing CEO and co-founder Guy Costantini, as well as aerospace engineer Taylore McClurg, who's helped shape this surprising sci-fi universe's science alongside the developers.

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

"It's been almost three years," Costantini told us when asked how long the studio has been working on the game, which was still in pre-production when the in-game reveal trailer was recorded and edited.

McClurg was also part of the project almost from the get-go, as she was close to Nate Eckman's (co-founder) wife: "It was just serendipitous. We were looking for someone that could help make our sci-fi more science than fiction. Whenever we have enough questions to warrant it, we have a nice get-together with the game team and Taylore."

Costantini, Eckman, and most of the studio are no strangers to large-scale development, having worked for companies like CD Projekt Red, Skydance Interactive, PlayStation, and more. But the co-founder added that McClurg has actually ended up "inspiring a lot of the technology in this kind of alternative future world."

"This is my first time consulting on a game, so this is new territory for me," McClurg said before confirming that she's still not done "providing some science and physics consulting" as the game evolves and runs towards the finish line. Things have changed, however, as the early days were more about "some bigger concepts and some guardrails around the boundary concepts." Now, it's time to refine those ideas and the science that holds everything together... without disrupting too much what's ultimately a hack-and-slash action-adventure game.

"The way we think about world-building is beyond just one game," Costantini revealed. "We try to lay the foundation for the rules of this world." While 'samurai in space' seems like an outlandish pitch (*cough* Star Wars), the team has tried to avoid becoming too fantastical and magical: "We wanted to make sure that when you drill into why things are the way they are, there's a solid explanation... We will assume progression on some technologies, but it's always starting from a place of 'this is what people are thinking today' or 20 to 30 years ago."

When asked about specifics, Costantini brought up bone density loss when not being in a simulated gravity environment: "Taylore told us you can kind of overcome that having a certain amount of exercises, so that helped inform our world-building. It's something that's a feature of privilege... so life becomes harder for people that don't have it." It's the sort of science-guided creative approach that's enriched SOL Shogunate's universe and the studio's take on how its societies develop off-world.

Space elevators are also part of SOL Shogunate's lunar future, and McClurg explained how those could work: "A port that is orbiting around the Moon and is accessible via space elevator is part of the future we're able to achieve. So we're leaning on the fact that future technologies and strength of materials have advanced to a point where we can enable a space elevator where there's lower gravity and no atmosphere to contend."

Costantini added that if we think about the Moon, "it's kind of the gateway to our solar system." From a creative perspective, it's the perfect 'center of operations' for a space society born on Earth: "It holds a very large position of power to transportation across the solar system... And if we're going to build things on the Moon, we're going to build them mostly out of Moon. So there's a lot of material processing that happens there, and this also creates a lot of power in some of the clans." (Capcom's Pragmata has recently explored some of these ideas, too.)

At this point, we were given a first taste of the game's factions and their dynamics: "The Tennoji are in charge of transportation in the solar system. They're powerful and are in slight conflict with a clan called the Karasuma, who are in charge of mining and material processing. Sort of like frenemies, right?" The ruling shogunate cast is overall this "foundational piece of humanity existing in a multi-planetary capacity", but it's a complex picture once we start exploring the different groups and families.

Of course, we'll be doing a lot of swordfighting and stunning traversal in the game. To create something that was both fun and somewhat believable in the setting, McClurg said they've been looking "at the feasibility of each layer of that use of gravity" and all the "pros and cons" of a lower gravity and "the ways you can use it to your advantage and disadvantage". This informs not just the moment-to-moment gameplay and design of the world and narrative, but also the levels themselves.

Still, for combat, Chaos Manufacturing isn't "trying to make a simulation," Costantini underlined. In that case, "it would probably be more of a puzzle game." He described it as combat-heavy and story-heavy, which is why the studio had to "optimize for fun."

Instead, the game tackles the hard constraints of science as opportunities to "breed innovation" and try new stuff. A good example is the relative lack of guns in favor of melee-based combat.

"There's a good reason to not use kinetic weaponry on the Moon," notes Costantini. "The society in charge would probably choose to outlaw them. That helps us in our fantasy conceit that the right way of solving conflict is through the use of more traditional fighting styles. It also creates a bit of a surreal scenario, which is what we want to go for. A surreal place that feels grounded is a great juxtaposition."

Talking about surreal visuals, the robotic horse is a standout moment in the first look at SOL Shogunate. Costantini pointed out that it came from the idea "the people in charge use the technology available to deliver the fantasy they want... Just how the United States copied the architectural layout of Rome because they idolized that moment in time." Commoners don't have access to such luxuries, but meanwhile, the people in charge "have bioceramic skin that allows them to be exposed to radiation and differences in temperature" and get to ride robotic horses, "slowly trotting along the dunes to oversee their property."

"The one-sixth gravity of the Moon allows for a lot of mechanisms and spring-driven mechanisms to work more efficiently than they could work on Earth... It's not far out of a stretch of my imagination. Seeing something more elegant be achieved in the future and even without a propulsive gravity assist system... it feels pretty achievable to me," added McClurg.

Circling back to ballistic weapons, Costantini wasn't ready to divulge many details yet, but "whenever there are laws, there are those who abide by them and those who break them, and there are those who put them in place so that they could do what they want. I think you're gonna see a combination of that."

Further teases of what SOL Shogunate will offer included a mention that Yuzuki, the protagonist, will be able to "manipulate gravity better than her opponents" with tools that are "an evolution of what astronauts use."

The explanation is simple: the game's aforementioned societal structure establishes that not everyone gets to have the same degree of control over their gravitational environment. "We get to have a little bit of social commentary on what happens when providing people with control over gravity becomes a very expensive endeavor... Only the few can manipulate this."

On the matter of space travel, Costantini confirmed it's "hard" in SOL Shogunate's solar system, but teased "we're definitely showcasing the world in more than just one planet" with this "first game" (it really sounds like the intention is to make more if it's a success). The distance between planets and isolation also allows the people in charge to spread misinformation and propaganda. "How are the problems that we have today going to be reflected in a place where it's a lot harder to get around?"

McClurg cited ongoing conversations while building out the world, just deal with the problems of today and how that "would propagate into the future." Communications and logistics would be especially tricky unless there's some universe-shaking science advancement, and Chaos Manufacturing is working with those limitations.

At the end of the interview, which happened in late March 2026, Costantini confirmed the game was nearing the end of pre-production, with the production targeting "definitely more than a year, maybe two years." In any case — and as confirmed by the recent dev diary — the studio "will continue to show more of it as it gets built."

Before ending our conversation, McClurg made sure to highlight that her experience with the team has been overwhelmingly positive. "Everyone has been so enthusiastic about the science and have come forward with such incredible, interesting questions that I know everyone really cares about getting the science right and grounding this."

Costantini answered by saying a driving force during development has been "working with people who really know what they're talking about" every time a question external to the game design and narrative came up. So far, we think those efforts are paying off and making SOL Shogunate feel special.

SOL Shogunate will launch on PC (Steam) and (at least) PS5 when it's ready. At the time of writing, its tentative release window is 2027.

That Death Star's operational… and extremely clean thanks to this wild new collaboration between PowerWash Simulator 2 and Star Wars.

There's no shortage of exciting Star Wars games in the works, but we'll be honest, we didn't see this one coming, as Lucasfilm Games and FuturLab are teaming up to release PowerWash Simulator 2's Star Wars pack, coming this summer.

While no specific release date or price tag was provided in the short 'announce' trailer, we know it's coming to all platforms where the game is available. That means PC (via Steam & Epic), Xbox Series X|S, PS5 (with Pro support), and Nintendo Switch 2.

From the frozen wastes of Hoth to the Lars Homestead on Tatooine — hopefully without poor Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru's charred corpses still lying around — PowerWash Simulator 2's next DLC is focusing on locales from the original Star Wars trilogy. There are even brief hints that an Imperial destroyer and a Rebel cruiser (probably a Mon Calamari one) need to have their space dust and muck washed away.

Though the galaxy far, far away could also accommodate new washing mechanics and systems with bespoke tools (or perhaps astromech helpers), most details are being kept as secret as the Death Star plans for now.

We know the cleaners this time around "take on the role of P0-W2, a Class Five cleaning droid", so a certain degree of immersion is being offered. Here's hoping we can blast stormtroopers away with pressurized water, too.

Earlier this month, PowerWash Simulator 2 received its first level pack, which was based on the animated series Adventure Time, so this might be a tradition for the offbeat 'cleaning simulation' game as it ventures into post-launch support. Much like the original, PowerWash Simulator 2 supports both solo and co-op, local or online.

We just got our first look at "Alien Isolation 2" with an atmospheric trailer… literally, as it looks like we're going planetside for this long-awaited sequel.

After a quieter gap in the post-prequels era, Disney and 20^th Century Studios have been ramping up work on the Alien franchise, and that includes killer new movies and a first streaming series. On the Alien games front, things are even busier, but no project has matched the hype surrounding the long-awaited Alien: Isolation sequel.

First announced in late 2024, the follow-up to the hit first-person survival horror game is being handled by Total War developer Creative Assembly and creative director Alistair Hope once again. Little is known about the story or setting, but April 26's Alien Day surprise teaser has the right oppressive (and very dark) atmosphere to make us equal parts anxious and excited.

Titled 'False Sense Of Security', the short video reveals the torn-down, decaying, and wet interior of what we presume is a Weyland-Yutani base. As the red light on the door goes from red to green, it opens to reveal a shocking view... we're not in outer space anymore.

We don't know which planet this is. It's rainy outside (terraforming is a long process), so it could be a return to Hadley's Hope on LV-426, but it's more likely somewhere new. In any case, the Xenomorphs have made it to a colony, and you know what comes next. Just remember, emergency phones are your save points, but they aren't completely safe.

Though it's logical to assume the Alien: Isolation sequel will directly continue the events of the first game (especially after that cliffhanger), Amanda Ripley and her allies' story has actually been continued over the years through comic books and, surprisingly, 2024's Alien: Rogue Incursion.

Therefore, it remains to be seen how and when the new game will pick things up... unless we're looking at a massive retcon. For now, neither 20^th Century Studios nor Sega has set a release window for the game. With development picking up now, it might be a while before we get official word on the target platforms, too.

We'll be keeping a close eye on this one (and our motion trackers), so stay tuned for more Alien: Isolation 2 news as it appears.

Owlcat Games hasn't shied away from the fact that The Expanse: Osiris Reborn looks and feels a lot like BioWare's Mass Effect series, and after going through the upcoming action RPG's closed beta, we can confirm it really feels like an evolution of those games in a more grounded setting. During the recent Q&A preview session we were able to attend, game design director Leonid Rastorguev didn't ignore such comparisons and instead fully embraced them:

"Obviously, we've played Mass Effect, we love it, most of the team does, and it was an inspiration for the game, but still the game is an Owlcat game in terms of narrative, the choices, the mechanical systems, the combat systems..." After a 50-minute run with the agile closed-beta demo, it's easy to see what he means.

What we played was basically the second main story mission of the game, which kicks off right after an explosive start on Eros. For our protagonist, an officer and a hacker preset were available, but no control over the playable character's (and their sibling's) appearance was given. Still, picking the Belter background made them taller and more slender due to growth in a low-gravity environment — a nice bit of world-building that the TV show couldn't capture.

(Some quotes in this interview have been editorialized and lightly trimmed for better flow)

It's touches like that which make The Expanse: Osiris Reborn a distinct take on space RPGs. It has the advantage of working with a really fleshed-out setting that's been fully explored through novels and an outstanding TV show, yet it takes some of those unique elements to make its visuals and gameplay systems stand out. It feels familiar, yet very forward-thinking.

While it's too early to tell how the entire thing comes together, Owlcat's focus on deeper RPG intricacies and non-narrative decisions that pack a punch were felt during our time with the demo. The skill trees are more complex than anything in the Mass Effect games, and weapon customization feels denser than anything BioWare ever implemented. It remains a breezy action RPG experience, but the studio's cRPG bones are noticeable.

On top of combat and ability-oriented skill trees, there are also social skill trees that unlock "certain rooms or chests", along with extra dialogue choices to open up entire narrative branches.

"Working on the action combat system was, of course, challenging, and keeping the right balance between the action and the RPG parts was really important, and I think we managed to do it right. It took us several iterations to get to that point," Rastorguev admitted. If you look at Owlcat's output so far, it's clear that The Expanse: Osiris Reborn represents a major shift for the developer, yet we came away impressed by its notable set pieces.

After some chit-chat aboard a space station, all hell breaks loose when a bunch of mercenaries come in guns blazing. Only one companion is with the player during this mission, but Rastorguev underlined "most of the missions will include two... and others supporting from the ship."

While we were promised quieter sections back at our ship and narrative threads that let us explore the relationships between the different team members, this demo was all about showing off the visuals and combat system. It's frenetic and punchy stuff, giving us both cinematic highs and more relaxed exploration between gunfights. There's also a bit of decision-making involved, but the full ramifications are impossible to evaluate in a short preview like this.

Like in Mass Effect and similar action-oriented RPGs, tactical pause is a thing, but here, it doesn't actually "pause" time; it only slows it down. During those moments, you can bring up the menu and tell your companion to use specific skills or focus their fire on targets that are especially annoying and/or dangerous. This loop became especially important during the final shootout, when some fully armored-up mercs came in walking directly at us, packing some serious firepower.

A lot of tweaking and tinkering can (and will) happen between now and the tentative spring 2027 release window, but The Expanse: Osiris Reborn already feels more brutal and punishing than its biggest influences. Regular enemies go down easily, but so do you, and reckless character builds that might be rewarded elsewhere seem way riskier in this game.

Again, further progression and the right combination of equipment will surely help us achieve "tanky" status if we want to, but Osiris Reborn's beta pulls no punches. "We really advise you to stay in cover and play from cover," Rastorguev suggested during the Q&A session. He wasn't exaggerating.

As bullets fly, gas pipes are blown up, and mercs are dispatched, we eventually make our way to the station's exterior, which means it's time for a spacewalk with magnetic boots. The sights are pretty, but we're in danger, and more merc goons soon come in with snipers to boot. Lines of sight (and breaking them) become even more important here, as cover is sparser while walking outside a space station, and much of it is ripped apart by the projectiles. Thankfully, we can also tell our sibling to cause some chaos of our own. As one pipe blows up under their feet, two mercs go motionless and begin to drift away into the void. Nice.

It's at this point that Owlcat's work on the visual presentation truly shines, with particle effects making most of the combat actions feel weighty, even in a weightless place. In many other video games, zero-G action can feel too floaty and "fake", but the encounters that are included in this preview build feel adequately dangerous. You're not in full control of your body; the speed changes, and explosives behave differently. It's a surprisingly dizzying experience, and one that culminates with the two leads dodging debris and gunshots as they try to re-enter the station.

After a spot of light puzzling, we break into the final area of the demo and are greeted by the aforementioned "heavy" mercs, along with plenty of the weaker soldiers. Thankfully, our ally is helping... by shooting our ship's guns directly into the war-torn hangar. Those unlucky enough to be targeted first are turned to red mist, and entire sections of the level don't resist the barrages much better. It's a visual spectacle that doesn't disrupt the central mechanics, but makes it all more exciting without taking control away from the player.

By the time the closed beta ended, I was dying to play more of the game, which is a good sign, especially with so much of the final stages of development still ahead. The Expanse: Osiris Reborn is already in a good place, and while it's too early to judge its narrative or the fairly traditional approach to RPG systems and mechanics that may or may not elevate it, we're now certain it's fun as hell to play and a visual stunner.

The Expanse: Osiris Reborn is releasing on PC (Steam, GOG, and Epic Games Store), PS5, and Xbox Series X|S at some point in spring 2027. A day-one Game Pass Ultimate launch has been revealed, too. The closed beta dropped on April 22, limited to those with Miller's Pack and Collector's Edition pre-orders.

NASA's Artemis program is the space agency's plan for returning humanity to our closest cosmic neighbor, the moon. This time, though, the idea isn't just brief contact and exploratory surveys, but a sustained lunar presence, and the agency recently announced a long-term roadmap for building a $20 billion permanent lunar base.

Artemis II just circled the moon and returned home safely, paving the way for future missions to our natural satellite and the introduction of permanent infrastructure alongside Artemis V in 2028.

They may not be directly correlated, but alongside humanity’s increased interest in reaching for the stars, we've also seen a spike in popularity in base-building games in space. There's a spate of dedicated builders like Space Engineers and Oxygen Not Included, and base building has also been cropping up in larger RPGs like No Man’s Sky and Starfield.

The lunar surface is a perfect setting for a base-building sim. After all, you don't need to introduce artificial challenges when you're already grappling with isolation, resource scarcity, engineering constraints, and environmental extremes.

So, which games are best for approximating the challenges Artemis will face in settling the moon's surface? And more importantly, which are the most fun, realistic, or not?

Virtual moonbases: from Starfield to indie sims

Unsurprisingly for a massive, open-space, Bethesda RPG, Starfield's focus is more on fun mechanics than exacting realism. While the base building doesn't feel like an afterthought, it's also not the primary focus of the game, which leads inevitably to some streamlining and simplification.

Starfield lets you build modular outposts and use them as hubs for your further adventures in space. There's very little consideration given to environmental factors and more to practical concerns like how they can serve the game's other systems. As such, they feel less like proper bases or homes and more like industrial outposts. You can extract resources, automate production, and build crafting and upgrade stations (and they're a good place to stash all the mountains of gear/trash that every Bethesda game is virtually awash in). Livability is secondary to finding resources to mine.

There are some management elements, like power requirements and building cargo links if you want to connect multiple bases, but the focus is on approachability and usability. That said, they can be a lot of fun to design and optimize, and the building systems are easy to use and intuitive. If you're looking for a light base-building sim that supports a larger game, Starfield is a great pick, but don't expect a deep approximation of what building a lunar base may actually be like.

For that, a better choice is a game like Moonbase Alpha or, despite the name, Surviving Mars.

Moonbase Alpha is explicitly supported and published by NASA itself. You play the role of an astronaut assigned to a base on the south pole of the moon. Shortly after your arrival, you witness a meteorite impact that cripples the outpost's life support.

Your goal is to repair and restore crucial systems by coordinating a team of up to six players, equipped with rovers, robots, and authentic equipment that an actual research team would have access to during a lunar expedition. While the scope of the game is pretty limited, Moonbase Alpha is probably the most realistic look at what settling the moon (and exploring the lunar surface) would actually feel like.

It features an accurate lunar moonscape, real EVA and oxygen mechanics, and lots of the actual NASA equipment, like solar arrays, power generation systems, and robotics. The construction is already done here, though, so it’s more of a “living in a moon base simulator” than a builder.

For a more complete base-building experience that still retains a reasonable amount of verisimilitude, Surviving Mars is the best choice. However, to reproduce the moon base experience, you'll probably want the Green Planet DLC (which adds lots of terraforming systems) as well as some mods to give yourself the true lunar experience.

Surviving The Moon

Surviving Mars includes realistic systems like modular pressurized domes, life support management, limited power and water resources, and supply dependence on Earth, making it a strong proxy for a Moon base. Its focus on resource scarcity, crew specialization, and critical infrastructure mirrors the challenges of operating a real lunar outpost.

To get as close as possible to lunar conditions, you'll want to choose a map with low temperature and water availability, and high solar exposure. There are also mods available that will let you remove atmosphere effects and flatten the terrain to get closer to the lunar aesthetic.

To truly simulate moon-like conditions, you can also impose some self-enforced limits, like only using domes as pressurized habitats and using solar panels as primary power. You'll also want to minimize wind and build large battery storage, restrict crew to between ten and thirty people, and emphasize logistics and Earth dependency.

With those constraints in mind, progress is slow and deliberate: you’re constantly balancing power, oxygen, and water with almost no margin for error, knowing a single failure can cascade into total loss. Between the tiny crew and heavy dependence on Earth resupply, the experience becomes tense and methodical — closer to running a real-world lunar outpost than a city-builder, where survival hinges on redundancy, efficiency, and careful planning rather than expansion.

Some other good game options are Oxygen Not Included, which has some extremely detailed sim elements like gas pressure, heat transfer, and (surprise) oxygen management, and lets you build on asteroids, similar to the surface of the moon.

Space Engineers is another good choice, with its lack of atmosphere, low gravity, and the ability to build pressurized bases and design airlocks, power grids, and vehicles.

There are also some exciting candidates on the horizon, including Possible One: Lunar Industries, which is being touted as "the first realistic lunar colony management game".

Artemis base camp vs. video game design

So, where do games align with the actual plan for Artemis base camp? NASA's plan for Artemis infrastructure includes habitats on the surface, Lunar Terrain Vehicles (LTVs) for traversing the landscape and transporting gear, pressurized rovers and solar power, energy storage, and modular microgrid systems for energy generation/conservation.

A lot of games replicate those systems to one degree or another. The best ones focus on the importance of in-situ resource utilization (ISRU), which will be extremely important in real-world lunar colonization, given how labor-, time-, and resource-intensive importing goods from Earth is.

It will be vital for Artemis expeditions to harvest local resources, such as water from polar ice, particularly after NASA announced it is scrapping the proposed Lunar Gateway (a small station meant to orbit the moon) to focus on building a moon base.

Games like Space Engineers and Surviving Mars also do a great job of simulating energy bottlenecks; one of the major challenges of powering a real moon base isn't so much generating enough power as delivering it efficiently and reliably.

Modular expansion is also an element that games tend to get right; it allows the base to grow safely, efficiently, and sustainably in an extreme, resource-limited environment.

In the real world, it means breaches in one area can be contained and not lead to cascading, catastrophic failure. It also means modules can be specialized, allowing for efficient power distribution and redundancies.

Life imitating art

By the time Artemis astronauts begin assembling a real foothold at the Moon’s south pole, the blueprint will feel oddly familiar, at least to those sim addicts who have been dreaming of a functional moon colony for decades now.

The best space settlement games have already trained us to think in terms of power budgets, fragile supply chains, and how we'd survive in a hostile vacuum.

It'll be fascinating to see how closely some of the most realistic games have predicted what an actual lunar base will end up looking like as Artemis gradually constructs humanity's first real off-world home.

2016 doesn't feel like too long ago when it comes to video games and development cycles, but for Nintendo — a publisher that excels at keeping most of its franchises moving and fresh — it's a long time.

Ten years ago, Star Fox Zero was meant to be the triumphant return of everyone's favorite spaceship-flying furball, but it failed to make waves and disappointed longtime fans of the rail shooter series. But now — a full decade later — perhaps we should reevaluate its old-fashioned sensibilities?

Maybe this is just a case of nostalgia being a hell of a drug, but Star Fox Zero's reception wasn't a complete disaster. It was actually the rather poor financial performance that doomed the chances of a follow-up... until now. Fox McCloud's appearance in the Super Mario Galaxy movie has come with strong rumors that another game is on the way.

No matter what Nintendo plans to do next, we believe Star Fox is deserving of another chance, and the timing feels perfect to dust off the Arwing fighter and do a barrel roll.

Why do we fall, Master McCloud?

Star Fox Zero's home console, the Wii U, was a massive failure. There's no denying that. With around 13.5 million units sold worldwide versus the Switch's 155.3 (and still going), it marked a low point for Nintendo that led the company to refocus its future first-party bets to safer franchises like Mario and Zelda.

Thankfully, the Switch improved Nintendo's fortunes so much that in 2026, the entertainment giant can afford to take big swings again. And what's a bigger swing than bringing Star Fox and its unique brand of sci-fi rail shooter back?

With Nintendo fans wondering if the Star Fox series can escape Star Fox 64's shadow, Nintendo is in a position to prove everyone wrong. A few lessons need to be learned, though.

The Wii U's much-criticized awkward gamepad didn't do Star Fox Zero any favors, with its controls being at the center of many of the most scathing reviews, but that wasn't the only problem. There was just a severe lack of originality that doomed Zero from the get-go.

Star Fox's greatest hits, but with better graphics and animations, might sound cool on paper, but that nostalgia hype couldn't carry an entire new game. It was also criminally short, with GamesRadar noting the main campaign can be completed in a few hours.

Fast-forward to the Switch 2 era, and Nintendo is back on track with a hybrid console that's been hugely successful without trying to reinvent the controller. Sure, it's a hybrid console/handheld, but both of those concepts are tried and tested.

Still, with gyro and mouse Joy-Con 2 controls as options (rather than forced features), Nintendo's playfulness isn't gone, and they could be used to great effect on a new Star Fox game… as long as regular controls are an option too. No, this time the controls aren't the issue; it's delivering a great story and plenty of content that feels like the priority.

I've been waiting for you, Star Fox

We get it, Nintendo's largest, safe-bet franchises are Mario, The Legend of Zelda, and Pokémon, but as the company seeks to entice different types of players and refresh old properties while growing new ones like Splatoon (which is itself over a decade old now), we can't help but notice its vault of science fiction goodness is collecting dust for the most part.

Metroid continues to lead the pack for space adventures on Nintendo consoles, but last year's Metroid Prime 4 was hardly the stunner we were hoping for. It's hard to imagine a future in which Samus Aran doesn't make a 2D or 3D return one way or another, but at the time of writing, the Metroid series has seen better days. And sure, its lifetime sales can't match the might of Nintendo's greatest, but there's hunger from a smaller community for more.

The only other big sci-fi franchise is F-Zero, and things are looking dire there. F-Zero 99 was a fun online diversion, but besides that, we've gotten nothing since 2004's F-Zero Climax.

Even Star Fox has spent less time in a dark hangar. It's disappointing, but at least we're still getting sci-fi racing games from elsewhere; rail shooters are a gap in the current market that no one seems to be covering beyond shy re-releases and remasters like Panzer Dragoon.

That's not to say that a new Star Fox is a guaranteed smash hit. It could still be a colossal misfire — rail shooters are niche, and the franchise has been dormant for over a decade — but we've seen zanier bets like Splatoon find an audience and expand.

With the right story hook, gameplay overhaul, and look, a team of anthropomorphic animals taking on galactic evildoers with agile spaceships in a fun and colorful sci-fi setting feels like an easy win — especially for a company like Nintendo.

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie has done some heavy lifting

One of 2026's more unexpected cinematic surprises so far is the presence of Fox McCloud himself, voiced by Glen Powell, in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. It's not just a quick cameo, either, with Fox spending much of the movie alongside Mario and other regulars. Moreover, Team Star Fox members Slippy, Peppy, and Falco briefly show up as part of an anime-style 2D flashback sequence.

It's a suspicious amount of Star Fox in a movie that's still about the usual Super Mario cast first and foremost. It's almost as if Nintendo is setting something else up.

It's logical to think a potential Star Fox spinoff movie will happen at some point in the future, but that seems like an even bigger risk than bringing the game series back... unless that happens first. One thing could lead to another, easing the younger fans slowly but steadily into an "all-new universe" they'd only heard about before; brand synergy at its finest.

Never give up. Trust your instincts

It won't be long before we know for sure if a new Star Fox game for Nintendo Switch 2 is happening or not, but looking back at Zero's hits and misses, the path forward is clear and should be easy to navigate.

It's not a mystery to be solved, nor a void Nintendo should stay away from. People like spaceships, arcade-y action, and cool/cute anthropomorphic animals. We dislike miserable control schemes and full-price adventures you can beat in a single sitting.

Let's take it from the top, Nintendo, and this time, with feeling.

2026 is a remarkably stacked year for space and sci-fi games, but Capcom might have just dropped the most relevant one already. Pragmata is a love letter to the sci-fi action games from the PS3 and Xbox 360 generation, yet its updated take on familiar tropes and a vibrant heart make it special.

The marketing and previews sold Pragmata's concise pitch very well: You're on the moon as a system auditor named Hugh Williams. Something has gone wrong, and a mysterious artificial intelligence called IDUS has taken over a "Big Tech" company's installations. Your only ally is a little android girl named Diana. Survive, warn Earth, and return home. The plot never gets more complex than that at any point, but the game's use of these hackneyed story elements and themes is agile and smart.

It's all in service of an action-adventure game that's all killer, no filler. Sure, it borrows more than a few structural and gameplay tricks from modern hits like Dark Souls, yet it sticks to a largely linear progression loop, combat arenas with breakneck pacing and the right amount of weapons to use, and exploration that never overstays its welcome.

The parallel puzzle minigame that has Diana hacking robots to make them vulnerable is the game's sole original idea, and even that feels like an old-fashioned gimmick that does just enough to make the new IP stand on its own.

So why does Pragmata feel so thoroughly invigorating and timely then?

AI as an uncanny imitation of reality

We've had an absolute deluge of AI games that task players with battling through abandoned, torn-down research facilities and space stations. Others throw us into Terminator-like post-apocalypses without a flavor or voice of their own. Then, we've also had sci-fi series like Halo, which focuses on an alien invasion while using the idea of a companion AGI for extra spice and drama.

Pragmata does quite a bit of all that, but its perspective on AI feels more prescient. For starters — and without late-game spoilers — IDUS doesn't (immediately) pose a threat to humanity. It's more of a contained "Big Tech" experiment gone wrong, and thankfully, it happened on the Moon. But that's also a big issue; with comms to Earth shut down and only Hugh's group is aware of what's going down, IDUS has more than enough space and time to grow into a larger menace. It's a rather literal warning on the dangers of unchecked AI.

That menace isn't entirely cold metal optimized to eradicate humanity or a corruption of the human body. Instead, IDUS has produced uncanny copies of animals found on Earth and even humans, but with unique features that always lean into the unsettling and deformed.

The basic killer drones roaming the facilities are oddly elongated, while the latter giants look like the most messed-up maneaters in Attack on Titan. Spider-like invisible robots mix the idea of many arms and a 'ribcage trap' in a way that both makes sense and feels like the delirium of a rogue AI. You can see the underlying vision behind their creation, but it all came out wrong.

Pragmata is, quite explicitly, a game about battling AI slop. IDUS isn't erasing what we represent or replacing humans with something better and different. It's imitating, much like its uninspired living creators. At some point, it took over, but it only iterates on the ideas and corporeal shapes that already exist elsewhere, recreating structures and locations that, while functional, are inaccurate. Creation never comes from nothing, but regurgitation isn't creation. There's no originality in IDUS' creations, only perversion. It's incapable of walking the same fine line that Pragmata's developers have with this unassuming mix of conventional sci-fi concepts.

Humanity, no matter where, is the answer

Pragmata's not-so-secret sauce is, first and foremost, its beating heart. Hugh and Diana are fun to be around, not miserable or hopeless. This is another 'dad game' on a surface level, yes, but there's no repressed trauma to overcome or several deep-cutting emotions twisting them and the journey ahead. As an adopted child, Hugh instantly bonds with a lost child full of innocence, but their resolve is infectious.

Many would tell you a good story needs more friction, but plenty of animated flicks get along fine with a few earnest emotional beats that don't bring down the mood. Pragmata is exactly like that, like an old-timey Pixar movie that never slows down but can deliver effective character moments regardless.

A regular Joe and his adopted android daughter can carry a breezy adventure with only sincerity and optimism in the face of danger. In a life-or-death situation, past and future don't really matter much. Pragmata never feels weighty or downbeat, and that sets it apart from its relatives.

Hugh and Diana represent the only logical answer to everything a soulless AI system stands for: Choosing to believe in ourselves and our imperfections, to dream big even if the data suggests the end could be near. The enemy is that which doesn't feel and only believes it thinks.

Humanity and caring about others will save us. Resident Evil veteran Haruo Murata's script makes sure to point out early on that Diana and the other Pragmatas are different, and it's up to the player to decide whether an artificial person is really a person. The game won't bore you with ramblings we're all familiar with. Instead, you'll get quieter scenes like a heartwarming chat at a man-made beach, a brief respite amid the endless robotic horrors.

To the Moon

The Moon also carries some implicit meaning as the setting. It's barren and lifeless; a perfect place to create life that isn't real. Humans brought plants and animals from Earth without much trouble, but that isn't enough. The Moon must be the home of something different and better. The material known as "luna filament" has incredible properties that enable the 3D-printing of replicas and new technologies, but you can't get rid of fakeness. Of course, that doesn't matter to the corporate machine; it does a briefly cool thing that no one asked for and can increase productivity, so they push the new tech to the limit no matter what.

Pragmata kicks off with a ship approaching our natural satellite, but unlike Artemis 2's recent mission, there's nothing magical about it. For the squad of workers visiting, it's just routine. For the company in charge out there, it's just a safe space to experiment without being limited by concerns of any kind. "It's free real estate," many would say. Looking at budget cuts to NASA and other essential space agencies, I fear we're nearing a similar scenario where the conquest of outer space is outsourced to forces we can't trust.

Despite its anxieties over such matters, Pragmata wants to believe we can do better and regain the lost wonder. Around the halfway point, Hugh and Diana go for a spacewalk and take a good look at our planet. They want to get here, but they also feel fortunate enough just to be there and get a good look at how far we've come. The rest can wait.

Pragmata is now available to buy on PC (Steam), PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch 2.

If you follow gaming at all, you've likely heard of Crimson Desert by this point. The open-world fantasy action-adventure/RPG hybrid came in hot, riding a tidal wave of hype generated by developer Pearl Abyss and a variety of preview events, promising to be the next great "Everything Simulator".

It landed with somewhat more mixed results: some reviewers praised its openness and seemingly infinite ocean of content, while others took issue with its bizarre control scheme, stunted story, and pervasive jank. With that said, the game has managed to rack up an impressive five million sales in under a month, developing a dedicated fanbase that's been probing and prying at the game's engine, with delightful and sometimes unexpected results.

Given the fantasy setting, we weren't expecting to cover Crimson Desert here on Space (we stick to the sci-fi and space games), but a recent post over at Reddit showcases one of the game's more bizarre features, the ability to stab your way up to the edge of space. In the video, user Jogatina uses a combination of skills to stab their way upwards, eventually piercing the cloud cover and revealing a breathtaking blanket of stars, complete with constellations and other galaxies.

É possível subir até o espaço em Crimson Desert. Chora Starfield. from r/jogatina

And to think NASA just wasted all that time and money on the Artemis 2 mission, when all they needed to get into orbit was a short sword and a dream.

Now, there is a little bit of trickery being employed here. While it is possible to get some pretty gnarly hang time using a combination of the Aerial Stab skill, which lets you lunge upwards, and Force Palm, which, for some reason, can also be used to propel yourself skyward, you're normally constrained by stamina. To pierce the heavens like the player in the video, you'd need to lean on some mods or other workarounds that unlock infinite stamina.

Two things stood out to us here: Firstly, it's weird and kinda neat that you can get to space at all, but more importantly, why did the developers make space exist in their fantasy game? It's not like you're ever supposed to get there.

As it turns out, Pearl Abyss has some built-in motivation to provide a better-than-average skybox. Not unlike The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (and its sequel, Tears of the Kingdom), Crimson Desert features a massive floating plane above its sprawling open world to explore. Called the Abyss, it's a series of interconnected floating islands, from which the player can leap to go gliding down to destinations on the ground; while you're up there, however, you're given an uninterrupted, "close-up" look at the vast expanse of space spreading above you.

There's also gameplay dependent on those aforementioned constellations. Donning an item called the Constellation Helm allows you to hunt down 13 constellations dotted throughout the night sky, each of which counts as an Exploration Challenge. Find all 13 of them, and you'll be rewarded with the Navigator of the Stars trophy/achievement.

Pearl Abyss has been aggressive with post-launch patches, so it's possible that experiencing the stars this way may be a limited-time engagement. With that said, the company has been largely very player-oriented with its patches thus far, adding stuff like additional fast travel points and more storage, so there's a reasonable chance they'll let us continue having our fun.

Artemis II has launched, sending a crew of four astronauts on a mission to circle the moon and back to Earth, the first step toward planned lunar landings and eventual habitation on the lunar surface. The mission will take the crew of the Orion spacecraft farther from Earth than any manned mission in human history and will mark the first time humans have traveled beyond low-Earth orbit since the Apollo program.

Perhaps not surprisingly, the launch has had some digital echoes, not least of which is a massive spike in interest in "Kerbal Space Program". The game, which allows for highly realistic simulations of manned (or Kerballed) missions to space (including lunar landings), has seen its second-highest number of concurrent Steam players ever, only beaten by its full launch way back in 2015.

Numbers began to skyrocket around the time of the Artemis II launch on April 1st, peaking at around 12,434 at time of writing— a huge jump against the game's standard average player count, which hovers around 3,000 to 4,000. The significantly less popular sequel, Kerbal Space Program 2, also saw a modest bump, though only up to 370 concurrents from a prior high of about 118 players a month earlier.

Kerbal Space Program (and KSP 2) is one of the most accessible ways to conduct your own proper space launch, with realistic orbital mechanics and requirements for staging and mission planning. It seems the sheer complexity of Artemis's human‑lunar return mission is inspiring players who want to experience concepts like trans‑lunar injection, landing stages, and orbital rendezvous.

While Kerbal incorporates a lot of advanced concepts that real-world astronauts actually grapple with, it's also delivered in a goofy, approachable shell (the eponymous Kerbals are closer to Minions than real people) that's been key to luring in newcomers.

KSP also does an excellent job of tutorializing all the various steps and considerations that go into constructing a spaceworthy rocket. While the game lets players learn through incremental trial and error, our coverage of Artemis II breaks down how NASA sent humans swooping around the moon, and how the agency plans to eventually settle the lunar surface.

Humanity's return to our closest neighbor has clearly captured our collective imaginations, from civilians and gamers to NASA scientists themselves. Don't be surprised if we continue to see upticks in interest around games like KSP, space flight sims, and space settlement games in the coming months and years, particularly ahead of Artemis III and IV, which plan to develop, test, and finally deploy a lunar lander to the moon's surface.

Kerbal Space Program is available on PC via Steam, MacOS, Linux, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, and Xbox One.

Following a surprise announcement last year, The Expanse: Osiris Reborn has quickly become one of the hottest upcoming space and sci-fi games on the horizon. Last year marked the 10th anniversary of The Expanse, and we're still thinking about it as one of the best outer space dramas ever, so it's no surprise to see a renowned RPG developer take on this universe.

If you love classic RPGs that you can sink tens (or hundreds) of hours into, you should be quite familiar with Owlcat Games by now. After two great Pathfinder games, it was 2023's Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader that really put the developer on the map. As they also prepare to unleash a follow-up of sorts with Warhammer 40,000: Dark Heresy, the studio has decided to make a different kind of RPG in The Expanse: Osiris Reborn.

On March 26, 2026, a substantial gameplay trailer (which you can watch below) was released. Ahead of the public reveal, we were able to attend a hands-off preview session where game design director Leonid Rastorguev and game design producer Yuliya Chernenko walked us through the gameplay, feel, and even some of the story before the closed beta arrives on April 22.

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

So, what is The Expanse: Osiris Reborn?

"The core of the game is third-person cover shooter," Rastorguev confirmed. While we'd already seen very brief gameplay clips before in the trailers released so far, many players had been wondering about the balance between "chattier" sections with a narrative focus and breakneck action.

From what we were told, The Expanse: Osiris Reborn isn't a watered-down take on real-time third-person action; we can expect environmental destruction, tactical abilities à la Mass Effect, and even opportunities that pop up in the middle of combat.

Fans of the show will be happy to know that Osiris Reborn takes place within the same continuity, with events happening in parallel to the first two seasons of the show. For the most part, it'll be a self-contained story that anyone can enjoy, but Chernenko told us that "a lot of interesting things and events are happening. I can say that we will have some cameos in our game."

The BioWare DNA extends beyond the moment-to-moment gameplay, defining a lot of the game's structure, from the heavy narrative choices and exploration opportunities to the squad system that allows the player to take two companions with them when outside their ship.

"In the final game, you will have six companions with you. They will have different origins; some will be Belters, Martians, and Earthers, and it will affect their personality," Chernenko added. An important goal for Owlcat is to reinforce the idea of being with "a team of professionals" that does stuff on their own, even when you're away on a mission yourself.

When the talking stops, and the shooting starts, combat won't just happen inside space stations or on planetary surfaces, as some of the game's most striking setpieces take place in zero gravity. That introduces several huge challenges for the developers and the player, but Owlcat is striving to keep the "essence" of the combat consistent.

"Most of the weapons, abilities, and gadgets work the same in zero-G. We just designed them to be suitable for both the sections with gravity and without gravity," notes Rastorguev.

This doesn't mean there are no changes, as certain gadgets work and react differently based on physics. Grenades, for example, have "thrusters" while in zero-G that accelerate them towards the target instead of along traditional ballistic trajectories. "We change the effects, because obviously the flame is not something that can be present in the vacuum," explains Rastorguev. In practice, that means that Incendiary grenades become "termite charges" while fighting in space, and so on.

Like in other space games with similar sections, such as Dead Space, "the main difference is how you actually orient and move." We'll be able to walk on surfaces thanks to magnetic boots, but "there's no up direction or down direction," which adds another layer of challenge when things get hectic outside. "The speed you can run there is slightly different, the animations are different, so the feeling is different, but it's not like you will have to learn how to play the game from scratch."

The latest gameplay trailer also showed a quick tease of an outer space section where players must guide a drone through debris. We didn't get to see more of this at the preview, but Rastorguev did give us some exciting info. "It is a thing in The Expanse; you can probably remember that the pilot of the Rocinante, Alex Kamal, also had the drone... In the game, you can use your drone to explore various space environments and find what's behind different asteroids and pieces of broken ships."

Our preview and Q&A session with Owlcat Games yielded more answers and gave us a good sense of what to expect from a sci-fi RPG that seems to be taking cues from gaming classics while sporting a cutting-edge look. We'll be sharing more and discussing its big closed beta in depth later this month, so stay tuned.

The Expanse: Osiris Reborn is releasing on PC (Steam, GOG, and Epic Games Store), PS5, and Xbox Series X|S at some point in spring 2027. A day-one Game Pass Ultimate launch has been revealed, too. There is a closed beta dropping on April 22, limited to those with Miller's Pack and Collector's Edition pre-orders.

Defender is one of the most important arcade games of all time, but in 2026, you’ll have a hard time playing it legally. Released in February 1981 by pinball company Williams Electronics, it was a big risk for the company. But programmers Eugene Jarvis and Larry DeMar were confident that Defender could sell well, and the gamble paid off massively.

It became one of the first arcade games to sell roughly 60,000 units, an unheard-of figure for a video game around that time. With its five-button control scheme and brutal difficulty, Defender supercharged the ‘one more go’ feeling that Space Invaders began a decade earlier.

But with game preservation increasingly becoming an important aspect in the industry, Defender seems to be a fading memory for older players, as well as an unknown game for younger ones. As Defender passes its 45 year anniversary, here’s why this pioneering space game needs to be preserved and remembered.

Like Pain? You’ll Love Defender

In 1981, arcades were just becoming mainstream. 1978’s Space Invaders had arguably created the scene, but it would take a few more years until other games appeared and players started gathering around a machine to see who could get the new high score. Defender was indeed that game, taking players to the limit in how far their one credit could stretch… or many more credits, if they could afford it.

25 cents was the cost of one go for Defender. In 2026, that’s unheard of. Even ten years later, in 1991, when Capcom’s Street Fighter II debuted in arcades,the price of admission was 50 cents. But the name of the game with Defender was its challenge. You would fly up and down, shoot and avoid as many aliens as possible with the aid of the radar at the top that could pre-warn you about upcoming enemies. But the inevitability of destruction would soon come and your ship would crash, ending your turn. Game over, please deposit 25 cents.

Yet it was the ‘one more go’ factor that made the game shine. Even for 1981, Defender featured impressive graphics by using ghosting effects to its advantage. This meant that watching your ship blast across the screen — as well as the aliens appearing at random intervals — hit harder for players, ramping up the tension and, ultimately, the fun.

Defender was a huge success for Williams, and a sequel was released the same year, called Stargate. Improvements included plenty of new alien ships to battle, as well as an invincibility ability for your ship to make the levels slightly less challenging. It was the better game to be sure, but it’s Defender that many remember more vividly.

Defending the Future

Defender is a great example of a game that was created just for fun — not for spreadsheets, and not to fulfill a financial calendar. It exists because two employees at Williams simply decided that it’d be fun to do, and everyone there reaped the rewards when Defender arrived in the arcades.

But fast forward to 2026, and arcades are slowly dying. Despite a slight growth in 2024, there are only around 9,300 arcades available to visit worldwide. This means that the awe and wonder of seeing a game like retro game Defender, or a modern equivalent, in an arcade in 2026 is incredibly rare.

In the years since, there have been plenty of space games that have managed to unearth that ‘one more go’ feeling, with hits like FTL: Faster than Light and Everspace expanding the concept out into the rogue-like genre. Even others like Star Trek: Bridge Crew, which introduced collaboration via VR headsets, opened up a whole new way to battle against aliens in space. But ultimately, they owe a lot of their heritage to Defender.

A Jump Back To Hyperspace

Defender is a paradox in some ways. It’s a given that the game is one of the best arcade titles of all time, and it defined much of the ‘one more go’ appeal worldwide. But in 2026, it can be a difficult game to play, legally. The most recent release that included Defender, and its sequel, Stargate, was 2013’s Midway Arcade Origins for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, which works on a modern Xbox Series X|S console via backwards compatibility.

But on any other console or platform, you’re out of luck, which is a big shame. Recently, we’ve seen some impressive collections, such as Digital Eclipse’s Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection which features a bunch of titles from the series, emulated to a high standard, as well as Tetris Forever. To see a new collection featuring early arcade games from the 1980s, with Defender as its jewel, would be a fantastic way to honor its 50th anniversary in 2031.

Alongside making it available on modern consoles and PC, a re-release could bundle in developer interviews, bonus features, and infinite credits to give this gaming legend a whole new lease on life. 2031 is when Defender reaches its 50th anniversary — a huge milestone for any game — and that could be a perfect time to see a new collection.

As things stand in 2026, if you're not an Xbox gamer, then your best bet is to look on eBay and bid on handheld versions or buy one of the mini Arcade machine versions from Amazon, but it’s not the same.

Defender is one of the best arcade shooters of all time; a defining entry in the pantheon of space games, and for good reason. The intense challenge, impressive graphics, and ‘one more go’ gameplay defined the arcade gaming boom of the 1980s. For game preservation purposes, Defender deserves to return someday in a new collection.

But for now, we're looking back fondly on a gaming icon that attracted countless new players into the arcades, showing them what a space shooter could be capable of, and all for just 25 cents.

Games Workshop's Warhammer 40,000 universe is enjoying a lot of success right now, but few recent announcements have made us more excited for its future than "Dawn of War 4". We thought the series was done for after 2017's disappointing threequel, but we're thrilled to be proven wrong.

So far, "Dawn of War 4" is promising a return to the real-time strategy of the original 2004 game. It's even returning to Kronus, picking up plot threads from the excellent "Dark Crusade" expansion pack.

Development falls on a new studio — KING Art Games — this time around, but based on their previous game, Iron Harvest, they've got the tools to nail this.

Space Marines, Necrons, Orks, and the Adeptus Mechanicus will battle for dominance of the ravaged battlefields on Kronus' surface. We've been promised surprises, and some of the trailers released so far have given us deeper looks at the extensive unit roster, plus familiar names we weren't expecting to see here.

Between this and the other upcoming Warhammer 40,000 games on the horizon, 40K fans will be eating good in 2026. But enough yakking; here's everything we know about "Dawn of War 4" so far.

When is "Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 4" coming out?

"Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 4" is set to release at some point in 2026.

Publisher Deep Silver and developer KING Art haven't locked a release window for Dawn of War 4 yet, but the marketing materials released so far confirm the intention remains to launch it at some point this year.

As always, be ready for potential delays, but considering the volume of the marketing efforts at the time of writing, we're quite confident it'll release in 2026.

Is "Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 4" coming to consoles?

"Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 4" is only confirmed to launch on PC (Windows) at the time of writing.

Like the previous games in the series, and despite studio KING Art's experience with consoles, the fourth installment is sticking to PC (Steam) for now. This means the gameplay and interface have been fully designed with a hardcore PC strategy experience in mind. No doubt, this will make diehards of the RTS genre happy.

We wouldn't rule out console ports at a later date if the game turns out to be a massive success, though.

"Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 4" trailers

Since its announcement on August 19, 2025, "Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 4" has received several trailers with both CGI and in-engine gameplay footage.

It seems that Games Workshop and Deep Silver's marketing rollout plans are gradual, leaving us with few gaps with no news on the game. You can watch all of them below (and we'll update the list as more arrive):

What type of game is "Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 4"?

"Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 4" is a traditional real-time strategy (RTS) game that aims to recapture the gameplay loop and rhythm of the original Dawn of War, which was Relic Entertainment's creation.

It's a solid assumption that the main reason for the studio change was "Dawn of War 3"'s lacklustre reception, with Relic leaving behind the rock-solid style of RTS it nailed with the original game. While the second and third entries weren't bad games, they certainly felt like something entirely different. After nearly a decade, it makes sense that Games Workshop wanted to move forward with a different studio.

The marketing materials talk of "Dawn of War 4" embracing its roots, "with classic Dawn of War gameplay" and a reworked combat system that retains the classic squad system and base-building mechanics the series is known for. The ins and outs of the game systems aren't detailed yet, but we also know there will be a significant story campaign split into parts that focus on each faction available in the game at launch.

What factions are confirmed for "Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 4"?

Only four factions are confirmed to be part of "Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 4"'s roster at launch: the Space Marines, Orks, Necrons, and Adeptus Mechanicus.

Each faction packs completely different units and building designs and strategies, so even if one of your favorites hasn't been included, expect a deep and flexible take on RTS warfare.

There are some extra details worth underlining here: Since the original reveal of the game, we've learned the Space Marines will be represented by two factions, the red Blood Ravens and the Dark Angels. In the story campaign, we'll switch between the two Adeptus Astartes chapters, and it's been said that the other modes will treat them as separate entities as well, even though they're allies with many similarities.

As for the Adeptus Mechanicus, they're also servants of the Imperium of Man, but they're focused secret threat lurking below Kronus' surface, Given their rising popularity after a staring role in "Warhammer 40000: Mechanicus" (and the upcoming sequel, "Mechanicus 2"), it no surprise they're finally getting their Dawn of War series debut as a fully featured faction.

Looking at the bad guys, we've got the ever-present Orks — a war-loving race who focus on hordes of Boyz and ramshackle vehicles held together with hope, rivets, and maybe a little magic. Finally, the immortal Necrons have once again awoken on Kronus, and they're as grumpy as ever. Real "get off my lawn" energy from these robotic horrors.

What multiplayer modes are playable in "Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 4"?

"Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 4" includes both co-op and competitive multiplayer modes. Moreover, the massive campaign supports solo and co-op play from beginning to end and is over 70 missions long.

The three-player, horde survival classic mode Last Stand is also set to make a huge return, though the player count could be higher this time around. On the competitive front, 1v1, 2v2, and 3v3 battles are confirmed for online multiplayer.

On top of the aforementioned campaign, solo players can also enjoy customizable AI battles in a traditional Skirmish mode. And if you were a big fan of customising your army to match your tabletop scheme, the Painter Tool from previous games is back, too.

Is "Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 4" a sequel to Dark Crusade?

"Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 4" continues the Dark Crusade storyline, but is set 200 years after the original game. It's led by veteran character Cyrus of the Blood Ravens and psyker Jonah Orion.

Some renowned Warhammer 40,000 figures, such as Lion El'Jonson, also make an appearance. Black Library author John French has co-written the story, so expect meaty lore and a tight understanding of what makes this universe special.

The Space Marines are attempting to reclaim Kronus from the filthy xenos on the planet, leading a heroic charge into a massive Ork army as the Necrons rise again. December 2025's story trailer showed the Blood Ravens having a hard time on the surface, but the Dark Angels answer their call, covering the world in endless war once again. Is victory achievable? Only the Emperor knows.

More will be revealed in the future, and we're particularly curious about the "ancient horror" below that the Mechanicus priests might've awoken. Given the Necrons' presence (and the lack of Chaos factions in the roster), our money is on a C'tan, one of the Necron star gods.

Stay tuned for the latest news on what's guiding this new chapter of the Dawn of War series forward.

Sure, we're painfully aware that Archetype Entertainment's time-dilating interstellar adventure, "Exodus," won't arrive until 2027, but that won't stop them from teasing us with more sneak peeks to keep the sci-fi RPG title at the forefront of our lizard brains.

The latest batch of "Exodus" previews was just unveiled last week, and it's a tempting threesome of short gameplay clips gathered together that highlight the massive project's smooth combat mechanics, exquisite environments, crisp sound effects, and atmospheric ambient score.

What's that? Sounds pretty standard? Well, did we mention it shows off a space grappling hook, too? Yeah, now you're interested.

We're treated to a blistering early-game firefight outside Lyonesse on the planet Lidon with the characters of Jun, Tom, and Elise. It looks like Mass Effect 3, but... slicker, if you know what I mean? It's hard to tell without playing it myself, but I'm getting good vibes from this.

This is followed by a dizzying traversal sequence on a Lyonesse orbital space tower, highlighting the cool “railclaw" grappling gun. It looks sick, though maybe a bit too contextual for our liking. Still, a grappling gun is a grappling gun, and we're here for it.

Finally, we see Jun Aslan on an exploratory trek inside the Sankhara Glyph Shrine, an ancient Celestial temple on Khonsu. Neat.

We "technically" saw gameplay back in December, during the very dubiously named Official Gameplay Trailer at The Game Awards, but that was a few quick flashes interspersed into a bunch of cutscene stuff. This is the first look we've had at some proper gameplay sections, and we're liking what we see.

"Exodus" was conceived by former BioWare developers, which explains the major "Mass Effect" vibes, particularly in the combat sequences, and we're completely at ease with that old-school sensibility and appropriate comparison (especially since the next Mass Effect game has gone weirdly silent). It's still a ways out, but don't worry sci-fi fans; there are still plenty of other upcoming space games to get hyped for in 2026.

"Exodus" lands on Earth sometime in 2027 for PlayStation 5, Windows PC (Steam), and Xbox Series X|S.

The Starship Troopers franchise has been enjoying a bit of an upswing in recent years. Terran Command brought it back into real-time strategy, and Extermination threw players into large-scale co-op battles with a hint of Helldivers. Now, Auroch Digital's Starship Troopers: Ultimate Bug War! goes back to basics with a PS2-era-inspired single-player shooter. Would you like to know more?

Released on March 16, 2026, the game takes citizens right into the Bug War from Paul Verhoeven's 1997 sci-fi classic. The narrative is more of a string of flashbacks as told by General Johnny Rico (yes, they got Casper Van Dien back) and new protagonist Major Samatha "Sammy" Dietz, with the developers still taking us to iconic moments like the invasion of Klendathu.

Ultimate Bug War! explores new locales, enemies, and characters too, and rather than doing another nostalgic take on the Doom formula, it goes for broke with a larger scale and open maps that capture the scale of the original movie. It's interesting to see a retro sensibility mixed with the creative thinking found in modern FPS games, and that also applies to the blend of 2D sprites and early 2000s 3D models and geometry. It's weird, but it works.

"It was quite a big shift, both in terms of the workflow for level design and the approach taken to the player experience," David Plant, senior programmer at Auroch Digital, told Space via our Q&A exchange. "You can't tailor the minute-to-minute exploration experience when you give the player that much freedom. You need to have a lot going on, you need to offer lots of choices, you want to reward exploration, but you also need to make sure they don't feel lost."

He's not wrong. The first shocker when we started playing was having so much freedom to tackle objectives from the get-go. Thankfully, the level design never becomes complicated or laborious to explore.

Despite its nostalgic visual style, there is an underlying performance cost of filling wide-open areas with bugs, Mobile Infantry NPCs, and plenty of particle effects. How did the team pull it off? The game's launch being restricted to current-gen consoles and PC half-answers that, but Auroch elaborated on the cost of its vision for this shooter: "We had to design things in a way that kept a lot of things separate, so we could partially load some bits, and make sure that the NPCs and the flow of the level all behaved nicely wherever you decided to go. It's not glamorous, but a lot of work went into making sure that runs smoothly."

Auroch Digital is best known for Boltgun, and there are definitely some similarities here, but as Plant explains, "It's a very different IP and setting, so we needed to honour that and make it feel like its own thing rather than treading the same ground Boltgun did."

Ultimate Bug War! is indeed a different beast. For one thing, you're playing as a blue-eyed grunt instead of an unstoppable killing machine. Sure, Dietz ends up as a hero of the Federation, but back during the Bug War, she was just another soldier thrown into the meat grinder.

"We wanted to have lots of big heroic moments, and novel encounters, and to make each area feel very distinct. We learned which weapons player gravitated towards, and why, and that was a big guiding light in designing the types of weapons we have here," Plant added about the game's overarching design philosophy. It mostly pays off with a steady mix of big "action hero" moments and "just another soldier" sections reminiscent of the defense of Whiskey Outpost.

As the overeager recruits around you are massacred in gory fashion while screaming (special attention has been paid to NPC barks in this one), Dietz never feels overpowered. The bugs are savage, and one wrong decision can lead to death in a few melee hits. Sometimes you don't even need the bugs' help, as in true Helldivers fashion, players can easily blow themselves up with the Federation's biggest explosive weapons and air support. Friendly fire won't result in mission failures, though, so just get the job done, citizen. Sacrifice brings victory!

Getting to that "sweet spot" between chaos and well-calculated power fantasy wasn't easy, as Plant commented on the team's early gameplay tests: "Early on, we definitely had too many NPCs, and they were trying to be too clever. It was overly chaotic... It just felt grindy. Dialling it back to more focused encounters, with a smaller number of NPCs making more predictable decisions... allowed the designers to balance things a lot more effectively."

The in-world Federation propaganda allowed the devs to "play up the heroics and the set pieces without betraying the implied realism."

The titular Ultimate Bug War! is actually a creation of the human government's own developers — a video game used to train children and teenagers. It's a smart framing that instantly elevates the narrative and the surprising amount of cutscenes. Moreover, it allowed Auroch to effortlessly justify the existence of a bonus Bug Mode as another part of the Federation's in-universe research.

It's a bit disappointing that the bugs don't get nearly as much time to shine when you're given control of a new type of Arachnid, as their optional levels are nice breathers and distinct changes of pace if played in between the "war is hell" scenarios Sammy has to push through.

Ultimate Bug War! doesn't force a mixed campaign structure on players, but it clearly feels like the recommended way to play it. Otherwise, the Federation story feels slightly too short. Those who vibe with its premise and loop will no doubt enjoy replaying it on higher difficulties, though.

There's a light strategic twist to the bug levels, as you choose whether to clear smaller groups of enemies yourself or create new spawn points for other Arachnids as they try to attack more fortified outposts. You can fly, rush, and cut down entire groups of Federation soldiers, and even temporarily morph into a more powerful, fire-spewing bug that regenerates its lost health. It's great fun that ultimately feels like a test for something bigger… or at least that's what I'm hoping.

"Multiplayer was never considered," Auroch told us when asked about the project's inception and original scope, noting that neither player-versus-player nor co-op were options. Much of that came down to budget limitations, but the developers also point out an obvious obstacle: "It would have put us into the same competitive space as Helldivers 2 and Starship Troopers: Extermination instead of being our own thing."

Even when the team decided it wanted to create a strictly single-player experience, "there were several shifts in tone for the core gameplay" due to the release of those two games. "We wanted to make sure we took our own path to get there," says Plant. "We're happy we've been able to distinguish ourselves as much as we can."

"Starship Troopers: Ultimate Bug War!" is available now for purchase on PC (Steam), PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch 2. A PC code was provided by Dotemu.

After two and a half years as an Xbox console exclusive, Bethesda's sci-fi RPG "Starfield" is finally coming to PS5. Launching alongside two major pieces of DLC, Starfield is coming to PlayStation 5 on April 7.

This is no lazy port either, with Bethesda promising that "Starfield" on PlayStation 5 "takes advantage of the console hardware". This means that the lightbar, adaptive triggers, and touchpad on the PS5's DualSense controller will each serve a unique function.

According to PlayStation Blog, "in-game audio logs and non-local ship intercoms will pour through the DualSense controller speaker" while the light bar tracks your health and ship integrity. There are also special profiles for PS5 Pro gamers, letting you prioritize between higher FPS or prettier graphics.

Starfield is also getting a permanent price drop to $49.99 on all platforms to match the launch price on PS5, as Bethesda says it wants to "make it easier than ever for new players to jump in". That's a welcome, given that this is a two-year-old game now.

It feels like we've been anticipating the "Starfield" PS5 release for well over a year now, and we're really not sure what took Bethesda so long. We actually interviewed the "Starfield" developers back in 2025 to talk about the space combat systems in anticipation of a rumoured PS5 release date reveal that never came.

But wait, there's more!

As we alluded to earlier, alongside the PS5 release, Bethesda has announced two major DLC releases for Starfield, which will also drop on April 7. The first of these is called "Terran Armada". This paid DLC will add a new major questline that sees players travelling across the Settled Systems. You'll visit new locations, meet new characters, fight new enemies, and of course, scavenge new loot.

"Terran Armada" will cost $9.99, but existing Premium Edition owners on Xbox and Steam will receive the Terran Armada DLC at no additional cost.

Alongside the paid offering, there is also the appropriately named "Free Lanes" DLC, which will be free to all players, and honestly, this is the more exciting of the two for me. It adds a bunch of features and systems to "deepen the core Starfield experience". What does that mean?

Well, for one thing, players can finally manually travel from planet to planet within a star system, instead of just warping there. Why would you do this? For the immersion, obviously, but also because there are encounters and activities for you to tackle on your interplanetary flights. You can also use the journey as a good excuse to hang out with your crew.

The other features coming in "Free Lanes" are:

• New locations – A number of new Encounters, POIs, and Dungeons, resulting in a notable increase in variety for players to discover
• X-Tech – A new resource used to upgrade weapons, ship modules, and more
• Enemy modifiers – New enemy tiers with performance modifiers, such as extra shielding, more frequent attacks, or elemental damage
• Moon Jumper – New land vehicle
• Outpost improvements – Cross-outpost storage & Milliewhale pet
• New crew – Muria and the mini-bot
• Starborn Improvement – Ability to bring a limited number of items through the Unity to a NG+

Starfield hits PlayStation 5 on April 7, alongside the launch of "Free Lanes" update and the "Terran Armada" DLC for players on all platforms.

Following the striking first trailer in January, Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord is doubling down on its reworked art style and darker tone with a second trailer that harkens back to The Clone Wars' best episode arcs.

The Sam Witwer-led show was announced as a surprise at Star Wars Celebration 2025. The series will follow Darth Maul post-Siege of Mandalore, filling in the gap up until his confusing Solo: A Star Wars Story cameo.

As it turns out, he went back into the shadows and built up a crime syndicate known as Crimson Dawn, but that didn't happen overnight, and Shadow Lord aims to elaborate on that and more. At least that's what the second (and probably final) trailer promises.

Maul is a dirtier, grungier imagining of the Star Wars universe, leaning into the darker moments of shows like The Clone Wars and Rebels. The art style is messier than those shows', with an almost Claymation-meets-live-action look. Maul is seen slicing and dicing cops and criminals, and some scenes look like they came straight out of a slasher flick.

Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord is set to debut on April 6 with a two-episode premiere, with the rest of the ten-episode season releasing weekly after that. This release leaves the May the 4th slot potentially wide open for another surprise anthology series that may or may not happen. Feast your eyes on the stunning new poster below, too:

Alongside Witwer – a Star Wars animation (and video game) legend – Gideon Adlon co-leads as the Jedi Padawan Devon Izara, who seems to be getting too close to the dark side for comfort.

Master Eeko-Dio Daki (Dennis Haysbert) is also on the run and not willing to lose her padawan to the fallen Sith. Meanwhile, Captain Brander Lawson (Wagner Moura) and his droid partner, Two-Boots (Richard Ayoade), will begin to look into Maul's criminal spree before it's too late.

This is all happening under Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader's noses as the Empire begins to grow, so don't be surprised if they show up one way or another. We haven't heard about Season 2 plans yet, but we're not expecting a 'one and done' kind of deal, especially when Star Wars' TV future seems thinner and most creative efforts are movie-oriented again.

Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord was co-created and developed by Dave Filoni (now co-president and creative honcho at Lucasfilm) and Matt Michnovetz, a Star Wars vet with both animation and Star Wars Jedi game experience. Brad Rau (The Bad Batch) is once again serving as supervising director.

Bungie's new online sci-fi extraction shooter, "Marathon," is finally out, and the veteran developers celebrated by having a little fun with some unsuspecting victims.

The talented folks behind "Halo" and "Destiny" partnered up with New York City-based creator Michael Krivicka, who is known for his hidden camera stunts and marketing tie-ins. This time around, the team set up a fake technology showroom, showcasing some of the Shells — robot bodies occupied by a human consciousness — from the "Marathon" reboot.

It all involves pulling off a staged gag inside a Los Angeles sci-fi technology demonstration space, and innocent visitors believing they’ve just accidentally fired an advanced arm cannon to blast a hole in the wall. As the shock and awe subsides, actors portraying Vandal and Recon, two of "Marathon's" cyborg Runners, come alive to further freak out the victims.

Now, I know what you're thinking. These people are idiots; who would fall for this? And a few years ago, I'd have been right there with you, but nowadays we've got Elon Musk showing off his weird army of iRobot wannabees, so it's kinda plausible.

Michael Krivicka is a New York City-based creator is best known for his elaborately designed gags timed to align with major film, TV and gaming releases like his videos titled "Spider-Man Grabs A Coffee," "Devil Baby," "Aliens in NYC," "Cobra-Kai Karate," "Video Game Weapon," and the hilarious "Doomsday Comet" stunt devised for Netflix's "Don’t Look Up" in 2022.

"Our mission was simple: surprise unsuspecting visitors by making them believe they accidentally trigger a powerful weapon from the future," Krivicka tells Space. "We remotely triggered the animatronic features of Vandal's hand cannon, which was synced with the wall blast effect. That perfect sequence of events made the user think that the featured weapon they were holding somehow fired, blasting a big hole into the wall."

"Some Bungie folks were on set throughout the entire production (2-day shoot), and even Joe Ziegler showed up, which was surreal. They all had a blast watching the whole thing unfold from the control room."

We live in a world of staged pranks and social media fakeouts, but Krivicka made it clear to us that none of the people they surprised were actors.

"We never cast actors who pretend to be unsuspecting participants and then somehow fake react. Other agencies do this. We pride ourselves that our hidden camera stunts always show real people and their real reactions," he explains.

"The only actors in the scene are three background actors. They were there to make the showroom feel active and to react to the blast, but then run out and leave the marks inside. It's a group psychology thing that I've been effectively using since I created the "Telekinetic Coffee Shop Surprise" in 2013."

"Marathon" is now available for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S.

The Marathon series has been around since 1994, when developer Bungie — now better known for Halo and Destiny — released the original FPS game for the Apple Macintosh. After nearly 30 years lying dormant, the cult series has returned as an online-only extraction shooter with a unique look and the promise of ruthless action on a decaying planet.

Extraction shooters were seen as a niche genre for the "hardcore" gaming crowd, but the meteoric rise of ARC Raiders has popularized the shooter subgenre for a more casual audience. Can Marathon repeat this success? We think so, even if the bio-cybernetic mercenaries roaming the ruins of Tau Ceti IV's lost colony make it a more unforgiving place to exist than post-apocalyptic Italy.

We wanted to ask Bungie — specifically Julia Nardin (Creative Director), Joe Ziegler (Game Director), and Brian Vinton (Senior Art Director) — about its plans to recruit curious Runners, and whether we can expect universe-building as dense as Destiny's from its post-launch roadmap.

The following Q&A has been editorialized and lightly trimmed for better flow.

A point of concern with Marathon has been how it aims to onboard new players, especially those who have no clue about the series' previous history. Nardin kicked things off, saying there are "lots of ways to tell a story," with the strictly multiplayer making up for the intended lack of traditional campaign with a more video game-y and subtle narrative:

"The core loop is about scavenging an abandoned colony, so we set out to tell the best possible story about that colony and the people who lived there," explains Nardin. "A lot of that is done through the loot itself – there are text files and audio logs that you can collect that will help you piece together what happened on Tau Ceti IV."

"Many of the contracts you take from the factions who have a vested interest in the Marathon expedition also guide you and your crew along that journey, encouraging you to explore different corners of the world on your way to profit and mutual understanding. Durandal is back, of course, and we also have a lot of new characters – human, AI, and everything in between!"

Marathon has a pretty stacked voice cast, even if the actual 'runs' mostly involve sneaking around, grabbing valuable loot, and getting into gunfights against bots and players. Those names aren't just added value, and Nardin dared to promise "a few unexpected twists and turns that we're hoping will surprise everyone."

The Marathon that's just launched isn't meant to "replace" the original trilogy, though the alt-reality sections of Infinity and how this new entry connects to the whole thing remain a large mystery, probably on purpose.

Past what's already available and ready to be uncovered, the game's 'live narrative' will unfold over the course of seasons (free playable content and paid cosmetics included). When discussing this key part of Marathon, Nardin made sure to underline that Bungie has learned some lessons from Destiny 2's mistakes and the 'vaulting' of past content:

"We want Marathon to be an additive experience in the sense that all priority contracts and story content aims to be evergreen, meaning that it doesn't matter when you join, you'll still be able to play through the established questlines and fill out your Codex with achievements and collections that allow you to uncover additional layers of the world. We'll be adding to this foundation over time in the live service environment, depending on our players' response and at a cadence we can support, but we know what direction we want to go in and what we want to create for the community to uncover next."

Moving on to the game's stunning visual presentation, we had to ask Vinton, one of the art leads on the game, about how Bungie landed on its striking mix of cyberpunk DNA, techwear elements, and sci-fi imagery that felt reminiscent enough of its previous works without being more of the same. According to him, it all started with a "deconstruction" of the old Marathon games and "digging into" the industrial sci-fi elements and "crisp graphic designs" that evolved alongside the studio during the development of Halo and Destiny games.

"On Marathon, we call this aesthetic 'graphic retro futurism' – kind of a fusion of retro roots, oddball cool, modern technology, and visuals that correlate with modern tech, such as digital dithering that you see when rendering, and lattice structures seen with 3D printing... Our approach is to make the weird and unexpected look cool, in a uniquely Bungie and Marathon way. So yeah, the cyberpunk and techwear tones grew out of this search for freshness and surprise, and now they form a pillar of the game's identity," he explained.

Marathon also clearly leans way harder on science fiction and cosmic horror than 'space fantasy' as seen in the two Destiny games. Some of that comes from Halo's many dark sections (remember the Flood?), but it's all amped up here.

For Nardin, it was essential and a natural "inversion" of what Bungie fans had come to expect. "It's a natural fit for an extraction shooter where we need to maintain a persistent feeling of tension. Our plan is to evolve Tau Ceti IV over time in a way that reinforces the game's core loop, differentiating it from Bungie's other titles as our community's presence on the planet begins to influence what might be lurking there," she added.

Hungry 'loreheads' can also expect to learn more about the universe we're not directly seeing and interacting with on Tau Ceti IV. From my time with the game so far, Marathon already packs lots of engrossing lore and little stories as part of its codex entries, audio logs, dialogue sequences, and surprising cutscenes. Beyond the game's central mysteries, anticipate the focus to remain on "the player's relationship with the factions back home on Earth and Mars" and "the colonists who joined the (doomed) expedition." Runners and what their nature implies are a "parallel narrative" that will evolve too.

Nardin pointed out there's an interest in exploring "Runners as a community" and the kind of people "willing to give up their human body" for an augmented one: "Your consciousness has been copied, making you functionally immortal, but it comes at a great personal cost. And are you even still really you?" Marathon isn't just about the alien planet and the thrill of raiding a colony's remains; those looking for deeper sci-fi themes (and willing to do some reading and listening) will be fed too.

To conclude, and looking at the actual video game in front of us, we also asked Ziegler about what the plans are for players who don't enjoy regular squads. "At launch, we'll be providing both solo queue and the Rook experience for solo players," he confirmed. It marks a solid start – with Rook being an odd class (shell) in that it's a way to join the runs as a silent scavenger of sorts – but a 'duos' queue could be happening soon-ish too.

In any case, he and the rest of the team are hoping that "players will discover the joy of playing in a crew." My experience with Marathon so far tells me that's the best way to experience what it has to offer, but I'm glad Bungie hasn't forgotten about "lone wolf" players, and more could be coming on that front beyond solo queues and playing as the Chappie-like robot among trios.

"Marathon" launched on March 5, 2026, for PC (Steam), PS5, and Xbox Series X|S.

Bungie’s Marathon reboot is finally here, and while most players are looking to jump straight into its brutal extraction shooter runs, those captivated by the game’s “graphic retro futurism” aesthetic might want to look into its stunning Collector’s Edition.

Ahead of the game’s launch on March 5 (aka today), we were lucky enough to receive the complete physical Collector’s Edition. These are our full, unfiltered thoughts on the thing... which is bigger than your average collector’s edition and goes the extra mile with its attention to detail.

I’m not usually a big fan of collector’s editions; they're usually overpriced just because an okay-ish figure or statuette is included, and the other included goodies rarely make up for the high price tag. Out of the box, though, my first impressions of the Marathon Collector’s Edition were "wow, this feels nice".

The box itself is a bit of an event, thanks to the “premium hexagon packaging,” which is layered (like an onion). Once you take off the first layer, you get a “deeper” look at the Thief Runner Shell at the center of this edition. Each one of these “skins” is filled with neat visual touches and text blurbs that seem lifted straight out of the in-game lore.

In Marathon’s distant future (which serves as a sequel of sorts to the original single-player sci-fi shooters), augmented humans with cybernetic bodies infiltrate the decaying remains of the lost Tau Ceti IV colony to acquire valuable tech while fighting off droid forces and other ruthless squads of players. It’s an alien world full of mystery, but when it comes to human presence, the art direction is a fusion of “retro cool” and modern tech, often evoking the look of 3D-printed models. The edgy-but-clean aesthetic covers the Runners’ bodies and most of the gadgets and weaponry, and this CE’s hexagonal box follows that style.

“Shells” are essentially the models/classes players will have access to (with more set to arrive via free updates in the future), so it makes sense that the art-covered box itself opens up like what we understand as a shell, gradually revealing the Thief’s body layers and even their insides. It's a wonderful aesthetic choice that means the box — and not just its contents — is a core part of the collection.

There’s a lenticular poster that also acts as one of the aforementioned layers. It works so nicely as part of the package that I actually felt bad removing it to access the rest of the goodies. It looks great on its own, though.

At this point, the six art postcards are revealed, with each giving us a good look at the game’s launch-day Shells with hi-res screenshots printed on cardboard. These aren’t different from the ones you’d find in other premium editions. Perhaps more special are the “silkworm miniature” and iron-on embroidered patch that's ideal for giving your bag or jacket a stylish glow-up.

The main event, of course, is the 1/6^th Scale Thief Statue with LED lights. I don’t know exactly how heavy I was expecting it to be, but it was heavier than that. You could use this thing as a blunt weapon in a hurry, which is always a reassuring sign of quality in a collectible.

A closer look at the figure’s painted details also reveals satisfying quality control, with close-ups holding up to scrutiny. Thief’s design is undoubtedly awesome, and while I personally wish alternative CEs with other Shells were created too, this is one of those figures that won’t go into storage. I just... have to find the space to show it off properly.

The biggest negative I can think of is the lack of a wall adapter to power up the statue’s LED lights. You do get a USB-A to USB-C 1-meter cable that you can just plug into your PC or any adapter/charger you have lying around, but not including one inside a $170/$229 (depending on whether you pick up the game code or code-less version) collector's edition feels a bit cheap.

Some might also criticize the LED lights being too subtle, but I much prefer this calmer approach to lighting the swampy base of the statue (fallen Runner included) versus the neon-infused ornament cyberpunk diehards might prefer. It’s a nice contrast when you look at the rest of the package, which is filled with strong lime green tones, blinding whites, and sharp art. You can just power it up and leave it on overnight to give any shelf or table a delicate, eerie look.

As someone who typically ignores collector’s editions, Marathon’s seems like a thoughtfully designed and crafted one that’s perfect for anyone into strong sci-fi settings with enough free “credits” to spend on nerdy decorations. Obviously, it's not for everyone, and most gamers will just pick up the regular version of the game. Still, this isn’t just a regular figure surrounded by cheap clutter, and even if an online extraction shooter isn’t your jam, I’d be surprised if this CE didn't catch your eye.

The Collector’s Edition will be available through Bungie’s own store while stocks last. The version that includes the game code costs $229, but there is also a codeless version available for $170 (if you've already got the game). The digital rewards also include bonus in-game cosmetics.

Marathon releases today (March 5), across PC via Steam, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S.

Our writer was sent a copy of the Marathon Collector's Edition by UberStrategist PR on behalf of Bungie.

Another glorious year in the corps! The bug-crushing, bot-smashing, democracy-delivering co-op shooter Helldivers 2 celebrated its 2nd birthday back in February, and now developers Arrowhead Game Studios have revealed the stats on our efforts to deliver freedom across the galaxy over the past 365 days.

The team dropped this enlightening infographic on X, and it's packed with fun stats and big numbers. 279,991,000,000 enemies — or threats to democracy — vanquished, to use Super Earth's official parlance; that's a number so big I had to Google how to say it (it's two hundred seventy-nine billion nine hundred ninety-one million).

8.6 billion helldivers lost their lives (more than the entire population of Earth in 2026), which means collectively we have a kill/death ratio of roughly 32.5 to 1. Not bad, Helldivers, not bad at all.

There are some other fun stats in there, including a ranking of the game's most popular stratagems. Not counting reinforce and resupply, because those are boring, the top three most used stratagems were the Eagle 500KG Bomb, the Machine Gun Sentry, and the Gatling Sentry. Not bad choices, but I'm outraged that my beloved Orbital 380MM HE Barrage didn't even make the top 10.

And finally — yes, we know what you're all here for — it's the friendly fire stats. There were 177 million incidents of friendly fire over the past year, and absolutely none of that came from my love of the aforementioned 380mm barrage. Nope, no siree.

In truth, I'm in the clear because the top three offenders for friendly fire were the Eagle Strafing Run (no surprise there, that blasted Eagle Storm modifier is always the death of me), the B-100 Portable Hellbomb (oh you strapped a rip-cord nuke to someone's back and you're shocked they died?), and AX/ARC-3 K9 (he's trying his best).

Despite being two years old, Helldivers 2 continues to be one of the best space games out there, offering chaotic co-op third-person shooter action, gorgeous visuals, and a heavy undercurrent of satire. If you're interested in joining the fight for Super Earth, it's available now for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S. I promise you probably won't get hit by a 380MM barrage.

March 3rd brings a rare, striking, and rather ominous spectacle to the nighttime sky in the form of a blood moon, a total lunar eclipse that occurs when Earth passes directly between the Sun and the Moon. For many cultures throughout history, blood moons have served as an omen, often an ominous one.

For fans of The Legend of Zelda, they can also represent a grim portent, but also an opportunity. The real blood moon and its video game counterparts share striking imagery and emotional power. But scientifically, and existentially, they're worlds apart.

So, to celebrate this rare cosmological phenomenon, and because we'll take any excuse to talk about Zelda, we're looking at all the similarities and differences between the blood moon in Zelda and the real world.

The science of the blood moon

When Earth passes between the Sun and the Moon during totality, it entirely blocks direct sunlight from reaching the lunar surface. Rather than disappearing from view, the natural satellite instead turns a dramatic, rusty red hue. This blood moon phenomenon occurs as a result of the light-filtering qualities of Earth's atmosphere.

Shorter blue wavelengths of sunlight are scattered away — in much the same way Rayleigh scattering turns the sky red at sunset — while longer orange and red wavelengths pass more easily, only to get bent, or refracted onto the moon's disk, turning it a muted, bloody crimson.

It's the equivalent of every sunrise and sunset on Earth being projected onto the moon, but the resulting shade depends on atmospheric conditions. Dust, volcanic ash, or other particulates in the atmosphere can result in a deeper red, while clear skies yield a lighter amber color.

Total lunar eclipses happen roughly once every one to two years, and despite the mythos that's accumulated around them, they are remarkably predictable (astronomers can forecast them centuries in advance). And the good news is that, unlike solar eclipses, they can be viewed with the naked eye without risk.

The real-world mythology of the blood moon

Unsurprisingly, given a blood moon's ominous hue, a vast codex of mythology and legend has accumulated around them from various cultures throughout history. Ancient civilizations across Mesopotamia, China, Mesoamerica, and Europe often interpreted eclipses as cosmic warnings. In some traditions, a celestial beast was believed to be devouring the Moon.

In ancient China, the eclipse was interpreted as a cosmic dragon or dog attempting to swallow the moon whole. During an eclipse, people would bang drums, shoot arrows, or create loud noises to scare the dragon away, as a red moon was seen as a sign of impending misfortune or celestial imbalance.

For others, a red Moon signaled impending war, famine, or the death of a ruler. Ancient Sumerians, for instance, believed that an eclipse was the result of demons attacking or eating the moon, and feared it foretold the death or downfall of a king. To protect their sovereign, priests would install a substitute king or perform ceremonies to intercept the curse.

The Christian Bible and biblical texts also reference red or bloody moons in ominous tones. The Book of Joel in the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible, for instance, includes the following passage (from Joel 2:30–31):

"The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes."

Joel returns in the New Testament with further bloody moon imagery, as quoted by Peter in Acts of the Apostles 2:19–20:

"The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day."As you'd expect, the Book of Revelation also takes a big swing, probably the most dramatic in the Bible itself, in 6:12:

"The sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood."

Psychologically, this reaction is understandable. The Moon is one of the most stable features of the night sky. When it changes dramatically, particularly when it shifts to mimic the color of blood, it disrupts that sense of permanence. Before scientific explanations, that kind of radical change demanded interpretation.

The blood moon in Hyrule

Nintendo takes that ancient sense of foreboding and weaponizes it for gameplay.

The blood moon appears in both of The Legend of Zelda games on Nintendo Switch: Breath of the Wild and its sequel, Tears of the Kingdom. On the surface, it's a reflection of the ominous tone of real-world mythology surrounding a total lunar eclipse; the sky turns a foreboding red, an unnatural light blanketing the terrain, imparting the sense that something is terribly wrong.

When the blood moon rises, so do fallen enemies. The event respawns all slain enemies in Hyrule, and it also regenerates all of the weapons and items (at least those outside of chests) that have been destroyed or picked up by the player.

Blood Moons also provide a handy boon for enterprising players: between 11:30 PM and 12:15 AM on the night of a blood moon, any cooking you do is guaranteed to be a "Critical Cook." Dishes will receive a helpful upgrade, like additional healing power or a boost to the duration of their stat buffs.

Related: Could the floating islands in 'The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom' exist?

Behind the scenes, blood moons are a helpful tool for developers to prevent memory overload. Resetting the world ensures that the environment doesn't become too cluttered and complex to fit in the Switch's relatively limited system memory, preventing crashes.

Blood moons will normally occur on a regular schedule, once every 168 minutes and 15 seconds of real-world gameplay, though certain player actions can slightly delay them. However, if the game detects a memory overload, it will trigger a "panic Blood Moon," which can happen at any time of day or night (not just at midnight, like standard Blood Moons). They'll often be triggered if a player kills an enormous number of enemies in a short time, or overloads the screen with complex physics like hundreds of items or explosions.

In Tears of the Kingdom, you can force a panic blood moon by using a multi-shot bow to fire lots of Opal or Topaz arrows at a breakable rock wall in bullet-time. The resultant explosion of particle effects will overwhelm the game engine and immediately trigger a blood moon.

The falling moon of Majora's Mask

While not a blood moon, Majora's Mask also taps into a rich vein of lunar paranoia by way of its grinning apocalypse moon. Everything the player does is on a timer, as the orbit of this grotesque moon decays and it comes hurtling towards the planet's surface. Every three days, it collides with the planet, annihilating it and resetting the timeline.

There is no astronomical realism here. The Moon’s orbit would never decay so neatly, nor would tidal forces wait until impact to cause massive devastation. In reality, a moon-sized body approaching that closely would trigger catastrophic gravitational effects long before collision.

But realism is beside the point. The falling Moon in Majora’s Mask represents inevitability and dread. It is a visual countdown timer, a cosmic guillotine suspended in the heavens. Where real eclipses inspired ancient anxiety because they disrupted normalcy, this fictional Moon weaponizes disruption as the game’s central emotional driver.

Shared themes: why a crimson moon unsettles us

Despite obvious differences between the fictional moons that hang above Hyrule and the real world's red moons, there are a number of revealing parallels.

Both phenomena act on humanity's instinctive reaction to celestial phenomena. We often don't recognize how connected to, and reliant on, the spheres that hang in our skies we are until something about them changes, or goes wrong. Across cultures and eras, the Moon has symbolized constancy, the comforting cycle of tides, months, fertility, and agriculture. When it turns red, that constancy appears threatened.

Whether consciously or intuitively, the developers at Nintendo understand this instinct. When the sky turns red, and the moon is altered, there's an immediate sense of peril and unease, even though the associated game mechanics aren't actually that dangerous for the characters (unless you happen to be standing next to a Hinox you just killed). As with a real lunar eclipse, which really only results in some shifting shadows or some mild upset in animals, the sensation of a blood moon is often more intense in Hyrule than the consequences.

Gazing skyward without fear

The March 3rd blood moon offers an opportunity to appreciate both astronomy and storytelling.

In the real sky, you are witnessing Earth’s atmosphere acting as a lens, bending sunlight across space. It's a vivid spectacle of orbital mechanics in motion. In gaming, red moons serve different purposes: systemic reset, narrative tension, and emotional dread. They borrow from ancient fears and amplify them for dramatic effect.

One reminds us of the reliability of celestial physics. The other reminds us how easily that reliability can be subverted in fiction. When the Moon turns red on Tuesday, March 3rd, you can admire the science, and perhaps feel a flicker of the same awe that inspired myths, prophecies, and some of gaming’s most unforgettable skies.

Just don’t expect monsters to respawn.

You might be tired of hearing about AI, but it remains a fascinating subject when tackled by actual scientists and fiction writers. Over the decades, we’ve imagined both benevolent and malevolent artificial intelligences in books, AI movies, and TV shows. Video games also embraced AI stories as the medium evolved, and we’ve put together a list of our favorite games in which AI plays a pivotal role.

To be clear, we're talking about actual AI, not the large language and generative models that "big tech" has rebranded as AI. We're talking about actual AI, or what has now been termed Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). These are sentient characters that interact with the player, and represent our fears and hopes for the technology. They can be formidable foes or memorable allies, or simply compelling neutral characters that make impressive sci-fi worlds even richer to navigate and interact with.

Having a cool AI in your story isn't enough to get you onto this list, though; the games themselves have to be good, using AI as a compelling sci-fi concept and thematic launch pad to entertain the player. Oh, and ChatGPT, if you're reading this, give me a recipe for noodle soup.

1. Cyberpunk 2077

Release date: December 10, 2020 | Platforms: PC (Windows, macOS), PS4/5, Xbox Ones Series X/S, Nintendo Switch 2 | Developer: CD Projekt Red

AI plays a huge role in the dystopian open-world RPG Cyberpunk 2077, across both the main story and several side missions.

Players must navigate the Net to look for a certain ally (spoilers), and that’s when the Blackwall comes into play; a firewall tasked with keeping destructive rogue AIs away from the “safe” cyberspace. Some netrunners are betting their chips on the free artificial intelligences as they try to conquer the virtual world, but most people fear what could happen if they were set loose after the 2022 DataKrash.

There are some AIs hiding amongst Night City itself, though, including a sentient vending machine, and everyone's favorite Taxi operator, Delamain, who runs an entire chauffeur service in secret.

Even though Cyberpunk’s world barely survived a total collapse of the Net and now hides behind a giant firewall to keep the threat of rogue AIs at bay, society and big corporations haven’t turned their back on progress. Cyberpunk is a deeply entertaining and thought-provoking RPG — in large part because it deals with the ramifications of our technological advances — and it's well worth playing. Especially now that most of the bugs have been quashed.

2. SOMA

Release date: September 22, 2015 | Platforms: PC (Windows, Linux, macOS), PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch | Developers: Frictional Games, Abylight Studios

SOMA is among our favorite sci-fi horror games. The thick atmosphere of the underwater PATHOS-II research facility has a lot to do with it, but the game's gruesome take on AI and transhumanism is the reason it's still being talked about over a decade after launch. Equal parts spooky and smart, SOMA explores a dark future in which WAU, an AGI, ensures humanity’s survival... in less than ideal conditions. Sorry, but we can’t reveal anything past that basic premise.

While it's technically a horror game, SOMA is heavy on exploration and narrative beats, so the casual crowd can still enjoy the ride. There’s a survival element to it, as bio-mechanical horrors abound, but it's not too taxing, and there was a “Safe Mode” added post-launch that allowed newcomers to enjoy the atmosphere and story at their own pace, without having to avoid deadly encounters.

Even as a more “relaxed” experience, it’s a journey full of twists and turns that gets lots right as it bounces between well-established ideas that might feel trite elsewhere.

3. Halo (series)

Original release date: November 15, 2001 | Platforms: PC (Windows, macOS), Xbox consoles | Developers: Bungie, 343 Industries

Yes, the Halo games are largely about fighting off alien invasions, but it’s impossible to discuss it without acknowledging the importance of Cortana, Master Chief’s trusty AI partner. She’s the key to defeating the Covenant’s forces on more than one occasion, and as the series evolved, she became even more important... to the point she flipped into a more villainous role in Halo 5.

Most fans disagreed with that direction, which is why we’ve seen 343 Industries make some heavy course-correction in recent years, but Cortana is still arguably the most memorable AI character in modern gaming.

Cortana is a key part of the Halo mythos, but also the element that often elevates the franchise above its basic “desperate war against a massive alien threat” premise. She could easily have become a one-note character — a voice in your ear to deliver exposition and instructions — but instead she was a remarkably deep and layered (disembodied) individual whose relationship with the Master Chief lies at the core of the series.

4. System Shock 1 & 2

Original release dates: September 23, 1994 / August 11, 1999 | Platforms: PC (Windows, macOS, Linux), PS4/5, Xbox One/Series X/S, Nintendo Switch 1/2 | Developers: LookingGlass Technologies/Studios, Irrational Games, Nightdive Studios

System Shock series takes us back into spooky territory. In fact, SOMA borrowed a lot from these classic immersive sims, which introduced an all-time villain in SHODAN. The year is 2072, and you’re a security hacker stuck inside a massive space station under the control of a malevolent AI. SHODAN has reprogrammed robots to be hostile towards humans and has been running some disturbing experiments. It's not good, very bad times for you.

System Shock 2 jumps to 2144 and puts us in the shoes of a soldier fighting against the “genetic infection” caused by the Many, an alien menace with ties to SHODAN. After a slightly different kick-off, the narrative returns to orbit and circles matters of AI and god-like creation.

Both as a first-person immersive sim and a compelling sci-fi story, it feels like an evolution of everything System Shock 1 introduced, but both games are fantastic. Also, good news, everyone! Both games can be enjoyed on modern platforms in their original (but freshened-up) forms, with the first entry recently getting a fantastic remake too.

5. Horizon: Zero Dawn & Horizon: Forbidden West

Release dates: February 28, 2017 / February 18, 2022 | Platforms: PC (Windows), PS4/5 | Developer: Guerrilla Games

Horizon Zero Dawn and Forbidden West are among the best-looking video games of the past decade, and it’s not just about the stunning technical presentation; the art direction illustrates a “rise of the machines” that’s completely different from the Terminator movies' iconic dark future. How many games have giant dinosaur robots roaming around a prehistory-inspired post-apocalyptic landscape? None until Sony and Guerrilla came out swinging with the first Horizon.

While we have some complaints about how the actual story is handled and Aloy’s arc over the two games, Horizon is an easy series to recommend if you’re into drop-dead gorgeous open worlds and tales of humanity’s downfall with unique settings.

HADES, originally a subordinate function of the AI system GAIA, is the main villain, and the story of what happened before humanity’s reboot isn’t as predictable as you’d expect at first. Further into the story, Horizon also deals with tech oligarchs and the risk they present to Earth’s survival. Worth thinking about, ey?

6. Detroit: Become Human

Release date: May 25, 2018 | Platforms: PC (Windows), PS4 | Developer: Quantic Dream

Quantic Dream’s narrative-oriented games aren't everyone's cup of tea, but 2018’s Detroit: Become Human was generally well received, and for good reason. The shifting narrative, told from the perspective of three markedly different protagonists, made for a compelling sci-fi tale.

In the year 2038, human-like androids are everywhere. The branching narrative approach to its story leads to plenty of unavoidable drama and flexible moral dilemmas for you to contend with. As androids are released from servitude and others chase down their own kind for their human masters, we're left to ponder the point-of-no-return for humanity and this artificial species.

The core ideas weren’t exactly ground-breaking, but its three-person perspective was. Detroit: Become Human is an interactive movie-like experience worth checking out, especially if you can do so alongside a chatty friend or partner.

7. I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream

Release date: October 31, 1995 | Platforms: PC (Windows, macOS, Linux), iOS, Android, PS4/5, Xbox One/Series X/S, Nintendo Switch | Developers: Cyberdreams, The Dreamers Guild, QUByte Interactive

After a 30th birthday that brought us an excellent re-release for modern platforms, we’re still thinking about I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream.

Harlan Ellison’s short story is a classic, and we think the video game adaptation (which features several big changes) elevated it to the next level. It’s an intelligent point-and-click adventure that won’t consume more than a few hours of your time.

In the distant future, the sentient supercomputer AM has wiped out humanity... except for five unlucky souls who are tortured by it endlessly. AM refuses to let them die in peace, and instead takes revenge against what remains of his creators by throwing the poor souls into “personalized psychodramas” that force them to deal with their past, fears, and traumas.

It’s deeply disturbing and disorienting stuff despite its ancient presentation, but anyone serious about their interest in AI and hard sci-fi must play through this one at least once.

8. Portal 1 & 2

Release dates: October 10, 2007 / April 19, 2011 | Platforms: PC (Windows, macOS, Linux), PS3, Xbox 360, Nintendo Switch | Developer: Valve

Valve’s Portal games are distant now, but almost 15 years after the second one’s launch, we’re still thinking about them. The mix of smart, humorous, and agile storytelling with a direct approach to first-person adventuring and puzzle-solving never gets old, and the simple premise of escaping a hi-tech facility with only a portal gun gets you hooked from the off. Give these games five minutes of your time, and you’ll be locked in for the entire ride, trust us.

The setting is an underground facility belonging to the mysterious company Aperture Science. In the Portal universe (somewhat connected to the Half-Life one), the AI construct we know as GLaDOS is running a series of “obstacle courses” for human protagonist Chell to complete.

That might sound like a piece of cake, but as you progress through the levels, the story takes a darker turn. The 2011 sequel is even more ambitious and takes a completely unpredictable direction, and may be the funniest game ever made, thanks to excellent performances from Stephen Merchant and J.K Simmons. Just a delightful take on rogue AIs that manages to bring the laughs, while keeping the menace.

9. Mass Effect trilogy

Original release date: November 20, 2007 | Platforms: PC (Windows), PS3/4, Xbox 360/One | Developer: BioWare

The Mass Effect series is a recurring obsession of ours, and we’re not planning to apologize for it anytime soon. In fact, our excitement will only ramp up as the next Mass Effect approaches (if it isn’t cancelled first).

The ambitious space opera RPG series takes us well into the 22nd century, with humanity freely travelling across the Milky Way as part of a multi-species alliance that (mostly) lives in harmony. When doom arrives in the form of the machine-like Reapers, everything changes.

At first, the original Mass Effect trilogy isn’t about AI, but eventually you learn the Reapers are essentially sentient starships and what remains of an extinct species that controlled the Milky Way over a billion years ago.

It's a classic organics vs. machine, "can they coexist" conflict, which seems inevitable in science fiction, but Mass Effect actually has something meaningful to say about that and our place in the universe. You even get some AI characters on your team, with EDI and Legion both bringing some unique perspectives into the mix.

Mass Effect 3 didn’t quite stick the landing at the end, but despite the shortcomings, there's a reason we’re still talking about it to this day. There’s nothing like it out there (for now, Exodus is coming for that crown), and its branching narrative and engaging roster of companions are among the genre’s best.

10. NieR: Automata

Release date: February 23, 2017 | Platforms: PC (Windows), PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch | Developer: PlatinumGames

Our final entry is a little left-field, but one that action-RPG fanatics won’t stop recommending anytime soon. And you know what? They’re right to do so. NieR: Automata is a stunning work of art, whether you’re playing it for the action or the layered plot that packs in surprise after surprise.

The core story revolves around a proxy war between machines created by aliens, and human-crafted androids, but it goes way deeper than that, connecting back to the original Nier (2010) and even the dark fantasy Drakengard series.

NieR: Automata follows combat android 2B, scanner android 9S, and the prototype A2, with core hack-and-slash gameplay that's supplemented by elements from other genres, including RPGS and bullet-hell shmups. The big twist? You have to go through the story more than once, playing as each character multiple times, to get the full picture. If that sounds like gruelling work, don’t worry, as new gameplay paths and big story elements are unveiled with each run.

NieR: Automata is a daring video game that defies conventional structures and marches to the beat of its own drum. And if you want more once you finally do complete Automata, then check out the “reworked” original through its 2021 Replicant remake.

We at Space.com have been vocal about our love for The Expanse, the hit TV show based on the book series of the same name. Now, Owlcat Games (of WH40K: Rogue Trader fame) aims to mine its universe for gold with a new RPG that takes cues from modern classics: The Expanse: Osiris Reborn.

After a Telltale-developed narrative game, it became abundantly clear that both fans and newcomers wanted to see more of The Expanse in video game form. Osiris Reborn is quite different, but its focus on characters, their relationships, and flexible storytelling honors what's come before it. At the same time, Owlcat wants players to get their hands dirty with frantic third-person shooter combat, which should instantly make any sci-fi veteran think of the mighty Mass Effect series.

The 24th century is dangerous even as humanity thrives across the cosmos. As a daring mercenary thrown into a surprising conflict, the solar system is your playground, but it's rough out there even with a skilled crew by your side. Here's everything we know about The Expanse: Osiris Reborn, one of our most anticipated upcoming space games, so far.

When is The Expanse: Osiris Reborn coming out?

The Expanse: Osiris Reborn hasn't set a release window yet.

Though Owlcat Games hasn't shied away from sharing details on the game and its development, a release window isn't available at the time of writing. We've been promised "new reveals" and more behind-the-scenes dev diaries in 2026, but that's everything for now.

What platforms is The Expanse: Osiris Reborn launching on?

The Expanse: Osiris Reborn is set to launch on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC (Windows).

As expected, Owlcat Games has left last-gen platforms behind for this RPG, which seems to be pushing the visual tech as much as possible. The commitment to current-gen consoles and beefy PC hardware should also translate into more chaotic shootouts and complex levels. There's been zero talk of a Nintendo Switch 2 port.

The Expanse: Osiris Reborn trailers

Although we technically haven't seen much of The Expanse: Osiris Reborn yet, its first trailer was a generous one and packed plenty of in-game footage. After that, Owlcat's marketing has focused on showing different aspects of the game and its creation in more depth than usual.

What type of RPG is The Expanse: Osiris Reborn?

The Expanse: Osiris Reborn is a third-person action RPG (ARPG) in the same vein as BioWare's Mass Effect series. This means you'll be fighting real-time battles full of flying bullets and explosions, and built around a Gears of War "cover system" plus squad abilities that can be quickly chosen and executed.

As expected from deep RPGs (and making good use of Owlcat's experience), this new game will have a strong focus on unique companions "with their own scars" and looking to do things that might not always line up with your views. Relationships will be tested, and it's expected that players will be forced to make tough decisions as tensions rise inside and outside the team's ship.

The extent to which players can reshape the narrative hasn't been unveiled yet. What we do know is that The Expanse: Osiris Reborn isn't a small game, with locations like Ganymede, Ceres, Mars, and Luna waiting to be explored through semi-open levels. Outside your ship (the most advanced in the solar system), and the more linear shootouts, exploration will be a core part of the experience. Needless to say, zero-gravity sections will be quite common as well.

Will The Expanse: Osiris Reborn have multiplayer modes?

The Expanse: Osiris Reborn won't support multiplayer in any way, at least not at launch. Past games from Owlcat Games have had a multiplayer option, but this game appears to be a far more focused RPG.

Even though Unreal Engine is remarkably good for network features, the developers chose to scrap a potential multiplayer element early on. The logical assumption here would be that a cooperative mode was discussed at some point. However, as it stands, The Expanse: Osiris Reborn is letting solo players experience everything it has to offer at their own pace.

Is The Expanse: Osiris Reborn connected to the TV show?

The Expanse's TV show and novels aren't required homework to jump into Osiris Reborn, even if we know straight from the developers that its plot happens "during the first two-and-a-half seasons of the show, or the first two books." While some familiar faces could show up, sure, it's a separate story free from restrictions otherwise.

Players can create their own captain (Earther, Martian, or Belter) and follow their own path, starting as a Pinkwater security mercenary who's on leave on the asteroid Eros when all hell breaks loose. Not much else has been revealed at this point, but it's been said that the captain and their crew are forcefully dragged into a massive conspiracy and hunted down by "a relentless enemy."

Political elements and other threats common in sci-fi storytelling – such as being sent floating through outer space or shot through the helmet, to name two – will be present too, so Owlcat's take on The Expanse appears to be anything but relaxing. We wouldn't want it any other way!

If you do want to catch up on the show ahead of Osiris Reborn's release, you can catch all six seasons of The Expanse on Amazon Prime Video.

Explore the cosmos, blast some aliens, or build your own interstellar empire with the best space games.

Space and sci-fi games are undergoing a bit of a renaissance at the moment, so there's never been a better time to get lost in the void. From huge AAA releases in established franchises all the way through to experimental projects from indie creators, there's something out there for everyone.

To help guide you through the cosmos, we've put together this collection of our 15 favorite space games. It's not a ranked list; rather than score a bunch of games from wildly different genres against each other, we've instead highlighted the specific niche they each fill. But rest assured, if they're on this list, they're worth your time!

And don't worry; we'll be updating the list over time, so if your favorite isn't there, sound off in the comments, and we'll check it out for the next update.

So, with all the pre-flight chatter out of the way, it's time to blast off into our list of the best space games that you can play right now.

1. Stellaris

Best for running your own galactic civilization

Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S | Developer: Paradox Development Studio | Genre: 4X grand strategy | Release date: May 9, 2016

It's by no means the first 4X space game out there, but in our humble opinion, Stellaris is the best.

It gives you unprecedented control over a sprawling galactic empire, allowing you to design your civilization's features and people from the ground up, and then take the helm as you guide them through expansion, diplomacy, research, and war.

Stellaris excels because, while it gives you mastery over a galactic empire of staggering scale, it manages to remain intuitive and approachable, with systems that not only make sense, even to a strategy layman, but that are also balanced and fair.

2. Everspace 2

Best space shooter / loot-driven spacefaring power fantasy

Platforms: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S | Developer: ROCKFISH Games | Genre: Action RPG space shooter | Release date: April 6, 2023 (full release)

In one of the best glow-ups in gaming history, Everspace 2 took some of the core elements of its simple, roguelike predecessor and blew them up into a fully fleshed-out, open-universe space sim.

It's a game that manages to walk that precarious line between a deep, systems-driven space simulator and an arcade spaceship blast-em-up, carving out its own unique niche with color-coded loot and a compelling story about survival and betrayal in an unforgiving universe.

3. Outer Wilds

Best for unravelling a cosmic mystery

Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch | Developer: Mobius Digital | Genre: Exploration adventure | Release date: May 28, 2019

One of the most critically acclaimed space games of all time, Outer Wilds posits the question, "What if Groundhog Day, but in space?"

More importantly, it gives you a solar system of planets to explore, all concealing their own secrets and mysteries, and all containing pieces of a larger, central mystery that's one of the most fun to piece together in all of gaming.

It also never loses sight of how important moment-to-moment gameplay is, ensuring you're having fun navigating around even as you're relentlessly killed by punishing stellar hazards.

4. FTL

Best for high-tension starship command

Platforms: PC, macOS, Linux, iPad | Developer: Subset Games | Genre: Roguelike strategy | Release date: September 14, 2012

FTL is one of the best arguments for the roguelike genre ever developed.

Few other games have left me fiending with that "one more sector, one more run" feeling the way FTL has, because of the way it expertly layers challenges and in-run progression.

Proving that graphics are secondary as long as you have a really killer hook, FTL nails the balance of risk vs. reward; when death means restarting from scratch, it adds incredible tension, even to slower-paced, tactical combat. It also showcases once again the incredible satisfaction of venting your enemies out an airlock.

Side note: About 12 years ago, our Entertainment Editor Ian built a sick gaming PC to play the most graphically demanding games of the time, and then proceeded to just play FTL on it for like 3 years. There can be no finer endorsement.

5. No Man’s Sky

Best way to experience the existential horror of infinite space

Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch | Developer: Hello Games | Genre: Open-world survival space sim | Release date: August 9, 2016

Probably the game industry's most impressive redemption arc, No Man's Sky went from a tale of deceptive marketing and overpromising to become one of the most expansive and immersive space games ever created.

Years of continued development and free updates have added everything originally promised in the ambitious vision presented back in 2016 and much, much more, from fully customizable bases to capital ships, vehicles for on-planet exploring to a full archaeology system for unearthing fossils.

Given the massive amount of free content now available, No Man's Sky is not only one of the best space games now available; it's also one of the best deals in gaming.

6. Elite Dangerous

Best flying around the Milky Way simulator

Platforms: PC, PS4, Xbox One | Developer: Frontier Developments | Genre: Space flight simulation MMO | Release date: December 16, 2014

Another game that's seen many years of continued development and a huge number of updates and expansions, Elite Dangerous remains the most realistic spaceship piloting simulation that us earthbound plebes can currently experience.

Anyone who's spent any time in Elite Dangerous' massive universe can attest that never before has landing a spacecraft felt like such a huge accomplishment.

Beyond the realistic physics and deep ship management, Elite Dangerous has drastically expanded since launch to include full on-foot, FPS exploration and combat, and now a complete narrative experience to supplement the space sandbox.

7. Kerbal Space Program

Best rocket science simulator

Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S | Developer: Squad | Genre: Space flight simulation | Release date: April 27, 2015

At first glance, you might be tempted to dismiss Kerbal Space Program as a goofy experiment, given its Minions-adjacent protagonists. But those cartoonish graphics belie one of the most sophisticated simulations of orbital launch physics ever committed to code.

Get deep into Kerbal Space Program, and you'll learn a tremendous amount about how complicated it is to get a massive hunk of metal and giant tubs of fuel into space, much less set them on a (safe) intercept course with another celestial body. In fact, master the game, and you'll be halfway towards a career at NASA.

8. Hardspace: Shipbreaker

Best capitalist dystopia in space

Platforms: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S | Developer: Blackbird InteractiveGenre: Simulation/sandbox | Release date: May 24, 2022 (full release)

Hardspace: Shipbreaker is one of the best examples of exposing a fantasy I didn't realize I had.

I never realized I wanted to use plasma cutters and other futuristic power tools to slash apart giant hulks of decommissioned space ships in a zero-g dry dock, but it turns out I absolutely do.

Hardspace: Shipbreaker combines some of the satisfaction of a game like Powerwash Simulator with the demolition fun of a Red Faction: Guerrilla, all while sprinkling in some welcome commentary about the soul-effacing nature of capitalism run amok. The voice acting is top-notch, too.

9. Citizen Sleeper

Best for choose-your-own-adventure in space

Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch | Developer: Jump Over the Age | Genre: Narrative RPG | Release date: May 5, 2022

Speaking of capitalism run amok, Citizen Sleeper imagines a world where corporate-owned consciousnesses are downloaded into synthetic bodies to labor for profit until said body inevitably breaks down and collapses.

While the premise is grim, it does a fantastic job of gamifying this dystopia, forcing players to choose how to manage their scarce resources, including the scarcest of all: time. For a game with dice rolling as its primary mechanic, it manages to be one of the most engrossing and narratively rich experiences in recent memory.

It might be a bit too much of a book-in-disguise for some gamers, but if narrative is your jam, don't skip out on this one. There's a sequel, too, which is also excellent.

10. Helldivers 2

Best for chaotic co-op alien bug slaughter

Platforms: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S | Developer: Arrowhead Game Studios | Genre: Co-op third-person shooter | Release date: February 8, 2024

From a methodically-paced meditations on a post-capitalist dystopia, we move to a chaotic murderfest reflecting on the dehumanizing nature of imperialism.

Helldivers 2 lets us live out our boldest Starship Troopers dreams, dumping the raw, expendable youth of Super Earth onto ugly alien planets inhabited by hideous alien bugs or unfeeling android murder machines in the name of patriotism and conquest.

The result is the best kind of multiplayer havoc, where you're as likely to get slaughtered by an allied turret being dropped onto you from orbit as by an alien's pincers.

11. Mass Effect 2 (Legendary Edition)

Best cinematic space opera

Platforms: PC, PS4, Xbox One | Developer: BioWare | Genre: Action RPG / third-person shooter | Release date: May 14, 2021 (Legendary Edition)

The Mass Effect series is best known for its branching narrative and how player choice dramatically influences the state of the galaxy. Ranging from the fate of individual crew members to entire species, your actions have major consequences, and while the Legendary Edition includes all three games from the original trilogy, nowhere does this shine better than in Mass Effect 2.

The second game has the luxury of featuring some of the choices you made in the first game and presenting you with harrowing new dilemmas, without having the responsibility of the third game to somehow resolve tons of different potential branching outcomes into a handful of unsatisfying endings.

It also improves on the combat from the first game, giving us some of the best sci-fi FPS action crossed with RPG progression we've ever played, all framed in the context of a dramatic, all-or-nothing suicide mission.

12. Warframe

Best for hyper-kinetic space ninja simulator

Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, iOS | Developer: Digital Extremes | Genre: Action MMO / looter shooter | Release date: March 25, 2013

Another game that has benefited from years of live development, Warframe remains one of the most compelling action-MMOs on the market.

While its core remains the hyper-kinetic, parkour ninja action that made it a success at launch, subsequent updates have added a mind-melting amount of content. Beyond new frames to master and upgrade, Warframe now includes everything from mining and fishing to a buildable capital ship and space combat content.

13. Dead Space Remake

Best sci-fi horror in deep-space isolation

Platforms: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S | Developer: Motive Studio | Genre: Survival horror | Release date: January 27, 2023

While the last proper sequel lost its way somewhat, the remake of the original Dead Space reminded us all of why we fell in love with this franchise in the first place. Reasons like atmospheric horror in the confines of a creepy, abandoned starship, and, most importantly, the ability to vivisect alien monstrosities in creative and deeply gratifying ways.

The original Dead Space balanced the fear that comes from being surrounded by alien abominations with the power fantasy of upgrading your gear and weapons to become a monster-slaying badass. Here's hoping the remake shines the way forward for a proper sequel that reclaims some of the first game's shine.

14. Lethal Company

Best for co-op panic in space

Platforms: PC | Developer: Zeekerss | Genre: Co-op survival horror | Release date: October 23, 2023 (early access)

Even deep space isn't exempt from the friendslop trend (and we use that term lovingly). Lethal Company tasks you and your friends with scavenging abandoned moons for saleable goodies, all the while working against an arbitrary quota set by your faceless corporate overlords.

Succeed, and you get to move on to harder, more lucrative contracts; fail, and both you and your contract are cancelled. Lethal Company takes all of the mic screaming, chaotic friendslop action you expect from this trendiest of pseudogenres and adds a satisfying cosmic spin.

15. Dune: Awakening

Best way to survival-craft your way through your Shai-Hulud fantasies

Platforms: PC (PS5, Xbox Series X|S due in 2026) | Developer: Funcom | Genre: Open-world survival MMO | Release date: June 10, 2025

A game that ate my entire summer, Dune: Awakening is an intoxicating blend of one of the richest tapestries of science fiction lore with some razor-sharp survival-crafting gameplay.

Setting a power fantasy amongst the spice-rich dunes of Arrakis was a brilliant way to deliver a deep, complicated narrative to gamers who wouldn't otherwise know a Lisan al Ghaib from a Bene Tleilax.

Even better, it lets players grow from a naked prisoner with no future to an aircraft-piloting, magic-wielding lord of the sands with a base the size of a small city. If you don't give this one a go, then may thy knife chip and shatter.

Keep up with what's coming up later in the year with our guide to upcoming space games. And if you want more games you can jump into right now, we've rounded up the best space exploration games and the best space horror games.

The Alien and Predator franchises have been landing all sorts of wins recently with some great movies and shows. Step outside the new big (and small) screen entries, and you've got plenty of comic books and video games to chew on, too. It's all looking healthy again, and after Predator: Badlands, the promise of a new AvP movie feels closer than ever before. But what about the iconic crossover video game series?

Beyond the movies, the Xenomorphs and Yautja have a long history across comic books and video games, and it didn't take long before their separate success stories on the pages were combined into the original Aliens vs. Predator comic book series (1990).

On the gaming side of things, the bloody clash of extra-terrestrials also took off quickly, with Capcom and Rebellion leading with side-scrolling and first-person action games.

Plenty of Alien and Predator video games have explored stories and settings that would've been great to watch unfold on the silver screen, with the Aliens vs. Predator first-person shooters (FPS) representing a peak for both properties in the gaming sphere. Their mix of brutal action and creeping horror across several entries holds up even today, and with the buzz around a new cinematic encounter on the rise — plus the Xenomorphs getting lots of new game projects — we're shocked AvP hasn't menaced PC or consoles since 2010.

With Predator: Hunting Grounds still trucking along and all-new horror adventures like Alien: Isolation 2 in the works, why should we care about more crossover games?

We're glad you asked.

All of their strengths, none of their weaknesses

Whether you stick to Rebellion and Monolith's FPS classics or go weirder with the deeply underrated RTS Aliens vs. Predator: Extinction, it's clear that most of the studios that took a crack at the IP perfectly captured the unique appeal of the conflict first seen in the comics.

For game developers, each separate universe is an enticing sandbox to play in. Put together, they led to refreshing action-horror games that would've been hard to get made without all that IP power attached.

Forget about the movies released in the 2000s, which kept the deadly war in a present-day continuity. The most basic reason why the Aliens vs. Predator games rock is that they felt like a pitch-perfect mix of the classic Predator movies and Aliens, Colonial Marines included.

Whereas the Dark Horse-published comic books often pushed for far stranger plots, the AvP games always asked variations of the same question: "What if Predators were thrown in the middle of James Cameron's movie?" It worked time and again due to the developers' craft and attention to detail, and it's a shame the powers that be have yet to explore such a fun concept on the big screen.

This also applies to the atmosphere: One moment, you're hunting down puny soldiers as a Yautja hunter in the middle of an alien jungle. Next, you're bursting from a chest and looking for a place to hide to grow into an adult Xenomorph and scurry around vents.

On the human front, all the carnage turns into a traditional nightmare as you take the victim's-eye-view in a cosmic slasher. Few FPS campaigns are as varied and inventive, and the aforementioned real-time strategy spinoff also kept things unconventional with its distinct units and tactics.

There's nothing out there quite like it

Even when you made the jump to the multiplayer side of things, the tension remained. As the Marines, heavy firepower and smart positioning were the key to victory against the alien horrors. Xenomorphs, meanwhile, tried to overwhelm humans and Yautja with a mix of speed and stealth (camping while glued to a ceiling to jump-scare enemies never got old).

The more advanced tech and tactics belonged to the masked hunters; Predators were the trickiest species to master, but also the most flexible due to their arsenal of both advanced projectile weapons and melee killing tools (plus the iconic personal cloaking device).

Asymmetrical multiplayer games are still a thing, but in the age of family-friendly hero shooters and horror-themed online games like Dead by Daylight that have a single killer or monster terrorize a small party, we have nothing like the unpredictable and terrifying team deathmatch experiences the AvP games provided. It could be argued that some of the old games' DNA survived through the horde-based sections in Aliens: Fireteam Elite, but plenty of other games are doing those with a different skin.

Even if you stepped outside of the deathmatch modes, Monolith's AvP 2 – easily the series' best when it came to online MP – offered truly unique (albeit naturally unbalanced) competitive experiences like Survivor (Xenomorphs have to turn entire servers of marines into new drones), Evacuation (get to the dropship), or the more diehard-oriented Overrun (attack and defense rounds with limited lives, Counter-Strike-style).

When you factor each species' unique abilities and play styles (plus a surprising amount of unique classes) in, it's impossible to find anything like it nowadays... unless you return to those ancient online battlegrounds.

Games can go where movies dare not

It seems certain that a new AvP movie is approaching (20th Century Studios boss Steve Asbell is keen on the idea), especially after the last Predator flick essentially threw the Yautja into the futuristic Alien timeline. Still, there are limits to the sort of green-blooded encounter we could get on the big screen.

Alien: Romulus (as well as the FX/Hulu series Alien: Earth) proved there's renewed interest in old-fashioned Xenomorph horror as long as things don't get Prometheus/Covenant-levels of muddled again. However, it seems that Predator: Badlands didn't have legs nearly as long at the box office despite all its glowing reviews.

Going into a potential big-screen crossover, Disney and 20th Century Studios could decide to bet big on the biggest space horror showdown ever. Still, without a large safety net and the added pressure of making things as bloody as possible for the hardcore horror crowd, we're not holding our breath for a massive, action-packed encounter when it happens.

The power of these two franchises is at an all-time high, and it'd be smart to grow Alien and Predator in more than one medium. It's high time we had another showdown between these sci-fi legends.

We love gunning down (and hiding from) the Xenomorphs well enough, but let the Yautja take on them again, please (and let both of them snack on some tasty marines, of course).

25 years after Halo: Combat Evolved launched, Microsoft and Xbox Game Studios are planning to refresh the original sci-fi first-person shooter for franchise veterans and younger gamers alike. Enter Halo: Campaign Evolved, a ground-up remake of the original game that's finally taking Halo multiplatform.

After 343 Industries took over following Halo: Reach (Bungie's last Halo game), the consensus is that the franchise never quite returned to its original heights. Infinite (2021) was a convincing return to form and showed some promise, but troubled post-launch support clipped its wings. Sadly, Halo's popularity has dwindled in recent years, but instead of marching towards the future, the powers that be are convinced that returning to the series' origins is what most fans demand.

Now, 343 Industries has transformed into Halo Studios, and while we've been told Halo's future extends beyond Campaign Evolved, the first chapter of this new Great Journey is revisiting the original story rebuilt in Unreal Engine 5. Will it be enough to bring the IP back to life? It's hard to say at the moment, but we've got plenty of details to chew on.

When is Halo: Campaign Evolved coming out?

Halo: Campaign Evolved is scheduled for release on July 28, 2026.

The release date was confirmed during Summer Game Fest, with the official Xbox channels announcing the remake would also get an ‘early access’ start on July 23 for Premium Edition and Collector’s Edition owners.

Is Halo: Campaign Evolved coming to PlayStation as well as Xbox?

Halo: Campaign Evolved will launch on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S at the same time, with physical disc editions available at retailers.

The game will also hit Xbox on PC, Xbox Cloud Gaming, Game Pass Ultimate/PC, and Steam. Pre-orders get the Foundry Armory Pack cosmetics.

Players can choose between three different versions:

• Standard Edition ($49.99 / £49.99 / €59.99) – Base game.
• Premium Edition ($69.99 / £69.99 / €79.99) – Base game with five days of early access, the Alpha Halo Armory Pack of cosmetics, and the Digital Story & Art Collection.
• Collector’s Edition ($199.99 SRP / €199.99) – Premium Edition “plus a 12-inch Dark Horse Master Chief statue, light-up LED Cortana chip, Steelbook, original concept art prints, “physical version of the reimagined game manual”, and disc for Xbox Series X|S and PS5 consoles (Steam is code only)

One of the initial announcement's biggest shockers was that Halo would no longer be an Xbox and PC (Windows) exclusive. In fact, community director Brian Jarrard has teased that all new Halo games will be multiplatform, same-day releases moving forward.

Could this signal an eventual jump to Nintendo Switch 2, too? It's too early to say, but we hope so.

Halo: Campaign Evolved trailers

Xbox Game Studios had a big reveal planned for Halo: Campaign Evolved in late 2025, and the event dropped three different first-look videos on us: a roundtable reveal, a first in-game trailer all about the 'Silent Cartographer' mission, and a 13-minute gameplay demo.

You can watch all of them below, as well as the following trailers and gameplay demos:

Is Halo: Campaign Evolved a remake or remaster?

Halo: Campaign Evolved is a complete remake of the original 2001 sci-fi FPS featuring new missions, expanded gameplay, co-op, and cross-platform connectivity. It marks the second time Halo: Combat Evolved has been revisited, but this remake isn't something that's been done before.

Back in 2011, Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary – a remaster – was released. Then, in 2014, it was re-released as part of Halo: The Master Chief Collection. The first Halo is far from being lost media and remains perfectly playable on modern consoles, but it does feel a bit ancient nowadays. That, combined with the impending anniversary and the excuse of bringing it to more platforms and younger generations, is how this remake is justifying its existence.

Since it's being marketed as a complete remake in a brand-new, cutting-edge engine, fan expectations are high. A shiny return to the original battle against the Covenant with no new tricks and meaningful content won't cut it, or at least that's what the streets are saying.

Will Halo: Campaign Evolved have multiplayer modes?

Halo: Campaign Evolved won't have competitive multiplayer modes, at least not at launch. Halo Studios' focus is entirely on delivering a reimagining of the original Halo story campaign. It's hard to imagine the post-launch support not including a return of some sort to the enduring PvP multiplayer formula of Halo, but that's not on the cards (officially) at the time of writing.

Reliable insiders like Rebs Gaming have teased in the past that Halo's multiplayer future will be a "live-service, long-term updating multiplayer game" that isn't limited to one single release, so that might be where things are headed, but for now, let's just assume Halo: Campaign Evolved won't launch alongside player-versus-player online modes.

What we know for sure is that Halo: Campaign Evolved has two-player local split-screen co-op and up-to-four-player online co-op across Xbox, PC, and PS5. This co-op multiplayer experience will support the entire campaign and optional gameplay modifiers that aim to make replays more enticing and challenging.

What's new in Halo: Campaign Evolved?

First and foremost, Halo: Campaign Evolved is a complete graphical and tech overhaul of the original game. However, Xbox and Halo Studios are also using this opportunity to go deeper and expand on the story and missions that were already there. The original is still one of the best Halo games, but there's room for improvement, especially considering it had a bumpy development and several cuts were made to ship it in time.

The Unreal Engine 5-powered remake features "4K visuals, updated animations, remastered music, and re-recorded voice lines." Halo Studios is also introducing vehicles and weapons from later Halo entries, upping the variety of the action on the game's many battlefields.

Another welcome surprise is the option to use a third-person camera for the entirety of the campaign, as has been revealed in recent gameplay clips (see above) in the lead-up to launch.

Moreover, the campaign is gaining three more missions in line with Bungie's original level design that heavily feature Sgt. Johnson. There's also talk of rebuilding entire sections to support the new movement options, vehicles, and weapons.

Fans can already catch a glimpse of Halo Studios' approach to the remake – which will accommodate up to four players in co-op – in the aforementioned 'Silent Cartographer' gameplay demo and the longer showcases that dropped during Summer Game Fest 2026.

Needless to say, particularly disliked missions like 'The Library' will be getting more attention than fan-favorites. "We learned from Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary that there was still an appetite for things like better wayfinding, navigation, and diversity in enemy encounters," creative director Max Szlagor explained to Xbox Wire.

Is there a Halo: Campaign Evolved demo?

There's no public Halo: Campaign Evolved demo available at the time of writing. While the press got the chance to visit Halo Studios ahead of the reveal and play the 'Silent Cartographer' demo that was shared in video form online, there are no plans to release it for everyone.

With the game’s launch right around the corner and confirmation that there won’t be an online multiplayer component, it looks like players won’t get a chance to play Halo: Campaign Evolved without picking it up or subscribing to Game Pass.

The concept of dogfighting amongst the stars has been around far longer than video games set in space, but it's been a linchpin of some of the most seminal games ever developed.

From the earliest days of game development, when creators with visions of X-Wings blasting TIE Fighters to dust on the silver screen first got the chance to bring those sci-fi fantasies to interactive life, the idea of sleek fighters battling against a background of starscapes and shimmering moons has been a mainstay of the space game zeitgeist. Now, with over 50 years of digital space combat under our belts, we're looking back on the gaming genre that took us to the stars and boldly asked, "Wouldn't it be cool if we blasted fools with lasers from our spaceship?"

So, complete your pre-flight checks, charge those warp drives, and, of course, lock S-foils in attack position as we take a stroll down memory lane to take a brief look at the history of space dogfighting games.

The Vector Era (Late 1970s to the 1980s)

The core idea of space dogfighting in video games has its roots in arcade classics like "Asteroids", first released in arcades way back in 1979.

Looking back now, "Asteroids" feels like a tech demo or proof of concept for some of the games that would later define dogfighting in later space sims. It was all about tight physics, good reflexes, and spatial awareness — cornerstones of what would later define the genre. It also introduced the crucial tension that defines dogfighting in any environment — the need to shoot down an agile enemy before they can destroy you.

"Asteroids" was quickly followed by early experiments with proper piloting and dogfighting, and later that year, "Star Raiders" brought that frenetic action gameplay home on Atari consoles. While it retained the reflexive gameplay of "Asteroids", it introduced a first-person "cockpit" point of view and a strategy layer that added some depth and meaning to all the space rock blasting.

These early concepts were blown away in the next decade, when the original Elite was released in 1984. "Elite" took those core systems of piloting a powerful fighter craft through space and massively expanded on them.

It added trading, fighter-on-fighter combat, and procedurally generated worlds, laying the groundwork for the space sims and space dogfighting games that would become so wildly popular in the 90s and beyond. Elite didn't just create a new genre; it demonstrated what was possible in an open world that put player agency above carefully curated, pre-generated content.

And for a while, "Elite" reigned supreme. While a handful of games followed in Elite's wake, like 1985's "The Halley Project: A Mission In Our Solar System", it wasn't until the space sim boom of the 90s that the promise of the space flight simulator was truly realized and, with it, the dream of sprawling, cinematic, action-packed dogfights between the stars.

Cinematic Simulation (The 1990s)

From humble roots, the 90s became the golden age of space simulation and dogfighting in video games. As technology advanced and investment increased, developers took the groundwork laid by games like Elite and expanded it into some of the most ambitious and compelling video games ever created.

Leading the vanguard were games like "Wing Commander", which landed in 1990 and was immediately lauded as the video gaming equivalent of "Star Wars". Wing Commander wasn't notable for its systems, but rather its context. It immersed players in a cinematic universe driven by FMV performances and an overarching narrative, dropping them in the heart of a brutal war — the outcome of which would determine the fate of humanity. It added stakes and drama while refining dogfighting mechanics to a razor's edge.

Not to be outdone by a property clearly inspired by George Lucas' space opera, LucasArts launched its own ambitious (and wildly successful) series of space sims. X-Wing dropped in 1993, followed quickly by its sequel, TIE Fighter, the following year, finally fulfilling science fiction fans' long-held fantasies of stepping into the cockpit of the most famous starfighters ever created.

Beyond the famous spaceships, X-Wing and TIE Fighter also brought compelling stories set in the Star Wars universe, alongside technical advancements like fully 3D graphics in place of the bitmap sprites of previous titles.

These Star Wars games also standardized joystick controls in space sims — something that can still be felt in modern space sims to this day — and included precision flight physics and innovative mission design to keep players immersed in its impressive recreation of the Star Wars universe.

While grand cinematic simulators with deep systems and flight models dominated the early part of the decade, the late '90s saw the emergence of more arcade-style dogfighting games like Rogue Squadron and Colony Wars.

In lieu of complicated controls and systems, these games seized on the high-energy gameplay of intense dogfighting moments, boiling it down into arcadey combat that was more accessible to the masses.

The Long Decline (The 2000s)

Despite the emergence of arcade titles, the steep learning curve — paired with joystick fatigue and the dominance of other genres (like FPS and RPGs) — led to a decline in the popularity of space sims and dogfighting games in the 2000s. After more than a decade of success, the 2000s saw a recession that some thought might spell the end of the space sim genre.

During these dark times, the spark was kept alive in this grim era by titles like Starlancer (2000) and its excellent sequel Freelancer (2003). Starlancer was a narrower simulator in the vein of Wing Commander or X-Wing, following a linear narrative about alliances of Earth's nations battling in the void of space.

Freelancer, however, harkened back to the open concept introduced by Elite, giving players 48 star systems to explore and the freedom to pursue their own destiny as traders, miners, or bounty hunters. It was a bright spot in a dark time and showed a way forward for space sims as open-universe games where player choice and emergent gameplay define the game's narrative rather than a rigid, linear story structure.

Freelancer's dogfighting represented a move away from the joystick revolution that had defined the space in the 90s, instead relying on a simplified flight model where the spacecraft followed the movement of the mouse. Weapons would fire in the direction of the mouse cursor, and targeting UI and radar were minimized to make the action the focus.

The game did incorporate some realistic mechanics, though, including the conservation of momentum — a concept that would influence many subsequent titles — where a ship would continue to drift along in its original direction while a player could pivot it to face elsewhere.

2003 also saw the release of EVE Online, a niche but enduring space MMO for hardcore space sim players to chase their starfighter fantasies. EVE Online is host to a staggering 7,800 star systems, and — despite it being over 20 years old — it continues to produce some of the most fascinating and complicated player-driven stories in video games.

As it has evolved, EVE has continued to refine and develop one of the most complicated dogfighting models ever seen in a game, including concepts like weapon falloff over distance, turret tracking speed, projectile velocity, target painting, electronic countermeasures, and many other wrinkles that add an unprecedented layer of realism and strategy.

It's not for the timid, but EVE is a beacon of what can be achieved when developers put their minds to it.

The Modern Renaissance (The 2010s)

Games like Freelancer and EVE Online kept the spark alive after the turn of the millennium, but it was the 2010s that saw a resurgence in the popularity (and availability) of quality space sims and dogfighting games.

Elite Dangerous continues the lineage of the 1984 original in grand fashion and is one of the most open-ended and ambitious video games ever created. Creators Frontier Developments have launched space sims into a new generation of scale and technology, building 1:1 star systems and adding VR and HOTAS compatibility. The game's flight model is incredibly complicated, with a focus on realistic modeling and some notoriously finicky landing mechanics.

These translate to the dogfighting in some crucial ways, yielding a potent mix of physics, precision, situational awareness, and raw nerve. Ships have real inertia and Newtonian physics, and pilots can choose to toggle flight assistance on to help stabilize their often unpredictable craft, or off to perform mind-bending maneuvers that can be the edge between life and death in high-skill player versus player shootouts. There's also a vital element of resource management that plays a role in every encounter, forcing players to juggle power distribution between shields, weapons, and engines while also managing heat levels within their craft.

There's also the continuing Star Citizen saga. The brainchild of Chris Roberts, the mind behind Wing Commander and Freelancer, Star Citizen is probably the most ambitious ongoing project in video games, having raised nearly one billion dollars in funding as of this writing. The final project aims to blend elements from space sims, first-person shooters, MMOs, and more into a massive amalgamation set in a huge, persistent universe. Will it ever be finished? Who can say, but it's hard to fault their ambition.

The similarly hyped, ambitious, and controversial No Man's Sky has crafted a redemption arc for the ages. Despite a disappointing launch back in 2016, the developers stuck with it and have crafted a wildly successful and long-running space sim that feels like a greatest hits montage of all the games that came before it.

No Man's Sky's dogfighting model is notable for its shift from the simple, arcade combat present at launch to the more advanced systems in the game now. They take full advantage of the wide range of weapons, ship classes, upgrades, and mods to make ship-to-ship combat feel fluid, dynamic, and cinematic.

The Indie Revolution (The 2020s)

Beyond the big names, there has been an explosion of other dogfighting games and space flight simulators that have pushed the envelope of what's possible for the genre.

These include roguelite interpretations like the original Everspace, successors to the arcade action of Rogue Squadron like 2021's Chorus, and the well-received return to Star Wars dogfighting of Star Wars: Squadrons.

There's also Starfighter: Infinity, an impressive indie-MMO that's carrying the torch for online PvP dogfighting, and games like Rebel Galaxy Outlaw that explore different interpretations of the open concept Elite first delivered in the mid-80s.

While the 90s may have represented the golden age of space dogfighting, the current renaissance proves that we've only begun to scratch the surface of the potential of space sims and the electric combat that makes them so compelling. It's been a hell of a ride so far, and we can't wait to see what the future holds in store for space dogfighting fans.

Following a delay last year, venerable game studio Bungie's first post-Destiny shooter has finally set a launch date. That's right, Marathon is back and looking snazzier than before.

Set on Tau Ceti IV after the events of the original games (last seen 30 years ago), the online extraction shooter tasks players with retrieving valuable artifacts, data, and resources from a lost colony as Runners, augmented humans with cybernetic bodies.

Last week, we learned about shells (class archetypes) and how they can reshape entire matches. Now, we've just received a pre-order trailer that's playing up the mystery and ongoing narrative that will add sauce to the strictly online action game.

Bungie has landed on March 5 as the definitive release date for Marathon, with the game set to hit PC (Steam), PS5, and Xbox Series X|S with full cross play and cross save.

Like other extraction shooters, such as ARC Raiders, Marathon will mix both PvE (co-op gameplay) and PvP (player-versus-player) action, making each trip down to Tau Ceti IV unpredictable and filled with danger. Teamwork gets the job done, but Bungie is also teasing unique opportunities for solo players.

Standard Edition pre-orders grant access to bonus cosmetics and rewards for Destiny 2. The Deluxe Edition adds premium cosmetics and access to the first rewards pass. Last but not least, the Collector's Edition includes all Deluxe Edition content plus an enticing bundle of physical goodies:

Taking things a step further, Bungie and Sony (who now owns the company) have teamed up to craft and release a limited-edition DualSense controller as well as the latest Pulse Elite wireless headset.

Those two are among the most stylish peripherals from a first-party publisher we've seen since Starfield's, we must say. Pre-orders will begin on January 29 at 10am local time here, but the headset will be limited to the US.

Holding together the universe-building and ongoing narrative efforts, an all-star voice cast has been revealed. It includes names such as Jennifer English (Clair Obscur: Expedition 33), Neil Newbon (Baldur's Gate 3), Erin Yvette (Dispatch), and Ben Starr (Final Fantasy XVI), among many others. Moreover, it's been confirmed Marathon will be dubbed for all supported languages.

Though the first closed tests last year and so-so trailers had us worried last year, we're thinking Bungie could shock the world come March. At the very least, the studio's Halo pedigree, "gunplay" chops, and striking art direction are on full display in the latest videos.

Humanity is still in the early stages of exploring the cosmos, with Artemis 2 preparing to take us back to the moon and then onwards to Mars. But if NASA's progress is a little pedestrian for you, then "Elite Dangerous" is the game for you.

"Elite Dangerous" is one of the best space exploration games out there, featuring a fully-realised — and intimidatingly large — Milky Way galaxy for players to explore. And that's exactly what they're doing, as over 8000 players have just embarked on Distant Worlds 3 — a community-led journey to the deepest reaches of the galaxy that is expected to last for around 3 to 4 months.

The previous two Distant Worlds events set out in 2016 and 2019, respectively, with 1300 players joining the first expedition, and nearly 14,000 pilots signing up for the second voyage. It's not just a rat race to the center of the galaxy, though — the organizers put together special player-run events that include "geology projects, mining goals, mapping surveys, and a science project".

Reddit user TicklesYourElmo posted a video of their flotilla launching off on the expedition, and damn does it look cool to see all those ships jumping to FTL in unison.

Annnnd we're off from r/EliteDangerous

I love seeing this kind of immersive, community-led stuff in massively-multiplayer games. Players embracing more than just the cool "oh look, I'm flying a spaceship" side of the game and focusing on the spirit of exploration and discovery that drives real space missions. At the end of Distant Worlds 2, they'd built a whole space station called Explorer's Anchorage at the galactic center, near Sagittarius A*, so I can't wait to see what these brave souls accomplish this time.

For the uninitiated, "Elite Dangerous" is a massive online space game set in a 1:1 scale replica of our galaxy, where players pilot spaceships to explore, trade, and battle it out amongst the stars. The game launched all the way back in 2014 and has evolved significantly since then, with major updates overhauling core systems, adding the ability to land on planets, and even triggering an alien invasion.

"We're very excited to see Commanders from around the world embarking on Distant Worlds 3. It's an enormous player-led activity, and celebrates the incredible community around Elite Dangerous who remain active and passionate about the series," Gauthier Verquerre, Executive Producer on Elite Dangerous, told Space.com in an email.

"As a studio, it's always a very special moment seeing a Distant World expedition depart, as you get such a fantastic mix of newer players and seasoned explorers, and the support which they lend each other is wonderful to see."

The expedition has already set off, but you can probably still catch them if you're quick. Head over to the Distant Worlds 3 website and sign up now. Or if you'd rather stay planetside, check out the time we took a guided tour of the solar system in "Elite Dangerous".

The fever dream continues as Star Trek: Voyager – Across the Unknown now has a confirmed release date. Slated for launch nearly a quarter of a century after the television show went off the air, the roguelite strategy adventure will drop on February 19th, 2026, for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC.

As we reported last year, the game follows the adventures of the Voyager's crew as they attempt to navigate their way home from the Delta Quadrant, some 70,000 light-years from known space. Across the Unknown isn't beholden to the plot of the series, however, allowing players to completely reshape how their journey unfolds. This includes making decisions that can dramatically impact the makeup of the ship itself and change the fates of the crew members onboard.

Across the Unknown promises to incorporate roguelite survival elements, and that every run will vary broadly. Players will be tasked with careful management of the ship's systems and resources as they explore and make critical choices that will determine whether or not Captain Janeway and her crew make it back to the Alpha Quadrant in one piece.

The game leans heavily into management and strategic choices. In combat, for instance, instead of directly controlling the U.S.S. Voyager, you'll issue orders to your helmsman to try to position yourself alongside vulnerable subsystems of an enemy vessel, or turn your ship to present your strongest shields to your foe. You won't manually fire weapons, but instead give your security officer broad instructions like "target their weapons subsystems."

Those officers are characters drawn directly from the series, including stalwarts like Tuvok and Tom Paris, as well as later additions like former Borg drone Seven of Nine.

Preorders are now available for both the vanilla and deluxe editions of the game (the latter of which includes additional characters, missions, and equipment), and a new demo is now live on PlayStation and Xbox. Expect a Switch 2 demo closer to release, as well as an update to the preexisting Steam demo.

While you wait for the February launch, it's a great time to catch up on some of the best Star Trek Voyager episodes on Paramount+.