April was supposed to be one of those months where everything I cared about lined up at once, but I spent most of it getting Better Luck Next Run over the finish line for its April 27 launch on Steam. The games I did manage to play were Soulmask, which has been my main co-op game with friends, and Vampire Crawlers, the long-awaited spinoff that I’ve been waiting on for months. Reviews for both are coming. I haven’t gotten my hands on Pragmata yet, and as of the time of writing, my physical copy of Saros doesn’t arrive until April 30. April was a heavy month, but May is shaping up to be just as packed.
Personally, I’m most looking forward to Forza Horizon 6, Yoshi and the Mysterious Book, and 007 First Light. As a longtime Battlestar Galactica fan, I’m also very curious about Battlestar Galactica: Scattered Hopes. I’ll get to LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight eventually, and Directive 8020 and Coffee Talk Tokyo are on the maybe pile if the summer ends up slower than expected. As usual, there’s a lot to cover, so let’s get into it.
Mixtape
Mixtape is the next game from Beethoven & Dinosaur, the Australian studio behind 2021’s BAFTA-winning The Artful Escape, with Annapurna Interactive once again handling publishing. The game follows three teenagers on the last night of high school as they make their way to one final party, with each track on the soundtrack triggering a playable memory or vignette. The soundtrack is the real pull here, featuring music from Devo, The Smashing Pumpkins, Iggy Pop, Joy Division, Roxy Music, The Cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees, and Lush, among many others. It launches day one on Game Pass.
Mixtape releases on May 7, 2026 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch 2, and PC.
Battlestar Galactica: Scattered Hopes
This one’s a personal hype pick. As someone who has been a huge Battlestar Galactica fan since the reboot aired on Sci-Fi Channel, the idea of a story-driven tactical roguelite set in the immediate aftermath of the fall of the Twelve Colonies is exactly the kind of pitch I’ve been waiting for. Battlestar Galactica: Scattered Hopes puts you in command of a fleet of survivors trying to rejoin the Battlestar Galactica. Fleet management plays out turn-based, with crew time allocated to ship repairs, internal conflicts, and exploration before the inevitable Cylon assault forces a real-time tactical battle. Identifying impostors among your ranks is also part of the loop, which is the most BSG thing I can imagine. Developer Alt Shift previously made Crying Suns, which gives me some confidence that the systems will hold up.
Battlestar Galactica: Scattered Hopes releases on May 11, 2026 for PC.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle (Switch 2)
MachineGames’ Indiana Jones and the Great Circle has been one of the better-received games to come out of the Xbox stable in recent years, and now it makes its way to the Switch 2 after launching on Xbox Series X|S and PC in December 2024 and PlayStation 5 last April. The Switch 2 version notably ships as a full physical cartridge with all the game data on it, which is unusual for a title of this scale and a real win for physical media fans. If you’ve been waiting to play this one on the go, it’s a 15-30 hour campaign with the option to extend it via The Order of Giants story DLC.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle releases on May 12, 2026 for Switch 2.
Directive 8020
Directive 8020 is Supermassive Games’ new sci-fi survival horror narrative adventure, taking their choice-based formula to space for the first time. The colony ship Cassiopeia crash lands on Tau Ceti f, a planet 12 light years from Earth, and the crew quickly discovers they’re being hunted by a shapeshifting alien organism that mimics its prey. Trust no one is the core theme, with the alien organism able to mimic any member of the crew. The game also introduces a Turning Points feature that lets players rewind to pivotal decisions and see alternative outcomes. Up to five players can play locally on the couch in Movie Night mode, and online multiplayer is coming as a free post-launch update.
Directive 8020 releases on May 12, 2026 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
Outbound
After a brief delay from its original April 23 release date, Outbound is now set for mid-May. The cozy open-world exploration game from Square Glade Games and Silver Lining Interactive turns the survival genre on its head by replacing scarcity and threat with a relaxing road trip in a customizable electric camper van. Players solo or up to four in co-op set out across a colorful, near-future landscape, building their van into a rolling base with solar panels, modular furnishings, farming setups, and creative customization. With over 1.4 million wishlists on Steam, Outbound has clearly found an audience with players looking for a chiller alternative to traditional survival games.
Outbound releases on May 14, 2026 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch, Switch 2, and PC.
Forza Horizon 6
Forza Horizon 6 is the May release I’m most personally excited for, and it’s not particularly close. Playground Games is taking the Horizon Festival to Japan, with what’s being billed as the franchise’s biggest map yet. Tokyo City alone is five times larger than Forza Horizon 5’s Guanajuato, with distinct districts featuring landmarks like Shibuya Crossing and Tokyo Tower. Over 550 cars are confirmed, including JDM classics that fans have been requesting for years and the 2025 GR GT Prototype as the cover car. Beyond the new setting, Forza Horizon 6 introduces customizable garages, the buildable open-world Estate, and CoLab multiplayer for the EventLab toolset. Premium Edition buyers get four days of early access starting May 15.
Forza Horizon 6 releases on May 19, 2026 for Xbox Series X|S and PC, with a PlayStation 5 version coming later in the year.
Deep Rock Galactic: Rogue Core (Early Access)
Deep Rock Galactic remains one of the most beloved co-op shooters of the last decade, with one of the healthiest communities in gaming. Rogue Core is Ghost Ship Games’ standalone roguelite spinoff that takes the dwarven mining premise and pairs it with run-based progression. Players take on the role of Reclaimers, deployed to secure mine sites cut off during a mysterious phenomenon called the Grayout. Five new classes (Guardian, Spotter, Falconer, Slicer, and Retcon) replace the original four, with each run starting from basic equipment and building up through procedurally generated stages. Ghost Ship is targeting an 18-24 month Early Access window, similar to the original Deep Rock Galactic’s path. Rock and stone.
Deep Rock Galactic: Rogue Core enters Steam Early Access on May 20, 2026 for PC.
Coffee Talk Tokyo
Coffee Talk Tokyo is the third entry in the cozy visual novel series, taking the franchise out of Seattle and into Tokyo for the first time. Players step behind the counter of a late-night café and brew drinks for a new cast of humans and yōkai, with each cup shaping the conversation and influencing the story. New mechanics include sprinkle stencils for latte art and Tomodachill, an in-game social feed that unlocks dialogue options as you learn more about your customers. Returning composer Andrew Jeremy is back with a new lo-fi soundtrack that leans into Tokyo’s summer nights. The game was originally targeting March before being delayed to ensure a more polished launch.
Coffee Talk Tokyo releases on May 21, 2026 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch, Switch 2, and PC.
Yoshi and the Mysterious Book
Yoshi’s first solo outing in seven years arrives exclusively on Switch 2, following Yoshi’s Crafted World on Switch in 2019. The Mysterious Book builds its premise around Mr. E, a sentient talking encyclopedia who falls from the sky onto Yoshi’s Island with no memory of the creatures inside his pages. Yoshi dives in to help, with each level representing a different page filled with creatures whose abilities can be used to solve puzzles and traverse the world. The visual style draws heavily from picture book illustration, with hand-painted textures, scratchy outlines, and low-frame-rate animations giving it a distinct look. As a huge Yoshi fan, this one is on my must-play list.
Yoshi and the Mysterious Book releases on May 21, 2026 for Switch 2.
Bubsy 4D
If you had told me a few years ago that the most surprising platformer of 2026 would be a Bubsy game, I would’ve laughed. But here we are. Bubsy 4D is Atari and Fabraz’s full 3D follow-up to 1996’s Bubsy 3D, and somehow it actually looks good. Fabraz, the team behind the Demon Turf series, has built a 3D platformer with intergalactic, craft-themed worlds ending in boss battles, plenty of unlockable outfits earned with collected yarn, and a Hairball Mode that turns Bubsy into a fast-rolling sphere. Speedrun-friendly online leaderboards round out the package.
Bubsy 4D releases on May 22, 2026 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Switch, Switch 2, and PC.
LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight
TT Games returns to the LEGO Batman franchise for the first time since LEGO Batman 3 in 2014, with Legacy of the Dark Knight reimagining the formula as an open-world action-adventure heavily inspired by Rocksteady’s Arkham series. The game pulls from across decades of Batman comics, films, and TV, with playable characters including Batman, Robin, Nightwing, Batgirl, Jim Gordon, Catwoman, and Talia al Ghul. Skins draw from across the Batman multimedia history, including suits inspired by classic films, TV shows, and comics. There are 100 suits to collect across the campaign and an open-world Gotham City to explore, complete with iconic Batmobiles and Batcycles. Deluxe Edition pre-orders get 72-hour early access starting May 19.
LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight releases on May 22, 2026 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC, with a Switch 2 version coming later in 2026.
007 First Light
IO Interactive closes out a stacked May with 007 First Light, the first major James Bond game since 2012’s 007 Legends and IO Interactive’s first ever James Bond game. The game tells an original origin story for Bond, with Patrick Gibson playing a 26-year-old, inexperienced MI6 agent on the mission that will earn him his 00 status. Lenny Kravitz, Gemma Chan, and Lennie James round out the cast, and Lana Del Rey provides the title song “First Light” with longtime Bond composer David Arnold producing. IO Interactive has cited the Arkham games and Uncharted as inspirations for combat and destructible environments, which is a high bar to set but a promising direction for the franchise.
007 First Light releases on May 27, 2026 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC, with a Switch 2 version coming later this summer.
