Here are our craziest predictions for gaming in 2026!

A new year means endless possibilities, so we’re back with a fresh batch of predictions for 2026. Here are the surprises the Shack Staff thinks could be in store for the year.

Question: Here are our craziest predictions for gaming in 2026!

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Ubisoft doesn’t find a buyer and disbands - Ozzie Mejia, Senior Prognosticator

Source: Ubisoft

The gaming industry has been in a grim place for a while. Publishers are selling for big money, as evidenced by what happened with Electronic Arts near the end of last year. One would theorize that Ubisoft, which has been in some dire financial straits for a while, could also rake in some big money by finding a buyer.

The twist is sadly going to be that this buyer never materializes, and instead, Ubisoft’s operations become too much to maintain. What happens to the company’s various IPs remains to be seen.

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Kid Icarus returns - TJ Denzer, Senior News Editor

The new year has begun, so it’s time for one of my mandatory seasonal requests for the return of Kid Icarus. It’s not just that we still haven’t gotten Kid Icarus: Uprising ported to Switch at this point. There’s been nothing. Not a proper port, not a new first-party, not even a cheeky and passionate third-party, indie-spirited revival.

A crumb, Nintendo. A crumb of Pit and Palutena battling to keep peace across our skies. A crumb for my camp! We are starving!

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F-Zero franchise finally gets a new console entry - Asif Khan, Best in the universe

Yes, I sound like a broken record, but this is the year that F-Zero fans will finally get a new entry of the racing game franchise on a console. The grassroots movement that began with Operation Mute City on F-Zero Twitter and continues with the ever-expanding F-Zero 99 community effort will lead to a new game. It’s happening. This is totally the year.

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GTA 6 doesn’t get delayed again - Bill Lavoy, Shackmaps Overlord

At this point I think most people expect bad news in the form of another GTA 6 delay. It’s always possible, and Rockstar delays games all the time, but I’m saying things stay on track and the next Grand Theft Auto arrives on time. Well, it’s a new time. It already missed its old time.

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PS6 and Xbox announcements - Sam Chandler, Time is an illusion

Source: Microsoft

It’s been six years since the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X released. The world was in a really weird space (honestly, it’s still pretty messed up), and somehow, Sony and Microsoft both released a new console. Now that Nintendo has released the fantastic Switch 2, I think this year we’re going to see soft announcements from Sony and Microsoft that they’ve got a new mainline entry in their console lineup. It’s typically a seven year wait between new consoles, so the timing is right.

For Sony, I reckon they’ll play coy like they did with the PS5. “What’s the new console going to be called?” It’ll certainly have a six slapped on the end. As for Microsoft, who knows what name they’ll concoct deep within their AI laboratories. I just hope these new consoles have nice, uniform shapes with no AI woven into the software.

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NetherRealm Studios drops a new Injustice game over Mortal Kombat 12 - Dennis White Jr., Community Promo Guy

With a brand new Mortal Kombat movie coming out and the heat being high for NetherRealm to drop a banger to essentially keep the studio alive under the WB Games branding, you would think that MK12 is on the horizon. But I have a feeling that enough corporate meddling and the move to a James Gunn led DCU might have forced NetherRealm’s hand. That said, Injustice 2 was the 2017 Fighting Game of the Year here at Shacknews. The evil Superman tropes are flowing with hit projects like Invincible and The Boys. But NetherRealm has the advantage of being able to make iconic comic book characters ultra-violent with a level of realism that other fighting game projects in development do not. The cross-over potential with other franchises is still high as wel,l just like MK which brought in characters like The Predator and The Terminator over the years. With NetherRealm Studios’ potential futures on the line, if Injustice 3 does end up being their next game in the works, let’s hope that the team can stick the landing.

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Netflix buys a AAA gaming studio - Donovan Erskine, Still Watching

Source: Netflix

Netflix infamously formed a AAA gaming studio with high hopes to break into the scene in a big way, but disbanded the team and closed the studio before they could make a single game. If they can’t build it themselves, perhaps they’ll just buy up an established team? Ubisoft is the obvious choice here, but I could even see them buying up one of Microsoft’s various studios. They’d pair whoever they acquire with the horde of assets they’re about to get in the WB acquisition.

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Pokemon, Mario, and Rad Racer - Steve Tyminski, Shocker I know. Nintendo predictions!

Source: Nintendo

What are my wildest gaming predictions for 2026? In the past, some of my gaming predictions have actually come true like when the first Capcom Fighting Collection brought Darkstalkers back to the masses. That being said, I’ll try and keep things simple this year. I feel like the Pokemon Company is finally going to give us either a collection to play on Switch with the first 3-4 generations of Pokemon or finally add the Game Boy/Game Boy Color/Game Boy Advance games to the Switch Online. This year is the 30th anniversary of Pokemon so something like this feels like a no-brainer from them.

I can’t even say that this is a wild prediction but it’s time that we get a new Super Mario game or several. The likes of a new game like Super Mario 35 would sell like crazy and, this time, Nintendo won’t pull it after the year. We also need a new Mario Baseball game now that we’re getting another Mario Tennis game. Also, Mario Kart World needs some DLC and that means new drivers, outfits, and tracks. That also means Chain Chomp finally gets to drive! Finally, I have been the champion on this one for quite some time so Nintendo if you’re listening, please add Rad Racer to the NES section of Switch Online. I really want to play it again and the NES section needs to have more games. Anyway, these are my wild predictions for 2026 so enjoy and roast me if they never come true, but shower me in praise if/when these things happen.

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Those are the our craziest predictions for 2026. What’s your take? Fire it off while you can down in the Chatty!

News Editor

Donovan is a journalist from Maryland. His oldest gaming memory is playing Pajama Sam on his mom’s desktop during weekends. Pokémon Emerald, Halo 2, and the original Star Wars Battlefront 2 were some of the most influential titles in awakening his love for video games. After interning for Shacknews throughout college, Donovan graduated from Bowie State University in 2020 with a major in broadcast journalism and joined the team full-time. He is a huge film fanatic and will talk with you about movies and games all day. You can follow him on twitter @Donimals_

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