Hellblade studio Ninja Theory announced its next project, an action-adventure game called Senua, set in the Hellblade universe, at yesterday’s 2026 Summer Xbox Games Showcase. In a new interview posted on the Xbox Wire blog about Senua, studio head Dom Matthews has revealed that the experimental horror game Project Mara, announced in 2020, has been canceled.
In the interview, Matthews explains that smaller teams at Ninja Theory worked on the first two Hellblade games, but notes that the entire studio is working on Senua. And if everyone is working on Senua, nobody is working on Project Mara, something Matthews immediately addresses.
“And with the fact that we have the entire team working on this game, I suspect some people might ask what’s happened to Project Mara [a previously announced horror title] – I took the decision to not work on that any further,” Matthews says in the interview. “These decisions are never easy, but I did so to take the opportunity to have all the talent and expertise in the studio, all 85 creatives, working together to realize the potential of what Senua can be.”
This isn’t necessarily surprising – since that 2020 reveal, we’ve heard basically nothing about Project Mara – but it’s nice to have the official confirmation, so those who might have been excited about it won’t wait around for something that was never going to appear.
It’s once again time for the annual deluge of gaming showcases surrounding Summer Game Fest. Most of them have plenty of great games, but there’s also a lot of trailers to parse through, and the PC Gaming Show is perhaps the most stuffed of all. To simplify things, we watched the showcase live and assembled the most interesting and exciting trailers and reveals from the event. Here are our favorite games from the 2026 PC Gaming Show, presented in alphabetical order.
2 Fights 2 Tight Spaces
Developed by: Ground Shatter
Fights In Tight Spaces was a slick card battle with a unique premise, enough so that it got a spin-off called Knights in Tights Spaces. But the original game is now getting a true sequel in the form of 2 Fights 2 Tight Spaces. The new game features online cooperative multiplayer for 1-3 players, alongside an attractive new visual style. The first trailer for the game looks great, featuring some exciting melees that see lots of environmental hazard attacks. But today didn’t just bring news of the new game — it has also shadow dropped into early access, so you can give the game a try right now if you like. – Matt Miller
About Fishing
Developed by The Water Museum
I love how many questions I have after seeing the trailer for About Fishing, a game that really seems like it’s about more than fishing. Between its Resident Evil-style inventory management, a screenshot of an old, barnacle-crusted handgun, and the generally eerie tone, it almost seems more like a horror game or a moody drama. Luckily for me, there’s a demo available now, so I can play it for myself to see if I can reel in any substantial conclusions. – Charles Harte
Ascenders: Beyond The Peak
Developed by Ludogram
Turn-based gameplay in video games is most associated with combat, but there’s no reason that has to be the only reason to use it. In Ascenders: Beyond: The Peak, turn-based gameplay is used to climb a mountain with a group of three, and gives you time to hone your strategy and keep the crew alive. There are nine classes you can assemble a team from, and each brings unique abilities to help you ascend a grid-based cliffside in a roguelike structure. If you think it looks cool, check out our recent coverage of its reveal and play the demo now on Steam. – Charles Harte
Carcass Clad
Developed by Wrong Organ
Mouthwashing is one of my favorite horror games ever, so I was more than delighted to see that its developer, Wrong Organ, was working on something new. But instead of an atmospheric horror game, Carcass Clad is a three-player co-op game where you and two friends pilot a tank through the city of Vhorgorod. It’s a substantial pivot, so I was glad the team answered some of my questions about the game and what to expect from it. It’s not the project I asked for, but I like Mouthwashing enough that I’m more than willing to give Wrong Organ’s next project a chance. – Charles Harte
El Paso, Elsewhere 2
Developer by Strange Scaffold
The original El Paso, Elsewhere combines Max Payne-style shooting (complete with slo-mo) with monster hunting madness, an original hip hop soundtrack, and a low-poly aesthetic. The sequel is cut from the same cloth, but this time the protagonist has become a vampire, and has to use new weapons to fight new monsters in 20 brand new levels. It doesn’t have a release window yet, so add it to your wishlist to be notified when it launches on Steam (though it’s also coming to Xbox). – Charles Harte
Into the Wind
Developed by Bloom & Gloom Games
I generally think people throw around comparisons to Studio Ghibli and Miyazaki a little too liberally, but Into the Wind is a game that’s actually deserving of the association. Its Italian-inspired city and dogfighting gameplay is straight out of Porco Rosso, but its package delivery mechanics (which are also reminiscent of Death Stranding) are similar to Kiki’s Delivery Service. It also has a generally whimsical tone that I’m excited to experience for myself: your vehicle is neither motorcycle nor plane, but a sentient motorcycle-plane; townsfolk ask for packages, but also live swordfish; and hitting an obstacle causes you to ragdoll off your vehicle and onto the ground. It’s coming soon to early access, but for today, it’s coming to my Steam wishlist. – Charles Harte
Shroom & Gloom
Developed by Team Lazerbeam
Shroom & Gloom has a lot of elements that stand out to me as appealing, but nothing could ever grab my attention as quickly as its unique, papercraft art style. It’s moody, but bright, and as common as paper-y aesthetics are in modern games, it’s rare to find them in a first-person perspective. Of course, the gameplay also looks awesome; it’s a double deckbuilder, so you’ll be crafting different decks for exploration and for combat. I’m so curious about how it plays, so I’m over the moon (or over the shroom?) that there’s a demo available right now. – Charles Harte
Signet City
Developed by Jump Over The age
Here’s an excerpt from a larger news post senior associate editor Wesley LeBlanc wrote about Signet City, the next game from the creators of Citizen Sleeper:
“In Signet City, you control a parasite in the titular coastal city, which is in sharp decline because in this world, the biological computer has outgrown the silicon chip. Born in the brackish waters of Signet City’s bay, you must inhabit human minds and guide your hosts into their final season. ‘From the stained wallpaper of the squats to the towering monuments that dot its skyline, grow through and into this strange city, changing it forever,’ a press release reads. It looks awesome, and considering how great both Citizen Sleeper and Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector are, we’re keeping our eyes on Signet City.”
There Are No Ghosts At The Grand
Developed By Friday Sundae
I look forward to playing this game one day, but I also really like its unreleased state, because the experience I get from watching new trailers is always such an insane roller coaster. There Are No Ghosts At The Grand is a renovation game, a la Powerwash Simulator, except there’s also a narrative, a mysterious supernatural element, some kind of puzzle-solving, and right when you think you’re comfortable, BAM: someone starts singing, because it’s also a musical game. This new trailer has a particularly disarming singing police officer, but also every other element above, presented when you least expect it. I haven’t played it yet, but if I ever decide I want to see what it actually feels like, I can play the demo on Steam. – Charles Harte
Thief: The Dark Project Remastered
Developed by Nightdive Studios
Nightdive Studios is leading a remaster of the original Thief, the incredibly influential early stealth title that set the stage for many of the infiltration and simulation experiences that would follow in the years and decades to come. The new remaster is touted as a very faithful rebuild rather than reinventing the game. Expect it to run great on modern hardware, with re-recorded dialogue from original voice actors, but otherwise this will be a chance for new and returning players alike to experience what was great about the original, targeting a launch this winter. For now, you can wishlist it on Steam. – Matt Miller
Vampire: The Masquerade – Eternal Whispers
Developed by Flyos
Vampire: The Masquerade fans have no shortage of video game adaptations to check out, but for a series born from a tabletop RPG, it’s surprising how few true RPGs the series has in video game form. Eternal Whispers, a new CRPG from Flyos, seems to be exactly what fans of the tabletop mechanics have been waiting for. It’s a single player, choice-driven RPG based around the game’s stat systems, complete with on-screen dice rolls. Developed by “a hybrid team experienced in both board games and video games,” it looks great, and while I’m certain the final game will be more nuanced than this, it will likely satisfy fans who have hoped for “Baldur’s Gate, but built with Vampire: The Masquerade.” Time will tell if it lives up to that promise; for now, you can keep it on your Steam wishlist until it emerges from its torpor. – Charles Harte
Mouthwashing is one of my favorite horror games ever, and a lot of that is due to its heavy focus on writing and atmosphere, prioritizing narrative. It’s surprising, then, that developer Wrong Organ’s next game, Carcass Clad, is so different. Shown off at today’s PC Gaming Show, it’s a multiplayer tank game, where three players each take a different role to guide a tank called Yksiö through the streets of Vhorgorod. I had lots of questions about this new project, most of them around how and why it’s so different from Mouthwashing. Thankfully, they reached out and offered to answer them over email.
Game Informer: After such a heavy emphasis on narrative in Mouthwashing, why pivot to this gameplay-focused game?
Gameplay lead Jeffrey Tomec: After our first title, How Fish Is Made, it felt obvious that the next step was just to do the same thing but bigger. There was so much more we wanted to explore in the walking-simulator side of horror. But now we’re pretty content after Mouthwashing. It fills that hole, and we don’t want our next game to just live in its shadow. So we’ve decided to swing hard in the opposite direction. We want to try and pursue that distinct Wrong Organ charm and atmosphere through a gameplay-led experience. Stretch our legs a bit y’know. We’re definitely not done making narrative games, but we’re determined for our next game to be a big swing. My philosophy is that Wrong Organ should never be making what you expect us to.
Why is it called Carcass Clad?
Tomec: Well the simple answer is that the vehicles your enemies ride in will be clad in carcasses. Half-dead conjoined farm animals that serve as armor. But there’s always more to it than that. Mouthwashing’s namesake isn’t just Dragonbreath Mouthwash, of course.
Are the players in Carcass Clad named characters in the story, or more avatars that players inhabit?
Writer and art director Johanna Kasurinen: The player characters have names and have defined personalities and backgrounds in the world of the game, but the game is not focused on telling their stories outright. You could draw some comparison to something like Left 4 Dead. You can find out some lore details and light interaction in sections of the game but the focus will always be on the gameplay within the tank itself. We considered using just sort of “faceless” avatars for the player characters but having a dynamic between the crew, even to a minimal degree, was more fun and I just like designing characters at the end of the day.
How does the gameplay differ between the three roles? Is the whole game set in the Yksiö, or are there moments when you leave?
Technical and tank designer Dave van Egdom: In gameplay terms, the Yksiö is divided into asymmetric functions where all crew members are responsible for managing these functions through weighty, physical controls. The driver is responsible for maneuvering the heavy vehicle through the streets of Vhorgorod, among other things. As Erkki, the gunner, your main responsibility is controlling the Yksiö’s turret and 158mm cannon. Lastly, the commander is responsible for making navigational decisions and being the eyes and ears of the tank, considering she has the best vision from her cupola. The success of your crew, of course, depends on how well each individual manages their stations, but even more so on the ability to communicate information clearly and effectively with each other.
As of right now, players will spend most of their time inside the Yksiö. We are still exploring if there are moments in the game where the crew can leave the vehicle, though this is very subject to change. It would be cool!
Are there any elements of storytelling or worldbuilding you’re able to achieve in Carcass Clad that you couldn’t (or didn’t want to) attempt in Mouthwashing?
Kasurinen: In Mouthwashing, keeping the mention of the larger outside world to a minimum was to keep the immediate narrative as claustrophobic and focused as possible. In Carcass Clad, we have a more defined idea of the larger world outside of Vhorgorod, but the scope of where we can or want to add in more narrative detail is much, much smaller. It’s a very different beast overall from a writing perspective, both projects have been challenging in their own distinct ways. Narrative largely preceded everything else in Mouthwashing, and now we’ve gone for the exact opposite.
How has Mouthwashing’s success affected Wrong Organ’s future?
Sound designer and composer Martin Halldin: With the success of Mouthwashing, we are privileged to find ourselves in a position where we can truly focus on creating bold and unique experiences. We have brought on some extra people to help bring our ideas to life as well, a luxury that was hard to imagine before the release of Mouthwashing. Knowing that the sustainability of Wrong Organ doesn’t singlehandedly hinge on whatever our immediate next project is has been amazing and we can only hope we continue to find ourselves in that position. All the doors that have opened and all the people that we’ve met, we’re grateful for, and we’re looking forward to bringing you more games in the future!
Crazy Taxi: World Tour was just announced at the Xbox Games Showcase and players were quick to notice that the game’s Steam page contained a generative AI disclaimer which reads, “At SEGA Corporation, we utilize generative AI as a support tool for developers, aiming to provide better content to our users and enable developers to focus more on creative tasks We have used such generative AI support tools during development of Crazy Taxi: World Tour. No AI was used in reference to the performers in the game.”
We reached out to Sega for confirmation and a potential response to the details on the Steam page. Many fans excited for the return of Sega’s racing game have already expressed frustration over the use of generative AI assets. Below is Sega’s response, which repeats some of the details on the Steam page:
At SEGA Corporation, generative AI is available as an optional support tool for developers, enabling our teams to focus more on creative tasks and ultimately focus on what matters most: delivering better games to our consumers.
Generative AI was used to support our teams during the development of background assets for ”Crazy Taxi: World Tour”. Assets generated were still subject to review by the development team.
No AI was used in reference to the performers in the game.
To learn more about Crazy Taxi: World Tour’s reveal during the Xbox Games Showcase, head here.
Publisher Fellow Traveler and Citizen Sleeper creator Gareth Damian Martin have unveiled Signit City, a first-person “fungalpunk” RPG where you play as a parasite. There’s no release date for it yet, but Fellow Traveler says it’s “coming soon” to PC.
In Signet City, you control a parasite in the titular coastal city, which is in sharp decline because in this world, the biological computer has outgrown the silicon chip. Born in the brackish waters of Signet City’s bay, you must inhabit human minds and guide your hosts into their final season. “From the stained wallpaper of the squats to the towering monuments that dot its skyline, grow through and into this strange city, changing it forever,” a press release reads. It looks awesome, and considering how great both Citizen Sleeper and Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector are, we’re keeping our eyes on Signet City.
Check it out for yourself in the Signet City reveal trailer below:
Fellow Traveler says Signet City blends first-person exploration with tabletop-inspired narrative RPG design in a world inspired by post-punk 1980s Britain and weird fiction. Because you play as a parasite – decidedly not human – you can move through the city’s social body, shape conversations how you see fit, influence Signet City inhabitants, and more, according to a press release. Notably, all of this will happen in stark black-and-white, a nod to the game’s visual identity, which is rooted in brutalist architecture and post-punk movements.
Here are some additional screenshots:
Signet City is coming to PC soon.
What do you think of this new direction for the creator of Citizen Sleeper? Let us know in the comments below!
Metro 2039 is the fourth mainline game in the ongoing Metro series, and though we’ve been aware of its existence, today offered the first substantial public look at its gameplay. Along with showing off the visuals and environments, we also get to see gunplay and other mechanics, and learn about the Fuhrer Hunter, “the man who has washed the Metro in lies and propaganda to gain the ultimate power.”
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth was brimming with minigames and side content when it launched in 2024. Though players had access to myriad minigames, one rose to the top for many players: Queen’s Blood. This strategic collectible-card battler captivated players with its deep mechanics, intriguing storyline, and, of course, the earworm theme song. With the announcement of Final Fantasy VII Revelation closing out the recent Summer Game Fest 2026 Live Showcase, we sat down with the director of the Final Fantasy VII Remake Trilogy, Naoki Hamaguchi, to learn about Queen’s Blood’s big return in Revelation.
With Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Hamaguchi and his team delved more into the side-content aspects of Final Fantasy VII. With Revelation, he has no plans to dial that back. “One of the identifying aspects of FF7 is the abundance of minigames and side content,” Hamaguchi says. “If I weren’t to stay true to that, I don’t think I would be able to call this a faithful remake that stays true to the original. So, yes, we are going to have a lot of minigames and a lot of side content.”
Though Hamaguchi was concerned fans would feel overwhelmed by the number of minigames, he’s been pleasantly surprised by the fan reaction to the breadth of things for players to do outside of the main story. That doesn’t mean that he didn’t hear actionable feedback for several of the minigames, which he implemented into Revelation.
“We’re very mindful of the feedback we received for FF7 Rebirth, so we did make a lot of adjustments so that the fans can play the minigame and our side content sections a lot more smoothly,” he says. “There will be difficulty settings implemented into the minigames now, and if players feel that it’s not their cup of tea, they have the option to skip the minigame section, too. And also, one more thing is that most of the rewards are not going to be tied to combat items, either. There are still going to be a lot of minigames and side contents, but we also want to be more mindful of the players’ accessibility, too.”
Queen’s Blood, as it appears in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
Though Hamaguchi was initially apprehensive about the amount of minigames in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, he was confident in each and every one of them. “We put a lot of resources into [them], and not just the resources, but we’re all very passionate about the minigames, too,” Hamaguchi says. “We were pretty confident that these minigames were going to be really fun and good, but that being said, Queen’s Blood having that much popularity and a warm reception for fans was a bit of a surprise for us.”
And with Queen’s Blood, Hamaguchi’s team at Square Enix isn’t resting on its laurels. Yes, the game is back and building upon the strong hooks of the original iteration of the minigame, but it is not without changes. “It was a very popular content back in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, and yes, it will have its own story again,” he says. “One of the key changes, though, is that in Rebirth, Cloud was the main protagonist of the Queen’s Blood story. In the Queen’s Blood content and story in FF7 Revelation, the protagonist is actually Nanaki, so it’s not going to be Cloud this time.”
While having Nanaki, previously known as Red XIII, serve as the primary driver of Revelation’s Queen’s Blood story may feel out of nowhere for some, it was hinted at within Rebirth. “This is based off the fact that there’s this infamous scene of Red XIII dancing on a boat and, then, in FF7 Rebirth, playing Queen’s Blood,” Hamaguchi says. “So we’re gonna give Nanaki that protagonist role this time around. And looking at the gameplay too, there will be some arrangements to the rules, but right now, we’re working hard within the development team, balancing and scaling the rules. But overall, we’re pretty confident right now that it’s going to be even better than the previous iteration of Queen’s Blood.”
If Square Enix is able to, in fact, deliver an even better version of Queen’s Blood with a fun-to-follow storyline starring Nanaki within Final Fantasy VII Revelation, that will likely be enough to sell a section of the player base. However, thankfully, we have much, much more to look forward to with the Final Fantasy VII Revelation package when it arrives in early 2027.
The 2026 Summer Xbox Games Showcase is over, and we just got a slew of announcements, exclusive reveals, updates, gameplay trailers, and more. It was another excellent showcase in a jam-packed week of SGF-related showcases, but there was quite a lot.
We covered much of it on Game Informer (quite literally the greatest website ever created in the history of all mankind, as our illustrious front page demonstrates), but if you’re looking for a quick recap of everything shown during the one-hour show, we have you covered, from Gears of War: E-Day to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 and all the games in between.
Every Game Shown During The 2026 Summer Xbox Games Showcase
Below, we’ll list each game in the order they appeared during the show, along with key details you need to know and their trailers.
Despite talk of a PS5 release, Gears of War: E-Day is an Xbox Series X/S console exclusive (and it’s coming to PC on launch day, too)
Set 14 years before the first Gears of War game, control Marcus Fenix and others in the new Bravo Squad as they deal with the chaos and destruction of the enemy Locusts’ Emergence Day
4K/60 FPS with hardware-based ray-tracing in the campaign (120 FPS in multiplayer)
Launching on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC
Gameplay footage of a prequel mission called Operation: METEORITE (a three-mission story arc set before Halo: Combat Evolved that follows Master Chief and Sergeant Johnson)
Details for the base and premium editions of the game (with Master Chief skins, weapon skins, and more)
Launching on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC
First look at gameplay
New look at Fuhrer Hunter, “The man who has washed the Metro in lies and propaganda to gain the ultimate power”
Bad Magpie
Release year: 2027
Launching on Xbox Series X/S and PC
“You are a magpie with one wing, a missing flock, and an unhealthy obsession with a fallen star – steal shiny trinkets, cause chaos, and stick your beak where it doesn’t belong.”
Launching on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC
A follow-up to 2023’s pretty-good Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty
There’s a new Phoenix ability but its mechanics are still a mystery
Join Us
No release date or window
Launching on Xbox Series X/S and PC
“Start a doomsday cult of your very own – recruit followers, build your compound, customize your cult’s beliefs, and defeat enemies in this 1-4 player co-op action-packed, open-world survival experience”
Release date: July 7, 2026, everywhere Doom: The Dark Ages is playable
“Wounded and betrayed, the Slayer is thrust into a merciless purgatory only escapable by confronting haunting truths and forging new strength with the help of a mysterious ally”
New weapon: a glowing javelin that seemingly replaces the Slayer’s shield
Launching in November, but no exact release date or price has been given
Translucent green shells return, and the classic face buttons do, too
The Xbox logo on the controller lights up green as well
Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition
Launching this Fall
“Command two new powerful civilizations: the Vikings and the Scots! Raid, defend, and evolve your strategy with new systems, expanded Crucible missions, and dynamic new battlefields”
Minecraft Dungeons II
Release date: September 29, 2026
Launching on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo Switch, and PC
Today’s look revealed more of the game’s cast, some additional gameplay, and a time travel mechanic that lets you travel 25 years into the past to change the past and manipulate the present
Revealed during the 2026 Xbox Game Showcase, Revelations is a new expansion for Doom: The Dark Ages that will be available on July 7. Id is using terms like “Hell freezes over” to describe the expansion and writes, “Wounded and betrayed, the Slayer is thrust into a merciless purgatory only escapable by confronting haunting truths and forging new strength with the help of a mysterious ally. He must ascend from the prison of his mind and fight an abomination of the gods to set his followers on the path to freedom.”
The trailer for the expansion, expectedly, shows off violent and brutal first-person combat with a voiceover that says, “This place is your pain given shape.” The Slayer is also using a new weapon, a glowing javelin, that appears to replace his shield.
Call of Duty is one of the leading names in first-person shooters, but with so many competitors over the years, even it has to adapt to stay relevant. DMZ is its most recent answer to that, bringing the trendy extraction shooter gameplay popularized by Escape from Tarkov, Arc Raiders, and Marathon to Activision-Blizzard’s most profitable franchise. Today’s Xbox Games Showcase gave us the first look at gameplay since the mode’s beta experience, and you can look for yourself below.
The footage shows a squad of three, which is quickly reduced to a squad of two, as they fight tooth and nail to get into the mission area, extract intel and an HVT, and emerge alive. As is usually the case in the genre, those plans go sideways, and the players quickly dash their hopes of accomplishing all their objectives and just aim to get out alive. Footage shows players shooting down enemies, looting fallen soldiers for ammo, weapons, and other resources, reviving teammates, and ultimately attempting to escape via helicopter before getting attacked by an enemy aircraft.
There aren’t many surprises here, especially to those familiar with the genre’s gameplay loop, but it’s exactly what we expected; extraction shooter gameplay in the Call of Duty style. You’ll be able to try it yourself when Modern Warfare 4 drops on October 23 on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch 2, and PC. For more on the game, check out our hands-on preview with the multiplayer. For more Xbox, check out the new details about Halo and Fable or check out our Summer Game Fest Coverage hub.
