Video game release dates: When will this year's biggest games arrive?
A year full of potentially amazing games, but when are they coming out?
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Your support makes all the difference.One thing's for sure: 2016 looks set to be one of the biggest and best for video games. From The Division to Dark Souls 3 to Uncharted 4 and more, there's something coming out this year for every type of gamer.
Although a large number of games are yet to be given a firm release date, there's still loads of quality releases which have been dated. Let's just pray we don't see as many delays as years gone by. Take a look below for all the year's biggest games and their release dates.
January
The Banner Saga - PS4, Xbox One - January 12
Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: India - PS4, Xbox One, PC - January 12
Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen - PC - January 15
Resident Evil: Origins Collection - PS4, Xbox One, PC - January 22
The Witness - PS4, PC - January 26
The long-awaited follow-up from Braid developer Jonathan Blow finally comes to PS4 at the end of January. The Witness tasks players with the exploration of a large island, with a huge number of puzzles to solve in order to progress the narrative.
Having been delayed for so long, players will be desperate to find out what exactly this game is all about, though don’t expect The Witness to welcome you with open arms. It’ll require intuition, cunning and a lot of thought to make it to the end.
LEGO Marvel Avengers - PS4, Xbox One, PC, Xbox 360, PS3, Wii U, Vita, 3DS - January 29
February
Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 - PS4, Xbox One, PC - February 5
XCOM 2 - PC - February 5
Unravel - PS4, Xbox One, PC - February 9
Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime - PS4 - February 9
Earth Defense Force 2 - Vita - February 12
Earth Defense Force 4.1 - PS4 - February 12
Mighty No. 9 - PS4, Xbox One, PC, 3DS, Vita, Wii U - February 12
Street Fighter V - PS4, PC - February 16
The world’s most popular fighting game returns with the fifth main entry to the series. Sticking with a similar art style to Street Fighter IV, V brings a vibrant colour palette with beautiful graphics to new-gen consoles, with punches and kicks brought to live with paint brush swipes.
New fighters are also introduced in the form of Necalli, Rashid and Laura, as well as familiar favourites like Ryu, Bison and a much older Dhalsim. Having had a chance to play the game, I can say it’s shaping up to finally bridge the gap between newcomers and veterans with welcoming new mechanics that are easy to learn, but very difficult to master.
Project X Zone 2 - 3DS - February 19
Far Cry Primal - PS4, Xbox One, PC - February 23
Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 - PS4, Xbox One, PC - February 25
Superhot - PC, Mac, Linux - February 25
Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow - Nintendo 3DS eShop - February 27
March
Heavy Rain - PS4 - March 1
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD - Wii U - March 4
The Division - PS4, Xbox One, PC - March 8
Ubisoft’s highly-anticipated third-person action-MMO finally launches in March. Set in the midst of a crisis in New York, with a deadly virus sweeping the city, players are tasked with sweeping the city to find the source of the plague. You can team up to gather and trade resources, as well as take on missions together.
However, at any time, squadmates can also choose to betray their team if the loot looks too good to share. It’s an intriguing prospect, and one which has been speculated about for years thanks to Ubisoft’s signature early tease back at E3 2013, but we won’t have much longer to wait to see if Reflections has pulled it off.
Hitman - PS4, Xbox One, PC - March 11
Samurai Warriors 4 Empires - PS4, PS3, Vita - March 11
EA Sports UFC 2 - Xbox One, PS4 - March 17
Pokken Tournament - Wii U - March 18
Hyrule Warriors: Legends - 3DS - March 25
MLB The Show 16 - PS4, PS3 - March 29
April
Ratchet and Clank - PS4 - April 4
Dirt Rally - Xbox One, PS4 - April 5
Quantum Break - Xbox One - April 5
Dark Souls 3 - PS4, Xbox One, PC - April 12
The Dark Souls series is known for its bone-crushing difficulty, and that trend continues with the third entry in the main series. Taking inspiration from spiritual successor Bloodborne, Dark Souls 3 will bring much faster gameplay to the traditional sword-and-shield combat. Terrains will still presents varied and open expanses with many possible paths to take to the land’s many locations, and with the leap to PS4 and Xbox One Souls finally gets a facelift, too.
Star Fox Zero - Wii U - April 22
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End - PS4 - April 26
Nathan Drake’s bombastic and world-winding story looks set to come to a close with A Thief’s End. Naughty Dog finally get the chance to develop a game from the ground up for the PS4, and early footage show breathtaking detail in every aspect.
Gameplay looks set to follow the same style of the series, as you might expect, but the visuals are a huge leap forward and players will get to enjoy madness of a Michael Bay movie. Will Drake survive? We’ll find out in April.
Total War: Warhammer - PC - April 28
May
Battleborn - PS4, Xbox One, PC - May 3
Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst - PS4, Xbox One, PC - May 24
Faith is back and is on new-gen consoles as EA finally gives fans the highly-demanded sequel in the form of Mirror's Edge Catalyst. Set in the city of Glass, players will once again be fighting against a corrupt system, this time following the rise of Faith in her origin story, but once again experiencing the free-flowing parkour that made the original game such a hit.
June
Ark: Survival Evolved - Xbox One, PS4, PC - Date TBA
August
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided - PS4, Xbox One, PC - August 23
TBA 2016
Adr1ft - Xbox One, PS4, PC
Attack on Titan - PS4, PS3, Vita
The Banner Saga 2 - Xbox One, PS4, PC
Crackdown 3 - Xbox One
Cuphead - Xbox One
Day of the Tentacle Special Edition - PS4, Vita
Dishonored 2 - Xbox One, PS4, PC
Doom - Xbox One, PS4, PC
Fable Legends - Xbox One, PC
Final Fantasy XV - Xbox One, PS4
For Honor - PS4, Xbox One, PC
Gears of War 4 - Xbox One
Now in the hands of a new development team, The Coalition, Gears of War 4 will see new COGs join the war against the Locusts. While little is known about the game, we're set for a fall 2016 release but not before a multiplayer beta this summer. With this being the first game built from the ground up for Xbox One, many will expect a visual spectactle, as the series was always known for setting the standard in both look and first person gameplay on Xbox 360.
Ghost Recon Wildlands - PS4, Xbox One, PC
Gran Turismo Sport - PS4, PSVR
Gravity Rush 2 - PS4
Halo Wars 2 - Xbox One, PC
Hellblade - PS4
Homefront: The Revolution - Xbox One, PS4, PC
Horizon: Zero Dawn - PS4
Kingdom Hearts 3 - PS4, Xbox One
The Last Guardian - PS4
The Legend of Zelda - Wii U
Unfortunately delayed out of 2015, The Legend of Zelda for Wii U is still yet to be given a firm release date. With the impending reveal and release of Nintendo’s next console, the NX, it’s fair to speculate that Nintendo will once again launch the game across both consoles at once, much like the company did with Twilight Princess for Gamecube and Wii.
Either way, the early footage and talk of a vast open world similar to that of the original Legend of Zelda has fans frothing at the mouth with anticipation, and whichever console it launches on, Nintendo fans will buy it.
Mafia III - Xbox One, PS4, PC
Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games - Wii U, 3DS
Mass Effect: Andromeda - Xbox One, PS4, PC
Metroid Prime: Federation Force - 3DS
No Man’s Sky - PS4, PC
Another perennially-delayed game that has set itself the impossible task of coping with the mountain of hype it’s built. After seemingly endless hours of gameplay trailers, the bar has been set very high as to the experience players will get once No Man’s Sky is finally in our hands.
Will Hello Games be able to deliver an experience to keep us exploring a seemingly endless universe? It’s a big ask, and hopefully we’ll find out the answer to that question sooner rather than later in 2016.
Outlast 2 - Xbox One, PS4, PC
Overwatch - Xbox One, PS4, PC
Persona 5 - PS4, PS3
Pokken Tournament - Wii U
Psychonauts: In the Rhombus of Ruin - PSVR
Shadow of the Beast - PS4
Shadow Warrior 2 - Xbox One, PS4, PC
Shin Megami Tensei x Fire Emblem - Wii U
South Park: The Fractured But Whole - PS4, Xbox One, PC
Star Ocean V: Integrity and Faithlessness - PS4
Tacoma - Xbox One, PC, Mac, Linux
Tekken 7 - PS4, Xbox One, PC
Batman: A Telltale Game - Platforms TBA
The Tomorrow Children - PS4
Umbrella Corps - PS4, PC
Until Dawn: Rush of Blood - PSVR
The Walking Dead: Michonne - Xbox One, 360, PS4, PS3, PC, iOS, Android
Wild - PS4
World of Final Fantasy - PS4, Vita
Worms W.M.D. - Xbox One, PC
Yooka-Laylee - Xbox One, PS4, Wii U, PC
Zero Escape 3: Zero Time Dilemma - 3DS, Vita
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