In 2026, marking its 25th anniversary, Xbox is planning a major, games-focused year, targeting releases for its “four horsemen” franchises: Forza Horizon 6 (May 19), Halo: Campaign Evolved (Summer), Fable (Fall), and Gears of War: E-Day. Microsoft is focusing on these key, first-party titles to define its future, likely avoiding a November launch to dodge Grand Theft Auto VI.
We already know the date of Playground’s Forza Horizon 6, which will be released on May 19, 2026, as announced during the recent Xbox Developer Direct 2026. The Verge’s Tom Warren announced last week that his sources indicate Halo Studios (formerly known as 343 Industries) is targeting a Summer release for Halo Campaign Evolved, the single-player remake of the 2001 game that launched the first-person shooter series and originally captured the interest of many gamers in the Xbox brand.
As wccftech reports, Fable is targeting Fall, as Playground officially shared, and Gears of War: E-Day, the prequel featuring fan-favorite characters Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago, is also aiming to debut in the latter half of the year. In both cases, Warren added that Microsoft is very mindful of keeping apart from Rockstar’s juggernaut, Grand Theft Auto VI, which is set to crash on the market with all its weight on November 19.
Another GTA VI delay is still not out of the realm of possibility, but Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick has confirmed last week that the marketing campaign will begin in the Summer, so both Rockstar and Take-Two are honed in to ensure the game isn’t delayed a third time. As such, Microsoft will try to release both games as early as possible before November 19. After would be more complicated, as December isn’t traditionally a great time to release games.
According to Warren’s sources, Xbox is also preparing to launch Double Fine’s new multiplayer game Kiln in April, as well as new Starfield content (and PS5 release) “soon”. On that note, a Polish website has just come out to share that the game will launch on PlayStation 5 on April 7, though that remains a rumor for now.
Bethesda’s Fallout 3 remaster is reportedly still in “active development” to ensure that it is as polished as possible. Warren doesn’t share any date in his report, but it sounds like he doesn’t expect the game to be released this year. However, he reckons Xbox fans will get a new controller this year. These are supposed to be next-generation controllers (although it’s unclear whether they will add haptic feedback or adaptive triggers-like tech, inspired by the PS5’s DualSense), with built-in Wi-Fi connectivity to reduce latency in Xbox Cloud Gaming. On that note, The Verge’s journalist adds that Microsoft is “close” to testing free ad-supported Xbox Cloud Gaming streaming with Xbox Insiders ahead of a wider rollout later in 2026.
The 25th-anniversary milestone will be used to heavily market these titles and potentially showcase a new, more integrated vision for future gaming.
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