Top 10 Upcoming Action-Adventure Games of 2025 & 2026

The next couple of years appear to be a golden age for action-adventure games, as some of the biggest franchises come back, and new original experiences ensure they will take the genre to an even higher level. In the guise of eagerly awaited sequels, genre-bending reboots, or totally new IPs, there is much for gamers to look forward to.

From the highly awaited Grand Theft Auto VI to the gothic fantasy realm of The Blood of Dawnwalker and the return of classic franchises such as The Witcher IV, Fable, and Kingdom Hearts 4, the action-adventure genre is set to become even more thrilling.

Here's a list of the top 10 most awaited action-adventure games set to release in 2025 and 2026, what makes each one unique, and why they're worth keeping on your watchlist.

#1 Gears of War: E-Day

Finally, the Gears series is back. E-Day is the forthcoming third-person shooter called Gears of War: E-Day is being developed by People Can Fly and Xbox Game Studios, with assistance from The Coalition. Set fourteen years before the events of the original Gears of War game, this is the sixth installment in the series.

It is being developed by The Coalition, the developer of Gears of War 4 and Gears 5, and People Can Fly, co-developer of the original trilogy and the developer of Gears of War: Judgment.

#2 Mafia: The Old Country

Mafia: The Old Country is an action-adventure game under development at Hangar 13 and 2K. It is a prequel to the first and fourth games in the Mafia main series. The game will launch on PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S in Q3 2025.

We all know about the craziness of the Mafia series. The first title was highly anticipated for its story and action features. And now, the great news is that we are having a prequel to that title.

#3 Grand Theft Auto VI

Grand Theft Auto VI, being developed by Rockstar Games, is perhaps the most anticipated game of this year. It will be the eighth base Grand Theft Auto game, following Grand Theft Auto V, and the sixteenth in total.

Set in an open world—the fictional American state of Leonida, based in Florida—and its Vice City, set in Miami, the story revolves around the criminal business of Lucia and her male associate.

Finally, after years of rumors and speculation, Rockstar officially announced that the game was being made in February 2022. In September of the same year, leaks of gameplay footage from an early-build version found their way onto the web, which the media described as one of the biggest game leaks ever. The game went official in December 2023 and is slated for release in late 2025 on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series.

#4 Fable

Fable is an action role-playing game developed by Playground Games and published by Xbox Game Studios' publishing label. Set in the fictional world of Albion, It is the most recent new title for the franchise, following Lionhead Studios' Fable: The Journey in 2012.

Fable acts as a reboot, aiming to bring contemporary gameplay elements and graphics to revamp the series to be relevant to the next generation. Fable will be released on Xbox Series X|S and PC in 2026.

Fable's new gameplay trailer has put players into a frenzy as they unpick every last detail, view every single Hobbe, search for hidden clues, and wonder what features could be missing.

The last trailer revealed several new aspects of the game, especially regarding character customization, enemy encounters, and combat mechanisms. Fans of the Fable series can't wait to get their hands on this new Fable game.

#5 Kingdom Hearts IV

Kingdom Hearts IV is an upcoming action role-playing game by Square Enix. It is probably the most talked about game recently due to its lack of information.

It will be the fifteenth game in the Kingdom Hearts series, beginning the "Lost Master" story arc. Set after Kingdom Hearts III and Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory, familiar hero Sora has gotten stranded in the realistic world of Quadratum, with his friends Donald Duck and Goofy trying to find and rescue him.

Even after over two years since it was initially announced, the long-awaited Kingdom Hearts 4 still has no release date. With the quietness continuing as director Tetsuya Nomura and the Square Enix team have had their hands full with other prestigious endeavors, it seems clear that the title will be continuing the trend of long development intervals between titles.

Following the pattern of promotional seasons prior to the flagship games of the series, Kingdom Hearts 4 also has a possible opportunity to be promoted this year.

#6 The Blood of Dawnwalker

The Blood of Dawnwalker is a new vampire RPG from ambitious developer Rebel Wolves - a team of former CD-Projekt Red devs. Since it was officially announced last month, January, it has become one of the most fascinating new games that are coming our way, with an intriguing concept as the focal point of its dark fantasy.

Set in an alternate 14th-century European history, The Blood of Dawnwalker will allow you to take the role of Coen, a half-vampire, half-human who can choose to take on either part of his nature.

Rebel Wolves was developed by The Witcher 3 director Konrad Tomaszkiewicz, and the new title was set to release a new series full of vampires and monsters. In fact, it's already showing its Witcher roots, with some of the encouraging information revealing a glimmer of what the role-play will be and how we're able to shape our story.

From all the information we have so far, it appears quite promising and could have all the ingredients necessary for one of the best single-player games ever. After all, Geralt's journey has long been thought of as one of the greatest RPGs of all time, so we're certainly interested to see how this new fantasy experience stacks up.

#7 The Witcher IV

The Witcher IV was revealed at The Game Awards 2024 and is one of the most highly anticipated upcoming action role-playing games from CD Projekt Red.

It will act as the planned first installment of a new trilogy for The Witcher series and follows on from the events of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt in 2015. Unlike the initial trilogy, where the book protagonist Geralt of Rivia was the one to play, The Witcher IV features his adopted daughter, Ciri, as the protagonist.

After much speculation and leaks, The Witcher 4 was ultimately shown in a full-length trailer that revealed the game's setting and, most importantly, Ciri's role as the new protagonist.

It's thrilling, to put it mildly, to hear that The Witcher 4 is in development; here's hoping that nothing bad happens in the time leading up to the sequel's release.

#8 Game of Thrones: KingsRoad

Game of Thrones: Kingsroad is a new open-world game that lets players travel to far-flung regions of the Seven Kingdoms, converse with iconic characters from the TV show, try politics as they build their house from the ground up, and fight monsters, both mythical and human. By all accounts, it looks to be one of the best Game of Thrones games ever made, and it's coming out sometime this year.

People have been craving a good Game of Thrones RPG for a long time, and Game of Thrones: Kingsroad seems to be the game that will suit some for that. The current official Steam demo allows people to experience the first few segments of the game, including choosing their class and creating their character.

A lot of the demo is concerned with the environment and the story, moving players outside the wall to establish the central threat of Kingsroad (and the broader A Song of Ice and Fire world), the White Walkers.

#9 The Elder Scrolls VI

The Elder Scrolls VI is one of the most highly anticipated upcoming action role-playing games developed by Bethesda Game Studios. It will be the sixth full-fledged entry in The Elder Scrolls series, following 2011's The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. It will be released on Xbox consoles and PC sometime in 2026.

Though the release date for The Elder Scrolls VI is still unknown in 2025, given that we've yet to have a major announcement on the highly-anticipated fantasy RPG in over six years (it'll be seven next June).

As good as the pedigree of the last game was, however, it's actually no surprise at all that The Elder Scrolls 6 ranks so high on most players' wishlists even today, years and years after early rumors about this sequel first started appearing.

#10 Honor of Kings: World

Almost four years after its first reveal, having shifted from a Monster Hunter-esque game to something more Genshin-esque, Honor of Kings: World is making its way to GDC 2025. No, there is no release date, and outside of "consoles and PC," specific platforms have not been revealed. However, there is some new work-in-progress gameplay, showing off co-op and some new monsters.

TiMi Studio Group also revealed a closed-door playtest for registered media personnel. The game's official website is also live, detailing some locations in Jixia, including the Tower of Enlightenment in the Jixia Academy, Springbrook Plains, where ancient ruins and wetlands can be found, and the mountains.

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