October 2026 Is Stacked: Gears, Castlevania and Call of Duty Crowd the Calendar Before GTA 6

Publishers are clearly trying to get out of the way of Grand Theft Auto 6. With the game arriving in November, October 2026 has turned into one of the busiest release months of the year, with big franchises, remasters and indie hopefuls all crowding into a few weeks.

The month opens with a pair of returning favorites. Dynasty Warriors 3: Complete Edition Remastered lands October 1 on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S and Switch 2, rebuilt with Unreal Engine 5 visuals. The same day, Ghost of Yotei: Complete Edition arrives on PS5 for $70, bundling the Echoes of Sekigahara expansion, a new combat-survival mode, the Legends co-op mode and the Digital Deluxe content. Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve follows on October 2, and the MMORPG Aion 2 launches on PC October 5.

The first full week is where things get heavy. Gears of War: E-day arrives October 6 on PC and Xbox, returning to the horror-flavored roots of the series after seven years, with a new Horde Siege mode. Star Wars: Galactic Racer, a roguelite-tinged racer from Fuse Games, launches the same day. Horror fans get two options on October 8: Hellraiser: Revival from Saber Interactive and the metroidvania-style Silver Pines. Capcom also ships Dragon's Dogma 2: Dark Arisen on October 9, adding the new region of Norgan.

Mid-month is packed with variety. Valor Mortis, a first-person soulslike from Ghostrunner developer One More Level, and Planet Zoo 2 both arrive October 13, along with the spy deduction game Legion Was Here. Valor Mortis costs $40 and is a day-one Game Pass title, undercutting the $70 releases around it. October 14 brings Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2, with Mick Gordon returning on music, plus the cozy off-roader Over the Hill and the narrative baking adventure The Witch's Bakery.

October 15 is a notable date for franchise fans. Castlevania: Belmont's Curse, developed by Rogue Prince of Persia studio Evil Empire, brings the series back in a 2.5D take on a ruined Paris, reuniting voice actors from the Netflix animated series. Enshrouded also exits early access with its 1.0 release on PC and PS5, and Bluey's Happy Snaps arrives across platforms.

The final stretch has several heavy hitters. Final Fantasy Resonance and Nintendo Switch Sports Resort both launch October 22, the former reviving a dead mobile game as an HD-2D adventure and the latter bringing thumb wrestling and other Wuhu Island sports to Switch 2. The indie Stupid Never Dies also lands that day. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 follows October 23 with a campaign involving North Korea and Mads Mikkelsen, multiplayer and a DMZ extraction mode. Notably, it will not launch on Xbox Game Pass on day one. Emberville, a farming and action RPG hybrid, arrives October 27, and Phantom Blade Zero closes the month on October 29 on PC and PS5, with martial arts choreography overseen by Donnie Yen.

Anyone trying to keep up will need to budget both time and money, but the spread of genres means there is plenty to choose from before GTA 6 takes over.