What inspired the decision to bring back a classic 1990s era franchise like Screamer?

Screamer has been a game that we wanted to bring back since its last installment. A new pitch would come around every few years, but we felt that they weren’t quite landing since we were searching for that very bold ingredient to make the game stand out in the racing game market. This all changed when we decided to power up the original idea of Screamer with our love for Japan animation and fighting games.

One of Screamer’s core mechanics is the Echo system. When did it become a central part of the project, and how did it influence the overall design of the game?

The Echo System was present since the pitch for the game, albeit in a more primordial form. Having taken inspiration from fighting games we knew we wanted an element of vehicular combat in the game and everything else needed to be designed around that, so that the racing part wouldn’t be drowned under these types of mechanics.

"Screamer has been a game that we wanted to bring back since its last installment."

In races with multiple opponents, how does the Echo system work in terms of its tug of war style gameplay?

When racing it’s quite important to engage strategically with the resources offered by the Echo System. A Boost used in the perfect track section, a Shield activated at the right time, a well-positioned Strike against an opponent, a masterfully controlled Overdrive until its end are all things that spice up racing in Screamer and can (and do) make the difference between victory and defeat.

Screamer’s story is said to be inspired by classic racing anime. What were some of the key influences behind its narrative and tone?

We took inspiration from any type of anime, not just racing anime, because we wanted our story to feel different from your standard racing game. Also, as I mentioned before, we are big fans of anime ourselves and we wanted to fully embrace that style of narrative for our game. Expect some big surprises and a plethora of mature themes.

Beyond racing and story, how important is customisation to the overall experience?

We’ve put quite a lot of effort into customization because even if our cars are designed to fit a specific character, we wanted the player to still be able to give them a personal touch. Customisation in this game doesn’t have performance modifiers attached to it, so you can customize any car with a slew of pre-made options without worrying about the handling.

The game features both a pseudo cyberpunk city aesthetic and tracks that run through natural environments like forests. How did you balance these contrasting settings in terms of story and tone?

"We took inspiration from any type of anime, not just racing anime, because we wanted our story to feel different from your standard racing game."

Balancing the variety in our environment hasn’t been easy. First, a lot of work has gone into creating background lore for everything so that our artists had a clearer picture of the mood they should strive for the tracks. Then, since the contrast between the locations wasn’t something avoidable we instead decided to embrace it and we quickly made it a keyword to use throughout the entire game as a guide; you can see this contrast in many things, like the VFX designed to look more anime-like with the realistic lighting, the almost painted skies against the realistic cars, or even the characters and how their contrasting personalities make the narrative unfolds. Quite a lot of work has been done to blend these souls together and we hope that players will appreciate that.

What core multiplayer modes can players expect at launch?

At launch players will be able to bring the competition Online in a playlist of game modes and Private Lobbies, with Ranked Team Race coming shortly after launch.

How does the Echo system function in online races where every player is managing their own Echo gauge?

Online the Echo System brings a whole new level of depth to the competition, since tricking other players into wasting their resources, by faking a Strike for example, becomes essential to come out on top at higher skill levels.

What resolutions and frame rates are you targeting on PS5, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X, and PS5 Pro?

The game runs at 60FPS with enhanced frame rates on Series X and PS5 Pro.

Yes, I know other arcade racers have attempted such control schemes before; 2020’s Inertial Drift, for instance, already embraces twin-stick driving, but having not played it before I wasn’t primed. Shmups and other twin-stick shooters I have played copiously, but their training was no help here. No, Screamer feels a different beast entirely. The best way I can sum up its unfamiliarity is to ask you to imagine writing with your non-dominant hand: see, you know how pens work, and you might be able to grasp firm enough to put ink to paper, but the lines and squiggles that emerge aren’t your usual handwriting.

"Braking is ultra-sensitive. The slightest tap slows you enough to slide through almost any turn, whilst drifting, especially, needs only the deftest tilt of the thumbstick."

Thankfully, Screamer’s racing lines do become deliberate with practice (something that my left hand and a pen will probably never attain). Despite its unorthodox controls, Screamer shares common ground with any of your go-to arcade racers: pre-corner positioning, timing, and maintaining flow reveal themselves as you grow accustomed to your car’s particular brand of handling. Layer on boosts, perfect shifts, strikes, and other character-specific actions, and what initially felt clumsy transforms into one of the most mechanically involved racers I can recall.

Certainly, at first, Screamer’s vehicles feel heavy, powerful, and planted, like sci-fi muscle cars more than precisely tuned track weapons. This physicality only adds to the friction. Early on, I felt like machine and I were wrestling, with neither able to get a foothold over the other. But, after burning through the miles in Screamer’s numerous arcade modes I was surprised, actually, when I realised that these vehicles should be handled with finesse, not brute force.

Braking is ultra-sensitive. The slightest tap slows you enough to slide through almost any turn, whilst drifting, especially, needs only the deftest tilt of the thumbstick. Its sensitivity means that it’s often only feasible once a corner’s apex is passed, depending on your approach speed, trajectory, the width of the curve, tightness of its angle, and so on. Unwielding controls and my constant over-corrections gradually faded. Blasting through the unobstructed roads of Time Attacks and Checkpoint Challenges, eventually I found expressive driving. Drifts began to flow through sequences of corners, blending into one fluid, satisfying movement.

"Using Sync generates Entropy, which is your car’s fighting aggression and defence."

But, in Screamer, races aren’t just about clean lines. Upshifting gives driving a rhythmic pulse, where tapping the left shoulder button just as your tachometer hits the required RPM gives your engine a momentary push. Generous timing windows and clear visual cues signal the optimal moment to switch gears, alongside reinforcing controller vibration that makes it easy to keep focus on the road.

Crucially, the game avoids punishing mistakes too harshly, with early upshifts not killing your momentum outright; only denying you the micro-boost. This is a small, but important, distinction, and one I appreciated the developers for. See, while flow, fluidity, and momentum are achievable on isolated circuits, chaotic races make chasing perfection near-impossible.

Now, this isn’t a negative. I embrace the chaos. I’m just pointing out that the freneticness of Screamer’s wheel-to-wheel combat makes pre-corner positioning, apex kissing, and perfect drifts secondary to survival. In fact, upshifting became the only mechanic I was able to execute with consistently.

And that’s just as well: see, each of Screamer’s vehicles is outfitted with an Echo device, a futuristic contraption which gathers charge to be spent on two intertwined resources: Sync and Entropy. It’ll fill independently through collision-less driving and timely upshifts, with your Sync able to execute Boosts and Perfect Boosts, the latter a slightly more difficult version which relies on releasing its input command after a specific duration.

Using Sync generates Entropy, which is your car’s fighting aggression and defence. The Strike system slams you into opponents, blowing their chassis into flaming pieces. Overdrive transforms your car into a rocket ship, blasting any foe whilst keeping you momentarily invulnerable.

"Screamer’s story mode is where the game’s anime inspiration comes to the fore, where high-speed clashes within a dangerous tournament are framed within themes of revenge, rivalry, and corporate espionage."

When you’re in control of these systems, it feels great. A well-timed hit can swing momentum in your favour. The problem is that this sense of control is inconsistent. Opponent strikes can be difficult to anticipate, often arriving with little room to react, making certain collisions feel less like tactical plays and more like unavoidable setbacks.

Combined with the game’s lack of rubber banding, then falling behind can quickly become an unrecoverable struggle. Even if Sync generation increases when you’re further down the order, allowing more frequent boosts, its impact during the heat of battle is difficult to assess (on balanced difficulty, at least). The result: Screamer’s combat adds excitement and unpredictability, but occasionally at the cost of fairness, especially when you’re limping at the back of the field through no fault of your own.

Beyond the standard Arcade modes already mentioned, Score Challenge and Team Races highlight a couple of Screamer’s other imbalances. The former is one of the primary avenues for unlocking customisation options, where team “members” are pitted against “leaders”, highlighting a clear disparity between vehicle performance, where leader cars are noticeably faster and more competitive. Using member cars in this mode can feel like an uphill battle, creating a progression loop that feels needlessly punishing unless difficulty is lowered.

Team Races, meanwhile, hint at hidden strategic layers but they never quite materialise. The idea is that teammates balance aggression with track position, but the reality is too disorderly. With so much happening at once, it is difficult to influence outcomes beyond simply racing as destructively as possible and finishing highly. In practice, Team Races function the same as Free For All’s, just with more setup for the same payoff.

Screamer’s story mode is where the game’s anime inspiration comes to the fore, where high-speed clashes within a dangerous tournament are framed within themes of revenge, rivalry, and corporate espionage. Structurally, it unfolds through bitesize, episodic chapters which introduce the various teams, their motivations, and disquiet simmering within their ranks. There’s a clear attempt at building a cohesive world here, and it broadly works. The overarching narrative flows purposely, with intrigue steadily building the more each team’s backstory overlaps.

"Similarly, performance is solid, running smoothly and consistently on base PS5 amid the high-speed, effects-heavy racing."

My issue lies in its pacing. Early chapters are particularly staccato, packed with exposition and explanation with pockets of on-track action acting as punctuation rather than defining moments. Likewise, character work shows an unevenness. With the exception of fiery Róisín, whose strong motivation is elevated by memorable voice acting, each character failed to leave an impression on me. There are hints of grounded emotional arcs – Gabriel, in particular, begins to show flashes of familial burden – but much of the cast remains underdeveloped. There’s undeniable ambition here, but the presentation is too sluggish for the racing which surrounds it.

Visually, however, Screamer impressed me more than its pre-release footage suggested. Its neon-lit cityscapes, reflective surfaces, and bold contrasts give races a striking sense of atmosphere. The cars themselves range from pristine, kitted-out cyberpunk cruisers to weathered grand tourers, distinguishing the identity of each vehicle and its racer.

Similarly, performance is solid, running smoothly and consistently on base PS5 amid the high-speed, effects-heavy racing. This is something we’ve come to expect from Milestone and their prowess for optimisation. Another area the studio usually excels is sound design, yet it is a slight letdown here. Engine notes lack the raw aggression that the cars’ outlandish designs promise, creating a small but noticeable disparity between how these cars look and how they sound.

Ultimately, Screamer is defined as an arcade racer willing to take risks. Whilst initially awkward, and admittedly tiring on the hands during long sessions, its twin-stick driving is rewarding once mastered. The games supporting mechanics are deep, and while not always as strategic as they suggest, they bring an engaging loop beyond sprinting to the finish line. Issues with balance, progression, and an uneven story detract from the racing’s intensity, but overall the game’s strengths outweigh its drawbacks.

There’s something undeniably compelling here. Screamer is a racer which might not reinvent the wheel, but it stands out precisely because it dares to try.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 5.

An Arcade-Anime Racing Fusion

At its core, Screamer is an arcade racing throwback. It’s a reboot, after all, but that descriptor barely scratches the surface. Sure, the original’s Ridge Racer-style drifting is here, but Milestone – as closet anime fans – imbue this modern take with the style and tone of anime’s finest: Akira and Ghost in the Shell.

But wait, there’s more to this fusion: Milestone also harbours a deep love of fighting games – Tekken, King of Fighters, BazBlue, Guilty Gear, et cetera, and fighting’s influence bleeds through Screamer’s narrative setup, character drama, and on-road action. A melting pot of ideas, this may be, but rarely does an arcade racer merge spectacle, storytelling, and system-heavy gameplay with this much conviction.

Gameplay Revolves Around the Echo System

The backbone of Screamer’s gameplay is the Echo System, a futuristic tech installed on every car which fuels both racing and fighting via two intertwined resources: Sync and Entropy. Rather than simply accelerating and drifting, you’ll need to constantly manage the Echo System’s dual-gauges through skillful racing and well-timed actions. This system adds a layer of resource management rarely seen in arcade racers, where you’ll need to think beyond racing lines to consider timing, pace, and tactical use of abilities throughout each event.

Sync and What It Enables

Sync is your primary resource for maintaining competitiveness throughout races, with it accumulating independently as you drive. Once you’ve enough Sync, you can spend it on Boost (or Perfect Boost – a more substantial variant – if you time the release of your Boost input just right). Also, instead of Boost, you can wrap your car in a momentary Shield that’ll protect you from your competitor’s assaults.

Entropy and Its Combat Potential

Now, the other, offensive-minded side of the Echo System: Entropy. Using Sync generates Entropy, and this powers two attacks called Strike and Overdrive. Strike is a sharp burst of speed that’ll briefly turn your car into a powerful battering ram. Use Strike to rear-end an opponent and you’ll blast their chassis into flames Burnout-style. Yet, if you retain your Entropy, maxing it out instead of Striking, then you’ll unlock the ultimate driving weapon: Overdrive. When engaged, your car transforms into a comet-on-wheels; with shield engaged and fire trailing, destruction awaits. However, be careful: Overdrive is high-risk, high-reward. Your shield will deplete before your firepower subsides; thus, any wall tap and it’s you that KO’s.

Active Shift and Strategic Depth

Your Sync meter charges passively throughout races through dexterous driving, but the rate it accumulates can be accelerated by performing Active Shift – an optional upshift executed at the precise moment your vehicle’s RPM passes a certain threshold, giving your engine a little push whilst filling your Sync meter. You’ll need to keep an eye on the speedometer in the bottom corner, meaning there’s an extra skill layered on top of the drift-heavy driving and Echo System management. When assessed altogether, Screamer provides a range of boosts, attacking, and defensive options, meaning races flow more dynamically than simple sprints to the finish line.

Twin-Stick Controls

Perhaps the most unorthodox aspect of Screamer is its twin-stick control scheme. You’ll steer with the left stick, while drifting is handled on the right, creating a setup which feels closer to a character action game than a racer. Early footage shows an expressive driving style is attainable, although there’ll undoubtedly be a learning curve. If it clicks – and, for anyone who’s dabbled in twin-stick shmups it likely will – then this control method could prove to be Screamer’s standout feature.

An Atypically Narrative-Heavy Racer

Unlike most racers, Screamer is placing particular emphasis on its narrative arc. The game centres on an underground, high-stakes tournament orchestrated by a mysterious figure (hello, Tekken influence). Each participating team is compelled to take part, and throughout the game you’ll flick between each entrant to experience their point of view. There’s deep, sometimes dark, character motivations, illustrated in that crisp, anime style. Story beats will play out on track too; perhaps those combat abilities will be put to good use ending someone else’s tournament? While other racers have taken stabs at meaningful stories before, Screamer’s narrative looks to be especially resonant, where progression isn’t just by winning races.

Team-Based Racing Structure

Rather than focus on individual exploits, Screamer brings a team-based structure. Each team consists of a leader and two support racers, with distinct roles across the lineup. The leader’s car is tuned for speed and precision, making it ideal for more experienced players, while support vehicles lean into combat and survivability.

Five Teams Compete

Five teams are set to compete in Screamer’s tournament, each bringing their own personality, motivations, and racing approach. There are The Banshees, who have entered the tournament for payback. Strike Force Romanda are an Idol band, recently reunited after a mysterious separation, their tournament participation supposedly a guerilla marketing tactic. Visionary scientists Jupiter Stormers bring corpo energy, with one member in particular seemingly bent on answering a personal vendetta. Anaconda Corp are a powerful band, invested heavily in above-board and seedy ventures alike, from politics to arms dealing. Criminal syndicate Kagawa-Kai are the most revered racers in the tournament – decorated, unstoppable, and ruthless.

Characters Bring Unique Abilities

Each of Screamer’s fifteen characters – split in three across five teams – brings their own unique passive ability. One racer banks extra Sync if they KO an opponent using Strike, another can chain Strikes together with a lower Entropy cost, while a third can extend their boost duration so long as you drive cleanly. With drivers focused on maximising resources, speeding to the finish line, or enacting all-out on-track warfare, the lines between racing and character-action are blurred; you’ll be choosing racers which fit your goals and playstyle.

A Dystopian Overworld Awaits

Befitting of its Akira inspiration, Screamer’s overworld is bleak and dystopian. Announced so far are three distinct biomes: Neo Rey is a steaming neon metropolis; a city of contrast not unlike Cyberpunk 2077’s Night City, utopian and nightmarish alike, with winding streets promising plenty of tight, high-octane racing. Sky Road Desert is a scorching wasteland, again reminiscent of Cyberpunk’s Badlands that surround its central city. The rather prescriptive sounding Forest #13 is one-part nature reserve, one-part geothermal power plant, an indication that even the countryside can’t escape the churning wheels of capitalism in dystopian fiction.

A Breadth of Customisable Game Modes and Multiplayer

Screamer ships with various game modes. Tournament is its de facto story mode, while the arcade menu brings a slate of customisable racing. A “Free For All” with all fifteen characters, plus Leaders only or Members only. Each features numerous augmentations: race duration, powerups, Sync generation rates, participant numbers, and more. Team Race pits each team of three against each other, with final scores determined by placement and KO’s. Score challenges, Overdrive-only races, time attacks, checkpoint races, there’s plenty here that’s tweakable. Multiplayer comes in online modes and up to four-player split screen.

Release Date, Platforms, and Price

Screamer will release to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store on March 26th. The base version is retailing at £49.99 / $59.99, while the digital deluxe version will set you back £59.99 / $69.99.

Digital Deluxe Inclusions and Pre-Order Bonuses

Pre-ordering Screamer’s Standard Edition nets you the Chromed Style Pack, which decks your cars out in a tasteful metallic finish. Pre-ordering the Deluxe Edition gives you the Iridescent Style Pack too, like chrome only shinier and more colourful. Speaking of the Digital Deluxe Edition, if you opt for this version you’ll gain customisation packs for each of the game’s five teams plus three days early access.

PC Requirements

Minimum PC requirements as per the game’s Steam listing including an Intel Core i5-9600K or AMD Ryzen 5 2600 CPU and GeForce GTX 1060 or Radeon RX 5500 XT GPU. Recommended specs detail an Intel Core i5-14600K or AMD Ryzen 7 7700X processor and GeForce RTX 4070 or Radeon RX 9070 XT GPU. No matter your setup, you’ll need 16GB RAM and 35GB storage.

Crimson Desert

The big one, with arguably the most hype, is Crimson Desert. It’s been a long journey towards release, and no matter how many interviews or videos we see, it has something new to reveal every time. Can it meet all the hype? Maybe. Maybe not. One thing that’s for sure is we’re looking forward to scouring Pywel for secrets, learning the ins and outs of each character’s fighting style, and wreaking havoc with our favorite mech/dragon/bear mount when it launches on March 19th.

Pokémon Pokopia

A Ditto imitating a human deciding to open a farm and bring on other Pokémon to help from the team behind Dynasty Warriors – sounds about right. Far be it from Pokémon Pokopia, out on March 5th, to just be Nintendo’s take on “Palworld” but with a 20 to 40 hour story, post-game content and even four-player co-op, there should be just enough to hold you over until the next generation arrives.

Marathon

Even as a Destiny player who’s been disappointed by many Bungie decisions over the years, I have to admit – Marathon doesn’t look half-bad. Maybe it’s because the six Runner Shells actually have compelling kits, or due to the quality of life features, or the killer presentation – from that sick match loading screen to the extraction. Either way, Marathon should have some impact when it launches on March 5th – whether Bungie can keep that going is another issue.

Planet of Lana 2: Children of the Leaf

Following up on the original’s gorgeous hand-painted aesthetic and environmental storytelling, Children of the Leaf promises to be even bigger and more mysterious. Which is all well and good, but it’s also packing plenty of new mechanics, including expanded traversal options. If it can mirror the original’s cinematic excellence, Planet of Lana 2 could very well be a dark horse when it arrives on March 5th.

Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly Remake

If Fatal Frame proves anything, it’s that the camera is sometimes mightier than the gun and also sometimes just as ineffective against angry spirits if you can’t aim right. Fortunately, Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly Remake has a lot more going for it – including a new over-the-shoulder perspective, gorgeous overhauled visuals, and new features like holding hands – perfect for trying to survive the night. It’s out on March 12th for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, PC, and Nintendo Switch 2, and even includes a new ending over the original.

John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando

There’s something about the cheesy, 80s action movie-esque mayhem that Saber brings to the table in John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando. Maybe it’s also about seeing the Swarm Engine applied to zombies, ensuring plenty of massive hordes that you don’t know whether to shoot or gawk at (the former. Always the former). After the surprisingly fun demo, we’re keen to go commando even more when the full game launches on March 12th.

Docked

Of course, Saber Interactive doesn’t just want to cater to your urge for co-op chaos. No, it also knows there’s an audience for operating big machinery and solving real-world problems, like in Docked. As the lead operator of a dock wrecked by a hurricane, it’s your job to keep the cargo moving, managing and operating heavy equipment, bringing in contracts, and building it back up. It’s out on March 5th for just $29.99 on Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC.

Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection

Maybe you’re interested in the antics of Azuria and Vermeil, two kingdoms at odds while the Crystal Encroachment wreaks havoc. But if you’re just here for the monsters, Monster Hunter Stories 3, launching on March 13th, has plenty to throw at you. From old-school classics like Yama Tsukami to the contemporary, Malzeno, Narwa, Ibushi and Arkveld, there is a lot to choose from. And best of all, you can obtain variants with Habitat Restoration, including a fiery Zinogre.

Starship Troopers: Ultimate Bug War!

Speaking of surprisingly fun demos, Starship Troopers may very well be back courtesy of Auroch Digital’s raucous new first-person shooter, which launches on March 16th. No building or resource collection here – it’s a straight-up, Boltgun-style retro shooter where you slay many, many bugs. Does it feel a little Helldivers-esque at times, especially with the drop pods? Well, sure, but full circle and whatnot, and how can you possibly say no to Johnny Rico himself?

GreedFall: The Dying World

The other game to drop the “2”, that too before Overwatch, is GreedFall: The Dying World. Furthermore, it’s out on March 12th, finally exiting early access after an…ambitious entry on September 24th. But there’s new content, improved combat, more companions, additional quests, and even more to come, including a PS5 and Xbox Series X/S release. Maybe it can finally redeem the GreedFall name, such as it is.

Screamer

I’ll admit to some consternation, especially after JDM: Japanese Drift Master tried to fuse manga and street racing, but Screamer is clearly on another level. Boasting anime cutscenes, multiple playable characters, and the ECHO for power-ups like Strikes and Boosts, it’s a surprisingly intriguing mix. The futuristic setting and team racing modes, where your crew can take on others, are just the icing on top when Screamer launches on March 26th.

WWE 2K26

WWE Creative being dull and CM Punk headlining a new video game – name a more iconic duo. Thankfully, the latter means a new 2K Showcase focused on his best matches and some fantasy warfare against Legends that could have been. Other notable features include the return of Inferno, I Quit and 3 Stages of Hell matches, the ability to stack tables, and over 400 characters, perhaps the largest in history (and that’s not including DLC following the post-March 13th release).

Scott Pilgrim EX

Toronto’s time-space has been messed up, with fantastical threats like Robots and Vegans laying claim to the city. Who better to fight back, other than literally anyone else, than Scott Pilgrim and friends? Following up on Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, this is a new beat ’em up from Tribute Games with seven playable fighters, four-player local and online co-op (with drop-in/drop-out supported) and a progression system centered around Badges. If you enjoyed Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game, then EX may be up your alley when it launches on March 3rd.

Mega Man Star Force Legacy Collection

Following up on the well-received Battle Network Legacy Collection, Mega Man Star Force gets its own compilation on March 27th with all three titles and their versions. And considering the dozens of hours you can invest in each, complete with a new gallery and online play for battling, it may be just what the Doctor (not Wily) ordered.

Death Stranding 2: On the Beach (PC)

One of the least surprising announcements of all time – thanks ESRB and Kojima – Death Stranding 2: On the Beach nevertheless promises to be the most stunning version when it releases on March 19th. It includes Ultrawide support, upscaling and Frame Generation across DLSS 4, FSR 3 and XeSS 2.0, and even lets you enable Decima’s own Pico upscaling tech. Combine this with hardware requirements that are more than achievable – just maybe buy a new SSD – and it may very well warrant another playthrough.

If you’re wondering which of the year’s titles are going to have you burning rubber on the tracks as you let loose and push your engines to their limit, we’ve got you covered. Here’s a list of a few great racing titles that are confirmed, and a few more that might just make an appearance in 2026 and beyond.

1. Forza Horizon 6

The good news is that this one is confirmed for a 2026 release. The bad news is that Playground Games has yet to give us a precise release date for a very ambitious fourteenth addition to the Forza franchise. It takes the action to Tokyo this time around, with some of the city’s iconic locations making an appearance alongside a respectful take on Japanese racing culture being promised.

With Tokyo City shaping up to be the “most complex and intricate drivable space” in the franchise and its largest map ever, this one’s definitely one to watch out for this year.

2. RIDE 6

Milestone Games is all-set to bring adrenaline on two wheels to your gaming systems in February this year, with over 340 different motorcycles for you to climb onto in a game that’s welcoming to both newcomers and veterans. Its Arcade and Pro modes are great ways to take on a Career Mode that’s looking really good.

And speaking of good looks, the visuals on this one are quite impressive, and we can’t wait to see if hitting the circuits on offer feels as real and as good as the real thing.

3. Screamer

This arcade racer is futuristic, fascinating, and just plain old fun from the little snippets of it we’ve been checking out. With a unique control scheme in which you steer with your left stick and drift with your right, coupled with an anime vibe that’s sure to catch your eye, Screamer takes the best of its past iterations and brings them to an experience that’s poised to take the franchise to the future.

There’s also speed boosts on accurate gear shifts, and even Shields and abilities that let you take other racers out of the equation entirely. We’re already drooling at the thought!

4. Gear.Club Unlimited 3 (Switch 2)

With a global fleet of over 40 fully customizable cars, and a Highway Rush mode alongside a story mode that takes you across France and Japan, the Switch 2 debut of this one is sure to give you and your buddies a solid reason to get together for more than a few game nights.

As a timed exclusive on the Switch 2, this one is sure to find a few takers when it releases later this year and eventually makes its way to other platforms later down the line.

5. Tokyo Xtreme Racer (PS5)

We were quite impressed with Genki’s revival of this classic arcade-style racer when it was released for the PC last year. It brought great visual and audio design to an experience that was both fresh and familiar, thanks to its faithful recreation of what put Tokyo Xtreme Racer on the map in the first place.

And now you get to weave in and out of traffic on the PS5, the Shuto Expressway being the stage for some very nerve-wracking racing action that rewards speed and reflexes in a way that makes this one a very satisfying racer.

6. Star Wars: Galactic Racer

If racing around in fancy vehicles in a galaxy that’s both immediately recognizable and yet far, far, away sounds like your thing, this arcade racer is sure to have caught your attention when it was announced at TGS 2025.

With different vehicle classes that vary in terms of their physics, a single-player campaign and multiplayer options, this is definitely a racer you want to try for yourself when it comes out later this year.

7. LANESPLIT

If you’re looking for a plug-and-play experience in which you just hop on your bike and speed away as you weave between vehicles in traffic, this one’s for you. Sure, it may not be the most polished one on this list, but it more than makes up for that with its simplicity.

While the early access demo didn’t have too much of a roster of bikes for us to choose from, the full release, due later this year, comes with a respectable amount of options to use in its no-frills gameplay loop.

8. Super Woden: Rally Edge

Solid driving mechanics, an excellent career mode, class-specific events, head-to-head races, and so much more make this one of 2026’s most well-rounded racing simulators. There’s even an option for four players to play on a split-screen if you buy it as a way to bring the gang together for some racing fun.

There are a lot of cars and stages for you to choose from, and as far as racing games go, this one is sure to bring you many hours of fun if you give it a shot. While there is room for minor improvements, this one is good enough to make you overlook them, thanks to how well-implemented it is and how engaging it is to play.

9. Assetto Corsa EVO 1.0

This one managed to grab quite a few eyeballs when it dropped on early access in 2025, and with the full release poised to bring a lot of excellent additions to the table, we’re definitely excited to see how it shapes up.

With several game modes, a good selection of cars and tracks, and some excellent physics making each race feel as authentic as it can be, this is a title that purists are going to enjoy to the fullest.

10. Carmageddon: Rogue Shift

Carmageddon is making a return this year, and how! You’re driving around in a literal dystopia, with a zombie apocalypse well underway in this arcade-racing roguelite.

With dynamically adjusting difficulties across procedurally generated stages, a bunch of cars, weapon types, and so much more to discover, this is a fun-filled rampage that’s sure to bring some fond memories of the titles that came before it.

11. Wreckfest 2 1.0

With a revamped visual flavor courtesy of the ROMU Engine and a gameplay loop that’s every bit as destructive as fans of the first title would remember, Wreckfest 2 is going to be one hell of a destructive derby racer when it launches sometime in the near future.

The destruction is all there, as are a lot of options to have some fun behind the wheel of a newly customizable car. This one is sure to have you grinning from ear to ear as you let your intrusive thoughts take the wheel.

12. Endurance Motorsport Series

Realistic driving physics coupled with faithful recreations of tracks from all over the world make this one a simulator worth looking into. Adding more flavor to the mix is the fact that it isn’t just your driving that counts in this one, but in the way you and your team adapt to varying conditions out on the track.

Expect to make some fast decisions while you’re trying to get out ahead of your competition, and for an experience that could be as close to the real thing as it can get.

13. F1 2025 Paid Expansion

There won’t be an F1 26 this year, but F1 25 is getting a paid expansion that’s poised to add a ton of new content to the game while switching up its rules and systems to better align with this year’s Formula One season.

That’s great news made even better by the knowledge that the developers now have more time to focus on what’s shaping up to be a very ambitious title being lined up for the franchise in 2027!

14. Akina

If you can’t seem to let go of your Tokyo Drift obsession, this arcade racer set in the Japanese mountains and countryside is going to catch your fancy. Set for release later this year, this one takes you back to an age of Japanese racing that many enthusiasts look back on quite fondly.

With a world that’s charmingly crafted, and the scope for some sharp turns on the cards, Akina might just be the one to beat if drifting is your thing.

15. CarX Drift Racing Online 2

If you’re thinking about taking a more professional approach to drifting, this one might be the perfect choice for you. Realistic physics coupled with gameplay systems that are tuned to mimic competition rules in the real world, along with single and multiplayer modes for you to take on, make this one a viable alternative to Akina and a more serious contender for the genre’s best titles.

Building on its predecessor’s best features while bringing excellent changes of its own, this one has us eager to try it out when it drops in the first quarter of 2026.

And that’s a wrap on all of the racing titles we’re quite excited to try out in 2026 and beyond! We hope to see you on the track.

All three of these games got trailers showing off how they would make use of Nvidia’s RTX and DLSS 4 features. Resident Evil Requiem, for instance, will be capable of running at over 200 frames per second with path tracing enabled thanks to Multi Frame Generation. Phantom Blade Zero will similarly launch with all of these features available on day one of its September 9 release, and 007: First Light will be able to make use of these features to get improved visual details while still maintaining high and steady frame rates.

Similar videos have also been released for Active Matter, DEFECT, and Screamer, which you can check out below. These videos showcase gameplay making use of features like path tracing and ray-traced global illumination with high frame rates thanks to the use of DLSS 4 and technology like Multi Frame Generation. All of these showcases were recorded with the games in question running at 4K.

A number of developers from IO Interactive, including franchise art director Rasmus Poulsen, principal engineer and development manager Henrik Schlichter, and the studio’s CTO Ulas Karademir spoke about how 007: First Light will make use of these features.

“The primary tech that we are developing together with Nvidia is all the DLSS features, especially of DLSS4,” said Schlichter. “Everything from Multi Frame Generation to Super Resolution is incredibly useful and something that we have integrated very very closely into the game. We’ve made a new volumetric smoke system that really tries to push the limits of how we can represent smoke and fog and explosions in the game. And this is something that’s not been done anywhere before.”

“Having software and hardware working together and getting the best out of it while using these techniques really helps us to push the limits,” said Karademir. “To give us the freedom that our designers can really go beyond the limitations of the hardware.”

Phantom Blade Zero creator “Soulframe” Liang also spoke about some of the PC-exclusive features that will be available in the action title, thanks to the collaboration between developer S-Game and Nvidia.

“The very good thing for PC gamers is they have different ways to experience the game,” said Liang. “I think RTX and DLSS 4 are the main features that enhance our game a lot. The rain is one of our core environmental features, so having a convincing presentation of anything in the rain is important, and we count on ray tracing systems for this. It’s difficult to maintain the frame rate while you have the frame rate while you have top notch graphics. So DLSS 4 and other Nvidia technologies support us to get stable frame rates while getting the best graphics.”

007: First Light was originally slated for release in February. Last month, however, IO Interactive announced that it is pushing back the title’s release to May 27 instead. The earliest of these releases is going to be Resident Evil Requiem, which is coming to PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S on February 27. DEFECT and Active Matter will be coming out later this year, while Screamer is coming out relatively earlier; on March 26.

Spend Sync to boost with extra payoff for perfect timing, or to shield through incoming hits. Using Sync, in turn, generates Entropy, setting up the game’s offensive layer.

Entropy fuels two fight mechanics. Strike is a short, violent lunge that can KO rivals on contact. Overdrive cashes out a full bar for a blistering, shielded surge that KOs anyone you touch until the invulnerability ends, at which point one bad angle into a wall will pop your car.

The team frames this as a race that evolves across laps: open conservatively with Sync building, decide moment-to-moment between defense and pace, then convert that pressure into Entropy-driven takedowns.

Bottom line: By tying speed, defense, and aggression into a single resource loop, Screamer looks less like a drift-and-boost throwback and more like a fighting game on wheels. Win the meter game, and you win the race.

That said, there are some excellent racing games coming this year, and the list we’ve provided here – which, for the record, is ordered via least to most anticipated – arguably displays more promise than 2024. Note though, racers we’d expect to see new entries for – namely F1 25, MotoGP 25, and possibly RIDE 6 – have been left out to give space for some lesser-known titles to shine.

Endurance Motor Series

Experience the slow-burning drama of endurance racing in Endurance Motor Series, upcoming from studio KT Racing who’re deviating from their usual fayre of WRC and MXGP games (glossing over Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown) to put you behind the wheel of the world’s most hardwearing motorcars. However, honing your stamina for long-distance racing is only half the experience. In a unique twist, in Endurance Motor Series you can virtually hot desk between the car and the pit wall, modifying race strategy via abundant data sources including a neat weather radar.

The trailer for Screamer shows off the game’s unique art style, which melds bright neon-coloured lights with a darker cyberpunk aesthetic for the world. The game also seemingly melds 3D vehicles with 2D characters, resulting in an incredibly unique look.

While we didn’t get much in the way of gameplay for Screamer, the developer has stated that it will feature high-octane racing action and deep gameplay. Uniquely for a racing game, Screamer will also feature a story inspired by 80s and 90s anime and manga, complete with interwoven character arcs.  The story is set to feature themes of revenge, love, greed, and human will, as well as elements of classic sci-fi.

Screamer is slated for release in 2026, and will be coming to PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.