Open-world games remain incredibly popular, even though there are a lot of them. New releases always generate excitement, but it’s easy to overlook hidden gems with so many games coming out each month. To kick off the new year, here’s a look at the biggest open-world games launching in January 2026.
The Boruto series is packed with action, delivering one thrilling fight after another. It’s also working to address problems from the previous series. Many supporting characters are getting their moment to shine, and Sarada Uchiha is a prime example.
In 2025, Electronic Arts (EA) discontinued online support for 23 of its games, including popular mobile titles like The Simpsons: Tapped Out and major sports franchises like Madden NFL and FIFA. EA plans to continue this process in 2026, with at least three more games losing online access in January.
Released in 2016, Stardew Valley has become incredibly popular, selling over 41 million copies worldwide by late 2024. Its lasting success is likely due to its appealing pixel art, ongoing updates even years after its initial release, and availability on most gaming platforms. Updates have added new in-game events, like festivals, and improved how the game works overall.
Released in 2008, the true-crime documentary Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father continues to deeply affect viewers. While many true-crime documentaries now focus on sensational or unbelievable stories, Dear Zachary feels different. It’s a more intimate and realistic portrayal of a tragic situation, offering a touching message to a young boy caught in difficult circumstances. The result is a powerfully moving and respectful film.
A new distributed system, Sark, prioritizes user control and data security by eschewing global state in favor of local-first integrity management.
The game has been updated with several new features to take full advantage of Nintendo’s newest console, such as easy-to-use mouse controls and the ability to play online with up to eight people.
As a huge fan of the ninja world, I’ve always thought it was fascinating that the strongest ninja aren’t always the best leaders. There’s so much more to being a good Kage than just being powerful! So, I wanted to talk about a few Kage who, well, let’s just say they caused some serious problems – whether on purpose or because they made some really bad calls.
For the first few years after the PlayStation 5 came out, a lot of its biggest games were also available on the older PS4. Plus, Sony has been actively releasing games that were once only for PlayStation on computers as well. Because of this, five years after its release, the PS5 only has eight games that you can’t play anywhere else, and that doesn’t include games that need extra equipment like the PlayStation VR2 headset.
Xbox Game Pass games are usually removed in two batches each month – one around the middle and another at the end. Recently, Mortal Kombat 11, Still Wakes the Deep, and Wildfrost were taken off the service for Cloud, Console, and PC on December 15th. Coming up on December 31st, the popular horror game Carrion and the intense first-person shooter Hell Let Loose will also be leaving.