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Xbox Game Pass had a fantastic year, with 15 of its games nominated for awards at The Game Awards 2025. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was a huge success, winning more awards than any other game – including the prestigious Game of the Year. While Expedition 33 is widely considered one of the best games of 2025, and potentially of all time, other great games launched directly onto Game Pass also deserve recognition. In my opinion, Blue Prince, a challenging first-person puzzle game, was another standout title, but it didn’t receive any awards and might be overshadowed by the popularity of Expedition 33.

The Hedwig Shield shows an adorable owl delivering a Hogwarts acceptance letter. Like other shields in Monopoly GO, it safeguards your game board from being shut down, but with a fun Harry Potter theme. It’s a great collectible for fans of the series.

My Hero Academia is currently a hugely popular anime, and its final season has been particularly well-received, boosting its reputation even more. It’s notoriously hard to end a story well, and many beloved series have disappointed fans with divisive finales, ultimately affecting how people remember them.

Team Vitality has secured a spot in the grand final and will wait to see who their opponent will be. Natus Vincere and FaZe Clan will compete against each other for the chance to play in the grand final and win the $500,000 prize.

Epic Games Store’s free mystery game promotion kicked off on December 11th with the popular game Hogwarts Legacy available to download for free. Hogwarts Legacy, a massive open-world Harry Potter RPG, was the best-selling game of 2023 and one of the most popular free games ever offered on the Epic Games Store. Players can claim their free copy until Thursday, December 18th at 10:00am CST, when it will be replaced with a new mystery game, likely starting a series of daily free games.

For weeks, there’s been increasing talk about a possible third game in the Half-Life series, and many expected a first glimpse at Half-Life 3 during The Game Awards 2025. Since The Game Awards is a major event for new game announcements – arguably the most important one – the lack of an appearance is disappointing for fans. Some fear this means the game may never come out. However, recent rumors suggest Half-Life 3 is still in development and will be a key game launching with Valve’s new Steam Machine.

Fans were eager to see the remake of Knights of the Old Republic at The Game Awards, but the announcement of Fate of the Old Republic, a new game set in the same era, might be even more exciting. Adding to the hype, Casey Hudson, who previously led the original Knights of the Old Republic and the Mass Effect series, is heading the project. While this new game sounds fantastic, it’s probably wise for players to temper their expectations. The initial reveal of Fate of the Old Republic was impressive, but also showed that there’s still a lot to learn and potential challenges ahead.

2026 is shaping up to be a great year for open-world role-playing games, with many exciting titles in development. However, game development takes a long time, so publishers are now careful about announcing release dates until they’re confident a game is truly finished. Because of this, many of the most hyped games planned for 2026 don’t have specific release dates yet. But don’t worry – even the beginning of 2026 will offer several open-world RPGs to play. Here’s a list of the biggest upcoming open-world RPGs launching before April 2026, ordered by their expected release date.