The BoardGameGeek 2026 Hall of Fame Inductees are…

BoadGameGeek added five new titles to their Hall of Fame. Find out who made the cut. Also, Microsoft showed off some games arriving in 2026 and Ubisoft announced some major changes. All this and more of the top headlines. Let’s go!

Microsoft’s Developer Direct

Microsoft held a Developer Direct virtual event last week and showed off four new games releasing in 2026. You can watch the announcements in their entirety above, but here are the highlights:

Fable

An update on their long-awaited Fable game was the highlight of the show. The game was first announced in 2017, and will release in Autumn of 2026. The game creates a world that includes 1,000 Handcrafted NPCs, and according to one of the developers, “you could marry them all.”

Forza Horizon 6

The fast and fun racing franchise returns, with drivers attempting to conquer the streets of Tokyo. Forza Horizon 6 releases on May 19 for Xbox and PC, with a PlayStation version coming later this year. 

Beast of Reincarnation

Your player and their pet wolf explore a world where parasitic plants have overgrown around the world. A summer release is planned on PlayStation, Xbox and PC. 

Kiln

A weird and wacky game about making pottery, then having it face off against your friend’s ashtray in an “online multiplayer pottery party brawler.” No release date as of yet, but it is expected later this year. 

Which game are you most excited for? Let us know in the comments.

BoardGameGeek 2026 Hall of Fame inductees

Last year, BoardGameGeek announced their initial board game Hall of Fame class. To celebrate their 25th anniversary, they chose 25 games that “have made meaningful contributions to the board game hobby in the areas of innovation, artistry, and impact.”

This year, the site announced five more games that would join the initial list. They include:

For Sale (1997)

Puerto Rico (2002)

Memoir '44 (2004)

Love Letter (2012)

Terraforming Mars (2016)

Congratulations to all the 2026 inductees. 

Ubisoft announces restructuring

Ubisoft announced some major changes to their corporate structure, along with announcing the cancellation of six games. 

As part of a “major organizational, operational and portfolio reset,” Ubisoft announced they were canceling the Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time remake, three unannounced new IPs, one mobile game and one game that was not disclosed. 

Ubisoft founder and CEO Yves Guillemot also discussed how the company will create a new structure for studios and games that “sharpen strategic focus” and “reinforce execution discipline.” Guillemot said the company will be broken into five creative houses that will be "responsible for fully owning the gamer relationship.” From their press release, those five house are:

• Vantage Studios (which is backed by Tencent) is focused on scaling and extending Ubisoft’s largest and established franchises to turn them into annual billionaire brands. Their brands include Assassin's Creed, Far Cry and Rainbow Six.
• Creative House 2 is dedicated to competitive and cooperative shooters, including The Division, Ghost Recon and Splinter Cell.
• Creative House 3 is designed to operate a roster of select, sharp live experiences (service games), including For Honor, The Crew, Riders Republic, Brawlhalla and Skull & Bones.
• Creative House 4 is dedicated to immersive fantasy worlds and narrative-driven universes and includes Anno, Might & Magic, Rayman, Prince of Persia and Beyond Good & Evil.
• Creative House 5 is focused on reclaiming position in casual and family-friendly games, and includes Just Dance and Idle Miner Tycoon.

Each Creative House will have end-to-end responsibility for its portfolio, overseeing the full creative and brand scope from development to publishing (brand, marketing and sales go-to-market strategy). They will also be financially accountable, both in terms of P&L and cash generation. This structure will sharpen strategic focus, reinforce execution discipline and ensure that investment decisions will be taken closer to where value is created.

Side Quests (more stories worth reading)

🪙 Reminder: prices for full access will increase at the end of this month. Supporters receive additional content and help keep this site and newsletter going. You can become a Supporter or sign up for The Games Letter here. 

🗞️ The New York Times launched its first 2-player word game. The company behind Wordle and known for their daily crossword puzzles now has 11 games that were played more than 11.2 billion times in 2025. 

🏆 Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 set a world record for Game of the Year awards, surpassing Elden Ring. Related: Clair Obscur took home the GOTY award at the New York Game Awards.

📅 Bungie finally announced the launch date for Marathon, March 5, 2026. 

🇸🇦 U.S. Congress members are urging the FTC to review the Saudi-led EA buyout, citing potential negative impact on workers.

🏢 Michael Scott and Dwight Schrute from The Office are coming to Fortnite. 

🙊 Nintendo announced a new free Switch 2 update to Donkey Kong Country Returns HD and more details on the upgrade for Super Mario Bros Wonder.

🎤 Roblox says a performance by Bruno Mars drew a record 12.8 million concurrent users.

📱 Mobile gaming revenue grew in 2025, but only slightly. 

🗓️ RAM shortages and component cost mean that the PlayStation 6 could be delayed past its expected 2027–2028 release window.

📺 Netflix’s CEO says cloud-based TV games are a “big priority” for the company in 2026.

🖥️ Ubisoft announced it is updating Far Cry 3, Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon and Far Cry Primal to run at 60fps on modern platforms.

🎞️ A new trailer for The Super Mario Galaxy Movie was released. 

😼 Polygon takes an in-depth look at the new ThunderCats tabletop RPG that was recently Kickstarted. 

👑 Battlefield outsold Call of Duty for the first time ever in 2025.

📈 The newly-released Nintendo Switch 2 was the best selling console in the U.S. in 2025, moving over 4.4 million units.

New Releases this week:

1/26: Highguard (PC)
1/29: Cairn (PlayStation and PC)
1/29: I Hate This Place (PlayStation, Xbox and PC)
1/30: Code Vein 2 (PlayStation, Xbox and PC)

Thanks for reading. If you enjoy our newsletter, please tell a friend to subscribe!