20 Most Anticipated Video Games Of 2026

Pokémon Champions Release Date: TBD, 2026

If Pokémon Legends: Z-A somehow isn't enough to keep you busy for the foreseeable future, next year there's Pokémon Champions - a PVP-centric turn-based strategy game with a focus on competitive multiplayer Pokémon battles.

Gameplay has been likened to the Pokémon Stadium games, and will be compatible with Pokémon Home and Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, while also offering cross-platform play across Switch consoles and mobile devices.

Given that Champions will replace Scarlet and Violet at next year's Pokémon World Championships, The Pokémon Company is clearly going all-in on this one and fully expects it to be a global phenomenon.

Considering it's a "free-to-start" game - with a more content-rich paid version also being released - there's clearly huge potential for Champions to blow up in a massive way outside of the usual Pokémon fandom.

Now let's just cross our fingers that the "free" release isn't paid for by too much intrusive microtransaction slop.