If you have a look at your very own Steam or PS Store wishlist, there’s a good chance that a lot of remasters/remakes made the cut for the upcoming years. And no wonder, with new, groundbreaking IPs to be found few and far between and a slew of upcoming game remakes on the horizon in 2026.
Publishers have gone all-in on revived classics, and players are absolutely showing up for them, to the surprise of absolutely no one.
A recent industry report found that around 90% of players have picked up a remake or remaster in the last 12 months, and most of them weren’t even revisiting old favorites. Nope, they were playing those games for the first time. That just goes to show that nostalgia truly isn’t the only hook for remakes like that – were games better 10, 20 years ago? That’s a question for another time, perhaps.
In other, more humble words, this isn’t just nostalgia bait for thirty-somethings. Remakes and remasters have quietly become a major delivery system for “new” games, built out of existing ideas. And with more big names on the way, that trend isn’t slowing down, at least it doesn’t seem like it. So let’s look at why upcoming remakes and remasters are everywhere, and what to expect from some of the biggest ones on the game-o-sphere horizon.
Why Upcoming Remakes and Remasters Are Pretty Much Everywhere
Let’s cover the basics first; a remaster is basically a facelift of the original game, you know, the usual higher resolutions, better audio, and – thanks to what Nightdive Studios did in recent years – some much-needed quality-of-life tweaks. The core gameplay is mostly untouched.
A remake uses the OG as a rough blueprint and rebuilds it from the ground up – often times using a new engine, with much more freedom to change underlying systems, gameplay, and even story beats.
That difference is important because it really explains the flood of upcoming new releases of remakes and remasters, simply put. Old games age in a way that films and books don’t, since hardware disappears, and the medium is much more interactive, so the controls you thought were fine in the ’90s just aren’t anymore. So reviving these classics is part preservation and part modernization.
There’s another important part to these moving bits, however, as some surveys show, why exactly publishers seemingly can’t stop making remakes of already existing IPs. Having a nostalgic feeling about a game can be a powerful hook, and obviously, our lives have changed over the years – so re-capturing that feeling is a no-brainer in terms of buying power.
But the real reason is that players say remakes and remasters appeal to them, because they make previously inaccessible classics (disappearing hardware) easier to play on the hardware existing today, and, let’s face it, because “new to me” nostalgia is still nostalgia, after all. If you happen to miss a PS2 classic the first time, because you were still drooling onto your own shirt, a remake can make it feel current instead of like a chore.
If you thought that this thought can’t possibly be financially responsible for those developers and publishers, think again. Recent research suggests players are spending more than twice as much on remakes as on simple remasters, which is exactly the kind of chart that makes executives green-light even more of them – and will continue to do so in the future.
Best Upcoming Video Game Remakes For 2026
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake
Ubisoft’s endlessly delayed remake of the 2003 classic is now officially targeting a 2026 release, with the company telling investors it will land by the end of March that year. Behind the scenes, leaks and reporting point to a more specific mid-January 2026 release for Sands of Time remake.
After the original reveal went down badly, the project was rebooted and moved to Ubisoft Montreal. Expect modern visuals, tighter platforming, reworked combat, and tweaks to some of the more frustrating companion elements, while keeping the rewind-focused structure that made the original memorable.
Prince of Persia: Sands of Time Remake Leak Shows Early Footage and Major Gameplay Changes
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Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Remake
The KOTOR remake is the definition of “Schrödinger’s project” right now. It was announced as a full remake, originally with Aspyr, then shifted over to Saber Interactive after internal trouble. Official messaging insists it’s still “alive and well”, but there’s no release window, and some recent reports suggest progress has been rocky.
For now, treat it as a long-term remake: rebuilt visuals, modern combat and UI, and the same core story – if it actually makes it to the finish line. Oh, please, by the force – let it be so. Please.
The Witcher Remake
CD Projekt Red has quietly confirmed that the first Witcher is being remade in Unreal Engine 5 by Polish studio Fool’s Theory, with CDPR supervising. It’s billed as a “modern reimagining” rather than a straight port, which means expect combat, exploration, and structure to shift closer to Witcher 3 than the janky 2007 original.
There’s no release year yet, but CDPR has already said it won’t arrive before the new Witcher 4, so this one’s firmly in the “eventually” bucket. Still, it’s one of the most intriguing upcoming remakes because the jump from old to new is so extreme.
The Gothic Remake
Alkimia Interactive has proven that they really love The Gothic IP, and they are dedicated to being as faithful to the original epic as possible – changed outfits of Velaya and other women in the colony, as well as the abomination that’s supposed to be the shadow beast.
The fact of the matter is, Gothic deserves a second chance, and we can’t wait to step back into the colony for the first time again. Please don’t mess this up, Alkimia, we’re begging you. The Gothic Remake will grace our screens in early 2026.
Why Are Players Buying Remakes and Remasters?
Roll your eyes at the next “definitive edition” of any hard-hitting game of the last 20 years all you want, but the numbers don’t lie. 90% doesn’t just mean almost every player out there at least touched a remaster/remake; it shows that the vast majority of those players never even played the original game.
That, in return, must mean that the fantasy of remakes as pure nostalgia cash grab, emotionally manipulating an older audience, really is only part of the whole puzzle.
For a huge chunk of the audience, upcoming remakes and remasters are a gateway to a gaming era long lost, think about it. Oblivion remastered, Silent Hill remade, and Metal Gear have been refreshed. These aren’t just old games; they’re arguably part of the history of this relatively young medium.
Accessibility is the big driver here, and you won’t be able to play a lot of these games unless you still, for some reason, possess the original hardware. So a remaster that runs on a standard PS5 or Xbox, with updated controls and no weird compatibility hacks by some dude on Reddit, is now the simplest way to play them, and that’s before you even factor in extras like a one-stop shop for DLC, newly added photo modes, or updated difficulty options – the possibilities are endless.
On the unfortunate flip side, there’s always the fear that too much money and talent get parked on looking backwards instead of forwards. Every big remake in full production is a team that could have been making something new. That tension isn’t going away.
Right now, though, players are voting with their wallets, and they’re voting heavily in favour of upcoming remakes and remasters. As long as those projects keep feeling like substantial, respectful updates – not lazy cash-grabs – they’re going to sit right alongside new releases on everyone’s most-played lists, for better – or for worse.
