Articles Total War: Warhammer 3

The most demanding PC games are not the same thing as poorly optimized games. They are projects that put high-end hardware under real pressure for the sake of actual technology and visuals. The distinction matters, and this list follows it strictly. A demanding game pushes a top-tier graphics card and CPU because it is rendering expensive tech: path tracing and full ray tracing, Nanite and Lumen in Unreal Engine 5, dense world simulation, and the streaming of vast open spaces without loading screens. The drop in frame rate is compensated by a clear visual payoff: on a flagship system, these projects become showcases for what a PC can do and rank among the best-looking games of today. Crysis once set the bar, and the question “but can it run it?” became a meme for years. Today, there are far more games like that: they demand powerful hardware, but at least they justify it with their visuals.

The first half of 2026 has already dropped a stack of strong releases, and with GTA 6 still to come, there's plenty to keep you busy in the meantime. This is our running list of the best games to play right now across PC, PS5, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch 2 — some brand-new, others a few years old but still at the top of their genre thanks to regular updates. We've split everything by genre, so jump to whatever you're in the mood for. One thing to set straight up front: this is a "what to play now" list, not a "came out this year" one. A few entries are older, but they keep pulling players back with new seasons, expansions and patches.

The best strategy games of the past decade—from classic RTS titles like Age of Empires 4 and Tempest Rising to the global empires of Crusader Kings 3 and city-building hits like Cities: Skylines and Manor Lords. The strategy genre is alive and thriving—over the past ten years, so many worthy titles have been released that they’ll provide hundreds upon hundreds of hours of gameplay. This list is updated regularly. This version features 41 games, organized by subgenre, including highly anticipated releases from 2024–2026: Manor Lords, Frostpunk 2, Tempest Rising, Cataclismo, Menace, and Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus 2.

The season of game showcases and conferences has officially begun. Yesterday’s Skulls Showcase broadcast brought us a slew of new details about upcoming Warhammer 40,000 titles, as well as updates for existing games — both from the grimdark future and the fantasy realms of Warhammer. We've gathered all the key highlights in this article.

Grand strategy and 4X games put you in charge of a nation or a galactic empire — here are the 24 best, from Civilization and Stellaris to Crusader Kings 3, Europa Universalis 5 and Total War. Developing your realm and taking part in geopolitical rivalry with your neighbors can be so absorbing that a single session easily lasts until morning. The “one more turn” phenomenon is no joke. Our list includes 24 grand strategy games divided into 5 subgenres: classic 4X civilization-building games, historical state-management sandboxes from Paradox, the epic mix of a global map and tactical battles in Total War, space empires, and unusual hybrids. The selection was updated in May 2026 with the major releases of recent years: Europa Universalis 5 (2025), Civilization 7 (2025), and Victoria 3 (2022).