Since Donkey Kong was released in arcades in 1981, the platformer genre has been a dominant force in the video game industry. It was the ideal genre in the early days, as it was relatively easy to code with limited memory, and the gameplay mechanics often made platformers among the most entertaining video games ever. As hardware developed to enable first-person perspective and 3D games, platformers began to wane, but they never went away. They’re still killing it with new entries in the Super Mario franchise and many others from huge developers as well as independent ones.
Looking at 2026, it’s going to be another big year for platformers. There are several prominent platformers coming out in 2026, and fans are sure to embrace the impressive variety of games on the horizon. Several have been teased and received some media attention, but most aren’t as well-known to the average gamer. For this reason, we wanted to highlight some of the most anticipated platformers releasing in 2026 because there are plenty to choose from. While we couldn’t cover every platformer released this year, we’ve chosen a few that are sure to sell well while entertaining the masses.
2026 Will Be a Great Year for Platformers
To be honest, the year didn’t start out well for the genre with the release of God of War: Sons of Sparta. It didn’t do well with critics, resulting in a score of 65 on Metacritic. It could have been worse, but overall, the game is too boring to belong in the GoW franchise. Regardless, that’s one of many platformers for 2026, and one that we’re excited about is Replaced (pictured above), a dynamic 2.5D platformer from Sad Cat Studios releasing on April 14, 2026. The game’s reveal trailer looks incredible with beautifully designed levels and gorgeous environments. While it’s a 2.5D platformer, the scope of its design puts it on par with AAA action games, and April 14th can’t come any sooner.
Relooted (pictured below) is another hot platformer that’s already been released, as it dropped on February 10, 2026. The game is all about reclaiming African artifacts found in Western museums. It’s a heist game that honors African cultures in a futuristic setting. Perhaps the most anticipated 2.5D platformer arriving in 2026 isn’t any of the aforementioned; it’s Darwin’s Paradox! The game will be released by Konami on April 2, 2026, and was developed by ZDT Studio as an adventure game in which the player controls Darwin, an octopus who uses his unique abilities to escape captivity and return to the ocean from a vast industrial complex.
Fans of Platformers Have Plenty to Look Forward to in 2026
One of the best aspects of platformer games is that they’re often popular, so it’s not difficult to play games like Super Mario Bros. 3 or Flashback on modern hardware. These are fun and nostalgic ways to play, but the genre never stopped developing. Modern gamers, young and old, enjoy playing platformers, and if they didn’t, studios wouldn’t spend so much time and money producing them. There are many more than we covered coming out in 2026, including 3D platformers like LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight, and traditional 2/2.5D games like Mariachi Legends, A Sister’s Journey, and so many more, making 2026 a great year for the genre.
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