Thursday, April 2

Every Video Game Prank From April Fools’ Day 2026


Happy April Fools’ Day! Exciting for some and stressful for others, today is one of the most fun (and treacherous) days to be on the internet, as people and companies on every social media site set out to bamboozle one another. Luckily for the video game community, most developers and publishers are aiming for silly jokes this year most of which are pretty transparently not real. From a Sonic Sopranos reference to soprano singers in a Warhammer 40k musical, we’ve gathered 30 of the biggest gags below.

Game Infarcer

First, a shameless plug. Darth Clark has returned, somehow, to ruin our news page with all sorts of falsehoods and tomfoolery. If you want to check them out yourself, you can read each below and browse the gallery of fantastic headers that Darth Clark convinced our designers to make for him.

 

The Witcher: Project R.O.A.C.H.

Roach, Geralt’s horse, is one of the best characters in The Witcher franchise. To celebrate that trusty steed, Developer CD Projekt Red is unveiling Project Project R.O.A.C.H., a rideable controller to really immerse yourself in the world of The Witcher. To learn more about the (fake) product, watch the trailer below and check out the controller’s official website.

 

Pragmata: A Secret Mega Man Game?

Pragmata, an upcoming third-person shooter from Capcom, is a brand new IP, but that hasn’t stopped some from theorizing the game is secretly connected to one of the most iconic gaming franchises of all time: Mega Man. The game isn’t out, so we have no way of knowing whether or not this fan theory would be confirmed, but with Capcom’s April Fools’ joke this year, which shows protagonist Hugh in a goofy Blue Bomber suit, we can probably assume the link isn’t real.

 

PowerWash Simulator 2: Date the Dirt

Fans on the internet can and will fall in love with any fictional character, no matter how barebones their appearances are, which makes wacky dating sims a popular April Fools’ prank. PowerWash Simulator is really taking advantage of that idea with Date the Dirt, a fake game where you romance human versions of different kinds of dirt. The trailer below is safe for work, but be warned: it’s pretty dirty.

 

Pokémon Pokopia: Copycat Challenge

This one is actually a real in-game event. If you open up Pokémon Pokopia today, you can play the Copycat Challenge. Correctly answer enough quiz questions and you’ll get an inflatable Sudowoodo decoration.

Landfall Day: Peak, Haste, and Content Warning Updates

Landfall is an indie studio with a rich history of releasing games on April 1, and most recently did so with Content Warning. As a result, the company has deemed April Fools’ Day to be Landfall Day, and hosted a livestream with updates about three of its recent games. First, Haste and Content Warning, two PC exclusives, are coming to consoles (PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Switch), while Peak is getting a special update. The help button, which allows you to reach a hand out to your climbing buddies, is now a kick button, letting you launch your friends to their inevitable doom.

SEGA: It’s bluer now

Sega claims it has made its logo 3% more blue. We can’t really see the difference. Can you?

Square Enix: Party Chat

Square Enix is officially (not) launching a show called Party Chat, which brings together iconic characters from the storied studio’s past to talk about their experiences. Unfortunately and hilariously, the series has started with a conversation between Namazu and Moogle, and neither speak a real language.

 

Payday 3: Non Payday Character Mode

The Payday developers have unveiled an exciting new mode, where players will be able to live normal, sad, boring lives instead. Even for April Fools’ Day, this trailer really goes to some wild places.

 

Cairn: Climb A Human?

Short and sweet, this April Fools’ prank shows a new climbable surface in Cairn, revealed to a lukewarm response.

 

Satisfactory: Jason? Jason? Jason!

Satisfactory is a game where all the player characters are women, but don’t you wish you could play as a dude in a video game for once? Developer Coffee Stain fills this niche request and adds Jason, a gun-toting, Cybertruck-driving man to its game.

 

Bendy: Nightmare Syndicate

This trailer is like The Avengers for viral indie horror games. Bendy crosses over with characters from Poppy Playtime, Hello Neighbor, Tattletail, Garten of Banban, Baldi’s Basics, and, of course, Five Nights at Freddy’s.

 

IGN: PlayStation Project Playmo

IGN is no stranger to April Fools’ Day pranks, and this year is no different. Making fun of the idea of AI guides being added to video games, this ad for a sentient PS5 controller has shockingly high production value.

 

Owlcat Games: The owlBrick

Owlcat Games is known titles like Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader, a CRPG that you could (theoretically) play on this new (and definitely fake) console. The owlBrick looks a lot like the upcoming Steam Machine, or maybe like a squished Xbox Series X.

 

Fortnite: April Fools’ Day Update

For the next 24 hours (well, less than that, by the time you’re reading this), Fortnite is getting wacky. Players have big heads, can equip finger guns, take no fall damage, and they can ride llamas – or other players.

Overwatch: Underwatch

Overwatch’s annual April Fools’ joke returns! Characters’ abilities are tweaked in the silliest ways possible, like Mizuki’s second and third hats or Domina’s shield with holes in it. Also, everyone has googly eyes. Maybe I should have led with that.

 

R.E.P.O.: P.E.A.K.O.

This mockumentary shows the developers of R.E.P.O. explain their (fictional) new project: P.E.A.K.O. It’s basically just Peak in the R.E.P.O. art style, complete with gameplay clips and interviews. Its release is just around the corner, too; the video says it will launch “alongside Half-Life 3.”

 

Lords of the Fallen: Helmet Vision

A first-person souls-like would be awesome, except for one thing: to stay alive, you probably need a pretty good helmet, and those things are hard to see out of. This Lords of the Fallen joke ad confronts that exact conundrum.

 

The Division: Audio Update

 When the Division launched, it had a serious issue. There were no Wilhelm screams or squeaky shoe sounds. Finally, the developers at Ubisoft have fixed that problem.

Hitman: H.A.I.R.

Agent 47 is getting a new set of tools, known as the Hostile Area Integration resource, or “H.A.I.R.” With them, he can look like Rumi from K-Pop: Demon Hunters, Astarion from Baldur’s Gate 3, or Kratos from God of War.

Resident Evil Requiem: Grace Kennedy and Leon Ashcroft

Capcom released a dubbed version of an early scene from Resident Evil Requiem, where Nick Apostolides and Ashley Sant’Albano, the voices of Leon and Grace, respectively, swap voice roles. I especially like that they each make an attempt to stay in their old character voice while reading the new lines, so Grace has Leon’s signature gravelly tone while Leon stutters Grace-style.

Marathon: Algae Pond Bath Bomb

When you think of Marathon, Bungie’s sci-fi extraction shooter, what sort of tie-in merch do you envision? Bath bombs, right? No? The cutthroat shooter on a distant planet doesn’t give off bath bomb vibes? You should probably tell the Marathon team, then, because they’re feeling the bath bomb vibes just as much as I am.

Warhammer 40,000: The Emperor Protects

Y’all. The Warhammer team went all out with this one, advertising a stage musical, complete with costumes and fancy lighting. With hits like “Suffer Not The Alien To Live,” “My Collection,” and “There Is Only The Emperor,” this joke is gonna be stuck in my head all week.

 

Apex Legends: April Friends Day

Today and tomorrow, Apex Legends players can prepare to flip their playstyles around. Until April 2, the map will be mirrored, ziplines will be faster, and friendship will be “non-negotiable.” Check out the trailer for yourself below.

Risk of Rain 2: It’s just Rain now

All the rain, none of the risk. For April Fools’ Day, the Risk of Rain team is cutting everything out of the game – including items, enemies, and the soundtrack – and just focusing on the one thing we all care about: rain.

Pokémon: Mega Starmie is running a marathon

Mega Starmie is one of the wildest Pokémon designs, and that’s saying something. This form takes the starfish-shaped water type and extends its limbs just enough to make it move around like a humanoid. It’s disturbing! But if you are a fan, the official Pokémon YouTube channel is streaming 10 hours of Starmie jogging along to upbeat music.

Among Us: Nostalgia Mode

Among Us is getting whatever the opposite of a facelift is (facedrop, maybe?) and reverting its visuals back to the game’s original graphics from before 2021. It includes old emergency meetings and old sprites, when available. The mode launches today, but it’ll be live until April 8.

Sonic the Hedgehog: Series Finale

The Sonic Team is one of the most reliable April Fools’ Day pranksters, and this year, they went for a bit of a deep cut. This roughly 2-minute video shows Sonic and friends as puppets, ordering onion rings and waiting for Amy to arrive. It’s actually a reference to the final scene of the Sopranos, which famously ended abruptly. This short is no different.

 

Bugsnax: Rebungered!! That Time I Got Reincarnated As A BungerRebungered!! That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Bunger

Bugsnax’s April Fools endeavor is a two-parter. First, they created an anime intro to the tune of “Period” by Chemistry, the fourth opening theme for Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. The lyrics are mostly the word “bunger.” Somehow, it’s even better than it sounds. You can check that out below

 

Secondly, the team created a free text adventure game on itch.io, which the anime-style intro is actually about. You can play that here (and you can do it right in your browser).

Lies of P: Avengers Doomsday

This video, edited as if it’s a phone recording of the post credits scene of a movie in a theater, reveals the news we’ve all been waiting for: Gepetto’s Puppet will return in Avengers Doomsday! He’s probably outclassed by a lot of the superpowered Marvel characters, but he might stand a chance if he gets his parry timing down.





Source link

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *