Really interesting Finnish games will be released this year.
When talking about upcoming game releases in 2026, most people probably have in mind GTA VI, which has been described as the biggest game of all time. It has taken up a lot of space from other game releases, so it is good to remind you that there are also many other very interesting games coming out in 2026 from other publishers.
The list of games to be released also includes works from Finland, and because this PlayLab! Magazine is a Finnish online publication of the University of Tampere, where students can publish articles related to games, I want in this article to introduce three interesting Finnish games, all of which are expected to be released during 2026.
Control: Resonant – Remedy Entertainment
If you’ve heard phrases like “there will be work for the axe” or “take them behind the sauna”, you may have spent time with a Finn, or you’ve probably been talking to Ahti the janitor. This supporting character (who also won an award at the BAFTA Games Awards in 2020), is of course familiar from Remedy Entertainment’s game called Control. This game is a 2019 action-adventure game which garnered a lot of praise and was sold over 5 million copies.
This year, this adventure finally continues. The latest The Game Awards gala saw a new addition to the list of games to be presented from Finland when the sequel to the game Control, Control: Resonant, was announced. It is a third-person action role-playing game. The game is developed by Remedy Entertainment, known for its successful games such as Alan Wake 1, Alan Wake 2, Control and Quantum Break.
The game is a sequel to the previous Control game. The events of Control: Resonant take place 7 years after the events of the first game. In this game, the main character is Dylan Faden (Sean Durrie), the brother of the main character Jesse Faden (Courtney Hope) from Control.
It is worth noting that the genre of the game has changed from action-adventure to RPG in the sequel. Based on the trailer, the main character’s battles are more melee-oriented, and firearms have not been seen so far. This is Remedy Entertainment’s first action role-playing game.
Although it is a sequel, the game developer promises in its press release that the player does not need to know the first game to jump into the sequel. Although Remedy Entertainment has made successful games, there have also been some downfalls recently. The company’s latest release, FBC: Firebreak, flopped badly based on statistics. Remedy reported an operating loss of 16.4 million euros for the previous quarter. This is therefore a very important release for the company. The game will be released during 2026.
Wreckfest 2 – Bugbear
Car games are sometimes criticized for not having realistic damage models or for not breaking down cars enough. That’s logical, because no car manufacturer wants to see their own car as a piece of junk in a video game. But what if we forgot about car brands and instead had only cars without brands. They wouldn’t necessarily be very shiny, but they would certainly be beautiful in their own way. There’s a smell of gasoline everywhere and even a small hit will dent your car. That’s what the first Wreckfest sounded like, which was a demolition-derby style arcade racing game that’s getting a sequel.
The demolition derby has been a familiar concept in games from a company called Bugbear for years. BugBear’s previous successful game series called FlatOut was a fun action demolition derby/racing video game series and Wreckfest was developed as a continuation of this game series. Wreckfest was officially released in 2018. However, the game was available as an Early Access release 4 years before the official release. It was a big step forward from the company’s previous games, introducing, among other things, more advanced car damage modeling.
Wreckfest 2 is also specifically what the company’s games had become known for: demolition derby. Compared to the previous part, Wreckfest 2 has received an update to the physics engine and damage modeling. There are also detailed editing options, one example of which is a customization tool that allows you to scrape the paint off vehicles and make the rust on the arches visible.
In short, Wreckfest 2 is a more advanced version of its first part, which has been promised to fully utilize the power of the new console generation hardware. However, the game is still in the development phase, and there is no information about the exact development time. This also largely depends on the feedback given to the developers by the players. Since the game is in Early Access, it is already possible to buy and play. The official release is expected to take place during 2026.
Saros – Housemarque
It’s time to head away from Earth again and look towards unknown planets and their dangers. This is a setting that has made many good shooter games, and Saros is also aiming for it.
Saros is a third-person action game in which an ominous solar eclipse threatens the planet Carcosa. The player controls the lonely Arjun Devraj (Rahul Kohli) who searches for answers to the mystery of the lost colony at any cost. The game is developed by Housemarque, which is known for games such as Returnal, Resogun, Nex Machina and Super Stardust. Housemarque is the oldest game house in Finland with a history of over 30 years.
Based on the gameplay footage, the character’s movements look familiar from the company’s previous game, Retrunal. Returnal was praised but also known for its difficulty. Many people thought the difficulty level was too high, and for example, a critic from The Washington Post could not review the game because he did not get far enough into it. It is reasonable to assume that the problems noted with Returnal have now been taken into account in the new work. YLE wrote an article about Housemarque in 2025, according to which the team saw from the statistics that a large part of the players gave up at the same point in Returnal. However, it remains to be seen how the challenge has been adjusted in this game.
As in Returnal, in Saros, the game experience after death is always slightly different. However, this time, dying helps with progress in one way or another. The game will be released on April 30, 2026.
When should the game be released?
Bloomberg reported in 2024 that no one wants to release their own game even close to the release of GTA VI, as it is believed to dominate consumer interest and money. If the release date of GTA VI remains, it could mean tactics by other game companies regarding releases. However, from a consumer perspective, it is nice to see a wide range of games being released. So many games, so little time.
Featured image from Remedy Entertainment CONTROL Resonant Announcement Kit -press pack.
