With a host of new PC games coming out in January 2026, the new year is starting off in style. Which of our 12 picks would make it onto your list?
Can you believe we’re just a couple of hours away from sending off this year and greeting the new one? Goodness, how time flies! What will the next 12 months have in store for us? Are we in for a good start? While we’re not sure about the prospects of financial stability and long-awaited peace on this Earth, there’s one thing that’s certain: there will be a plethora of new PC games in January 2026.
Don’t believe us? We’ve found a dozen anticipated titles that are piquing our interest thanks to their gameplay showcased in demos, memorable graphics, or an overall peculiar concept. And while we aren’t getting an array of high-profile IPs, the first month of the year still shapes up to be promising and eventful.
What upcoming PC games in January 2026 are we looking forward to the most?
As mentioned, we are focusing only on upcoming PC games in January 2026. If you’d like to see a wider perspective on what releases we should expect in the future, we already have a big article dedicated to the most exciting AAA games.
StarRupture
Kicking off our list of upcoming Steam games in January 2026 is the year’s first major addition to the open-world survival genre. Developed by Creepy Jar, the team behind Green Hell, StarRupture shifts the setting from a dangerous jungle to an even more treacherous planet.
The game will launch in Early Access, with the full release currently planned roughly a year later. Players will be tasked with building and expanding their base in an alien world populated by creatures that do not take kindly to visitors. As a result, dynamic combat is a core part of the experience, whether you play solo or team up in co-op with up to three friends.
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Pathologic 3
If you’ve played previous entries in the Pathologic series, you probably already know what kind of experience you’re getting with the third game. If not, well, it’s definitely not for the faint of heart.
Pathologic 3 is a psychological horror game set in a remote town ravaged by a mysterious plague. You have just 12 days to stop it, which is far easier said than done. Along the way, you’ll have to diagnose your patients, enforce quarantines, manage supplies, and ultimately work toward developing a cure. And if you make a mistake, you can rewind time to fix it, which should make things more manageable for you, right? Wrong. That choice comes with sacrifices, too.
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Quarantine Zone: The Last Check
Just a few days before 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple begins its theater run, you’ll have the chance to survive your own zombie apocalypse in Quarantine Zone: The Last Check. But rather than being an action-packed shooter, this game focuses on screening survivors for signs of deadly infection.
Your goal is to command and protect your camp as everything around you collapses into chaos. And when you notice suspicious behavior or symptoms, it’s either quarantine time or the grim end of the road.
If you’re wondering whether this one stands out among other PC games in January 2026, you can download a demo from Steam and give it a try.
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The Legend of Heroes: Trails beyond the Horizon
Isn’t it the millionth installment of The Legend of Heroes franchise?’ you might grumble unenthusiastically. Fans are undoubtedly thrilled and already counting down the days until its release, while newcomers to the series may be wondering whether starting here is a good idea.
The answer is probably not. There are at least 12 games you should play before The Legend of Heroes: Trails beyond the Horizon, as it continues the stories of characters from previous titles. This time around, Van teams up with Rean and others for a training exercise at Marduk, which then spirals into a series of adventures and intertwining story paths featuring three protagonists.
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MIO: Memories in Orbit
Potentially one of the most intriguing new PC games January 2026 has to offer, MIO: Memories in Orbit is an ultra-stylish sci-fi Metroidvania that takes place in a massive spaceship known as the Vessel.
Playing as a tiny android, you’ll wake up to find the ship’s AI crew has stopped working, with the Vessel now overgrown with vegetation and inhabited solely by malfunctioning machines. Worse still, protocol means it’s also preparing to shut down for good, leaving you drifting aimlessly through the stars.
Explore the ship’s interior, recover its memories, and discover why it’s been left to ruin, piecing it all together as you glide, dash, and hack your way through its vast corridors, using wall-runs, aerial dodges, and precision jumps for movement and combat. Better still? MIO is coming to PC Game Pass at launch.
Nova Roma
Rewind time and journey back to an alternate-history version of Ancient Rome, where your architectural choices and political influence matter just as much as your roads and aqueducts.
That’s what the upcoming PC game for January 2026 Nova Roma assures to deliver. Aiming to deliver a fresh take on the historical city builder, you’ll dig deep into urban planning, manage your growing city’s resources, appease its restless citizens, and navigate Senate intrigue while developing your settlement from a tiny, dusty outpost to an imperial centerpiece.
And there are layers, with every district layout impacting trade, security, and happiness levels, and dynamic events such as floods and riots forcing you to think on the fly. Thoughtful and systems-driven, Nova Roma also comes to PC Game Pass on release, January 22.
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Cult of the Lamb: Woolhaven
Our next pick isn’t a new game, but an expansion. However, considering the size and scope of Cult of the Lamb: Woolhaven, it feels like it could’ve been released as one.
Pushing the weird cult-management roguelite into even stranger and more ambitious territory, you can expect to experience new regions, rituals, faith systems, doctrine choices, and storylines that deepen your flock’s twisted ecosystem even further.
Fresh dungeon biomes and unique enemy types breathe new life into the base game, with expanded base-building options and follower behaviors providing your fluffy cultists with even greater personality.
Escape from Ever After
Next on our list of January 2026 PC games is Escape from Ever After. It’s inspired by classics like Paper Mario, which you can see right away in its art style. The twist is the setting: it throws you into a storybook world where fairy-tale characters collide with the harsh realities of capitalism.
You play as Flynt, who sets off on a big quest to take down the shady Ever After Inc., a company determined to take over every storybook world. Along the journey, you’ll jump into fun, fast-paced turn-based battles, explore colorful locations, and tackle plenty of side quests. It looks like a great pick for RPG fans.
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Highguard
Fear not, first-person shooting fans, you’re also about to eat well. From the creators behind absolute blasts such as Apex Legends and Titanfall comes a brand-new PvP raid shooter. Do you have what it takes to survive in Highguard?
Find out in a series of high-stakes matches where tactical gunplay, squad coordination, and smart extraction are crucial for staying in the game. If you’ve played any other popular PvP title, you know how it goes. Gear up, load your gun, challenge rival teams, and fight to escape with valuable loot intact.
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Cairn
This next game’s got its head in the clouds, but in a good way. Offering a tense, grounded take on mountaineering, Cairn asks you to lean into the vulnerability of climbing, where every foothold, gust of wind, and gear choice can mean the difference between triumph and, well, disaster.
More than any of the other PC games coming out in January 2026 featured in this list, Cairn reminds you that humans are fragile. We’re all weak in the face of nature, so stamina management, injuries, and shifting weather patterns will force you to make agonizing decisions about when to push on or retreat for another go when it’s safer to do so.
Between ascents, you’ll spend time working with equipment and planning expeditions, with the game’s eerie sound design reinforcing the sense of isolation at high altitude. Cairn’s shaping up to be an immersive and deeply involving experience. We’ll get to start out at the foothills when it arrives at the end of the month.
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CODE VEIN II
First, there was an idea: what if Dark Souls, but anime? Code Vein proved to be a solid answer, delivering strong, FromSoftware-inspired, though less punishing, combat with over-the-top powers and cool aesthetics (the masks were neat).
From the look of it, Code Vein II isn’t trying to reinvent the formula; it’s refining it. Expect a larger world, fiercer battles, and an emphasis on partner characters who fight by your side. The sequel also involves time travel, with players journeying into the past to change the present. From what we’ve seen, it’s can become a strong representative of its genre and potentially one of the best games in January 2026, especially for those who love build experimentation, as previews promise extensive customization options.
Vampires: Bloodlord Rising
We’re wrapping up the list of new Steam games for January 2026 with Vampires: Bloodlord Rising. It’s one to keep on your radar if you’re into Twilight, Dracula, or you’ve simply always wanted to live out the fantasy of becoming a creature of the night.
This early access open-world adventure lets you play as a newly turned vampire who has to figure out where they belong in the world. You’ll follow a cinematic story and face some tough, gut-wrenching choices during the breaks from exploration.
Beyond the narrative, you can build and grow your own vampire lair, turning it into a proper gothic castle. And of course, you’ll get to toy with supernatural abilities, including classics like transforming into a bat.
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And that’s everything that caught our attention in terms of upcoming PC games in January 2026. If next month had a motto, it would have been “indie games first,” as many large publishers (with some exceptions, of course) are taking a break from launching fresh projects. But as 2025 showed us, indie devs are a force to be reckoned with. Hopefully, January will prove this statement true once again.
