If Hollow Knight Silksong was the only platformer released in 2025, that alone would make 2025 a great year for platformers. Thankfully, as you'll know by checking out our picks for the Best Platformers of 2025, there was more than Hollow Knight Silksong to be excited about.
Now that Silksong is out, we platformer fans can stop waiting for its release and look forward to what's coming in 2026. Here are Wccftech's picks for the Most Anticipated Platformers for 2026.
Other Wccftech's Most Anticipated 2026 Games per category: Role-Playing Games, Indie Games, DLC/Expansion, Action, Shooters, Horror, Sports/Racing, Fighting, Adventure Games, Strategy/Simulation, Multiplayer, Most Anticipated Games
Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis (TBC 2026 - PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S)
Lara Croft is making yet another comeback, and this time, Crystal Dynamics and Flying Wild Hog Studios are bringing players back to how things were when she raided tombs on the original PlayStation in 1996. Legacy of Atlantis is a reimagining of the original game, in all of its adventuring and 3D platforming glory, with a massive visual upgrade to go along with it.
The reveal at The Game Awards showed off a small clip of gameplay, which showed that while you'll definitely spend a fair amount of time shooting raptors while duel-wielding pistols, you'll also be jumping to avoid traps and clear obstacles like you would have back in the 90s. Obviously, at this point, we don't know how much of the gameplay will focus on platforming, but it doesn't seem to be tossed to the side. There's definitely more than a small chance that it is one of the more engaging platformers in 2026, and hopefully it lives up to that expectation.
Bloodstained: The Scarlet Engagement (TBC 2026 - PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S)
All of the Bloodstained games are 2D platformers, but within them are two different art styles. The Curse of the Moon games are both pixel art, more classic-era Castlevania-looking games, while the Ritual of the Night and one of our picks, the Scarlet Engagement, have a more modern, 2D/3D style with more detailed character models.
Hundreds of games have tried to capture the magic of the original Castlevania games, but Bloodstained has been consistently successful at presenting Castlevania nostalgia while still maintaining its own flavour. Ritual of the Night is arguably one of the better of the three currently available Bloodstained games, and by the time The Scarlet Engagement arrives, it'll have been seven years since it came out on PC and last-gen consoles.
Hopefully, The Scarlet Engagement can pick up where Ritual of the Night left off and deliver a platforming experience that can stand amongst the best of its contemporaries.
Yoshi and the Mysterious Book (Spring 2026 - Nintendo Switch 2)
Platforming fans everywhere are still waiting for their Grand Theft Auto VI reveal (a new 3D Mario platformer), but Yoshi's Island fans are in good shape because we have Yoshi and the Mysterious Book to look forward to.
The upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive is the first new Yoshi game since Yoshi's Crafted World in 2019, making this the second game on this list that'll have a seven-year gap between its most recent series entry. We haven't seen too much of the game, but its likeness to Yoshi's Island is undeniable. If that inspiration follows through to its gameplay, then we'll have one of the better 2D platformers Nintendo has put out in a while on our hands.
LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight (May 29, 2026 - PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch 2)
The LEGO games have always been a mix of puzzle-platforming with some light combat and adventuring, and even though LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight looks like it'll be the most expansive, most open-world-like game in the modern era of LEGO games yet, there's no reason to believe it won't include plenty of 3D platforming.
It seems like it'll have a bit more of an Arkham-style focus on combat and open-world mechanics, but it's still a LEGO game. There's a good chance some of the combat focus the Arkham games have will be swept away for more platforming, and TT Games has more than proven capable of creating some excellent platforming adventures. It's good to have a Batman game we can actually look forward to, instead of one where no one is all that convinced it'll be worth checking out, only to be proven right (looking at you, Gotham Knights and Suicide Squad).
Darwin's Paradox (TBC 2026 - PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch 2)
Our last but in no way least pick of our most anticipated games, Darwin's Paradox, is a real fish-out-of-water scenario as you take on the role of a blue octopus that is quite literally out of his natural habitat. Getting back to the ocean and getting back home is the ultimate goal, and along the way you'll be put into what looks like more than a few tricky platforming situations.
Darwin's Paradox looks like it'll be a strong spectacle when it comes to its visual presentation and a few core set-pieces throughout the game's story, and hopefully, it's able to lean on the squiggly and sticky nature of the octopus to create some inventive platforming scenes.
Honorable Mentions
As is the case with every category, not everything we're looking forward to in 2026 can make our main list. The following are our honourable mentions for our most anticipated platformers for 2026.
But before that, a huge asterisk on our main list. Our top honourable mention is an Unannounced Mario 3D platformer, because when it launches, it'll likely be the most significant game for the genre since Super Mario Odyssey. But without any actual announcement, it didn't feel right having it take the place of another game that we actually know will arrive this year.
It was already a shock that the Nintendo Switch 2 didn't launch with a new Mario platformer, so we can't exactly bet on it happening in 2026. So if you felt its absence from the main list, that's why. With that out of the way, here are our honourable mentions.
- Unannounced Mario 3D Platformer
- Reanimal
- High on Life 2
- The Eternal Life of Goldman
- Replaced
About the author: David has been writing about videogames, technology, and culture since 2020, with a focus on reporting daily news across multiple publications, including GameDaily.Biz, GameSkinny, and PlayStation Universe before joining Wccftech in 2025. David started contributing as Canada/US reporter for Wccftech's gaming section in 2025. Besides being up-to-date on the industry's movements, he loves interviewing developers, reviewing games, and writing intricate essays about the symbolism and layered meanings to be found in rich narratives as he's done for publications like GamesIndustry.Biz, LostInCult, and others. Outside of games he loves movies, music, theatre, his hometown, and his family, though not necessarily in that order.
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