Best VR Games of 2026

Last updated: September 14, 2026

Part of our Best Of 2026 guide collection.

Two thirds of the way through, 2026 is delivering on its promise as one of the biggest years for VR gaming. Microsoft Flight Simulator hit PSVR 2, TMNT: Empire City brought the turtles to VR, H3VR capped a decade in Early Access with its 1.0 release over the July 4 weekend, and the tactical shooter GERONIMO arrived on July 10 to the strongest reception any new VR release has had this summer. On the hardware side, the Steam Frame cleared the FCC on July 29 and Valve put the headset's compatibility layers on Steam on August 2, and Valve launched it on September 14 at $1,059 with Half-Life: Alyx in the box. Here are the best VR games of 2026 so far, plus the titles still ahead.

Best new releases of 2026 (so far)

Resident Evil Requiem

Developer: Capcom | Platform: PC (VR mod available) | Released: March 2026

Capcom's latest Resident Evil entry already has a PC VR mod less than a week after launch. While not an official VR release, the modding community has made it functional and the VR community is buzzing about it. A reminder that PC VR modding continues to be one of the most exciting frontiers in VR gaming.

Batman: Arkham Shadow

Developer: Camouflaj | Platform: Quest | Released: Late 2025 (still peaking in early 2026)

Arkham Shadow carried massive momentum into 2026. The combat system translates Rocksteady's freeflow fighting into physical VR punches, counters, and gadget use. The stealth sections where you perch on gargoyles and swoop down on enemies feel genuinely empowering. It's the best superhero game in VR by a wide margin and one of the strongest Quest exclusives to date.

Little Nightmares VR: Altered Echoes

Developer: Bandai Namco | Platform: PSVR2, Quest, PC VR | Released: April 24, 2026

Bandai Namco's acclaimed puzzle-platformer franchise made the jump to VR on April 24 with a new standalone story following Dark Six through a deeply unsettling world of outsized threats and intricate puzzles. It is out now on PSVR2, Quest, and PC VR, and the sense of scale and creeping dread carries over from the flat-screen originals.

Microsoft Flight Simulator (PSVR 2)

Developer: Asobo Studio | Platform: PSVR 2 | Released: April 29, 2026

The biggest thing to happen to PlayStation VR in a year. Microsoft Flight Simulator finally landed on PSVR 2 in late April, bringing one of the most visually impressive games ever made into stereoscopic VR. The sense of scale at altitude is genuinely staggering, and the PSVR 2 OLED panels handle the lighting beautifully. Read our full launch coverage for the complete breakdown.

TMNT: Empire City

Developer: nDreams | Platform: Quest, PC VR | Released: April 30, 2026

The turtles arrived in VR. Empire City is a physics-driven beat ‘em up where you can play as any of the four turtles, with two-handed weapons that actually feel weighty in your grip. The co-op delivers the cartoon energy fans wanted. Read our launch-day impressions for our full take.

One More Delve

Developer: ATVR | Platform: Quest, PC VR | Released: April 28, 2026 (Quest), July 23, 2026 (Steam)

A largely solo-developed three-player co-op dungeon crawler with real physics and hand-made levels, and the spring's best argument that one developer with the right idea can still carve out a moment in VR. The Quest reception has been strong. Its July 23 Steam debut has been rockier: as of early August it sits at Mixed, 69 percent positive across 36 reviews, with the praise going to the combat feel and the complaints going to sluggish body physics and thin late-run replayability. That is a small sample on a game still shipping updates, so treat it as a work in progress rather than a verdict. Our full launch coverage and review has the details.

Into the Radius 2

Developer: CM Games | Platform: PC VR, Quest | Released: April 23, 2026 (1.0)

The closest thing VR has to S.T.A.L.K.E.R. left Early Access on April 23 with its full 1.0 release. CM Games' survival shooter drops you alone into a surreal anomaly zone where you manually rack your slide, count every round, and maintain your guns by hand. The 1.0 launch added a full story campaign, new weapons, and night vision, and a later update brought the multiplayer co-op players had been waiting for. It is one of the best hardcore VR games most people still have not heard of. Our full release coverage has the breakdown.

Hot Dogs, Horseshoes & Hand Grenades (H3VR)

Developer: Rust Ltd | Platform: PC VR | Released: 1.0 on July 4 weekend, 2026 (Update 120)

Ten years after entering Early Access at the dawn of consumer VR, H3VR finally shipped its 1.0 over the Fourth of July weekend. It is the definitive firearms sandbox in VR: hundreds of meticulously simulated weapons, the gleefully weird Take and Hold mode, and a decade of free updates from a tiny team. Few games in any medium have been supported this well for this long, and the scoreboard reflects it. As of early August it holds an Overwhelmingly Positive rating on Steam, 97 percent positive across more than 23,000 reviews, which makes it comfortably the best-reviewed VR game on the platform. Rust Ltd has also put up a store page for a sequel, Hot Dogs, Horseshoes & Hand Grenades 2, with no release date attached. Our ten-year retrospective covers what the journey represents.

GERONIMO

Developer: Dark Matter Studios | Platform: PC VR | Released: July 10, 2026 | $19.99

The strongest new VR release of the summer, and the one most likely to still be in rotation at Christmas. GERONIMO is a close-quarters tactical shooter in the Ready or Not mould: breach a room, clear it slowly, and get punished hard for moving before your squad is set. It supports solo infiltration or six players together, and the weapon handling and attachment depth are the parts players keep singling out. It sits at Very Positive on Steam, 84 percent positive across more than 1,100 reviews as of early August, which is a rare hit rate for a VR shooter this early in its life. Expect rough edges, because the content pipeline is still filling in, but the core loop is already the real thing.

Star Trek: Infection

Released March 31 on Quest 3 and PC VR, this narrative survival horror is set in the Star Trek universe. You play a Vulcan Starfleet officer aboard the U.S.S. Lumen as the mission collapses into something darker. Reception has been mixed: critics praised the atmosphere and franchise authenticity while flagging finicky controls and a short, roughly six to seven hour runtime. Worth it for Trek fans who can tolerate the rough edges.

Aces of Thunder

Released February 3 on PSVR2 and PC VR, this World War I and II flight combat game focuses on cockpit-only VR gameplay with physics derived from War Thunder. It supports full HOTAS controls, ships with 24 aircraft, and won praise for its physical accuracy and audio while drawing criticism for a steep learning curve. Sim enthusiasts have embraced it.

Virtual Hunter

Released May 27 on PSVR2 and Quest at $24.99 after a stretch on Steam, Korpi Games' realistic hunting sim is the most serious attempt the genre has seen in VR. It is built around 64 square kilometer open worlds with solo play or six-player co-op, and it leans hard on each headset's hardware. If you have wanted a patient, tracking-focused hunting game in VR rather than an arcade shooting gallery, this is the one to watch. Our launch coverage breaks down the platform differences.

Still ahead in 2026

Steam Frame, and the Half-Life: Alyx bundle

Valve launched the Steam Frame on September 14 at $1,059 for 256GB and $1,299 for 1TB, and the launch game turned out to be one VR players already know: every headset includes a copy of Half-Life: Alyx, which now runs natively on the headset with no PC, redeemed in Settings on the headset, one per device (if Alyx is already in your library, you cannot redeem a second copy). Valve announced no new first-party game alongside it. What it has instead is a catalog: over 100 games Steam Frame Standalone Verified, up from about half a dozen when the Great on Frame store section opened in July, helped along by Lepton and FEX, the headset's Android and x86 translation layers, plus everything on your PC over its streaming link. Hardware is not in players' hands yet. Valve is selling it through a reservation lottery that closes September 17 at 10 AM Pacific, with purchase emails from September 18, and our signup guide walks through it. Any Half-Life hopes beyond Alyx will have to wait for another day.

Detective VR

Due September 9 on Steam from Studio CHIPO Y JUAN and Valem Studio, this is a first-person investigation game built for VR and mixed reality: examine a scene, bag evidence, interrogate suspects, and assemble the case yourself. Its date fell the week before Valve launched the Steam Frame, and it is a VR Only listing on Steam.

Gunman Contracts: Stand Alone

Due September 10 on Steam. ANB_Seth's free Half-Life: Alyx mod drew more than 300,000 subscribers before it became a paid standalone game, and the developer set the September 10 date on its own, without waiting for Valve. A tight, physics-heavy action shooter that plays like a John Wick set piece; it is the one PC VR release this month that does not need a pitch.

Sol Protocol

Listed for October on Steam from Singular Perception, with a Quest early access listing planned for the same window. A co-op starship bridge game in the Star Trek: Bridge Crew mould: each player runs a station, the ship only survives if everyone does their job. VR Only on Steam.

What to watch for

The Steam Frame is out of the rumor stage: Valve launched it on September 14, and the first purchase emails from its reservation lottery go out September 18, which makes the next few weeks the first real test of the Great on Frame catalog, now over 100 Standalone Verified games by Valve's count. Meta Connect follows on September 23 with the Quest 4 pointed at 2027, so Valve has the hardware stage to itself this month. The software calendar is filling in around it: Detective VR on September 9, Gunman Contracts: Stand Alone on September 10, Sol Protocol in October. Streets of Miami VR, which had been dated August 28, is back to Coming Soon on Steam. Our first-half standouts roundup recaps the six months that got us here.

We'll keep this page updated as new titles are announced and released throughout 2026.