2026 has already delivered a healthy selection of new VR games, but there is still plenty to look forward to. When we published our original look at the most anticipated VR games of 2026, many of the titles were still months away from launch. That has changed considerably. Some have now arrived, and others have disappeared from the immediate release calendar altogether. So, as we head towards the final months of the year, we’ve gone back through the remaining lineup to find the titles that are still unreleased and worthy of being the most anticipated VR games still to come in 2026.
Project Hail Mary: Journey Among the Stars
One of the year’s most unusual VR projects is also one of the biggest new names still waiting to launch. Project Hail Mary: Journey Among the Stars comes from UK developer Maze Theory in collaboration with author Andy Weir and Amazon MGM Studios. Rather than retelling the events of the Project Hail Mary book or film, the game introduces a new story set.
Players take on the role of Ryland Grace during an untold chapter of the Hail Mary mission. With critical systems failing, Grace must diagnose problems, improvise solutions and keep the spacecraft functioning with the help of Rocky, the alien intelligence who has become one of the story’s central characters.
This a particularly interesting adaptation because it is not simply a movie tie-in. Maze Theory describes it as a new MR experience created specifically for the medium, with Weir writing an original story. The game is currently scheduled for late 2026, with Meta Quest 3/3S and Pico 4 confirmed. Additional platforms remain to be announced. A demo at Gamescom 2026 and gameplay reveal gave us a better look at what the finished experience will involve.
PAYDAY: Aces High
PAYDAY is coming to VR yet again with PAYDAY: Aces High; one of the more significant games scheduled for 2026. Developed by Fast Travel Games under licence from Starbreeze, PAYDAY: Aces High is a standalone VR co-op heist game built around teams of up to four players.
Rather than simply adapting an existing PAYDAY campaign, the game introduces a new group of characters called The Aces and a new story involving business magnate Warren Jupiter. Players can choose their role, assemble their weapons and gadgets, scout locations and decide whether a job is going to be stealthy or spectacularly loud. Fast Travel Games has also been explicit that this is a VR-native PAYDAY experience rather than a flatscreen game with VR controls added afterwards.
The game remains unreleased, with Steam currently listing Q4 2026. It is coming to Meta Quest 3 and SteamVR, with Steam Frame support also announced ahead of launch. A closed community playtest took place in August, giving the development team an opportunity to gather feedback before release.
AFFECTED: The Asylum
AFFECTED: The Asylum has perhaps the most complicated release history on this list. Originally announced years ago as the follow-up to AFFECTED: The Manor, the game was delayed from its original 2023 target into 2024 before effectively disappearing from the public radar.
It returned to the spotlight in March 2026 with a new development team, a new publisher arrangement and a substantially revised vision. Dead Boss Games has taken over active development with support from Evolution Publishing, and the game has changed from the multiplayer-focused horror adventure previously announced into a single-player psychological survival horror experience set inside Blackthorne Asylum.
The story centres around a secretive cult, horrific experiments and a creature known as Subject 357, which now stalks the asylum as a recurring threat. The revival also brought a new teaser and a Summer 2026 release target for Meta Quest and PC VR. That makes AFFECTED: The Asylum an unusual but still worthwhile inclusion in a list of 2026 games. It is clearly still in development and has not been moved into 2027, but its ‘summer’ is coming to a close pretty sharpish. Will the game still arrive in 2026? We’ll have to wait and see.
ALREADY DEAD
ALREADY DEAD takes a very different approach to VR horror. Developed by Mooncall Games, the project is effectively a 1990s survival-horror formula rebuilt specifically for VR. Instead of giving the player the usual first-person freedom of movement, it uses carefully selected fixed camera angles to create a deliberately controlled perspective. It’s certainly an interesting concept.
The decision to use fixed camera angles is particularly interesting in VR. It deliberately works against one of the usual conventions of the medium. Rather than trying to make everything as physically free as possible, ALREADY DEAD is attempting to recreate the visual language of classic survival horror while using VR to make the environments themselves more immersive.
For PSVR 2 owners looking for something closer to classic Resident Evil-style survival horror than the typical VR haunted-house experience, this remains one to watch.
Nevrosa: Rescape
The Nevrosa series is returning with Nevrosa: Rescape, an expanded remake of the original puzzle adventure. Developed by GexagonVR, the game combines escape-room-style puzzles with exploration, action and horror. Players enter a mysterious laboratory and eventually discover a strange world hidden beyond a mirror.
The new version is being presented as considerably more than a straight remaster. GexagonVR describes it as an enhanced and expanded remake. The game will offer additional puzzles, scenes and animations and a longer story built around the original Nevrosa concept. It’s one of the more interesting upcoming VR puzzle games, particularly for players who prefer exploration and environmental problem-solving over constant combat.
Steam currently lists Q4 2026, with a Meta Quest version is also still listed as coming soon.
Timeless Heart VR
Timeless Heart VR has been in development for some time, but it remains an interesting prospect. VR players looking for something closer to a traditional action-RPG in VR will want to keep an eye on this one.
The game follows Lycaena through four kingdoms that have become frozen on the brink of destruction. Combat uses a range of conventional weapons alongside the unusual Chain Claw, which is also used for traversal. There is a strong emphasis on physical combat, but the project also includes story elements. Repeated attempts through its world are accompanied by a companion character who fights alongside the player.
The developer’s stated aim is to explore more varied forms of VR combat rather than producing another straightforward zombie shooter. Particular attention is being paid to cooperative swordplay and physical interaction.
Steam currently lists the game for 2026, with additional VR platforms such as Meta Quest and PSVR 2 also planned.
EXOSHOCK
EXOSHOCK is one of the most ambitious sci-fi shooters still working towards release this year. Developed by PolarityOne, the game combines VR-first shooting with conventional PC support, allowing VR and flatscreen players to share the same missions through cross-play.
The game supports solo play as well as four-player co-op. Players will take on missions involving enemy ships, hostile facilities and heavily armed opponents. What makes EXOSHOCK particularly interesting is how much emphasis the developers have placed on making it work as a full multiplayer shooter rather than simply adding co-op as an afterthought.
The project entered another major public testing phase this month, with the developers describing this as the final free playtest before Early Access launch. The build supports Meta Quest 3/3S and SteamVR, as well as conventional PC players, with full cross-play between the two formats.
The Rifted Skies
DreamVR is bringing its first original consumer VR game to the home market with The Rifted Skies. The studio has extensive experience in location-based VR, and that background is immediately apparent in its approach to movement.
Players control a lone warrior in a collapsing world using physical gestures for much of the movement. Swinging your arms is used to sprint, while other physical actions control jumping, gliding, climbing and other traversal mechanics.Combat is similarly physical, with players using weapons such as a bow and katana while dodging, parrying and countering attacks.
For a VR industry increasingly interested in making movement feel more natural and less reliant on analogue-stick locomotion, The Rifted Skies is an especially interesting experiment.
Underneath that physical layer is a roguelite structure, with more than 100 potential upgrades and permanent unlocks allowing players to develop different builds across repeated runs. The game is coming to Meta Quest and SteamVR in 2026.
The VR Games Still Worth Watching
With the final quarter of 2026 approaching, the remaining release calendar is smaller than it looked at the start of the year. But there is still plenty of variety.
There are no guarantees when it comes to release dates, particularly with several of the above games now operating on broad seasonal or quarterly windows. But unlike a list built from old announcements, these are the projects that currently remain unreleased and still have a stated path towards launching in 2026.
And with three months still left in the year, there is time for the VR calendar to deliver a few more surprises yet. What’s your most anticipated 2026 VR game? Be sure to let us know in the comments below!
