Nintendo has stolen the crown from Capcom, and now a new Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive game is the highest-rated game of 2026, at least per Metacritic scores. We are three months deep into 2026, yet it feels like the year hasn’t even started. The first quarter of 2026 has been pretty disappointing. This was especially the case in the first two months. In March, things are starting to heat up. Fittingly, the highest-rated game of 2026 so far is a March release.
While its 89 on Metacritic is unlikely to hold up come the end of the year, Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive game Pokopia is currently sitting at the top of Metacritic. Now, Resident Evil Requiem also has the same score, but Pokopia is closer to a 90, so it wins on a tiebreaker. That said, it is clearly very close because these two games have traded the crown for a third time now. To this end, just earlier this week, the Capcom game was winning the tiebreaker.
Top 10 Highest-Rated New Games of 2026
Excluding ports, remasters, DLC, and expansions, the top ten highest-rated new games of 2026 are pretty varied and feature as many smaller indie games as big AAA productions, a testament to the current state of the AAA game development industry.
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- Pokopia – 89
- Resident Evil Requiem – 89
- Mewgenics – 88
- Esoteric Ebb – 87
- Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflections – 86
- Perfect Tides: Station to Station – 86
- Nioh 3 – 86
- Cairn – 85
- Paranormasight: The Mermaid’s Curse – 85
- The Legend of Heroes: Trails Beyond the Horizon – 84
Games Releasing Soon That May Dethrone Pokopia
Assuming the new Pokémon game holds onto the top spot and keeps Resident Evil Requiem in second place, there are some challengers releasing soon that could make its time at the top short-lived. For one, Crimson Desert is out next week on March 19, and it looks poised to be one of the biggest releases of 2026. Meanwhile, the long-awaited Xbox console exclusive Replaced is out in one month. And then on April 17, another one of 2026’s biggest games, Capcom’s Pragmata, drops. Of course, there is also always the possibility of an indie game coming out of nowhere and earning critical success as well.
Pokopia will certainly not hold onto this title for the whole year, but it could hold onto it for a while, and with an 89 on Metacritic, it could sneak into Game of the Year conversations come the end of the year.
All of that said, and as always, feel free to leave a comment or two letting us know what you think, or join the conversation over on the ComicBook Forum.
