PC Gaming Show Tokyo Direct 2026 Recap: Stronghold 4, Thief Remastered

Tokyo Game Show weekend ended a day early this year because of the typhoon, but the PC Gaming Show Tokyo Direct still went out as planned on Sunday morning Pacific time, and it turned out to be the most date-heavy broadcast of the whole week. Ninety minutes, 36 games, 13 of them world premieres, and a surprising number of them with an actual day on the calendar rather than a vague "2027".

We watched the full show and pulled out what matters below. The headline is Stronghold 4, but the real story is how many small and mid-sized games now have October dates. The full official broadcast is here if you want the trailers in order.

Video: PC Gamer on YouTube

Stronghold 4, Thief Remastered and Lufia lead the big names

Firefly Studios used the show for a proper look at Stronghold 4, the first numbered Stronghold in 15 years and, unusually, a prequel to the original game. The Steam page lists a 22 mission story campaign, a Skirmish Trail, Free Build mode and custom skirmishes against AI, all of which are in the Early Access build. Firefly still only commits to 2026 for that Early Access launch, and says it plans to spend around six months in Early Access working with players before the full release. No price has been given yet.

Nightdive Studios finally showed Thief: The Dark Project Remastered running. The remaster was announced in June for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch 2, Steam, Epic and GOG, with PS4 and Switch versions too, and it bundles the 1998 original with the three extra missions from the Thief Gold re-release. What the Tokyo Direct added was gameplay footage and a look at the new controller-friendly interface. What it did not add was a release date.

The third big name was a genuine surprise: Lufia I and II: The Sinistrals Saga. Taito is bringing Lufia and the Fortress of Doom from 1993 and Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals from 1995 to PS5, Switch, Switch 2 and Steam in 2027, with Clear River Games publishing in the West. It is the first time either game has officially come to PC, and physical editions are planned for the console versions.

The dates: Loftia, Neon Abyss 2, Ball x Pit and a packed October

Loftia is the one cozy players have been waiting on. Qloud Games confirmed Early Access on November 3 on Steam and the Epic Games Store, for Windows and Mac. The Sydney studio's community life sim, set on floating sky islands and built around farming, crafting and shared progress rather than combat, raised more than $1.3 million on Kickstarter, and the Steam page now shows the November 3 unlock.

Neon Abyss 2 leaves Steam Early Access on October 8 and lands the same day on PS5, Xbox Series X|S and Switch. Veewo Games showed a new final boss, Theia, God of Vanity, and the Steam page lists online co-op for up to four players. Ball x Pit gets its biggest add-on yet, Risen Ballbylon, on November 12 at $6.99 across PC, PS5, Xbox, both Switch generations, iOS and Android. It adds eight characters, 24 balls, four battlefields and 20 buildings, and you need to finish the base game before it opens up. Core Keeper's free 1.3 update, Riders of the Underground, was announced for the next day and is already live: saddles turn the existing cattle into mounts, a Hookshot lets you cross chasms, and there is a calmer Moss sub-biome to ride into.

The rest of the dates come thick and fast. Obstacle Overdrive lands October 2. Quarantine Zone's free Miami Zero update is October 15, and Tenebris Somnia, a pixel-art survival horror game with live-action cutscenes, follows on October 16. October 20 brings both We Were Here Tomorrow, the co-op puzzle series' next entry with crossplay across Steam, Xbox and PlayStation, and the 1.0 release of Mycopunk. Escape From Playtime, a four player co-op survival horror set in a toy factory overrun by Smiling Critters, is October 21. Night Plane is October 26. Virtue and a Sledgehammer is October 27, Cairn's free Deep Water DLC is October 29, Young Suns is November 3 alongside Loftia, Fool King is November 16, and Let's Build a Dungeon enters Early Access on February 11, 2027. Vaewolf is pencilled in for early 2027.

Our take

Showcase weeks live or die on dates, and this one delivered more of them than either the Xbox Tokyo Game Show broadcast or the Capcom Spotlight did, even if the games are smaller. The world premieres, Wane, Hodka, Toxic Frontier, Fish and Ships, Marked for Mayhem and Really Illegal Golf among them, each got about 90 seconds, which is too little to judge. Fool King, Night Plane, Hellcard 2, The Rabbit Haul, Undefeated: Genesis and Obstacle Overdrive all have Steam demos up now, so you can test your interest for free. The two headliners without dates, Stronghold 4 and Thief Remastered, are the ones we would keep a wary eye on. Firefly and Nightdive both have a history of slipping, and "2026" for Stronghold 4 now means "in the next three months".