Best of Summer Game Fest 2026 — all the biggest, most exciting, and most innovative things on show that we loved

Summer Game Fest 2026 was jam-packed with exciting announcements, and we spent the whole event live on the ground in Los Angeles, going hands-on and conducting interviews for unparalleled insight into some of the biggest upcoming games and hardware products.

Keep your eyes peeled for a deluge of coverage based on the event in the coming days and weeks, but a few of the things we saw were just too exciting to wait. Our Best of Summer Game Fest 2026 awards gave us the opportunity to celebrate what we loved the most while we were at the show.

We had seven awards to give out at the sole discretion of our editorial team based on what we saw in our preview sessions. Given the breadth of things on show, we decided that there were no specific categories for awards (and the winners here are presented in no particular order), but each of the recipients below should be celebrated as some of the highlights of SGF 2026.

Dashiell Wood, Gaming Editor

Control Resonant

Making a sequel to the critically acclaimed Control was never going to be an easy job, but Remedy looks to have absolutely nailed it. I had an extended hands-on at an SGF-adjacent event and came away hugely impressed and desperate for more.

Playing as Dylan Faden — brother of Control protagonist Jesse Faden — you’re thrown into the paranatural world of Control’s Manhattan setting, but this time exit The Oldest House to fight The Hiss on the streets of a familiar-but-distorted New York. The atmosphere oozes even more cool than the first game, and Remedy’s embracing of larger, open areas, teamed with Dylan’s melee-focused combat and slick movement, are a match made in weird heaven.

There’s plenty of Remedy panache to the level design, with changes to gravity, orientation, and perspective on offer even in the small slither I played. With such flare in the more linear space offsetting the more open areas you can explore, there’s a neat balance to the spaces and places you’ll experience. It makes the perfect setting for another weird story too…

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The real star of the show so far, though, is the combat. Much more multi-layered than Jesse’s in the first game, there are so many options, weapon variants, abilities and skills available to you. Team this with a focus on fluidity and dynamic movement in Dylan’s fighting style, and you can create some wild combos and movesets.

Rob Dwiar, Managing Editor, TechRadar Gaming and Streaming

Seed

I’ve been writing about games professionally for more than half a decade now, and I can count on one hand the times that a hands-on session has truly blown me away. Unassuming life simulator Seed did exactly that with its incredible ambition and technical complexity. It’s basically The Sims crossed with an MMO on steroids, and has you dropping custom characters (or Seedlings as they’re known in-universe) into a vast shared world with seemingly endless possibilities.

Everything is player-driven. Even a simple object like a chair has to be built by players and is the result of a complex production line, with prices dictated by a fully simulated economy. The jobs that your Seedling can work are all created by others as well, with the chance to create your own if you have the cash and need something done. Want someone to clean up your (player-built) house every couple of days? Simply create a job listing with your requirements and wait for another player to apply.

You don’t have to watch your Seedling toil away at their workplace for hours, which is certainly a relief. If you do want to check in, an in-development companion app (which was also demoed at the show) will let you keep tabs on them while you’re out and about enjoying your own life.

Seed also features one of the best and most natural implementations of large language model (LLM) tech that I’ve seen in a game with its Seedling chat system, which lets you talk directly to your character to discuss how they’re feeling, give them tasks to accomplish, or even influence their social interactions. It feels seriously futuristic and is something that would have been simply impossible a few years ago, showing how AI can be used tastefully to deliver all-new experiences rather than in a misguided attempt to replace artists and developers.

Dashiell Wood, Gaming Editor

Alien: Isolation 2

I’ve never felt so conflicted going into a hands-on preview: I’m a pretty big fan of the Alien franchise and loved Alien: Isolation, but only got through the latter through sheer perseverance. The prospect of playing Alien Isolation 2 knowing I’d be in a high-stress situation wasn’t one I could truly say I was looking forward to.

However, increased heart rate aside, the wait for this follow-up has been worth it. Creative Assembly looks set to deliver a (often literally) breath-taking sequel to one of the best horror games of all time. Taking care to keep within the first game’s key successes but evolve them and adapt them to a new setting and story, Alien: Isolation 2 already looks to be an absolute thrill, and it's worthy of one of our awards this year.

The introduction of an exterior environment for you to play cat and mouse with the Xenomorph looks to be a stroke of genius. Contrasting this with some familiar but terrifying interior scenarios, the evolution of the world is going to go down very well with fans. On top of that, everything looks fantastic and incredibly detailed, showing a huge jump in graphical fidelity that true Alien heads will take great joy in soaking up. And yes, the Xenomorph looks even more terrifying this time around.

You can look forward to limited resources to juggle, fantastic environments to explore, a cleverer-than-ever Xeno to escape, and some of the best aesthetics in a horror game to marvel at, all while carrying on the story straight from the first game.

Rob Dwiar, Managing Editor, TechRadar Gaming and Streaming

Fable

We’ve been waiting ages, but having now seen Fable in real life, it looks like it’ll absolutely be worth it.

Talking pigs, endless romance options, permanent-feeling actions, consequence-dealing behaviour, enjoyable dialog and fun humour, and a beautiful English-countryside-inspired setting? All are present, and it’s a game that’s undoubtedly going to be joyful to get stuck into.

With systems so deep and rich, and a cast of non-player characters (NPCs) so varied, real, and engaging, there’s so much fun to be had in the world of Fable no matter your intentions. But it’s very much not all good and bad choices: there are many shades of gray between, and every NPC’s perspective will be different, so you’ll have to deal with a variety of consequences no matter what decision you take.

A brief look at combat also proved exciting. It’s fluid, flashy, and downright fun-looking with flurries of fantastical movement and fighting actions combining beautifully on the hero I saw a glimpse of.

Fable is shaping up to be a hugely rewarding and interesting experience that you can lose yourself in, and could even become part economy-sim, life-sim, and settlement-builder, as well as RPG, all in one.

Rob Dwiar, Managing Editor, TechRadar Gaming and Streaming

Sonic Pico Park

What happens when you take a popular indie party game and pair it with one of the biggest platformer franchises around? An incredible amount of charming fun — at least if Sonic Pico Park is anything to go by.

Gathered around a sofa with a group of strangers for my hands-on session, it wasn’t long before we were chatting and laughing together like old friends as we worked our way through a series of pixellated puzzles. Returning Pico Park fans will already know to expect smart level design, but I was particularly impressed by how well some core Sonic mechanics are incorporated into this new crossover.

Careful use of the blue blur’s shiny gold rings helps you get past deadly obstacles that would otherwise be game over, while springs send you shooting forward with enough momentum to conquer big loop-de-loops. Sonic, Tails, and Amy are all playable with some unique tricks between them. Everyone can spin dash (used in my demo to break the occasional destructible surface), but only Tails gets the ability to fly and even airlift others, while Knuckles has a little glide that makes it easier to get over big gaps.

It’s all rendered in a simplistic but cute art direction that conveys a great sense of playfulness, and I simply can’t wait to play more.

Dashiell Wood, Gaming Editor

TCL 2A Pro

I’ll take any opportunity to sit down and play a few matches of Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, but demoing it on TCL’s newest gaming monitor line took the experience to a whole new level. The flagship TCL C2A Pro 4K might be the ultimate all-round package for those after a display that can take everything from cinematic story experiences such as The Last of Us Part 1 to fast-paced first-person shooters in a stride.

Its QD-Mini LED panel is seriously colorful, with a vibrancy that, to my eyes, rivals many OLED displays. It’s bright, achieving a peak brightness of up to 2,000 nits and featuring the desirable DisplayHDR 1400 certification. By default, it offers a cinematic 4K picture at a speedy 160Hz, but those with a more competitive side can use its dual mode feature to bump it down to 1080p at an incredibly smooth 320Hz, which is going to be simply invaluable in titles like Counter Strike 2 where high frame rates and split-second performance can mean the difference between a clutch win or devastating defeat.

The monitor’s design and build are impressive too. The sleek white chassis has an almost sci-fi aesthetic, complemented by streaks of attractive RGB lighting, and houses a generous selection of ports — the perfect blend of looks and practicality.

Dashiell Wood, Gaming Editor

And one more mystery winner...

We gave out seven Best of Summer Game Fest 2026 awards this year, but there's one more winner that we can't announce quite yet.

Stay tuned, as this article will be updated with the last entry when we're able to share it in the coming weeks.

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Dash is an experienced tech journalist who specializes in video games, electronic entertainment products, and the wider industry that surrounds them. He currently serves as the Gaming Editor at TechRadar, leading our review, preview, feature, and news coverage of the latest and greatest releases.

Before joining the team, he was Contributing Writer at PLAY (formerly Official PlayStation Magazine UK) and has written articles for many of the UK's other biggest gaming magazines including the likes of Edge, PC Gamer, and SFX.

Now, when he's not getting his greasy little mitts on the newest hardware or gaming gadget, he can be found listening to J-pop or feverishly devouring the latest Nintendo Switch otome.

With contributions from

Rob DwiarManaging Editor, TechRadar Gaming and Streaming