An unexpected publisher stepped into the spotlight during yesterday's PlayStation State of Play presentation. That publisher was Konami, a once-prominent developer and publisher of video games that, in recent years, has come under fire from gamers for largely neglecting its multiple iconic franchises. Yesterday's State of Play served as a reemergence party of sorts for the publisher, as the company announced multiple projects, including the Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 2 and Castlevania: Belmont's Curse. Fans expressed excitement after learning these iconic franchises still have pulses, and today, it would seem Castlevania may not only have a pulse, but potentially a new lease on life.

Following its block on the State of Play, Konami updated its Castlevania Portal Site with the following message regarding Castlevania's 40th anniversary:

The doors of Castlevania open once more.

This year marks the 40th anniversary since the original ‘Akumajō Dracula’ first saw the light of day. In this commemorative year, “Castlevania” will be revived.

First up is this title: ‘Castlevania: Belmont's Curse’.

We couldn’t think in other studios to work together rather than Evil Empire and Motion Twin, studios brimming with talent and passion, to deliver a new exploration-based 2D action game that captures the essence of Castlevania while bringing fresh innovation.

This is the beginning of numerous new products around Castlevania.

Look forward to the return of the magnificent “nightmare” lurking in the darkness.

- Castlevania series Production Team

In addition to this message, Konami also released a YouTube video featuring the official Castlevania 40th anniversary logo, which plays off the key art from the original Castlevania. It also features a ton of Castlevania imagery, which could potentially hint at what's next for the franchise. You can view that video below:

The last true Castlevania release arrived in 2014, with Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2. Since then, Castlevania has crossed over with Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Vampire Survivors, and Dead Cells, but the series has been largely dormant outside of retro collections, re-releases, and cameos in other games. That will change later this year when Castlevania: Belmont's Curse arrives on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, and PC.

Reviewed on: Switch
Platform: Switch, PC
Publisher: Raptor Claw
Developer: Raptor Claw
Release: February 18, 2026 (PC), February 25, 2026 (Switch)
Rating: Everyone

One thing that seems certain in video games is that if a legendary developer neglects a beloved franchise, an indie studio will pick up the ball and run with it through a spiritual successor. We've seen it in spades with Metroid and Castlevania, and with how long its been since we've received a Star Fox game, it was just a matter of time before something like Fur Squadron Phoenix came along. A prequel to 2023's Fur Squadron, Fur Squadron Phoenix brings more modern visuals and missions than its predecessor, and in the process, delivers the Star Fox 64 successor I've wanted for nearly three decades.

Fur Squadron Phoenix places you in the cockpit of a Starfighter as part of Fur Squadron, an elite group of fighter pilots who serve the Federation. The on-rails gameplay immediately calls back to the best sequences in the Star Fox franchise. You fly through a diverse collection of planet-bound and space environments, blasting away at the many enemies who dare take you on. As you play, you encounter standard enemies flying in formation, shielded ships that require charge shots or special weapons to take out, mechanical worms that emerge from hiding spots to fly straight at you, and, of course, end-of-level bosses that task you with dodging their attacks and blasting their weak points. Thanks to its colorful neon glow, superb soundtrack, and masterful pacing, Fur Squadron Phoenix presents consistently exhilarating dogfights that are absolute treats for the senses. 

The waves of enemies that fly towards you often presented unique challenges that kept me on my toes, and truly made me feel the progression of not only my skills, but also my characters. Meanwhile, the boss battles are largely inventive, providing an exciting culmination of each stage; I just wish I could say the same about the final boss, which is an arduous, bullet-spongy practice in patience that did little to put an exclamation point at the end of the otherwise fun campaign. And despite how much I loved my time with Fur Squadron Phoenix, I was also left wishing there was more to it, as eight stages – even if they're lengthy – fly by quickly.

 

Despite how short the campaign is, you'll still have thousands of enemies to blast. Thankfully, you have an ever-improving arsenal that is unlocked through roguelite-inspired mechanics. Rather than unlocking upgrades through in-level items, you instead earn upgrade points every time you play a level – win or lose. This makes it so even my bitter losses at the end of a long stage didn't feel like a complete waste of time. The majority of the game takes place within a training simulation, but bafflingly, you don't earn any skill points in the real in-universe missions; these stages should feel more impactful and memorable, but instead, because of this arbitrary system, I always opted to replay the simulation missions.

Upgrades available include damage boosts (including a permanent double laser), improved shields, and increased mobility. Obviously, improving health and damage is always great, but I especially loved pumping points into the four distinct special weapons. The standard Star Fox-style bombs are your default, but I quickly gravitated to a power beam that increases in damage as you use it, or the extremely useful multi-missile special weapon. Then, there's the nuke, which is also extremely useful in situations with a ton of enemies. These specials, when fully upgraded, can decimate the opposing forces. And when combined with your Overdrive ultimate ability, which slows time and increases your damage, you have more ways than ever to satisfyingly take down incoming adversaries.

Through most of the game, you play as Robin, a bird who was previously a part of Phoenix Squadron. When Robin's crew is decimated during a mission, he's rescued by Fur Squadron, which consists of a ferret named Blaze, a fruit bat named Kiro, and an Axolotl named Axel. Each of these characters fits into the archetypes established by Star Fox: Blaze is the brave and fearless leader, Kiro flies like he has something to prove, and Axel is a tech genius. As you play through levels, each teammate will give you side objectives to complete, such as saving them from enemies on their tails, clearing a path of all debris, or flying through rings. By completing these, you level up the character who issued the challenge, which improves your Overdrive.

By the end of my playthrough, in addition to slowing down time, my Overdrive fully refilled my health and special weapon energy, plus gave my lasers a 260-percent damage buff. Additionally, each time you level your relationship with a specific character, you get a touching post-mission scene between Robin and that character. These scenes go a long way towards establishing personalities, connections, and narrative subplots, which is all extremely helpful since your squad mates' voices play as gibberish rather than real voice acting. This isn't a dealbreaker by any means, but when Star Fox 64 was able to have fully voiced characters in 1997, it's disappointing to have to take my eyes off the action to read what they're saying while in a mission.

Though Fur Squadron Phoenix draws heavy inspiration from Star Fox, it leaves out smaller pieces of the formula. First, this a single-player title with no multiplayer, so if, like me, you have fond memories of competing in four-player dogfights, you won't find that within this package. Additionally, the levels are completely on rails, meaning that even in encounters that might make sense for it, there is no All-Range Mode to allow for free flight. Thankfully, for boss encounters that feel like they'd play better in something akin to All-Range Mode, Raptor Claw found creative ways for it to feel dynamic in a similar way.

Despite those deviations from the series that inspired Raptor Claw to develop this game, Fur Squadron Phoenix is an excellent spiritual successor for those who remember that Fox and Falco exist outside of the Super Smash Bros. games. Nintendo may not know what to do with the Star Fox franchise, but Fur Squadron Phoenix makes a great case that the genre can still flourish in 2026.

Score: 8.5

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Platform: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Publisher: Milestone S.r.l.
Developer: Milestone S.r.l.
Release: March 26, 2026
Rating: Mature

A lot of times, in the racing genre, you have a pretty good idea of what to expect after just a few laps around the track. The games that buck that trend – the Forza Horizons, Mario Karts, and Burnouts of the world – often elevate themselves above the more niche racing game audience. As the studio behind the MotoGP, Ride, and Supercross series, as well as Monster Jam and Hot Wheels Unleashed, Milestone is a studio that is no stranger to the racing scene, both its conventional and nonconventional sides. The studio's latest, Screamer, might be its least conventional yet, and I went hands-on with the anime-inspired narrative racing game to learn more.

In Screamer's story mode, you control a team of three racers seemingly bent on vengeance against a fellow racer. The main character seems to be Hiroshi, while he is joined by Róisín and Frederic. Frederic, a Frenchman, speaks only in French, but his teammates respond to him in English without missing a beat. In a later cutscene, I learn that's because, in this futuristic setting, all humans have an auto-translator implanted in their heads; one character even has one that translates what his dog says. Though the circumstances surrounding the death of Quinn, seemingly the fourth member of your crew, are murky, the perpetrator is clear: Gabriel. Your team, known as The Banshees, enters the tournament for revenge.

The Banshees (or Green Reapers, as they come to be known to conceal their identities from Gabriel) aren't the only characters you play as. The story hops around a good bit, putting you behind the wheel as multiple different characters. Milestone promises you'll uncover the dark secrets of the tournament as you progress through the narrative. The dialogue between the characters is witty and often entertaining, but I didn't get a great sense of how it will progress in a satisfying way. However, for the purposes of this demo, I was more interested in how the racing felt.

Thankfully, speeding (or screaming) around the tracks feels good. Milestone wanted to capture the vibes and feel of old-school arcade racers, and from my time with the game, they've mostly succeeded. Cars don't handle too strictly when you're going around a corner, and I absolutely love how Screamer handles drifting by mapping it to the right stick. Steering still happens with the left stick, but rather than having to activate the E-brake in conjunction with steering, you intuitively use the right stick to drift around corners. It takes a bit to get used to, but after a few races, I was cornering like a pro, and when you hit a perfect drift around an elongated corner, it's a blissful feeling.

Outside of the core driving mechanics, Milestone has installed various arcade-focused mechanics, like a quick-time-event style boost mechanic, and an offensive/defensive system that uses the same energy for a unique risk/reward mechanic. To attack your enemies, you must consume Entropy, the in-game energy, which will temporarily increase your speed, causing any opponent you collide with to explode. This is an extremely fleeting speed boost, so you must be skillful to successfully take down an opponent. On the other side, you can use your energy to activate your Shield, which counters incoming Strikes. This was pretty difficult to pull off, but if you do it successfully, you get your energy refunded. There's also an Overdrive Ultimate, which you can activate when all your tanks are full. In Overdrive, every vehicle you collide with explodes, but if you touch any track barrier, so will your car. I love that every attack has a counter or risk associated with it, creating what I hope will be a balanced experience.

While the full picture is still coming into focus, what I've played of Screamer delivers on the enticing premise. The arcade sensibilities and anime-style storytelling appeal to a wider audience, while the rock-solid gameplay and longstanding pedigree of Milestone will appeal to those in the know about the racing genre. We'll have to wait and see how this all coalesces into a finished product and its subsequent reception, but for now, Screamer is a game I'll be keeping my eye on.

Screamer arrives on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC on March 26.

An unexpected publisher stepped into the spotlight during yesterday's PlayStation State of Play presentation. That publisher was Konami, a once-prominent developer and publisher of video games that, in recent years, has come under fire from gamers for largely neglecting its multiple iconic franchises. Yesterday's State of Play served as a reemergence party of sorts for the publisher, as the company announced multiple projects, including the Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 2 and Castlevania: Belmont's Curse. Fans expressed excitement after learning these iconic franchises still have pulses, and today, it would seem Castlevania may not only have a pulse, but potentially a new lease on life.

Following its block on the State of Play, Konami updated its Castlevania Portal Site with the following message regarding Castlevania's 40th anniversary:

The doors of Castlevania open once more.

This year marks the 40th anniversary since the original ‘Akumajō Dracula’ first saw the light of day. In this commemorative year, “Castlevania” will be revived.

First up is this title: ‘Castlevania: Belmont's Curse’.

We couldn’t think in other studios to work together rather than Evil Empire and Motion Twin, studios brimming with talent and passion, to deliver a new exploration-based 2D action game that captures the essence of Castlevania while bringing fresh innovation.

This is the beginning of numerous new products around Castlevania.

Look forward to the return of the magnificent “nightmare” lurking in the darkness.

- Castlevania series Production Team

In addition to this message, Konami also released a YouTube video featuring the official Castlevania 40th anniversary logo, which plays off the key art from the original Castlevania. It also features a ton of Castlevania imagery, which could potentially hint at what's next for the franchise. You can view that video below:

The last true Castlevania release arrived in 2014, with Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2. Since then, Castlevania has crossed over with Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Vampire Survivors, and Dead Cells, but the series has been largely dormant outside of retro collections, re-releases, and cameos in other games. That will change later this year when Castlevania: Belmont's Curse arrives on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, and PC.

As we put a bow on 2025, we've gladly acknowledged all the good that has emerged out of the games industry and the incredibly creative folks therein. We received unexpected hits, tried-and-true juggernauts, and a follow-up to one of the most successful video game devices of all time. However, as I look ahead to 2026, I cannot help but feel wowed by the number of heavy hitting video games and all-around nerdy things that I cannot wait to experience over the next year.

Here at Game Informer, we are hyperfocused on the games side, and 2026 looks incredible in that regard. We don't even have a full picture, and already, we know about some unbelievably exciting titles. Grand Theft Auto VI is at the top of mind for pretty much everyone, but other top-notch studios have games we also cannot wait to get our hands on. Marvel's Wolverine, Pragmata, Resident Evil Requiem, 007 First Light, Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave, Invincible VS, Pokémon Pokopia, Saros, Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls, Yoshi and the Mysterious Book, Forza Horizon 6, and Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis all look and sound extraordinarily promising. And we don't know what else major companies have in store; we know Nintendo has gotten into a rhythm of announcing games just a few months before release, so who knows what games will pop up during the next few Nintendo Directs?

Grand Theft Auto VI

But it's not just games that nerdy folks such as myself are excited for. After a bit of a down year for game adaptations, the video game movies of 2026 are super promising: Super Mario Galaxy Movie is set to follow up the most popular video game adaptation of all time, while Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat II have a high ceiling when it comes to how fun they shape up to be. And on the comic-movie side, after stepping back a bit in recent years, it sure seems like Marvel, DC, and other comic adaptations are ready to fire on all cylinders, with Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Avengers: Doomsday, and Supergirl, not to mention new seasons of Daredevil: Born Again, X-Men '97, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, The Boys, and Invincible, plus new shows like Lanterns, Wonder Man, and a special presentation featuring The Punisher. On top of that, Game of Thrones fans have Season 3 of House of the Dragon and the new prequel series A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms in 2026.

Star Wars is also back in theaters this coming year through The Mandalorian & Grogu, as is Dune with Dune: Part Three. Top it all off with new entries in the Moana, Scream, Insidious, Shrek, Minions, Jumanji, and Toy Story franchises, as well as a Masters of the Universe movie, and 2026 will deliver plenty of excitement for fans of these IP. Even divorced from major franchises, we have new films from Christopher Nolan and Steven Spielberg to look forward to, as well.

Star Wars: The Mandalorian & Grogu

To put it bluntly, we have needed quite a bit of escapism in 2025, as sociopolitical strife, economic uncertainty, and a continually challenging games industry job market have remained prominent in the headlines. Educating yourself and staying in touch with events happening in the world is important, but doomscrolling has certainly emerged as a problem for many. Video games, movies, shows, comics, and books provide the escapism that allows us to turn off that part of our brain, disconnect from our real-world struggles, recharge our batteries, and get lost in an incredible adventure. 

Sadly, 2026 shows no signs of slowing down in terms of real-world challenges, but the moments when we feel we can lose ourselves and lessen the weight of the world for even a small stretch can mean everything. And though we have no idea what awaits us in the realm of real-world things outside of our control in 2026, we can rest assured that when the time comes to relax, rest, and recover from whatever has been taxing us, the entertainment we will receive in 2026 will rise to the occasion.

In 2008, Bethesda released Fallout 3, a groundbreaking adaptation of the to-that-point isometric Fallout franchise to a gameplay style close that veered close to its beloved Elder Scrolls series. Within seven years, we not only received a new spin-off entry by Obsidian Entertainment, Fallout: New Vegas, but also an all-new mainline entry from Bethesda, Fallout 4. It's now been more than a decade since Fallout 4, and though fans of the series can enjoy things like the online RPG Fallout 76, which initially launched in 2018, and the successful Prime Video series, which started in 2024, the wait for a new mainline single-player entry has proven arduous.

In 2018, Bethesda revealed The Elder Scrolls VI through a short teaser. It has been more than seven years since that reveal, and based on the recent updates the studio provided Game Informer as part of the conversations surrounding our Fallout retrospective, it sounds like the game may still have a ways to go. For years, Bethesda alternated between The Elder Scrolls and Fallout, releasing Oblivion in 2006, Fallout 3 in 2008, Skyrim in 2011, and Fallout 4 in 2015. That trend broke with Fallout 76 in 2018, and deviated further in 2023, when Bethesda released Starfield, an ambitious new IP set in space. 

"We are better developers for having made a multiplayer game, we are better developers for having developed our own IP now, because it's new muscles," studio director Angela Browder tells Game Informer. "It's tested us in a different way. It's taught us a lot of things that we never could have known otherwise. And I do think even as we go into titles that are IP we've made before that we classically understand, we're still better developers for having done it, because your brain thinks differently once you've done those kinds of things. And I think it's only going to make every title we do better."

In 2022, Howard told IGN that Fallout 5 will be the next game Bethesda sets its sights on after it finishes The Elder Scrolls VI. "We're going to do Fallout 5 after that, so our slate's going to be pretty full going forward for a while," he told IGN. " In 2021, he also told IGN that the studio has a basic idea of what Fallout 5 will be, saying the developers "have a one-pager on Fallout 5, what we want to do." 

Bethesda is currently focused on The Elder Scrolls VI, but according to director and executive producer Todd Howard, Bethesda has other projects in the hopper. "The majority of the studios are on VI, but I’ll say this: We always overlap," Howard tells Game Informer. "So, we’re very used to overlapping development."

During my in-depth conversations with Bethesda Game Studios' Todd Howard, Emil Pagliarulo, and Angela Browder, I asked them what they'd most like to accomplish with the Fallout franchise going forward. Here's what they had to say:

Todd Howard
Director and Executive Producer

"I will say, first, looking at 76, we've never stopped developing Fallout. We've had a full team on Fallout for a long time. So, Fallout, as a franchise, is the one we're still doing the most work in above anything. Now, the majority of our internal studio is on Elder Scrolls VI. We are doing other things with Fallout that we haven't announced, and you know, there'll come a time for that. I get the sort of anxiety from fans, like, "Well, what else? What else? Feed me!" But, look, we're working on stuff, and we do like to wait. And so, I think there'll be a moment to talk about that, and we want to make those special moments for our fans."

Emil Pagliarulo
Studio Design Director

"I would be happy with a game that is as successful as the previous Fallout games that continues to give fans what they love, you know, and to give them a story that they can get into and systems that they love and really just an experience that they play not for 20 hours and not for 100 hours, but an experience they can play for 200, 300, you know, 600 hours, because that's the kind of games we make. That would be my hope going forward: Keep doing what we've done, and also to evolve. And evolve in a way that is where the industry has gone and where players have gone, so you're not stuck in the past. Like, in the Oblivion remaster that came out, people forget in the original Oblivion, you couldn't sprint. So, of course we're going to add that in the Oblivion remaster. Things like that. The industry moved on, and so, we want to move on with it."

Angela Browder
Studio Director

"I think every one of [our past games] is a learning experience, right? Let's take Fallout 76 – Yes, we learned how to make multiplayer; we also learned what it means when you ship a product that doesn't necessarily hit really well right away. And we learned about investing and listening to our players and strengthening who we are and what we are, our own ability to resiliency and adversity, all these kinds of things, right? When you talk about Starfield, we made the biggest thing we've ever done in our entire lives: We made space. I'm scared of space, I think space is really scary, but we made space! All of those are, while it may not be, like, "Oh I'm going to put space in Elder Scrolls VI," – do not write that I'm putting space into Elder Scrolls VI; [laughs] we're not going to put space in Elder Scrolls VI! – everything that we learned by putting space into Starfield goes into Elder Scrolls VI. It's all learning.

We're very blessed to have a very long-tenured team, as well. And so, all of those learnings from every single one just keep going with us, and I think that one of the things that you can see the natural progression as we've made our titles is we do listen to our players. When we start our big, big list, part of what we write down is everything our players want. We do listen to our players, and we do take that in, so that all wraps into this moment of what it all is going to be like. It's one of those interesting things. You never know if people are seeing the correlation between, like, "Six years ago you said this thing. I listened to you, I swear. Because, look, it's right here!" People don't always follow those very long threads, but the amount of those threads that exist are a lot. Some day, I just wish I could draw like a mind map of, like, "This guy said this thing on Reddit 12 years ago that never left our brains, and here you go! It took us a little while, but it's there!

There's sometimes this preconceived notion that we don't read or look at or listen to any of it. We read all of it. I mean, all of it. And, especially Fallout, it's interesting because as it's expanded its scope, the amount of feedback we get on it is more than just gaming now, right? And so, it can be a little overwhelming, but we do read it all."

007 First Light is one of our most anticipated games of 2026, and for good reason. After spending years giving us extremely fun playgrounds for Agent 47 to engineer kills in, IO Interactive is now bringing that skillset to Agent 007. Today's newest trailer gave us a look at James Bond's car of choice, the Aston Martin Valhalla. 

As expected, 007's Aston Martin Valhalla will be decked out with all kinds of special modifications, including guns, weaponry, and gadgets befitting of a 00 Agent. According to IO Interactive, it will serve as a "much-needed sidekick" to the younger version of James Bond that we're following in 007 First Light.

James Bond has an illustrious career in video games, with titles like GoldenEye 007, The World is Not Enough, Everything or Nothing, Nightfire, Bloodstone, From Russia with Love, and Quantum of Solace holding special places in the hearts of many. While many of those games adapt stories from films or feature an existing Bond, 007 First Light tells a completely original story of a younger James Bond on a mission that will earn him his license to kill.

007 First Light arrives on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch 2, and PC on March 27, 2026.

Following the extraordinary success of Vampire Survivors in 2022, developer Poncle has revealed its follow-up game. Revealed during today's Xbox Partner Preview, Vampire Crawlers in a spin off of Vampire Survivors, bringing the "one more run" mentality that permeates Poncle's hit to another genre within the same world.

As the name implies, Vampire Crawlers is a dungeon crawler. However, rather than the top-down view of Survivors, you play from the first-person perspective in a deck-building roguelike. "It's about mowing down hordes of enemies using cards, while you explore dungeons, playing as slowly or as fast as you prefer," Poncle founder and CEO Luca Galante told Xbox Wire. "You can take your time and be tactical, or play cards as fast as you humanly can, because the game is built to always provide accurate logical outcomes, regardless of the visual chaos that your abilities might cause. On top of the deck-building element, there is also a card customization mechanic that can dramatically alter the way you play your cards."

If that sounds like too extreme a departure from what you loved about Vampire Survivors, fear not, as Poncle says many of the trademark characters, upgrades, and weapons, such as the Bible, whip, and garlic, carry over to this experience. "Fans of Vampire Survivors will encounter familiar elements like treasure chests, weapon evolutions, unlocking something new after every run, a banger of a soundtrack, and terrible humor," Galante told Xbox Wire.

Released in 2022, Vampire Survivors took the gaming world by storm. A "bullet heaven," players take on hordes of enemies as a singular character who attains absurdly overpowered abilities to the point of becoming an unstoppable force, able to take on thousands of enemies at once. It's noteworthy for having one of the best hooks in recent years and for being extremely affordable; the base game is $5, and you can get it alongside all the DLC released over the last three years, of which there is a ton, for just under $21. It has featured crossovers with such games as Balatro, Castlevania, Contra, Saga, and Among Us. 

We don't know much more about Vampire Crawlers, but it will be available on Xbox, including Game Pass Ultimate, "soon." For more on Vampire Survivors, check out our glowing review here. 

Dave the Diver puts you in the flippers of Dave, who by day is a deep-sea diver exploring the depths of the Blue Hole, retrieving treasure and catching sea life. Then, at night, he takes his haul to a nearby sushi restaurant, where they can use his treasures to upgrade the establishment and his catches to serve the patrons. The game has received various updates in its more than two years of post-launch support, including crossovers with Godzilla and the Like a Dragon franchise.

In addition to the surprise launch of Dave the Diver on Xbox Series X/S, we also got a new look at the upcoming In The Jungle expansion, which was previously slated for a late-2025 release. The expansion, which now arrives in early 2026, allows Dave to explore solid ground, ride through jungle settlements, and battle against animals like a crocodile.

Dave the Diver is available today on Xbox Series X/S, Xbox on PC, and Xbox Cloud. According to Xbox, the release is optimized for handheld devices. Meanwhile, In The Jungle hits all versions of Dave the Diver in early 2026.

My.Games has announced a new collaboration with the iconic Swedish metal band Sabaton for its long-running mobile mech PvP shooter, War Robots. The band's inclusion arrives alongside the upcoming Fire Storm event, which starts on October 28. The collaboration features art and music from the band's 11th studio album, Legends, which just came out on October 17.

The collaboration happened as a result of a survey that My.Games and developer Pixonic sent to its players about their interests outside of the game. According to producer Boris Burangulov, an overwhelming number of players said rock and metal were their favorite genres of music, and that Sabaton topped the list of most-loved bands within the community. 

"When Pixonic approached us with the results of that survey, the band was thrilled," Sabaton bassist, manager, and co-founder Pär Sundström said in a press release. "It was humbling to learn that so many players chose us. We thought about the best way to say thank you. And here we are: with this little collaboration, we’re bringing one of our new songs straight to the hangars! We hope the players enjoy it."

The new hangar, which draws inspiration from Sabaton's new album, Legends

War Robots players and Sabaton fans can expect one of the tracks off Legends, "A Tiger Among Dragons," to play as part of the in-game hangar soundtrack, as well as a new Legends-inspired hangar. This new hangar pulls inspiration from the new album's art, which publisher My.Games says "perfectly syncs with the atmosphere of War Robots – a world of steel, fire, and conflict." 

We had the exclusive opportunity to interview Sabaton's Pär Sundström about the collaboration. You can read his thoughts on the collaboration below.

Game Informer: When you were approached for this collaboration, was "A Tiger Among Dragons" the first song that came to mind to put into a game like this?

Sabaton's Pär Sundström: I’ve felt strongly for “A Tiger Among Dragons” since the day we wrote it. It has a unique sound and it really stands out. I always believed the song would have a life outside of the ordinary heavy metal stories we create as a band. 

A few months ago, we invited some people from War Robots to our office to listen to the whole Legends album, and I am happy that they liked "A Tiger Among Dragons" and thought it would be suitable for the game.

Can you talk a bit about the themes of the song and how you think it will fit into a game like War Robots?

All the songs on Legends are quite old stories. Some are more famous than others, but all fit the idea of what a legend is. This was the basis for the album; if someone has done something in life that’s still valid a very long time after the deed is done, it turns into a legend. Our song "A Tiger Among Dragons" tells the story of Lü Bu, the Chinese warlord, which is perfectly suitable for a video game, for sure. The song has a kind of machine-like sound to it, thanks to the rhythm section, fitting for ancient warriors as well as futuristic mechs. 

Lü Bu was known as the Flying General and was one of the fiercest warriors in all of ancient China. His duel at Hulao Pass, where he took on the best fighters of his age, turned him from man to legend. He’s basically the kind of figure that is worthy of a song. "A Tiger Among Dragons" dives into that mix of glory and madness; the rush of battle, the betrayal, the hunger for power, and the loneliness that comes with being unstoppable. In a game like War Robots, that energy fits perfectly.

Rock and its various subgenres have experienced many ebbs and flows in terms of popularity and mainstream appeal. What does it say to you that the community of War Robots chose a metal band as their favorite? What was your first reaction when you heard Sabaton topped the list?

It says everything about the War Robots community. Firstly, they’ve got great taste! Secondly, they’ve got a taste for battle soundtracks, not just background noise. 

The metal genre was at a low point when we started the band; the end of the '90s was not the greatest time for our genre. But metal is not supposed to be trendy. It’s music for the people who live and breathe it, who love it. And bands like Sabaton never tried to fit in, be mainstream, be trendy… We just did our own thing, and today, there are more fans around who grew up with the classic heavy metal that is around to enjoy concerts. 

Seeing many of the classic old bands sell out huge stadiums proves that rock and metal is a music genre that the fans stay with for life.

Have you had a chance to see the Legends-themed hangar? How do you feel it represents the band?

I was actually involved in the design. We wanted to make the players recognize themselves, but still add a few elements that were Sabaton. Since the collaboration is about paying respect to players, we wanted to ensure that the Sabaton presence in the game did not take up too much space.

War Robots launched in 2014 on iOS as Walking War Robots. It eventually came to Android in 2015. As of this writing, it has a 4.7 out of 5 user score on iOS, based on over 588,000 reviews, and a 4.3 on Android from 4.35 million user reviews from its 300 million registered users across its 11-year lifecycle. It also has a console and PC counterpart, War Robots: Frontiers, which arrived in March 2025. That game currently has a "Mixed" rating on Steam, with nearly 2,000 English-language user reviews. 

The Fire Storm event begins in War Robots on October 28 and runs through December 9. The Sabaton collaboration is available via the new 11.5 update.