6 Upcoming Racing Games in 2026

2026 might just be a great year if you’re a racing game fan. Why? The upcoming racing games in 2026 seem to have a lot more promise than what we’ve had in the last year.

A big franchise returning back to its roots, a refreshing take on arcade racing, and just simple racing games with no strings attached—these racing games might just be the ones to bring back your confidence in the genre.

Our list provides upcoming titles, excluding games already released through the early access model. It’s not just arcade racing, but we also have sim racing as well. Go take a look at these games and see how they might catch your interest.

Table of Contents

1. Forza Horizon 6

Developer: Playground Games
Publisher: Xbox Game Studios
Platform: PC, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5
Release: May 19, 2026 (PC, Xbox)

This is, perhaps, the holy grail of racing games in 2026. Forza Horizon returns in its sixth iteration to a place familiar to every car enthusiast in the world: Japan.

A lot of fans thought that if Forza chose Japan as the next festival site after Mexico, they’d be getting desperate. Despite the sentiment, we can see how Playground Games pulled all their effort into making Forza Horizon 6 the ultimate Horizon game.

First of all, meaningful progression returns with us players starting out as a mere tourist visiting the Horizon Festival Japan. We rise up the ranks, collecting wristbands just like in the first game. Land yourself at the top of the food chain, and you’ll unlock access to an exclusive island.

The car lineup would please many JDM fans, with many kei cars available at the launch and some brand-new additions to the game as well. The cover cars are Toyota’s latest grand tourer car, the GR GT, and the refresh to the Land Cruiser Prado line.

Based on PG’s experience in developing the Hot Wheels expansion packs, they can confidently recreate the dense area of Tokyo Metropolis. It is 5 times bigger than Forza Horizon 5’s Guanajuato and will include familiar areas like Akihabara, Shibuya, Tokyo Tower, Ginkgo Avenue, Daikoku PA, and others.

The countryside also looks stunning with various biomes to explore, from the lush plains to the eternally snowy alpines.

There will be a lot to explore when Forza Horizon 6 is out on the shelves. It’s time to brush up your Japanese before heading out. It is definitely one of the most anticipated upcoming racing games in 2026.

2. Screamer

Developer: Milestone, Polygon Pictures
Publisher: Milestone
Platform: PC, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5
Release: March 26, 2026

Speaking about Japanese, you don’t want to miss out on this Japan-influenced arcade racing hit. Screamer is a reboot of Milestone’s classic racing game from the 90s that radicalized its initial concept into a narrative-driven game. The anime cutscenes are produced by Polygon Pictures, the anime studio behind Godzilla, Ajin, and others.

You can play as one of 5 teams racing against each other in the Screamer tournament held by the elusive Mr. A, played by the enigmatic Troy Baker. The teams are a bunch of colorful figures, with backgrounds from PMCs, idols, conglomerates, and even the yakuza itself.

It has a lot of unique game design decisions. Starting from the control, Screamer utilizes a twin-stick control. Left stick to steer, and right stick to initiate drift.

If you feel that this game is formatted like a fighting game (even the characters talk in their native language like Tekken), then you’re not mistaken. The cars in this game utilize a technology called Echo that, when activated, can give your car a speed boost, a temporary shield, and a striking field to take down your opponent. Even crazier, Echo can bring the destroyed vehicles back to life, so when you get hit, you can return to the race immediately.

Screamer is a game that screams, heh, old-school gaming. In an age where a simple game becomes so complicated, it’s nice to play something that isn’t a chore. You just need to sit, grab a controller, and just… play in any way and at any time you find comfortable. Let’s see if that is the case.

3. iRacing Arcade

Developer: Original Fire Games, iRacing
Publisher: iRacing
Platform: PC
Release: March 4, 2026

If you’re intimidated by the high entry barrier for iRacing, their first spinoff, iRacing Arcade, might just be up your alley.

It’s a spunky, chibi racing game where you can climb the ranks of the motorsport career in a fun, arcade way.

iRacing Arcade promises a tight physics model, where each car feels tactile to control. There will be a lot of licensed cars and tracks to play with. Moreover, iRacing Arcade isn’t just about racing. You will have to build your racing empire by establishing your own racing facilities.

With weekly events, online races, and even an online leaderboard, iRacing Arcade is worth looking out for if you want a simple racing game.

4. Endurance Motorsport Series

Developer: KT Racing
Publisher: Nacon
Platform: PC, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5
Release: TBA

Motorsport is not a single-person sport. It takes an entire team to push the effort towards victory. This is the essence of the Endurance Motorsport Series game, which tries to replicate the philosophy of running a motorsport team during race day.

As well as playing as the driver yourself, you can also take control of your race engineer. Your job behind the pit wall is to monitor the timings, create a pit strategy, manage car repairs, detect changes in weather, and recreate all those plans from scratch again when unexpected developments occur on the track.

The excitement can also be felt in online modes, where you create a team of a driver and race engineer and work together to finish a race.

As the name implies, KT Racing has put some essential car categories for endurance racing, from the GT3 to Hypercar classes.

Endurance Motorsport Series is an attempt to refresh the sim racing scene with a brand-new gimmick. Whether this will work or not, we will have to find out soon.

5. CarX Drift Racing Online 2

Developer: CarX Technologies
Publisher: CarX Technologies
Platform: PC
Release: Q2 2026

The sport of drifting becomes bigger every year. After the success of their first game that propelled their name, CarX returns with CarX Drift Racing Online 2.

The game tries to replicate an authentic drifting competition format, from the tournament structure to the judging system. A career mode is available where you start from drifting school and then compete from grassroots leagues to the elite championships.

The damage system has been reworked to the smallest details; even your rear bumper could fall off after a seemingly harmless wall tap. Car modification also received an overhaul so every part can be finely tuned to your liking.

CarX Drift Racing Online 2 includes licensed, laser-scanned tracks from locations like Ebisu, Nurburgring Nordschleife, Dominion Raceway, and ADM Raceway.

If you feel like you’re missing out on the CarX Drift hype, this second game might be a great place to start.

6. over the hill

Developer: Funselektor Labs, Strelka Games
Publisher: Funselektor Labs
Platform: PC, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5
Release: TBA

From the creators of art of rally, comes a comfy off-road game called over the hill. Your objective in this game is simple: just travel and discover new places with your trusted off-roader and your friends.

Use your off-roader to traverse difficult and extreme terrain. If your friend is suffering from a car problem, you can also patch them back up before continuing your journey.

When you arrive at the spot, you can camp to simply rest or work on your car modification. You can also take photos to commemorate your achievement of climbing and surviving.

Yet another simple game that you can play with your friends, over the hill will definitely be on your wishlist. It might be one of the most surprising entry in our upcoming racing games in 2026.

Honorable mention for upcoming racing games in 2026

Aside from those titles above, you might also want to check out these upcoming racing games in 2026 that also need to be included in our honorable mention.

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