The Final Boss
Each month an industry leader wraps up MCV/DEVELOP with their unique insight. This month, we’re checking in with everybody’s boss — the customer!
WHAT 2026 GAME ARE YOU MOST EXCITED ABOUT, AND WHY? I’d love to rock the boat, and say a game like Control Resonant, but I feel l GTA VI will be such a moment within culture that picking anything else just seems silly. However, with Dawn of War 4 and also Total War: Warhammer 40K announced … Grand Theft Auto will have to be really good, or it will find itself pipped to the post for me.
Jack Smith,
video game purchaser, Gen Z
WHAT GENRES ARE YOU MOST HYPED ABOUT IN GENERAL?
Personally I’m very much excited by the Extraction Shooter genre. Not specifically for the games that are out right now … but the further potential I think there can be. I’ve played Hunt: Showdown for quite some time, and had this as a general sentiment. The release of ARC Raiders made me feel very validated, and I think that there’s much more to be seen in the genre.
HOW DO GAMES TEND TO GET YOUR ATTENTION?
As much as it shames me to say it, a lot of my interest in new releases comes from YouTube, TikTok, or from new releases on Xbox Game Pass. I find that the ability to have a good look at the gameplay, before making any real commitment, gives me a lot of security and helps me feel like I’m not just throwing money into the wind.
THERE’S A LOT OF TALK ABOUT NEW CONSOLE HARDWARE. DO YOU THINK IT’S TOO EARLY FOR THAT, OR WOULD YOU BE EXCITED? Honestly, it feels like this generation has been a complete dud. It feels like neither Xbox or PlayStation developers have fully utilised the
54 | MCV/DEVELOP December/January 2026
current generation, and it almost feels like a new hardware release might be a way to sweep all of away that under the rug. The latest Call of Duty came out on the Xbox One and PS4 for goodness’ sake. Are companies going to be releasing games on three generations of consoles at once?
WHAT ARE THE BIG CHALLENGES FACING VIDEO GAMES RIGHT NOW? There’s a worry for me, and I’m not too sure how based in fact it is, but similar to “the TikTok- ifcation of music”, I’m worried about the “Game Pass-ification of indie games”. Studios being encouraged to take deals and create things with broad appeal, instead of making the strange titles that make the scene so interesting to me. I mean nobody is making Cruelty Squad if the Game Pass model is the main route to success.
IS THERE ANYTHING YOU JUST WISH GAME COMPANIES WOULD JUST STOP DOING? Well there’s the classic answers I could give … I don’t want premium shops in full price games. I don’t want games to be pay-to-win … and there’s also a problem that I’m a part of, which is that there are A LOT of remakes. Whilst I absolutely adore some of the recent remakes we’ve gotten, Silent Hill 2 and Resident Evil 2, just to name a couple …
It feels as if every year is now dominated by these big budget remakes. As someone who didn’t go back and play some of these older titles, I’ll buy them to experience the story as presented for a new audience … but I do wish that creative energy was being put into the creation of new stories and worlds.
Also, if any of you even consider a fourth
remake of Halo: Combat Evolved after this new one … I’m going to start a riot.
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