2026 will see several of gaming's most popular franchises celebrate major milestones, including The Legend of Zelda, Resident Evil, and Pokemon. Joining the Zelda franchise in the 40th anniversary club are a number of well-loved franchises.
Some of 2026's upcoming games are from franchises that are celebrating major milestones. To start, Resident Evil Requiem arrives on February 27 and will be the game that commemorates the 30th anniversary of the Resident Evil franchise. Resident Evil is joined in the 30th anniversary festivities by the Tomb Raider and Crash Bandicoot franchises, all of which got their start on the PlayStation console. Although Tomb Raider has two projects in development, the Crash Bandicoot franchise has no games planned for 2026 at this point.
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2026 Gaming Anniversaries (in alphabetical order)
- Animal Crossing (25 years)
- Castlevania (40 years)
- Crash Bandicoot (30 years)
- Dragon Quest (40 years)
- Halo (25 years)
- Kid Icarus (40 years)
- Luigi's Mansion (25 years)
- Metroid (40 years)
- Persona (30 years)
- Pikmin (25 years)
- Pokemon (30 years)
- Resident Evil (30 years)
- Sonic the Hedgehog (35 years)
- The Legend of Zelda (40 years)
- Tomb Raider (30 years)
Although the Zelda franchise has no game announcements planned yet for its 40th anniversary, that has not stopped some fans from observing how various series are also celebrating major milestones in 2026. A post on the r/gaming subreddit by Reddit user Yotam5434 showed that various series are celebrating big milestones in 2026 alongside The Legend of Zelda. Metroid, Kid Icarus, Castlevania, and Dragon Quest will all celebrate their 40th anniversaries throughout 2025. This summer will also mark the 35th anniversary of Sonic the Hedgehog, with the Blue Blur first debuting on the Sega Genesis in 1991.
One of gaming's most popular franchises has already made preparations for its 30th anniversary. Pokemon stated that 2026 "is going to be the best one yet" for the series, with games like Pokemon Champions and Pokemon Pokopia already on the docket for the year. Pokemon's tenth mainline game generation, while unconfirmed by The Pokemon Company as of this writing, is likely expected to launch sometime during the franchise's 30th anniversary. The Persona series will turn 30 in 2026 as well, as fans wait for more information about Persona 4 Revival and a potential reveal of the next Persona title. Atlus even created a special website to keep Persona fans informed about the franchise's anniversary.
Four Consoles Are Also Celebrating Major Milestones
- GameCube (25 years)
- PS3 (20 years)
- Wii (25 years)
- Xbox (25 years)
Three franchises that got their start on the GameCube, namely Luigi's Mansion, Animal Crossing, and Pikmin, will celebrate their 25th anniversaries in 2026 alongside the GameCube console. Additionally, the 25th anniversary of the first Xbox console and the Halo franchise will be commemorated this fall. As Microsoft's first console, the original Xbox was one of the first systems to bring online multiplayer into mainstream markets, with the Halo franchise being the core reason for this push. While the Xbox was bested by the PS2 in sales figures, it laid the foundation for asserting Xbox's role as a major brand name in gaming today.
Along with the gaming franchise celebrations of 2026, two consoles that were released within days of each other are also celebrating a noteworthy anniversary. The PS3 and the Wii will celebrate their 20th anniversaries in November, as the launch of those consoles came at pivotal points for both companies. After receiving a price cut and two slim revisions, reception to the PS3 improved over time, going on to sell 87.4 million units worldwide as of 2019. By comparison, Nintendo's console went on to sell over 101.6 million units since its November 2006 launch, and the Wii had over 1,600 unique titles released on the platform, adding to its reputation as a machine that many households had on-hand.
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