In the opening minutes of Final Fantasy 7 Revelation’s reveal trailer, developer Square Enix reintroduces us to the Highwind. Fans of the original PlayStation game will remember its multi-propeller majesty with fondness; this was the vehicle that unlocked complete go-anywhere freedom across Final Fantasy 7’s world map. Unrestricted by rivers, oceans, or mountain ranges, you could soar at high speed around the globe. And, provided there was a safe space to land, you could explore any location that caught your eye.

That landing caveat doesn’t apply to Revelation’s Highwind. It doesn’t need to touch the ground, because it’s you who will be doing the descent this time. Almost certainly inspired by the original’s late-game airborne insertion into Midgar, you can now dive right off the Highwind’s lower deck and parachute down to the ground. Akin to Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (and, if we’re honest, Fortnite) Square promises that the dive is completely seamless, taking you from the clouds down to the fully detailed terrain without skipping a beat.

This has no doubt been a challenge to design, not least because it means the developers will have had to completely re-think how we acquire Knights of Round (it can’t be as easy as just dropping onto Round Island, afterall – this is the most powerful summon in the game!) But I’m pleased director Naoki Hamaguchi and his team have made it work, because a fully controllable airship that can navigate through a densely detailed, full-scale open world is something I’ve been waiting for Final Fantasy to do since 2001.

As any long-term fan of the series will know, the structure of Final Fantasy has significantly changed over the past quarter-century. The first nine games, spanning from the pixel art of the NES through to the 3D landscapes of the PlayStation era, all featured an overworld; a big map you explore to discover new locations. These maps were not true-scale in size and were significantly less detailed than the towns and dungeons you accessed from them, but they nonetheless provided the stage for a sprawling, epic adventure. In many ways, these overworlds were one of the seeds from which today’s open world games grew.

When the PlayStation 2 arrived at the dawn of the millennium, it brought with it a whole new generation of graphical fidelity. No longer was Final Fantasy restricted to pre-rendered backgrounds - the entire game could be made up of deeply detailed 3D environments with gorgeous textures. Progress comes at a cost, though. Crafting an overworld that could match the visual advancements of the main locations would have been a development nightmare; hugely expensive, technically demanding, and incredibly punishing when it came to disc space. And so when Final Fantasy 10 arrived in 2001, it did so without the series’ traditional overworld. The entire game took place within its level environments – a linear chain of towns, beaches, temples, and the back of a giant evil whale.

Nowhere is this shift more evident than at the helm of the Fahrenheit, Final Fantasy 10’s airship. In prior games, unlocking the airship was a moment of unparalleled excitement. Each entry’s cloud-surfer grants you complete freedom, permitting you to thunder across the overworld at a pace you could only dream of in the game’s opening act. But in Final Fantasy 10, the Fahrenheit is nothing more than a fancy fast travel menu. A list of destinations dressed for the Met Gala. A diamond-encrusted spreadsheet of co-ordinates.

I cannot begin to explain how deflated 12 year-old me was when I finally took command of the Fahrenheit. I had fixated over the PS1 era’s airships, particularly the militarised space Ferrari that was Final Fantasy 8’s Ragnarok. For me, getting the airship had become the definitive Final Fantasy moment, a gaming experience unlike any other. And in Final Fantasy 10 – the first game I had obsessively followed the development of across multiple issues of Official PlayStation Magazine, dreaming of all the things a next-gen FF could be – this moment had been reduced to a UI element that could teleport me between save points. It may be a looker, with its gilded halo and pearlescant hue, but the Fahrenheit has been a constant reminder of how great progress demands great sacrifice.

The mainline series has never revisited the idea of the overworld, and thus the airship dream faded. While locations became more expansive, such as Final Fantasy 12’s sprawling deserts and 13’s late-game Gran Pulse region, these games followed FF10’s lead. Level environments fed directly into each other, forgoing the need for a world map. The games became more linear, much to Final Fantasy 13’s detriment in particular.

The Type-0 Flightpath

While Final Fantasy 9 marked the final appearance of a player-controlled airship in the mainline series, the idea was revisited a decade later for Final Fantasy Type-0. Originally released for the Japanese market on PSP in 2011 and later launched worldwide as a PS4 HD remaster, Type-0 allows you to unlock and command the Setzer. Similar to the airships of old, the Setzer can be freely flown across an overworld, landing in safe spots from where you can then proceed to enter the level-based environments. Where the Setzer differs from the likes of the Highwind, however, is its armaments: it has cannons that can be fired at airborne enemies, enabling minigame-like combat encounters amidst the clouds. The idea has never been revisited, and so remains a series oddity rather than the genesis point for a whole new breed of airship.

But as gaming technology advanced, the worlds of Final Fantasy did finally begin to resemble the overworlds of its past. The power of the PlayStation 4 unlocked Final Fantasy 15’s Eos, an open world of rolling verdant hills that seemingly stretched on without end. But protagonist Noctis navigated through it in a brand new way: via car, along pre-determined roads. If you wanted to trek off the beaten path, you’d need to hoof it on-foot or hop on a Chocobo (at least until a free update added an off-road version of the Regalia car, six months later.) Noctics’ wheels could be upgraded to fly, but this was a post-game bonus, rather than a transformative moment in the main story.

But even the flying Regalia Type-F was better than Final Fantasy 16’s bait-and-switch. Built for the PS5, the world of Valisthea may have technically been a series of interconnected zones rather than FF15's more genuine attempt at an open world, but its scope was finally approaching the scale depicted by those old-fashioned overworlds – a series of kingdoms with fields, forests, deserts, towns, and hideaways. And when engineer Mid Telamon tasks you with aiding her rebuild an airship in the story’s final act, it really does seem that Final Fantasy is about to revisit its glory days of airborne freedom. Alas, the quest goes absolutely nowhere near that direction. If anything, your options in FF16 are more limited than those of its predecessor – all you have here are your own legs or those of a Chocobo.

That could never be the case for Final Fantasy 7’s remake trilogy, though. The overworld is too important a part of the fabric of its campaign. And so while the linear, Midgar-set first act granted Square Enix some extra time to work it out, Hamaguchi and his team ultimately had to find a solution to the Highwind problem in the trilogy’s final chapter.

The groundwork was laid in the second game, 2024’s Rebirth, which pushed Final Fantasy the furthest it's ever been into the modern day understanding of an open world game. While technically made up of hubs bridged by linear environments, each hub has the classic hallmarks of a post-Assassin’s Creed open world; towers that reveal the many icons dotted across the map, a multitude of different activity types, and a long list of side quests and bounties to complete in the pursuit of 100%-ing each area.

Revelation looks set to take the next step: turning that structure of hubs into a true open world. Quite how it will do this remains to be seen, as presumably it needs to unify the existing regions we explored through Rebirth – the likes of Junon, Corel, and Cosmo Canyon – with the many new areas its story will take us to, such as Wutai and the Mideel Archipelago. Any gaps between the existing hubs will need patching up, and then there’s the question of Midgar itself. Square needs to find a place for the Mako-powered city in all of this. But there’s no question that, when all brought together, it will create Final Fantasy's “most expansive open world yet,” as the trailer proclaims.

And high above that world will be the Highwind – no doubt sailing through the skies to an updated version of Nobuo Uematsu’s immortal theme. And down below will be not an overworld, but a genuine open world. And for the first time in a quarter century, we’ll finally be able to fly a Final Fantasy airship wherever we want.

Matt Purslow is IGN's Executive Editor of Features.

The recent slate of Hot Wheels video games from developer Milestone really captures that youthful wonder and excitement of unpacking fresh toy cars from the box and racing them down those twisting, orange playset tracks. With two Hot Wheels games under their belt, along with the underrated anime-racing game Screamer, the creators at Milestone are taking another swing at a new Hot Wheels arcade racer – but this time, they're taking the massive selection of toy cars into an open-world playset.

At Summer Game Fest 2026, we were able to get our first hands-on with Hot Wheels: Infinite Rush, which moves away from dedicated tracks set within living rooms and imaginary landscapes and into multiple open-world zones packed with missions and opportunities. It's a big adjustment for a Hot Wheels racing game, but it also has big ambitions to elevate the toy car-racing series.

The core concept of Hot Wheels: Infinite Rush leans into the idea of taking your selection of Hot Wheels cars off the nostalgic orange tracks and into the open-world playset, filled with oddities to uncover and new challenges to take on. Much like the recent Lego Batman upgrade to an open-world Batman Arkham-style game, Hot Wheels: Infinite Rush makes the jump to an open world that feels very similar to Burnout Paradise, which makes for a fun fit for the Hot Wheels world.

Hot Wheels: Infinite Rush makes the jump to an open world that feels very similar to Burnout Paradise.

With Infinite Rush, you're given a large degree of freedom to drive around and take on challenges as you wish. With over 150 cars to choose from – which are set across different vehicle types like speeder, titan, and the versatile class – you can present a selection of favorite vehicles and freely swap between them in between missions when driving around. With your stable of toy cars set, you're prepared to explore the open-zone playset in your own way.

When really diving in, you're free to drive about and cause chaos on the streets and in the various tracks scattered about the zone. While you have core objectives, the real fun is making your path to take in all the side missions located on the map. These missions include traditional races against other drivers, time-trials where you need to reach a destination, vehicle delivery missions, and even destruction derby-style missions where you have to cause as much environmental damage as you can. But one of the more entertaining missions I found focused on finding nearby landmarks and snapping photos for the album.

In the two zones I got to drive through – the open-city metropolis Wheelworld, and the industrial desert town Gearworld – I got to really take in the diorama-style open worlds. They felt very much like exploring those wildly over-the-top and enticing playsets you would see in toy commercials that were never available for actual purchase. It's a fun setting to drive through, and I really liked how charming and chaotic these diorama worlds were. My favorite bit was driving through Gearworld and seeing a giant scorpion spewing venom onto the map, which made me think back to those energetic commercials with bizarre hazards the toy cars had to avoid.

But of course, there's still plenty of traditional racing action to take part in, and Hot Wheels: Infinite Rush really dials up the intensity in that context. Much like traditional arcade racers, Infinite Rush really goes for the fast and loose approach to racing, which keeps the focus on trying to maintain momentum, while giving you plenty of slack to adapt to these radically different environments. Each vehicle type also has different strategies and tradeoffs when getting behind the wheel. While the titan class is heavy and can easily push aside vehicles, it also has to manage its heat gauge when boosting, or else it'll stall out.

The core race events are not only about racing through the streets and back roads of the playsets, but also about merging onto those familiar bright orange tracks to really hone in on tight racing moments. Compared to the previous Hot Wheels games, Infinite Rush adds a new level of chaos to the action, heightening the sense that these toy race cars are coming to life and wreaking havoc.

Still, even with the push to a more open-world racing game, there are plenty of those familiar orange tracks to race on and even build up yourself. Though I wasn't able to get hands-on with it in my preview, the track editor from previous games also makes a return. Players who are keen on creating their own racing venues will not only have more tools to use, but also the added space of the open zones to build on.

From my 30 minutes of hands-on time, I really came to appreciate the sense of freedom of taking my chosen vehicles out into the field. The Burnout Paradise-style open-world racing is a great fit for the toy-car world of Hot Wheels, as the focus on exploration offers a surprisingly charming space to tear my way through. Hot Wheels: Infinite Rush is very much a living toy box of a world to unravel, and so far, developer Milestone has got a great concept for its big upgrade for Hot Wheels racing games.

Alessandro Fillari is a longtime games media professional. Talk video games with him on BlueSky at @afillari.bsky.social.

June is here, which means we have a whole new month's worth of PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC games to look forward to. While this month is a little quiet in the lead-up to a pretty insane fall, there's still some exciting new releases like The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales and the Star Fox remake. Read on to see release dates for all the biggest games and expansions coming out this month and beyond. Let's have a look.

If you're the preordering type, you can click the links for the platform of your choice to see the game at Amazon (if available).

June 2026 - Video Game Release DatesFinal Fantasy VII Rebirth - June 3 - (Switch 2)Destiny 2: Shadow and Order (Expansion) - June 9 - (PS5, Xbox, PC)NBA The Run - June 9 - (PS5, Xbox, PC)Denshattack! - June 17 - (PS5, Switch 2, Xbox, PC)The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales - June 18 - (PS5, Switch 2, Xbox, PC)Destroy All Humans! - June 23 - (Switch 2)Deltarune Chapter 2 - June 24 - (PS5, Switch, Switch 2, PC)Dead or Alive 6 Last Round - June 25 - (PS5, Xbox, PC)Star Fox - June 25 - (Switch 2)NBA The Run - June 2026 - (PS5, Xbox, PC)July 2026 - Video Game Release DatesRhythm Heaven Groove - July 2 - (Switch)Granblue Fantasy: Relink - Endless Ragnarok - July 9 - (PS5, PS4, Switch 2, PC)Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced - July 9 (PS5, Xbox, PC)Digimon Story Time Stranger - July 10 - (Switch 2, Switch)D-topia - July 14 - (PS5, Switch 1/2, Xbox, PC)Culdcept Begins - July 16 - (Switch 2, PC)Disgaea Mayhem - July 23 - (PS5, Switch 1/2, PC)Splatoon Raiders - July 23 - (Switch 2)August 2026 - Video Game Release DatesBeast of Reincarnation - August 4 - (PS5, Xbox, PC)Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls - August 6 - (PS5, PC)Grave Seasons - August 14 - (PS5, Switch, Xbox, PC)Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 2 - August 27 - (PS5, Switch 2, Switch, Xbox, PC)Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy - August 27 - (PS5, Xbox, PC)Star Wars Zero Company - August 27 - (PS5, Xbox, PC) Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition - August 28 - (Switch 2)September 2026 - Video Game Release DatesThe Blood of Dawnwalker - September 3 - (PS5, Xbox, PC)Orbitals - September 3 (Switch 2)Halloween: The Game - September 8 - (PS5, Xbox, PC)Phantom Blade 0 - September 9 - (PS5, PC)Destroy All Humans! 2: Reprobed - September 15 - (Switch 2)Marvel's Wolverine - September 15 - (PS5)Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter - September 17 - (PS5, Switch, Switch 2, PC)Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave - September 17 - (Switch 2)Another Eden Begins - September 17 - (Switch, Switch 2, PC) Garfield: Escape from Monday - September 24 - (PS5, Switch, Xbox, PC)Hell Is Us - September 24 - (Switch 2)Control Resonant - September 24 (Xbox, PS5, PC) Onimusha: Way of the Sword - September 25 - (PS5, Xbox, Switch 2, PC)Minecraft Dungeons 2 - September 29 - (PS5, Switch 1/2, Xbox, PC)October 2026 - Video Game Release DatesRayman Legends Retold - October 1 - (PS5, Switch 2, Xbox, PC)Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve - October 3 - (PS5, Xbox, PC)Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed - October 6 - (Switch 2)Gears of War: E-Day - October 6 - (Xbox, PXStar Wars: Galactic Racer - October 6 - (PS5, Xbox, PC)Kingdom Hearts Collection [I ~ III] - October 8 (PS5, Xbox, Switch 2)SpongeBob SquarePants: Titans of the Tide - October 13 - (Switch)Valor Mortis - October 13 - (PS5, Xbox, PC)Planet Zoo 2 - October 13 - (PS5, Xbox, PC)Castlevania: Belmont's Curse - October 15 - (PS5, Xbox, PC)Nintendo Switch Sports Resort - October 22 - (Switch 2)Final Fantasy Resonance - October 22 (PS5, Xbox, Switch, Switch 2, PC) One Piece: Grand Gourmet - October 23 - (Switch, Switch 2, PC) Hello Kitty Party Land - October 29 - (Switch, Switch 2)November 2026 - Video Game Release DatesBarbie Rewind - November 12 - (PS5, Xbox, Switch, Switch 2, PC)Grand Theft Auto 6 - November 19 - (PS5, Xbox)

December 2026 - Video Game Release Dates Dragon Quest Monsters: The Withered World - December 3 - (Xbox, PS5, Switch 2, PC)January 2027 - Video Game Release Dates Stranger Than Heaven - January 15, 2027 - (Xbox, PS5, PC) February 2027 - Video Game Release DatesTomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis - February 12, 2027 - (Xbox, PS5, Switch 2, PC)Persona 4 Revival - February 18, 2027 - (Xbox, PS5, PC)Fable - February 23, 2027 - (Xbox, PC)Upcoming Video Games - Release Date TBA007: First Light - Summer 2026 - (Switch 2)4:Loop - TBA - (PS5, PC)Alien Deathstorm - 2027 - (Xbox)Alien: Isolation 2 - TBAAnimo - 2026 - (Xbox, PC)Aphelion - 2026 - (PS5, Xbox, PC)ArcheAge Chronicles - 2026 - (PS5, Xbox, PC)Ark 2 - TBA - (PC)Artificial Detective - 2027 - (PS5, Xbox, PC)At Fate’s End - 2026 - (PS5, Xbox, PC)Atomic Heart 2 - TBA - (PS5, Xbox, PC)Beast of Reincarnation - Summer 2026 - (PS5, Xbox, PC)Black Myth: Jhong Kui - TBABlackfrost: The Long Dark II - TBABlade Runner 2033: Labyrinth - TBA - (PS5, Xbox, PC)Blighted - Fall 2026 - (Switch 2, PC)Bloodstained: The Scarlet Engagement - 2026 - (PS5)Bluey's Happy Snaps - Fall 2026 - (PS5, Switch 1/2, Xbox, PC)Borderlands 4 - TBA - (Switch 2)Bradley the Badger - 2026 - (PC)Brigandine: Abyss - 2026 - (PS5, Switch 2, Xbox, PC)Captain Tsubasa 2: World Fighters - 2026 - (Switch)Chronicles: Medieval - 2026 - (PC)Chronoscript: The Endless End - 2026 - (PS5, PC)Clockwork Revolution - TBA - (Xbox, PC)Contraband - TBA - (Xbox, PC)Coven of the Chicken Foot - TBA - (PC)Crimson Moon - 2026 - (PS5, Xbox, PC)Danganronpa 2x2 - 2026 - (Switch, Switch 2)Deus Ex Remastered - TBA - (PS5, Xbox, PC)Divinity - TBADragon Ball Xenoverse 3 - 2027 - (PS5, Xbox, PC)The Duskbloods - 2026 - (Switch 2)Dynasty Warriors 3 Complete Edition Remastered - TBA - (PS5, Switch, Switch 2, Xbox, PC)The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered - 2026 - (Switch 2)The Eternal Life of Goldman - Holiday 2025 - (PS5, Switch, Xbox, PC)Exodus - early 2027 - (PS5, Xbox, PC)The Expanse: Osiris Reborn - Spring 2027 - (PS5, Xbox, PC)Forever Ago - Fall 2026 - (PS5, Switch 2, Xbox, PC)The Free Shepherd - 2027 - (PS5, Xbox, PC)Frostpunk 1886 - 2027 - (PC)Game of Thrones: War for Westeros - 2026 - (PC)Gang of Dragon - TBAGod of War Trilogy Remake - TBA - (PS5)Hail Macbeth - Q1 2026 - (PC)Heave Ho 2 - Summer 2026 - (Switch 2)Hela - 2026 - (Switch 2)He-Man and the Masters of the Universe: Dragon Pearl of Destruction - Summer 2026 - (PS5, Switch, Xbox, PC)Horizon Hunter's Gathering - TBA - (PS5, PC)Hunter: The Reckoning - Deathwish - Summer 2027 - (PS5, Xbox, PC)ILL - TBA - (PS5, Xbox, PC)Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet - TBA - (PS5)John Wick - TBA - (PS5, Xbox, PC)Judas - TBA - (PS5, Xbox, PC)Jurassic Park: Survival - TBA - (PS5, Xbox, PC)Kena: Scars of Kosmora - 2026 - (PS5, PC)Kyoto Xanadu - Summer 2026 - (Switch 1/2)Little Devil Inside - TBA - (PS5, Switch, Xbox)Lords of the Fallen 2 - 2026 - (PS5, Xbox, PC)Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra - TBAMarvel's Blade - TBA - (Xbox, PC)Mega Man: Dual Override - 2027 Metro 2039 - Winter 2026-27 (PS5, Xbox, PC)Moonlighter 2 - 2026 - (Switch 2)Moosa Dirty Fate - 2027 - (PS5, Xbox, PC)Mortal Shell 2 - 2026 - (PS5, Xbox, PC)Moss: The Forgotten Relic - Summer 2026 - (PS5, Switch 1/2, Xbox, PC)Mudang: Two Hearts - 2026 - (PS5, Xbox, PC)No Law - TBA - (PS5, Xbox, PC)OD - TBA - (Xbox)Okami 2 - TBAOntos - 2026 - (Xbox, PC)Order of the Sinking Star - 2026 - (PC)Phantom Hellcat - TBA - (PS5, Xbox, PC)Phasmophobia - 2026 - (Switch 2)Professor Layton and the New World of Steam - 2026 - (PS5, Switch 1/2, PC)Project Windless - TBA - (PS5)PVKK - Summer 2026 - (PC)RAEV: Kingdom on the Distant Shores (early access) - 2026 - (PC)Rev. Noir - TBA - (PS5)Road Kings - 2026 - (PS5, Xbox, PC)Sea of Remnants - 2026 - (PS5)Serious Sam: SHatterverse - 2026 - (PS5, Xbox, PC)The Sinking City 2 - Summer 2026 - (PS5, Xbox, PC)Solo Leveling Arise Overdrive - 2026 - (Xbox, PC)South of Midnight - Spring 2026 - (PS5, Switch 2)S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Cost of Hope (DLC) - Summer 2026 - (PS5, Xbox, PC)Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic - TBA - (PS5, Xbox, PC)Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Remake - TBA - (PS5)State of Decay 3 - TBA (Xbox, PC)STEINS;GATE RE:BOOT - 2026 - (PC)The Talos Principle 3 - 2027 - (PS5, PC)Terminator: Survivors - TBA - (PS5, Xbox, PC)There Are No Ghosts at the Grand - 2026 - (Xbox, PC)Tides of Annihilation - TBA - (PS5, Xbox, PC)Tomb Raider: Catalyst - 2027 - (PS5, Xbox, PC)Total War: Warhammer 40,000 - TBA - (PS5, Xbox, PC)Turok Origins - Fall 2026 - (PS5, Switch 2, Xbox, PC)Valheim - 2026 - (Switch 2)Village in the Shade - Fall 2026 - (PS5, Switch 1/2, PC)Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2 - 2026 - (PS5, Xbox, PC)Warhammer 40,000: Dark Heresy - TBA (PS5, Xbox, PC)Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 4 - 2026 (PC)Warhammer Survivor - 2026 (PC)Warlock: Dungeons & Dragons - 2027Witchbrook - 2026 - (Switch, Xbox, PC)The Witcher 4 - TBAThe Wolf Among Us 2 - TBA - (PS5, Xbox, PC)Woodo - Summer 2026 - (Switch 1/2, PC)Wu-Tang: Rise of the Deceiver - TBA - (PC)Yakoh Shinobi Ops - 2027 - (PS5, PC)

For more release dates, check out our ongoing list of 4K UHD and Blu-ray release dates as well as all of the upcoming LEGO release dates.

Chris Reed is a commerce editor and deals expert for IGN. He also runs IGN's board game and LEGO coverage. You can follow him on Bluesky.