Aside from the Xbox Developer Direct, there typically aren’t many gaming presentations after The Game Awards until showcases like Summer Game Fest or the Xbox Games Showcase in summertime. One very noteworthy one that’s kicked off this year, though, is the New Game Plus Showcase (often stylized as New Game+).
New Game Plus is a content creator-made event designed to bring “genuine excitement and conversation” back to video game announcements and reveals, and notably, it doesn’t charge developers for a slot in the show like other presentations do. It was announced on December 29, with its first showcase running on January 8 (today!) at 1 P.M. PT / 4:00 P.M. ET.
Blind Descent
This dark survival game from Pokuch and META Publishing looks like Valheim crossed over with Prey, featuring a blend of base-building mechanics and survival systems with mysterious alien powers. It’s available to wishlist now on Steam, and is coming to Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC platforms like Steam, GOG, and Epic Games, and PS5.
Deep Dish Dungeon
Up for a pixelated dungeon crawl that emphasizes cooking? Deep Dish Dungeon looks to deliver the tense and ominous adventuring experience everyone wants in dungeon exploration, but with charming retro-style pixel graphic visuals and a focus on cooking that makes me think of Dungeon Meshi. It’s coming to Steam, and can be wishlisted now.
The Blood of Dawnwalker
We got a long gameplay presentation and developer interview for The Blood of Dawnwalker, an open-world fantasy ARPG in which you play as a human by day and vampire by night. The dynamic nature of the world and how it reacts to your actions was shown and explained prominently during the interview. It’s expected to come at some point in 2026 to Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC, and PS5.
Prologue: Go Wayback!
PUBG creator Brendan “PLAYERUNKNOWN” Greene talked about his new survival game Prologue: Go Wayback! during the show, explaining its procedurally generated map elements, some of its deeper survival elements, how its world generation works, and more. It’s currently available on Steam in Early Access for $19.99, with a free demo available.
Beautiful Light
We got a fresh look at the STALKER-inspired extraction shooter Beautiful Light that’s coming in December 2026 to PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store. The trailer showed intense combat against mutants as well as other players, along with exploration in the game’s atmospheric environments.
FAQ
What is the New Game Plus Showcase?
The New Game Plus Showcase — named after the mechanic of starting a new game with a character you used to beat a playthrough already — is a new gaming showcase organized by content creators. Like other presentations, it features premieres, announcements, gameplay footage and trailers, and developer interviews. Notably, though, it’s designed to put games first and be accessible to developers, as they don’t have to pay for a slot in the event.
How can you watch the New Game Plus Showcase?
If you’d like to watch the New Game Plus Showcase live (or after it ends with a VOD), you can do so on both YouTube and Twitch, as well as X (Twitter), TikTok, and Instagram.
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