2026 Has Been a Surprisingly Excellent Year for Shooters

All the way back in January, it seemed like 2026 might be a rough year for fans of shooters. Highguard’s launch and almost immediate delaunch created an anxiety around the genre that was hard to shake. Scrutiny around Marathon in the lead-up to its launch doubled that uncertainty, leaving some to wonder if the shooter genre — at least in its trusty live-service form — was going out of fashion.