Players won't want to hit the snooze button during these two games on March 5th

The year is already off to a hot start for video games, and 2026 has plenty more in store. This time of year is always busy for gamers, with a new wave of major game releases coming in March 2026. Next month's major game lineup is Marathon and Pokemon Pokopiatwo games that may not have the same level of hype as something like Resident Evil Requiem or GTA 6but it's starting to look like gamers won't want to sleep on these titles at launch.

The biggest releases of 2026 so far include games like Code vein 2, Mewgenics, Nioh 3, Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Tiesand Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined. While these games were all fairly hyped leading up to their release, there have already been a few gems that may have slipped under players' radars, such as MIO: Memories in Orbit, Cristol: Theater of Idolsand Pathological 3. However, Marathon and Pokemon Pokopiathe two AAA games released on March 5th didn't get nearly enough attention from gamers despite being from well-known developers and franchises.

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Pokopia is serving Pokemon Wind and Wave the best idea for this Gen 1 Pokemon on a silver platter

Pokopia turns the popular Gen 1 Pokemon into its cutest version yet, and that should be the spark for Gen 10 to give it a new form or evolution.

March 5th will be a huge day for two games, but they may fly under the radar of gamers

Bungie's Marathon will drop players into Tau Ceti IV on March 5th

Marathon has experienced a somewhat turbulent promotion cycle since it was first announced to be in development at Bungie in 2023. Being the first entry in the series since 1996 and an extraction shooter, many Bungie fans were either apathetic and thought of them as dead on arrival, or angry that more resources weren't being poured into them. Fate 2 or even a Fate 3. After MarathonArt plagiarism controversy and a disappointing closed alpha test in early 2025, players would be forgiven for writing the game off entirely and moving on with their lives after Marathon was postponed to 2026.

Arrange the covers in the correct US release order.

Easy (5) Medium (7) Hard (10)

However, recent previews of the Marathon they showed how far the game has come since the first playtest, and it's clear that fan feedback has been taken into account. Testers who participated in the recent closed tests shared a lot of positive sentiment and the footage Bungie showed MarathonThe latest construction is very encouraging. Between the positive previews and the upcoming open beta server slam for Marathon at the end of the month there could be another extraction shooter ARC Raiders in that fans who wrote it off originally may want to take a second look.

Pokemon Pokopia could be a hit for fans of cozy games

The Pokemon series is set to receive a flurry of announcements related to the franchise's 30th anniversary, which is all but confirmed to include a Pokémon Day presentation on February 27th. Pokemon wind and wave expected to be unveiled as the 10th generation of the a series Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen they are rumored to be released on Nintendo Switch on the same day, perhaps the most unique Pokemon The game coming out this year is closer than ever. Pokemon Pokopia is the series' first serious foray into the cozy life-sim genre, and seems to combine the best parts of games like Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing with the beloved animals of the main franchise.

Informal Pokemon fans may have waved the announcement Pokemon Pokopia Aside from when it first appeared in a Nintendo Direct in September 2025. While it seemed like a cute spin-off at first, the premise of playing as Ditto, who turns into a human and can learn additional moves from the Pokémon they encounter, seemed odd. Now that the first previews of the game have highlighted its potential to be a surprisingly deep game, Pokemon and fans of cozy games should pay attention. Popopia already has a bigger Pokedex than Legends: ZAand is said to be the biggest side game in the Pokemon franchise. Everything goes to Popopia is one of the best Switch 2 releases of the year and shouldn't be overshadowed by any Pokemon Day announcement.

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Day One Xbox Game Pass fans have been waiting years for the March 2026 release date

Xbox Game Pass already has a strong year ahead of it in 2026, and its lineup now includes an indie game that fans have been waiting years for.

More games will be released on March 5th

Planet of Lana 2: Children of the Leaf — PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch 2, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, PC
Never Grave: The Witch and the Curse — PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC
Poker Night at the Inventory remaster — PlayStation 4, Switch, PC
Portrait of torn — PlayStation 5
Timberborn — PC

Marathon and Pokemon Pokopia may be the most watched games released on March 5th, but there are plenty of other titles released that day that gamers might want to know about. Sequel to the popular indie platformer Planet of Lana 2: Children of the Leaf will debut for fans of beautifully designed environments and puzzle platforming to enjoy as well as Hollow Knight– as an action platformer Never Grave: The Witch and the Curse.

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Although an atmospheric horror game Portrait of torn is available on PC from 2024, it will also come to PlayStation 5 on March 5. For PC players, TimberbornThe beaver-based city-building game will finally be available in version 1.0, as the game plans to leave Early Access on that date. Finally, a classic poker simulator from Telltale Games, Poker Night at the Inventoryis getting a remaster for PlayStation, Switch, and PC, featuring characters like Max, Strong Bad, Tycho, and Heavy z Team Strength 2 for players to flood a wave of nostalgia with their Texas Hold'em games.