We are entering the latter half of 2026, so it’s time to gather our thoughts, look into the future, and see what it holds for the next 12 months. Things are looking kind of amazing if you love real-time strategy and turn-based strategy games. Dawn of War 4 and Total War: Warhammer 40,000 are on the horizon, Star Wars: Zero Company drops in just a couple of months, there are incredible indie titles like D.O.R.F. and Kriegsfront Tactics, and even a War of Thrones RTS that looks so good, it’s unbelievable. With that being said, join me as we take a look at the 20 best strategy games to wishlist for 2026 and 2027, and you’ll want to check this one out completely!
20 – Systemic War
If there’s one word that can describe Systemic War, it is “ambition”. An RTS game with a grand-strategy game that will have players taking control of any nation and guiding them from 2008 to 2025. The whole premise sounds like something out of Imperial Glory. Do you remember that? A turn-based game with real-time battles set in focal points of the map? They do sound similar, and I say this because Systemic War is set to have a world map, but only 25 hand-crafted maps. It’s a cool concept, and I enjoy the balance of doing grand-strategy with RTS, without having to fight every single skirmish each time a tank fires its main gun. The game is also using a unique system to model its grand-strategic map, and instead of using traditional region mapping, it’s going to use real rail and road networks. How that is going to work is anybody’s guess until we learn more about it. But props to Systemic War for trying something new. Systemic War has a release window of Q4, 2026.
19 – Corsair Cove
The team responsible for building the Tropico series sure loves its Caribbean setting. They’re currently working on Corsair Cove, a pirate haven-builder published by Hooded Horse. To be fair, that’s all there is to it at the moment, and the game is set to come out in 2026, so I’m hoping more details will be released during the next couple of weeks. What we know so far is that players will start out with nothing but the wreck of a ship, and make use of the island’s limited space and resources to build a pirate fort. To achieve this, a system of perched pathways, ziplines, and bridges will be mandatory to optimize every aspect of your pirate’s nest ever. Once the economy is running and things are set, it’s time to start seeing the bigger picture, and to build a navy to explore the seas, and gain control of it, fighting battles in turn-based combat. We haven’t seen this aspect of the game before, but I’m very curious about it, even more so than the whole pirate city-building thing.
18 – Dust Front RTS
Every time a new GIF or video of Dust Front RTS comes out, my instant reaction is to go and have a look at its animations. I know I have said this many times before, but this game has some of the best animations I have ever seen in a strategy game, ever. It just exudes quality and polish on a scale that’s so rare, I cannot remember the last time a game looked this tight. But that isn’t the only reason why the game’s in here. It’s a classic RTS with grand strategic elements, set in a post-apocalyptic Earth where players are fighting on top of the dust and debris of countless other never-ending wars that came before. On top of its RTS battles, Dust Front is going to feature a dynamic campaign with a global map, with economic, technological, and production elements. There’s not a lot of information on the enemies we will be fighting against (or commandeering), but the Steam page mentions mutants, robots, and rebels. There’s no set release date for it, but given the fact that the game is well into development, I wouldn’t be surprised if it came out in late 2026, maybe even early 2027.
17 – Fields of History
I was wondering if I should showcase Fields of History or Gilded History in this one, and given the fact that I have done so several times before with the latter, and it still hasn’t come out, let me show you this real-time grand-strategy game in the vein of Hearts of Iron, being published by MicroProse, and set during the First World War. Set to feature 10.000 provinces, a political system with all the major political head honchos, historical events, a production system, a global economy, and of course, military action, Fields of History is going to be a game for those players who wish that the Hearts of Iron series could explore the First of the two largest wars in Human History. The game might look like an indie version of HoI, but I’m excited for it. We don’t have enough World War 1 games.
16 – Sanctuary: Shattered Sun
Sanctuary: Shattered Sun isn’t the only next-gen RTS in this list, following in the footsteps of Supreme Commander, but it’s shaping up to be quite an interesting entry that’s keeping players anxiously waiting for it to come out. A massive RTS where players assume the command of thousands of units on a given map, Sanctuary sets itself apart by transforming the terrain into strategic elements that can be molded, built on, and even destroyed for your strategic advantage. The whole map can be shattered, making entire sections impossible to traverse unless with flying units, rivers and seas can be frozen solid to open new avenues of attack, and rendering entire fleets useless. It’s a cool concept, and while it’s nothing new, it’s still cool to see that teams want to bring back the glory days of Supreme Commander, and if the game comes out with a decent single-player campaign, I’m down for a full playthrough of it.
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