Okay, so Mortal Shell 2 is dropping August 20, 2026, right? Cold Symmetry is the developer, and Playstack is publishing it. It’s coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X|S and PC via Steam. That’s a direct collision with Grand Theft Auto 6, which is locked in for November 19, 2026, on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.

No PC date for GTA 6 yet, which is typical Rockstar, always holding back the PC release. Mortal Shell 2 is a standalone sequel, they say, and it’s got an expanded open world and faster combat. The first Mortal Shell, that one sold a million units by September 2023. That’s a good number for a new IP in the soulslike genre, a genre that was valued at $787.2 million in 2024 and is expected to hit $3,500 million by 2035.

That’s a 14.5% compound annual growth rate, so the market is definitely expanding. North America is a big chunk of that, like $400 million in 2024. PC gaming is leading the platform segment for soulslikes, with $179 million in 2024. The number of new soulslike games tagged on Steam, it went up 41% between 2023 and 2024, from 263 games to 371 games.

AAA titles are taking a bigger slice of that pie, too, almost three-quarters of sales in 2024 and 70% in 2025. So, the genre is growing and big players are getting in. Mortal Shell 2’s standard edition is $49.99. There’s a physical “Revered Edition” for PS5, which is kind of funny because Sony is planning to stop physical discs by 2028.

So, a PS5 exclusive physical edition, for a platform that’s going all digital soon, you know. The beta for Mortal Shell 2, it got over 600,000 downloads and has a 93% positive rating. That’s a strong signal, a really strong signal for a smaller game. GTA 6, it’s been delayed twice already.

Originally fall 2025, then May 2026, now November 2026. Those delays, they can shake confidence, but it’s GTA, so it probably won’t matter much in the long run. August is becoming a hot month for game releases, publishers are trying to avoid the traditional holiday crunch. They want their games to breathe, get media attention.

The global video game market, it hit $260 billion in 2025, and it’s projected to reach $268 billion in 2026. That’s a lot of money, a lot of games. I bought some NVDA stock on January 31, 2024, at $61.42. I’ll sell it when it hits three times that price, so like $184.26, which it’s already passed, so I guess I should have sold it already. (I mean, what am I even doing?) Mortal Shell 2 is going into a crowded period, but it’s not directly against GTA 6.

August versus November, that’s a few months apart. August is seeing other releases too, like The Sinking City 2 on August 18, and Star Wars: Zero Company and Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy on August 27. But Mortal Shell 2 is the only soulslike in that immediate window. That niche audience is dedicated, they really are.

They will play these games. It’s not like it’s trying to compete head-on with a massive open-world action game. It’s a different beast, a different kind of player.