It’s April Fools’ Day 2026, and that means it’s once again time to comb through another round of the best jokes and pranks the gaming industry has to offer.Social media feeds have already been filled...
It’s April Fools’ Day 2026, and that means it’s once again time to comb through another round of the best jokes and pranks the gaming industry has to offer.
Social media feeds have already been filled with high-quality, low-quality, and downright confusing gags from AAA and indie games alike. You won’t have to look too hard to see some fake – and even some very real – updates that have already made their way to projects like Peak, Hitman, Lords of the Fallen, Minecraft, and more, and if you act quickly, you can even snag some truly bizarre Sonic and Silent Hill merch.
More April 1 pranks will almost certainly sneak their way online in the hours ahead, but we’ve gone ahead and collected some of our favorite April Fools’ Day video game jokes for you to see, below. After that, be sure to check out highlights from 2023, 2024, and 2025, too.
PlayStation Is Playing Games So You Don’t Have to
IGN was proud to feature the exclusive reveal of the totally real Project Playmo, a DualSense controller that plays video games for you. There’s no need to worry about all the stress of actually playing games when this new technology can do all of that for you – and it can even order some pizza, too. You can learn all about it here.
Sega Is Feeling Extra Blue This April Fools’ Day
Sega felt its classic logo needed a facelift, so it injected it with approximately 3% more blue. As if the change wasn’t obvious enough, the before and after image provided should help clear things up.
Get Your Sanic Merch Right Here
OK, so maybe the bluer Sega logo won’t stick around, but it looks like the new merch available on the Sonic the Hedgehog publisher’s official store will. Introducing the Sanic Collection, a three-shirt drop that features Sanic & Shedew, Sanic Adventure, and Sanic & Knackle tees for $32 each.
CD Projekt Red Gives Roach the Spotlight in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Roach, Geralt’s trusty horse companion, has always been the secret star of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, and now, CD Projekt Red is giving her time to shine. A video for the Ride on a Controller Horse (R.O.A.C.H.) highlights stunning new technology, with more information about the high-quality prank available here.
Crytek Adds Beetles With Hats to Hunt: Showdown 1896
Crytek warned players that “Hunters are NOT ready for this” in the latest video update for Hunt: Showdown 1896, revealing an update that was first thought to be “too bold” and “too dark”: beetles with hats. Now through April 15, players can input a code (UA2D-2N3M-87N4-98XY) to add cute little cowboy hats for the Stalker, Fire, and Choke beetles. As if it was any surprise, players are already beginning for this to be one prank that outlives the holiday.
PowerWash Simulator Does the Unthinkable With Date the Dirt Dating Sim
A PowerWash Simulator dating sim was inevitable, right? For this April Fools’ Day, the folks at FuturLab teased what it would be like if players got to know Dust, Grime, Eggy, and even Chuck the garden gnome.
dbrand has a Message for Gamers: It’s Time to Touch Grass
Gaming and tech skin maker dbrand has brought back its Touch Grass look for iPhone, Nintendo Switch, Xbox and PlayStation consoles, and more. However, its 2026 re-release comes with a bonus with every order: a Blue Sky skin.
Arma Turns Into Farma for April Fools’ Day
Bohemia Interactive has laid down its weapons to instead get behind the wheel of a tractor. A trailer for its Arma Reforged farming rebrand, Farma Reforager, shows what it would be like if the mil sim went off in a fresh direction.
Bendy and the Ink Machine Summons the Avengers of Indie Horror
One of the more impressive pranks of the day came in the form of a new (and unfortunately fake) extension of the Bendy and the Ink Machine Universe. The trailer for Bendy: Nightmare Syndicate shows what Five Nights at Freddy’s, Hello Neighbor, Baldi’s Basics, in Education and Learning, Poppy Playtime, and other iconic indie horror games would look like in that classic Bendy style.
Payday 3 Leaves the Life of Crime Behind
Starbreeze Studios says it’s been listening to “feedback” and has unveiled its new be-a-regular-guy update. There’s actually very, very little Payday to be had in its video, but that’s kind of the point.
Hitman Killer Agent 47 Gets a Makeover With New H.A.I.R.
What would Agent 47 look like with a full head of hair? It’s a question we’ve all surely asked ourselves, so IO Interactive unveiled its new H.A.I.R. project to show exactly what everyone’s been missing out on. See one of the most iconic characters in games wearing hair from the Mario world, KPop Demon Hunters, Baldur’s Gate 3, Resident Evil, and more in the video above.
Konami Launches James Sunderland Body Pillow to Save You from Your Restless Dreams
It's the five-foot merch every Silent Hill 2 fan has dreamed about. Available to pre-order now on the official Konami store for $69.99 is a body pillow featuring James Sunderland, but if you want one you'll need to act fast, as it's only available to order for seven days.
Konami offers further clarification on its store page: "Yes, this is real. Yes, you can pre-order it. No, we’re not going to explain ourselves."
Peak Kicks Friendship to the Curb
Peak is at its best when you’re climbing a steep mountain with your friends at your side – or is it? For April 1, Aggo Crab has traded the ability to lend pals a helping hand in favor of a full-on kick mechanic. There’s no telling how long it will stay in the game itself, but for now, players are having a blast.
Lords of the Fallen Brings Players Into the Action With Helmet Vision
Third-person gaming is great and all, but CI Games thinks the cutthroat combat might be better from a first-person perspective. For April Fools’ Day 2026, the developer showed off Helmet Vision, literally giving players a sliver of the action.
Ubisoft Goes Out on a Limb With Rayman Redesign
Gamers know Rayman as the video game mascot without arms and legs, but what if that changed? Well, whether you want to see what that would look like or not, here it is.
Minecraft Breaks the Mold With Herdcraft Update
Mojang is doing away with all of that pesky inventory management this April Fools’ Day with the Herdcraft update. Exclusively available via Minecraft: Java Edition, players will now notice that blocks and items simply obey your commands instead of sitting idly in the menu.
“It’s technically mandatory to play it right now,” a blog post about the prank update says. “Didn’t read those terms and conditions, did you?”
Capcom Lets Leon and Grace Switch Places in Resident Evil Requiem
Capcom brought back Leon S. Kennedy and Grace Ashcroft actors Nick Apostolides and Angela Sant’Albano, not to reprise their roles, but to switch them instead. A clip shared on the franchise’s official account reveals each star swapping lines from some of Resident Evil Requiem’s most memorable moments.
Get Ready With Me Joins Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 as the Smallest Map Ever
Treyarch took to social media to show a top-down image of a mysterious map that has made its way into Call of Duty: Black Ops 7. Called GRWM (Get Ready With Me), this teeny tiny map is already available in-game, and its size makes Shipment look giant in comparison.
Invincible VS Roster Expands With Painfully Creative Joke Characters
Just when players thought Conquest had rounded out the Invincible VS launch roster, Skybound Games and Quarter Up took to social media to pull more characters from every (and we really mean every) corner of the Invincible universe. The full lineup of 100% not-real characters includes Eve's dad, Rapidly Aging Flaxan, Allen's Cat, the Invincible Train, and last but not least, Thicc Omni-Man.
Slime Rancher Devs Channel Doom in Trailer for Tarrminator 5
The Slime Rancher team at Monomi Park thought their colorful cozy game could use some Doom music, so they gave it just that. A trailer for Tarrminator 5, coming never, offers a peek into another universe where the Slime Slayer rules.
Risk of Rain Ditches the Risk – and Just About Everything Else
For April Fools' Day 2026, the Risk of Rain 2 devs decided the risk may not actually be worth the reward. So, for the totally real next chapter of Risk of Rain, players can look forward to just Rain. No music, no enemies, no fun items. Just rain.
Developing…
Michael Cripe is a freelance writer with IGN. He's best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).
