''AFL 26'' is the latest video game based on

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

league AFL, developed by

Big Ant Studios Big Ant Studios is an Australian video game developer based in Melbourne. Founded in 2000 by chief executive officer Ross Symons, the company specialises in the development of sports games. Big Ant's games include '' Cricket 22'', '' Rugby Leag ...

and published by

Nacon Nacon SA (formerly Bigben Interactive SA) is a French video game publisher, holdings company and gaming peripherals manufacturer based in Lesquin. It designs and distributes gaming accessories, and publishes and distributes video games for va ...

. It was released on 8 May 2025 on

Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013, in ...

PlayStation 5 The PlayStation 5 (PS5) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. It was announced as the successor to the PlayStation 4 in April 2019, was launched on November 12, 2020, in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, North ...

Xbox One The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was first released in North America, parts of Europe, Austra ...

and

Xbox Series X The Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S are the fourth generation of consoles in the Xbox series, succeeding the previous generation's Xbox One. Released on November 10, 2020, the higher-end Xbox Series X and lower-end Xbox Series S are part o ...

. It will also release on

Nintendo Switch 2 The is a hybrid video game console developed by Nintendo, released in most regions on June5, 2025. Like the original Nintendo Switch, Switch, it can be used as a Handheld game console, handheld, as a Tablet computer, tablet, or connected via ...

at a later date. This is the second game in a row developed by Big Ant Studios and published by Nacon in the AFL video game series.

Development and release

''AFL 26'' was leaked on the

Australian Classification Board The Australian Classification Board (ACB or CB) is an Australian Government of Australia, government Statute, statutory body responsible for the classification and censorship of films, television programmes, video games and publications for ex ...

's website on 8 April 2025, and was later announced the same day on a Big Ant Studio's

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

post. The game was also added onto the

JB Hi-Fi JB Hi-Fi Limited is an Australian consumer electronics retail company. It is publicly listed on the Australian Securities Exchange. Its headquarters are located in Southbank, Melbourne, Victoria. As of June 2024, the company operates 330 sto ...

and

EB Games EB Games (formerly known as Electronics Boutique, EBX, and EB World) was an American computer and video games retailer. First established as an American company in 1977 by James Kim with a single electronics-focused location in the King of Prus ...

websites with the game cover revealed. Unlike the previous AFL video game, AFL 26 was released on the expected release date.

Reception

On release, the game received mostly negative reviews on

Steam Steam is water vapor, often mixed with air or an aerosol of liquid water droplets. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization. Saturated or superheated steam is inv ...

, with 33% of users giving a positive review. The game did not have as many game-breaking bugs as ''AFL 23'' did, but still had many bugs, some causing Xbox users being unable to play the game.

References

{{Big Ant Studios AFL (video game series) 2025 video games PlayStation 4 games PlayStation 5 games Xbox One games Xbox Series X and Series S games Windows games Video games developed in Australia Video games set in Australia Multiplayer and single-player video games Big Ant Studios games Nacon games Works about women's sports AFL Women's Nintendo Switch 2 games