10 Best First-Person Shooters of 2026

Counter-Strike 2 tops the list because it pairs the deepest competitive shooter on PC with a price of nothing. Valve's Steam page calls it a free upgrade to CS:GO and the largest technical leap in the series, rebuilt on Source 2 with physically based rendering, new networking and better Workshop tools. The core is the objective-focused 5v5 play the series has offered since 1999, now with CS Ratings, an updated Premier mode and global and regional leaderboards. Smoke grenades are dynamic, the game runs tick-rate-independent, and maps, audio and effects were reworked. It also has the strongest player verdict here: 85% of more than 2.6 million English Steam reviews are positive. The trade-offs are real: rounds punish mistakes, there is no story campaign, and Steam lists no full controller support. Prime Status, which Valve sells for $14.99, is optional. For players who want to get good at one shooter for years, this is the safest choice.

Battlefield 6 is the pick for scale. EA's Steam page describes infantry fights, aerial dogfights and tank battles across locations such as Cairo, Brooklyn and Gibraltar, with a destructible environment you can use to open new angles. The Kinesthetic Combat System adds crouch sprint and drag and revive, and Battlefield Portal lets players move, scale and duplicate objects and script NPCs to build their own modes. A single-player campaign follows a squad of Marine Raiders. EA also quotes awards on the page, including PC Gamer's Best FPS of the Year, and the game holds a Metascore of 82 in Steam's data. The downsides: it costs $69.99, English Steam reviews are Mixed at 65% positive, and the minimum PC spec asks for 16 GB of RAM. It ranks second because no other game here matches its range of vehicles, modes and map sizes.

Doom: The Dark Ages is the best pure single-player shooter on the list. Bethesda's Steam page describes it as the prequel to DOOM (2016) and DOOM Eternal and the third game in the modern series, with the DOOM Slayer fighting a medieval war against Hell. You keep the Super Shotgun and gain new weapons such as the Shield Saw, and the page calls these id's largest and most expansive levels so far, from ruined castles to hellscapes. It lists adjustable difficulty, full controller support and Steam Cloud saves, and English Steam reviews are Very Positive at 86%. At $49.99 it costs $20 less than the big military shooters. The limits: there is no multiplayer at all, the minimum PC spec needs a ray tracing capable GPU with 8 GB of VRAM, and the Revelations campaign DLC is extra. If you want a shooter you can finish without queuing, start here.

Valorant is the closest rival to Counter-Strike 2 and the better fit for players who want abilities on top of aim. Riot's site describes a 5v5 tactical shooter in which you have 13 rounds to attack and defend your side with sharp gunplay and tactical abilities, and only one life per round. Each Agent brings a kit of abilities meant to set up plays for your gunfire, so two players on the same map can approach it very differently. Beyond Competitive, the site lists Unranked, Deathmatch and Spike Rush for shorter or looser sessions. It is free to play, with optional purchases for cosmetics. The drawbacks are that it runs through Riot's own client rather than Steam, the home page does not publish PC requirements, and one-life rounds take time to learn. It ranks just behind Battlefield 6 on capabilities, but its free price keeps it close.

Apex Legends is the best free battle royale in first person. EA's Steam page calls it a free-to-play hero shooter where legendary characters with powerful abilities team up on the fringes of the Frontier, and it promises squad tactics and modes that go beyond battle royale. Full controller support and online co-op are listed, and the minimum spec asks for only 6 GB of RAM, which makes it one of the easiest games here to run. Steam's data shows a Metascore of 88, and English user reviews are Mostly Positive at 76%. The catches are in the store: Apex Coins expire 180 days after you get them, and some purchases give a random selection of items. Recent reviews have also dipped to Mixed. It ranks below Modern Warfare 4 because it has no campaign, but it costs nothing to try.

Modern Warfare 4 is the newest game on the list, released on Steam on October 22, 2026, and it replaces Black Ops 6 as the current Call of Duty to buy. Activision's page sets the campaign during a North Korean invasion, with a young South Korean soldier on the front line and Captain Price working off the books, and missions that move from Korean trenches to New York, Paris and Mumbai. Multiplayer focuses on fluid movement and brings back large maps with vehicles, and DMZ is an extraction mode where you deploy solo or with a squad, loot, fight and get out. Steam lists online co-op, cross-platform play and full controller support, and Steam's data shows a Metascore of 85. It drops below Doom on value: it costs $69.99, needs 115 GB of storage, and early English Steam reviews sit at 70% positive.

Halo Infinite is the pick for arena-style shooting and player-made content. Microsoft's Steam page offers its multiplayer free to play, with over 70 maps in matchmaking, ranked modes, custom games and the wave-based Firefight: King of the Hill. Forge is the standout: it adds a visual scripting engine, a mode editor, object scaling, lighting and audio tools, and an AI Toolkit that brings campaign enemies into custom creations. The campaign is a separate purchase and lets you explore the Zeta Halo ring with up to three others in network co-op. Steam lists cross-platform and LAN play and full controller support. English reviews are Mixed at 68%, and Steam flags past review periods it considers off-topic. It ranks eighth because the free part is strong but the full game needs the campaign purchase.

Overwatch is the most team-focused shooter here. Its Steam page describes an always-on, ever-evolving free-to-play team action game where every match is a 5v5 or 6v6 brawl. Heroes with distinct roles and abilities matter more than raw aim, which makes it friendlier for players who are not top shooters but like coordinating with a team. Steam lists cross-platform play, online co-op, full controller support and a long list of accessibility options, and the minimum spec asks for only 6 GB of RAM. The weak spot is player sentiment: English Steam reviews are Mixed at 41% positive overall, the lowest here, though recent reviews are higher at 54%. Optional bundles and battle passes on Steam cost from $9.99 to $39.99. It ranks ninth on that reception, not on its design.

Rainbow Six Siege is the most tactical shooter here. Ubisoft's Steam page describes 5v5 rounds where defenders reinforce walls, set barricades and traps and watch cameras, while attackers scout with drones, breach defenses and rappel through windows. Destruction is the core tool: you open walls to create new sight lines. The game now offers free access to Quick Match and Unranked with a selection of operators, and a clearance level path teaches the basics before tactical play. Ubisoft cites a community of over 80 million players, and English Steam reviews are Very Positive at 81%. The limits are clear on the same page: Ranked, Siege Cup, more operators and cosmetics require payment. It is also the hardest game to pick up, which pulls its ease score down. Steam's age check stopped our price check, so the paid edition price is marked pending.

Escape from Tarkov is for players who want the most tension per match. Battlestate's Steam page calls it the original extraction FPS: you prepare a raid, fight PMC players and AI Scavs, and only extraction decides if you keep your loot or lose it all. The content notes describe realistic firearms with bleeding and limb damage. Steam lists online co-op and 98 achievements, and a PVE Zone add-on costs $29.99 for players who want raids without other humans. The Standard Edition is $49.99. Hardware needs are the steepest here, with 16 GB of RAM minimum and 64 GB recommended, and English Steam reviews are Mixed at 63%. Losing gear on death and a dense set of systems make it the hardest game to start, which is why it ranks last despite strong capabilities.