The 2026 Tribeca Festival, presented by OKX, has announced its official games program, celebrating the convergence of games, entertainment, and culture for the 25th anniversary edition. This year’s slate features 12 selections that exemplify potential in storytelling and innovation through interactive experiences.
Each selection is eligible for the Tribeca Games Award, which honors an unreleased game for excellence in artistic storytelling. The games gallery will host free playable demos of this year’s selections exclusively at Pier 57, which will be open to the public from June 10-14.
This year’s program features several world premieres, including There Are No Ghosts At The Grand, a musical mystery inviting players to uncover supernatural secrets while restoring a crumbling hotel, and Lofsöng, a stunning art-driven narrative where players build a bridge between what once was and what may still come while exploring vast brutalist landscapes.
Casey Baron will lead this year’s Games Program as a senior programmer. Casey has been a programmer for the Festival since 2022 and brings more than a decade of experience across the games and film industries, along with ongoing support of the broader creative community through roles with the American Documentary Artist Emergency Fund, Austin Film Society Grant for Short Films, The Rainin Fellowship from the Kenneth Rainin Foundation, and the NYU Game Center Incubator.
“It’s an honor to step into this role during such a landmark year for Tribeca,” said Casey Baron, Tribeca Festival senior programmer, film & games, in a press release. “Over the years, the games program has been an early champion of titles that have gone on to critical acclaim and deeply resonate with players. This year’s selections reflect that legacy, showcasing the incredible breadth and ambition of storytelling in games today. I’m excited to continue to grow that vision in this new capacity.”
Festival attendees can also listen to talks and events, including “Luminaries: Dan Houser’s Absurd Ventures,” in which Rockstar Games co-founder Dan Houser and his longtime writing partner Lazlow will provide their insights into the evolution of storytelling beyond video games alongside partners from Dark Horse and Smilegate.
The program continues with “Control Resonant: Beyond the Oldest House,” featuring an in-depth discussion between Mikael Kasurinen, creative director of the highly anticipated Control Resonant, and Tribeca alumna Nia DaCosta, who won Tribeca’s lauded Nora Ephron Prize in 2018 for her directorial debut, Little Woods.
This year’s Festival also includes an Immersive project, Escape The Internet: Part 2, from legendary director and alum Lucas Rizzotto, which blends cinema and gaming through live audience interaction to create a new genre of live entertainment.
The Tribeca Festival Official Selections for Games have served as a marker of excellence in the industry, with previous selections including award-winning titles, such as Blue Prince, Dispatch, Despelote, Venba, Sable, NORCO, Mixtape and many more. In the past five years alone, participating titles have received 165 nominations and 35 wins across major industry awards, reinforcing Tribeca’s role as a launching pad for games creatives worldwide.
The full line-up of events can be viewed on the Tribeca website.