Terminator Is Officially Replacing Sarah Connor In Terminator: Survivors

Published Oct 7, 2026, 7:55 AM EDT

Nicholas Becher is a gaming journalist with an MFA in Creative Writing from FAU. With extensive experience playing video games, he covers all forms of gaming content at Screen Rant, from breaking news to the latest fan theories. Most-played games range from Clair Obscur to Civ to Elden Ring to Halo 2 and beyond. 

Terminator first introduced us to Sarah Connor way back in 1984, just an ordinary Los Angeles waitress suddenly hunted by an unstoppable and terrifying machine sent from the future. While she didn't know it at the time, she would eventually give birth to humanity's future leader in its war against the machines, John Connor.

Sarah underwent one of science fiction's most iconic transformations by the time Terminator 2: Judgment Day came around, returning as a hardened survivor determined to protect John and prevent the nuclear apocalypse she knew was coming. The sequel remains widely regarded as one of the greatest sci-fi/action movies ever made, cementing Sarah as one of the genre's defining heroes.

Linda Hamilton would go on to reprise her role as Sarah Connor in subsequent Terminator projects, most notably making her long-awaited and epic return in Terminator: Dark Fate. Now, however, an upcoming sequel to Judgment Day is preparing to revisit that era without Sarah at the center of the story, replacing her with an entirely new protagonist.

Terminator Replaces Sarah Connor In Upcoming Judgment Day Sequel

Custom Image by Glenn Bunn

Terminator will effectively replace Sarah Connor as the central protagonist in its Judgment Day follow-up, Terminator: Survivors, shifting lead role over to an original survivor living through the aftermath of the apocalypse. It might seem like an easy win to just let players control Sarah as she attempts to prevent Judgment Day from happening and taking on the T-800 from the known hero's perspective, but developer Nacon is taking things in a different direction entirely, for better or worse.

In Survivors, players will actually emerge from a shelter four years after the nuclear catastrophe and help establish the beginning of humanity's resistance against Skynet themselves, and anybody not wearing two million sunblock is gonna have a real bad day.

That said, the storyline remains tightly connected to Sarah's from the original film and Judgment Day, so it's not a complete departure from the franchise's most beloved chapter. Nacon has made it clear that Sarah successfully prevented the original 1997 Judgment Day depicted in Terminator 2, only for Skynet to eventually become self-aware and launch its nuclear attack in September 2005. Survivors then picks up in 2009, exploring what happened between Judgment Day and the emergence of John Connor's organized Resistance.

The official Steam description simply casts the player as "a survivor," with the story following their efforts to uncover the truth about Judgment Day, battle early Skynet machines, and build a new foothold for humanity while being relentlessly hunted by a T-800, which looks absolutely terrifying by the way.

That said, Sarah is essential to the entire premise of Survivors, even if someone new is taking her lead role. Nacon has also confirmed that familiar franchise characters will appear alongside original ones in the main story, leaving the door open for further connections to the Connors as the story unfolds. In fact, we're very likely to see her show up at some point, though Sarah's official cameo as an NPC hasn't been confirmed just yet.

We May Be In For A Wait For Terminator: Survivors

Unfortunately, Terminator: Survivors has faced several delays since its original announcement. Nacon initially planned to launch the game in Steam Early Access on October 24, 2024, with PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S versions following later. In August 2024, however, Nacon announced that it needed additional development time and pushed the PC launch into 2025.

Then, in December 2025, the studio revealed it was abandoning the Early Access approach altogether, explaining:

“We’ve also had to overhaul our release plans, instead of launching in early access, we want your first steps into the wasteland to be a complete and polished experience. You might have guessed already, but that means Terminator: Survivors won't be launching in 2025. We don't have a new date locked in, but we'll let you know when we're ready to share a new release date.”

This update means Survivors is now meant to debut as a complete release rather than gradually expanding through Early Access, but there still isn't a narrowed release window as of October 2026.

Nacon Studio Milan resurfaced with a development update in February 2026, saying it was preparing in-engine gameplay showcases and closed playtests, but it stopped short of announcing even a 2026 release window. The game's current Steam listing likewise lists it as TBA, meaning a 2026 launch has not been officially confirmed. Either way, fans are hoping Terminator: Survivors will be worth the wait.

Terminator: Survivors

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