As we reach the mid-point of the decade — and a console generation — we can confidently say the 2020s are shaping up to be a great period for video games, and 2025 promises even more releases to demand space on your hard drive. This year’s list is a bit pared down, focusing on games likely to release this year, either because they have 2025 release dates scheduled or likely 2025 release windows. That means you won’t see titles like Hollow Knight: Silksong or The Wolf Among Us 2, which have been edging fans for years. We’ll also be focusing on some of the bigger releases and will leave fervently awaited indies for another list to come.
So, let’s take a look at what 2025 has to offer!
Civilization VII
Sid Meier’s Civilization series returns nine years after its last full installment with Civilization VII. The 4X — explore, expand, exploit, exterminate — strategy game will once again have players build up a human civilization from its earliest days to becoming a world power through peace agreements, military domination, and other outcomes in between. Graphically, Civ VII is easily the most detailed, polished, and beautiful entry in the franchise with a variety of architectural styles. New features include pairing any leader with a civilization (they no longer have to match), new leader options that aren’t heads of state, and revamped and longer ages.
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, PC
Release Date: February 11
Assassin’s Creed Shadows
Assassin’s Creed finally goes to Japan, but, after Ghost of Tsushima and other samurai focused RPGs, one has to wonder if Ubisoft missed its window — especially with Ghost also receiving a new entry this year. Shadows will feature two protagonists, each with their own style of gameplay; Naoe is a shinobi who more resembles Assassins of past games while Yasuke, inspired by the real world historical figure, engages combat as a samurai. After the poor sales of Star Wars Outlaws, Ubisoft delayed Assassin’s Creed Shadows from its November 2024 release date for further polishing and cancelled its season pass. We’ll see this helps bolsters its sales, or if Assassin’s Creed Shadows — and Ubisoft — has already been doomed from the start.
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Release Date: February 14
Avowed
After being delayed out of its 2024 release window, Avowed finally lands next month and is easily one of Microsoft’s biggest exclusives (along with another game further down on this list) of 2025. Playable from both third-person and first-person, Avowed is a fantasy RPG that blends melee combat, firearms, and magic spells — though not romance, which has become something of a genre staple. Developer Obsidian is no stranger to fantasy RPGs, having developed the two Pillars of Eternity games, so expectations are high.
Platforms: Xbox Series X/S, PC
Release Date: February 18
Lost Records: Bloom & Rage
Lost Records: Bloom & Rage is the next release from Life Is Strange creator Don’t Nod. Like many of their games, it’ll give you the freedom to choose how your character approaches situations and what dialogue they say. There’s a bit of a mystery at the core of Bloom & Rage as it’ll bounce between the story in 1995 and in 2022 as you parse through the secrets of the past and why a group of four friends is reuniting. Bloom& Rage will release in two parts in February and March, allowing players to theorize what will happen next.
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Release Date: February 18 & March 18
Monster Hunter Wilds
Monster Hunter is back with Monster Hunter Wilds. You’ll once again play as a hunter looking to track, fight, capture, and slay monsters. Like World before it, Wilds will feature different biomes with weather patterns impacting hunting conditions. The environment will truly feel alive as monsters won’t be stagnant and you’ll be able to observe predators hunting prey. Releasing simultaneously across PC, PS5, and Xbox, Wilds will support crossplay, but not cross progression.
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Release Date: February 18
Split Fiction
Split Fiction is Hazelight Studios’ next project after their unlikely 2021 Game of the Year winner, It Takes Two. Continuing the developer’s focus on co-op gameplay, Split Fiction features not just two protagonists, but two distinct worlds they’ll bounce between. Zoe and Mio are writers who end up becoming trapped inside simulations of both their stories, one sci-fi, one fantasy. Levels will have unique distinctions, like one where the women are accompanied by dragons and another where they’re turned into… pigs?! In a very pro-gamer move, those who purchase Split Fiction will also receive a “friend pass” allowing them to play with a friend online for free. It’ll also support crossplay at launch.
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Release Date: March 6
Wanderstop
From the creator of The Stanley Parable comes Wanderstop, a cozy shop-keeping game with a bit of a subversive twist. It follows Alta, a besieged warrior who manages a tea shop as a way of healing her trauma, but who wants to move on from it as quickly as possible. It’ll incorporate many of the genre’s traditional elements, like growing ingredients, decorating the shop, and getting to know customers. The reveal trailer ends with a bout of existential dread, hinting there may be more to Wanderstop than what the bright fuchsia environments imply.
Platforms: PlayStation 5, PC
Release Date: March 11
The Alters
The Alters presents a unique wrinkle to the survival genre. You’ll be mining resources and developing a base, but you won’t be doing it alone — protagonist Jan Dolski has the ability to summon alternate versions of himself to help him survive. Through the alters, you’ll confront different ways that Jan’s life could have turned out. You’ll be able to form relationships with them and influence how they behave. Each alter has a different and specific skillset, so you’ll have to be strategic in who you summon to help tackle whatever problems you face.
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Release Window: Q1 2025
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 caught my eye during Summer Game Fest 2024 and it’s one of the games I’m most hoping retains its 2025 release window. It’s a turn-based RPG that incorporates QTEs and timing-based actions to keep the player engaged during combat. Its impressive cast includes Daredevil himself Charlie Cox and Baldur’s Gate 3‘s Jennifer English as Expeditioners setting out to defeat the Paintress who has the ability to kill anyone of a certain age once a year.
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Release window: Spring 2025
Mafia: The Old Country
Exploring the origins of the Mafia, Mafia: The Old Country serves as a prequel to the series and takes players to early 1900s Sicily. After being an indentured servant in sulfur mines, new protagonist Enzo Favara joins the Torrisi organized crime family to turn his life around, for better or worse. Unlike the more open world Mafia III, Mafia: The Old Country will feature linear levels with highly cinematic environments that look straight out of a mob movie. As a cool addition, The Old Country will also be fully voiced in Sicilian to add to its authenticity.
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Release Window: Summer 2025
Elden Ring Nightreign
While a multiplayer, action-focused, battle royale-adjacent, standalone adventure isn’t quite what FromSoftware fans expected as the studio’s follow-up to 2022’s masterpiece Elden Ring, hype is still sky high. Elden Ring Nightreign was developed as a side project of sorts by FromSoft designer vet Junya Ishizaki and will see players collaborating over three in-game days as they try to take down familiar Elden Ring foes — and some from other FromSoftware games, making fans wonder if the developer is launching a multiverse utilizing all their soulslike properties. Annoyingly, Nightreign features three-player co-op, but not two-player — you’re either going in with two allies or doing it Han style.
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC
Release Window: 2025 (Playtests in February)
Borderlands 4
After last year’s disastrous movie, the Borderlands franchise is in need of a shot in the arm, and Borderlands 4 looks to provide just that. It returns the first-person looter shooter gameplay of the prior entries while introducing new elements like a grappling hook. While not necessarily open world, Borderlands 4 will offer a seamless gameplay experience that won’t feature any loading screens as players traverse its world. You’ll lead a resistance against the dictator Timekeeper solo or with up-to three friends.
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Release Window: 2025
Death Stranding 2: On The Beach
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach returns players to the dangerous and frightening post-apocalyptic United States of the first game. Norman Reedus, Léa Seydoux, and Troy Baker return alongside new new cast members Elle Fanning and George Miller (likeness only). Little is known about how it’ll continue the story of the first game or expand upon its gameplay, which was essentially a collaborative courier simulator, though anything’s possible when Hideo Kojima is at the helm.
Platforms: PlayStation 5
Release Window: 2025
Directive 8020
Supermassive goes sci-fi with Directive 8020, the fifth entry in The Dark Pictures Anthology. Described as “The Thing in space,” Directive 8020 follows a colony ship that crash lands on a planet orbiting Tau Ceti, a star 12 lightyears away. The crew quickly learns they’re not the only life forms on board their ship, and they’re left unsure of who they can trust. As someone who enjoys Supermassive’s branching storytelling and is always down for sci-fi horror, Directive 8020 is one of the games I’m personally looking forward to most in 2025.
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Release Window: 2025
Doom: The Dark Ages
Doom gets reinvented for is next installment and takes players to medieval war against Hell. You’ll experience the origin of the famed Doom Slayer (maybe he’ll even get a name!) as Doom: The Dark Ages serves as a prequel to the rebooted Doom series. Unlike Bethesda’s latest hit Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, The Dark Ages will be available on PS5 day and date with the Xbox and PC versions in a boon for gamers everywhere.
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Release Window: 2025
Fable
Microsoft is rebooting one of its most prized IPs in 2025 with Fable, the first new installment in the series in over a decade. Little is known about the reboot so far — the “About this Game” section on Steam simply touts player choice in the realm of Albion and nothing else. Still, that doesn’t mean expectations are tempered as the original games are some of the Xbox and Xbox 360’s best and fans have been eagerly awaiting more Fable for some time.
Platforms: Xbox Series X/S, PC
Release Window: 2025
Ghost of Yōtei
Set over three centuries after 2020’s hit Ghost of Tsushima, Ghost of Yōtei once again stars a badass warrior taking on the “ghost” mantle as she searches for revenge. Co-creative director Nate Fox described the DNA of a Ghost game as “transporting the player to the romance and beauty of feudal Japan” in an interview with The New York Times, and the 2025 title will do just that as its set in the Hokkaido region of Japan. Protagonist Atsu can dual-wield katanas and must be something of a musician as she wears an instrument on her back. Erika Ishii, one of Rook’s VAs in Dragon Age: The Veilguard, will star as the Ghost of Yōtei.
Platforms: PlayStation 5
Release Window: 2025
Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra
Skydance New Media’s Marvel game is finally set to drop this year. With visuals that live in the uncanny valley, Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra will be a highly cinematic adventure game set in World War II. Featuring Steve Rogers, Azzuri, Howling Commando Gabe Jones, and Wakandan spy Nanali as playable protagonists, Marvel 1943 will chronicle the adventures of Captain America and Black Panther in occupied Paris as they combat Hydra. Further plot details have been kept under wraps and we haven’t seen gameplay yet, but, based on producer Amy Hennig’s track record with Uncharted, we should be in for a very fun ride.
Platforms: TBD (Likely PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC)
Release Window: 2025
Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater
No game is safe from being remade and, as Konami will no longer have any Hideo Kojima-developed Metal Gear games in the pipeline, it’s going back to the well and remaking Metal Gear Solid 3. Being the first game in the series’ chronological order, Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater will serve as a great entry-point for players who have never ventured into the stealth series. It’ll retain and refine the series’ core gameplay mechanics while adding a new control scheme and camera presentation.
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Release Window: 2025
Metroid Prime 4: Beyond
Metroid fans have been waiting too long for the franchise’s next Metroid Prime entry and, as someone who doesn’t play the series, I sincerely hope they receive Metroid Prime 4: Beyond this year before their hopes it releasing wither away. After being announced at E3 2017 — a whole Nintendo Switch lifecycle ago — Nintendo offered only crickets on its development until last summer when the above trailer dropped. Not much is known about Metroid Prime 4 outside of what’s featured in the trailer; it’ll be a new FPS adventure starring Samus.
Platforms: Switch
Release Window: 2025
The Outer Worlds 2
Obsidian is in for a big 2025 as not only does Avowed drop, but The Outer Worlds 2 as well. Unlike the fantasy adventure releasing in February, The Outer Worlds 2 will be an Xbox franchise Microsoft will bring to PS5 alongside the Xbox and PC versions. It’s a standalone sequel as it’ll feature a new protagonist in a new star system, one that’s also been colonized by megacorps. You’ll choose your character’s dialogue and narrative decisions as the fate of the galaxy is up to you.
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Release Window: 2025
Pokémon Legends: Z-A
Nintendo and The Pokémon Company have been rather mum on Pokémon Legends: Z-A since its reveal last Pokémon Day in February 2024, though I’d expect (re: hope) that changes next month when the next Pokémon Day rolls around. We know it’ll take place in Pokémon X and Y‘s Kalos region and bring back the Mega Evolution mechanic. With “Legends” in the title, expect Z-A to deviate from the classic Pokémon and be more in line with 2022’s Legends: Arcerus that emphasized building out a Pokédex and not becoming the very best, like no one ever was.
Platforms: Switch
Release Window: 2025
Shadow Labyrinth
Pac-Man becomes… scary? That’s right — jumping off from the surprising Secret Level episode, Shadow Labyrinth is a 2D action platformer/metroidvania where you’ll play as “The Swordsman” guided by “Puck” — Pac-Man — through a mysterious maze. Official language on Steam touts growing from “prey to apex predator” as The Swordsman summons a shadowy, horrifying Pac-Man to eat up enemies, so it’ll be nothing like what you’ve come to expect from a Pac-Man game.
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, PC
Release Window: 2025
South of Midnight
We don’t know a ton about South of Midnight yet aside from a couple trailers and previews, but its visual style is so striking it demands attention ahead of its (hopefully) 2025 release. From Compulsion Games, makers of Contrast and We Happy Few, South of Midnight is an action-adventure set in a fantastical version of the American deep south. You’ll player as Hazel as she learns her magical abilities and unravels the mystery of her family’s past in a modern folktale.
Platforms: Xbox Series X/S, PC
Release Window: 2025
Grand Theft Auto VI
With its thirteen-month-old YouTube trailer boasting over 232 million views, there’s no doubt that gamers are hungry for a new Grand Theft Auto. When — well, if (let’s be realistic here) — GTA6 drops in 2025, it’ll be an industry-shifting release, one that’s already making other publishers hesitate to schedule their games in fall 2025. Its predecessor is one of the most lucrative and beloved games in history, so the pressure is on Grand Theft Auto VI to deliver a thrilling adventure the series is known for.
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S
Release Window: Fall 2025
