The Most Anticipated Games of 2025
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1. Marvel's Spider-Man 2
- What is it: A Spider-Man sequel with two spiders instead of one
- Platforms: Windows
- Release date: January 30, 2025
January is not the hottest period for the gaming market, so the most interesting release of the month is the PC port of Marvel's Spider-Man 2 from PS5. The sequel tried to preserve all the key developments of the original (flying around New York on the web, the combat system, QTE inserts in boss fights), while directing the story in a new direction. After the spin-off Spider-Man: Miles Morales, we control 2 spiders instead of one, and Peter and Miles solve their personal problems, while saving New York from the threat of symbiotes.
2. Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2
- What is it: A sequel to a realistic medieval RPG with a hardcore combat system
- Platforms: Windows, PS5, Xbox Series X|S
- Release date: February 4, 2025
Deliverance 2 is a direct sequel to the unexpected hit from the Czech studio Warhorse. The main character is a slightly older Henry, who enters the service of the knight Radzig Kobyla with plans to avenge the death of his family. The second part of Kingdom Come should preserve and increase the achievements of the first part, while the increased budgets allowed the Czech studio to make the gaming more expensive and rich, not forgetting about optimization. The combat system will be just as hardcore, the gaming world will retain its realism (no magic, elves or dragons), a reputation system will appear, and secondary characters will react more actively to the player's actions.
3. Civilization VII
- What is it: A cult global turn-based strategy in the genre of "one more move and sleep"
- Platforms: Windows, MacOS, Linux
- Release date: February 7, 2025
In early February, the seventh part of the popular turn-based global strategy Sid Meier's Civilization VII from Firaxis Entertainment and the father of the series, Sid Meier, will be released. As before, the player needs to take one of the available countries under his wing and skillfully lead his people to prosperity and world domination. In the seventh part, the developers promise an in-depth mechanics of the flow of time in the gaming, seven gaming factions, including Egypt, Greece, the Mayan Empire and the Roman Empire, as well as 3 gaming eras (antiquity, the era of exploration and modernity). Each with its own features.
4. Avoved
- What is it: Skyrim from Obsidian Entertainment with swords and guns in the Pillars of Eternity setting
- Platforms: Windows, PS5, Xbox Series X|S
- Release date: February 21, 2025
The new gaming from Obsidian Entertainment, the creators of KOTOR 2, Fallout New Vegas and Pillars of Eternity, promises a return to the roots. Avowed will be a classic first-person RPG with great freedom to play a role, lots of dialogue and a thorough leveling system, and after the first trailers the gaming was nicknamed "Skyrim from Obsidian". The gaming will take place in the world of Eora, already familiar from Pillars of Eternity, and the player will act as an envoy from Edir, sent to investigate rumors about the spread of a plague on an island called the Living Lands.
The only thing that's confusing about this whole story is that there aren't many of the old-timers left at Obsidian who were responsible for the studio's previous games, and Avowed itself lags even on top-end video cards, despite its less-than-impressive graphics - thanks to the Unreal Engine 5.
5. Monster Hunter Wilds
- What is it: An action RPG from Capcom about hunting down a variety of giant monsters
- Platforms: Windows, PS5, Xbox Series X|S
- Release date: February 28, 2025
The long-awaited sequel to the action RPG about hunting monsters from Capcom will be released four years after the previous part of Monster Hunter Rise. Given the conservatism of the series, it is not surprising that in the new part the player will again have to hunt huge monsters, collect loot, improve weapons, and then go hunting again. According to the developers, the gaming world of Wilds will become "more alive", monsters will follow their own logic, sometimes forming unexpected alliances and changing the ecosystem, and the main character will get a voice for some reason and will be able to take part in dialogues. At the same time, gaming locations will become "deeper" and three-dimensional, the weather will change, and players will be able to use riding animals for fast movement.
6. Split Fiction
- What is it: A two-player gaming from the creator of It Takes Two that combines fantasy and sci-fi settings
- Platforms: Windows, PS5, Xbox Series X|S
- Release date: March 6, 2025
A new gaming by the main punk of the gaming industry, Youssef Fares, who breaks the usual gaming formulas and brings back the fashion for split-screen cooperative games. Split Fiction is the ideological successor to one of the best games of 2021, It Takes Two, only instead of a married couple on the verge of divorce, the protagonists are two writers who are stuck in virtual reality and are now trying to get home. Like It Takes Two, Split Fiction will combine mechanics from a variety of gaming genres, and players will constantly switch between fantasy and science fiction.
7. Assassin's Creed Shadows
- What is it: Assassins and Templars showdown in Japan
- Platforms: Windows, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, MacOS
- Release date: March 20, 2025
The events of the new part of the legendary franchise Assassin's Creed will unfold in the 16th century in feudal Japan, the main characters of Shadows will be the African-American samurai Yasuke and the shinobi girl Naoe, and the plot of the gaming will touch on another branch of the confrontation between the Brotherhood of Assassins and the Templar Order. After the unsuccessful releases of Skull And Bones and Star Wars Outlaws, Ubisoft desperately needs success, otherwise the company may face sale. At the same time, Shadows was developed by a relatively young team, which can either breathe new life into the stagnating series or finally bury it. In particular, the developers recently boasted of an improved parkour system.
8. Elden Ring Nightreign
- What is it: A roguelike/souls-like hybrid for three players set in the world of Elden Ring
- Platforms: Windows, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S
- Release date: 2025
On the one hand, Nightreign is the ideological successor to the best gaming of 2022 according to Game Awards, on the other hand, it will be a rethinking of the usual FromSoftware formula. Unlike the direct continuation in the DLC Shadow of the Erdtree, which directly continued the stories of Elden Ring, proving that Mog was not guilty, Nightreign will go to the side and will not have a direct communication with the original. In fact, this is a collective rogue-like in the world of Between-earth, in which three players land on a generated map and survive for three days, chop up enemies, collect loot and eventually meet the main boss. They promise that the gaming will also feature bosses from other games of the studio (the Nameless King from Dark Souls III was shown in the trailer), and for fast movement, each player will have their own magical glider bird. Incidentally, FromSoftware CEO Hidetaka Miyazaki didn't take much part in the project, and the core development team was inspired by the "boss hunt" format in the spirit of Monster Hunter.
9. Dune: Awakening
- What is it: A survival MMO set in the world of Frank Herbert's Dune
- Platforms: Windows, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S
- Release date: 2025
Dune: Awakening is a multiplayer MMO survival gaming in an open world with a third-person combat system, a construction system, crafting, and contract quests. To put it simply, it is a kind of analogue of Valheim based on Frank Herbert's Dune. The action of Dune: Awakening will unfold on Arrakis in a parallel timeline in which Paul Atreides was never born, and Stilgar is still looking for Lisan al-Gaib. Therefore, survival players will be able to decide the future of Arrakis themselves, participate in the fate of the Great Houses, and even ride sandworms. At one time, the Funcom development studio got burned with the early release of Conan Exiles, so they promise to polish the new Dune to a shine during closed beta tests. Those interested can leave an application to participate in the beta on the official website of the gaming.
10. Gears of War: E-Day
- What is it: Brings brutal action to the young Dom Santiago and Marcus Fenix
- Platforms: Windows, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S
- Release date: 2025
The Gears of War series was once one of the locomotives of the Xbox platform, almost on par with Halo. However, after the controversial fourth and fifth parts, the former shine faded and the developers decided to return to the roots. In fact, the sixth part, called E-Day, is a prequel to the main trilogy, its events take place 14 years before the beginning of the first part, and relatively young Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago encounter the alien Locust Horde for the first time. The developers promise to return the former brutality and signature corridor design, as well as delve into the brotherly relations between the main characters.
11. Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
- What is it: A sequel to the "courier simulator" from genius Hideo Kojima
- Platforms: PS5
- Release date: 2025
The main genius of the gaming industry, Hideo Kojima, promises to please video gaming fans again with his unconventional approach to gameplay, releasing the second part of the sensational fantasy gaming Death Stranding 2. The sequel will continue the story of the courier Sam Bridges, played by Norman Reedus, and new heroes played by Elle Fanning, Shiori Kutsuna and George Miller will join Leia Seydoux and Troy Baker from the first part. However, it is not entirely clear how the maestro plans to preserve the spirit of the original, which many players have nicknamed a "courier simulator" behind their backs, because in the second part the developers promise a larger world, and the main character will have a whole flying ship. Like last time, the gaming will be released exclusively for PlayStation 5, and will later appear on other platforms.
12. Doom: The Dark Ages
- What is it: A brutal shooter in which the Doom Slayer goes to annihilate demons in the Middle Ages
- Platforms: Windows, PS5, Xbox Series X|S
- Release date: 2025
The cult "boomer shooter" got a second life after the 2016 reboot and since then the developer company id Software has not reduced the hype, sometimes quite unexpectedly developing the story of the silent and brutal. After an unexpected expansion of the lore in Doom Eternal, the story of the Doom Slayer will move in an unexpected direction. Judging by the trailer, the events of the gaming will unfold in medieval Europe, the main character will flaunt in animal skins, will be able to fly on a dragon and control a huge robot, and among the new types of weapons there will be a throwing shield with a built-in saw and a machine gun that shoots skulls. According to rumors, a full presentation of the gaming will take place on January 23 on Xbox Developer, and the gaming itself will be released in May.
13. Judas
- What is it: An immersive sim from the creators of Bioshock in the style of Bioshock
- Platforms: Windows, PS5, Xbox Series X|S
- Release date: 2025
The immersive sim Judas is easy to lose in the background of other loud announcements. But if you add the note that it is the ideological successor to Bioshock and the first gaming of Ken Levine's new studio Ghost Story Games, then the degree of interest instantly heats up. The gaming takes place in the distant future, when humanity is actively furrowing space. The main character of the gaming is a girl named Judas, who wakes up on board the damaged spaceship "Mayflower" with amnesia and, judging by the hostile reaction of tech around her, is the root cause of the ship's breakdown. In fact, Judas is the ideological successor to Bioshock with a similar structure of gut-like levels, shooting, "magic", leveling up, high immersion and a twisted plot with a philosophical subtext. But with one big twist - according to Levin, the developers wanted to make the gaming as replayable as possible, and with each new playthrough, "the story will reassemble itself like Lego bricks," whatever that means.
14. Ghost of Yotei
- What is it: A non-direct sequel to Ghost of Tsushima with a new protagonist
- Platforms: PS5
- Release date: 2025
Ghost of Yōtei is not a direct sequel to one of the best games of 2020, Ghost of Tsushima. The gaming will tell about the formation of a new character, the assassin girl Atsu, more than 300 years have passed since the events of the original gaming, and instead of Tsushima, the action will take place at the foot of the Yotei volcano on the island of Hokkaido. According to the developers, the transition to PS5 made the surrounding world even more beautiful, and unlike Jin Sakai, the new heroine Atsu will be able to wield two swords at once and use firearms as needed. Judging by Sony's changed policy, the gaming will be exclusive to PS5 for some time, and in six months or a year it will be ported to other platforms.
15. Mafia: The Old Country
- What is it: A prequel to the Mafia trilogy about the rise of the mafia in Sicily
- Platforms: Windows, PS5, Xbox Series X|S
- Release date: 2025
The new part of Mafia promises to return to the roots and be more like the first parts of the series than GTA. The plot of The Old Country will be a prequel to the original trilogy and will tell about the origin of mafia clans on the island of Sicily in the 1900s in the fictional city of San Celeste, which was mentioned in the second part of Mafia. Little is known about the plot and gameplay yet, according to the developers, the story will tell about the rise of a young family and will be made in the style of "impudent youth against the centuries-old traditions of old Europe." The only downside is that although at the Game Awards the developers promised to release the gaming in 2025, rumors and insiders say that a release in 2026 is more likely.
16. Directive 8020
- What is it: survival horror from the creators of the gaming films The Dark Pictures
- Platforms: Windows, PS5, Xbox Series X|S
- Release date: 2025
Directive 8020 is a new part of the horror gaming films series The Dark Pictures from the studio Supermassive Games. Despite the fact that the gaming seems to be an ideological sequel to the games Little Hope, House of Ashes and The Devil in Me, the developers plan to move away from the interactive movie format and make a full-fledged third-person survival horror with stealth elements. The plot of the gaming tells about the members of the colony ship "Cassiopeia", who after a mysterious catastrophe are looking for a new home for humanity. However, during the ship crashes, and aliens-doppelgangers, capable of taking the form of crew members, get on board. Judging by the trailer, one can draw distant analogies with Dead Space. At least in terms of setting and atmosphere. As is traditional for the Dark Pictures series, one of the main roles will be played by Hollywood actress Lashana Lynch, who starred in Captain Marvel, 007: No Time to Die and the recent series The Day of the Jackal.
17. Fable 4
- What is it: A sequel to the cult RPG, but without Peter Molyneux at the helm
- Platforms: Windows, Xbox Series X|S
- Release date: 2025
After the debut trailer for Fable 4, in which a toad ate a fairy, there was no news about the gaming for almost three years. And now, at the Xbox Games Showcase 2023, the Playground Games team brought a new promising trailer. Not much is known about the plot yet, the action will take place in Albion, familiar to all fans of the series, but the gaming does not seem to be a direct sequel to the original trilogy, and the player will control a new heroine who joins the community of heroes to confront some sinister threat. By the way, the father of the series, Peter Molyneux and his Lionhead Studios were not involved in the development in any way, and the gaming was entirely handled by Playground Games, better known for the racing series Forza Horizon.
18. Grand Theft Auto VI
- What is this: GTA fucking 6!
- Platforms: PS5, Xbox Series X|S
- Release date: 2025 (but not certain)
The main contender for the gaming of the year, if not the decade. An event of universal scale, one of the biggest releases of recent years, probably the most profitable gaming in the history of the industry and a project that even people far from video games have heard about. The regalia of the yet to be released GTA 6 can be listed endlessly, so let's move on. The events of the sixth part will return to the fictional city of Vice City inspired by Miami, the main characters will be a girl Lucia and her boyfriend Jason, and the plot will be an interpretation of the story of Bonnie and Clyde to one degree or another. The only downside is that the release in 2025 is not officially confirmed and Rockstar can easily move it to the next year to polish the project.
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