2025 continues to look – overwhelmingly – full of games.
That makes sense, since 2024 might go down as a weird and odd year for video games. People who play games tend to stick with older, enduringly popular games like Grand Theft Auto 5, Fortnite, CounterattackAnd Minecraftjust as game developers are factoring in longer development periods, rising budgets and a volatile games industry ravaged by layoffs.
That doesn’t mean that 2024 will be a… bad years for video games. Quite the opposite. Fans of the medium have enjoyed great stuff ranging from AAA scale (Dragon dogma 2, Hell divers 2, Like a dragon: infinite wealthAnd Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown) to surprises at indie level (Balatro, Pacific drive, PalworldAnd Animal welfare). This year’s best games have captured the hearts of millions with their fresh takes on classic genres.
But 2024 will probably still feel like a downer – barring major, yet-to-be-announced releases in the second half of the year – compared to the deluge that will come in 2025. Next year alone, Nintendo and Rockstar Games will try to repeat the successes of their most popular products of all time: the Nintendo Switch and Grand Theft Auto 5.
A new Nintendo console and the long-awaited release of Grand Theft Auto 6 For many video game fans, that alone could be enough to last an entire year. Nintendo is said to be working hard to strengthen its library of next-generation games for the “Switch 2,” reportedly delaying the new hardware to ensure its customers have great software to play next year. In other words, expect a long list of great new Nintendo games to release alongside the new console in 2025.
As regards GTA6after a turnover of 200 million in 2013 GTA 5it’s safe to say that Rockstar will have a built-in audience that expects a huge generational shift in the game – and that the audience will undoubtedly get dozens, if not hundreds, of hours of playtime.
Here’s what else these big releases will compete with in 2025:
- Pokémon Legends SAthe new Pokémon Legends adventure that will take fans through the 10th generation of the franchise
- Monster Hunter Wildsa massive, open world leveling of Capcom’s growing Monster Hunter franchise
- Sid Meier’s civilization 7the next installment in the grand strategy series that die-hards have been playing with for thousands of hours
- Fablethe first new Fable game in over 14 years
- Doom: the Dark Agesthe return of the Doom Slayer and hopefully a little course correction for the shooter
- Miracle 1943: Rise of Hydrathe cinematic Black Panther-versus-Captain America World War II game from Uncharted game designer Amy Hennig’s new studio
- Death Stranding 2: On the beachanother huge adventure led by Hideo Kojima
- Judasthe successor to BioShock from Ghost Story Games
- 2XKO from Riot Games and Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves from SNK, two major new fighting games
This past week of non-E3 and Summer Game Fest events saw even more games announced for 2025: Koei Tecmo’s Dynasty Warriors: OriginsCompulsive games’ South of midnight, Mix tape, Wuchang fallen feathers, Cuff bust, Cairn, and others. They will participate in previously announced games Paralives, Little nightmares 3And Kill the spire 2 in an incredibly busy year that will only get busier.
These games, which could take up hundreds of hours of our free time, are just the games we know. And they’ll be competing for our attention amid one of the busiest movie release calendars of the past decade – all adding up to a very expensive and competitive year for entertainment. There are much worse problems to be had.