Anticipated Blockbusters: The Must-Play Games of 2025!

As we wrap up the eventful year of 2024, we anticipate a game release schedule that is already brimming with outstanding titles. Several games set to debut in 2025 have already amassed significant fan followings and media attention, generating excitement prior to their release. Drawing from Dean’s own list of most-anticipated games, the titles featured here are highly likely to dominate the sales charts in the next year.

The titles of 2025 will enter a rather atypical market. Many publishers would have declared at the outset of 2024 that live-service games are the market’s future, but the audience firmly pushed back on numerous (not all, but many) of the newly released titles. A lot of them either ceased operations or their publishers halted the release of new content after a brief stint in the market, including Concord, Foamstars, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, and XDefiant.

In contrast, the titles slated for next year include cooperative games and single-player narrative experiences from some of the largest and most respected studios in the industry. Here’s a look at the games that appear poised to lead sales in the upcoming year, not to mention their potential for critical praise.

Grand Theft Auto VI

Rockstar’s upcoming title has undergone a tumultuous launch journey. Numerous details have leaked throughout different stages of development, culminating in a hacker leaking gameplay footage during the game’s development in 2022. The reveal of the trailer was also compromised by another leaker releasing it prematurely, yet this seems to have done little to diminish anyone’s excitement for the game.

Obsidian’s earlier works encompass the Peabody Award-winning Pentiment (my top game of 2022), the Pillars of Eternity franchise, the beloved Fallout: New Vegas, South Park: The Stick of Truth, and The Outer Worlds. Each of these games has garnered critical recognition and commercial success, with The Outer Worlds notably selling 4 million copies by its second anniversary. With the strong credentials of its creator, Avowed seems poised to thrive in the marketplace, despite facing competition.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2

Warhorse Studio’s Kingdom Come: Deliverance emerged as a surprise success in 2018, featuring an RPG situated in a (mostly) historically accurate backdrop of 15th-century Bohemia. The sequel, Deliverance 2, continues the narrative of Henry, a blacksmith’s offspring turned significant political figure, while players make decisions that will impact his life’s trajectory. The new installment, like its predecessor, also includes a survival aspect that necessitates Henry to frequently eat and sleep.

Originally financed through a Kickstarter initiative in 2014, Warhorse established a publishing agreement with Deep Silver in 2016. At the start of November this year, Warhorse confirmed that the original game had surpassed 8 million sales. Creative director Daniel Vavra mentioned that Deliverance 2 is the project Warhorse always intended to create but could not due to resource limitations. It is set to launch on February 4.

Split Fiction

Josef Fares officially introduced his latest game during The Game Awards: Split Fiction, an action-adventure title that, similar to Hazelight’s prior game It Takes Two, is designed with splitscreen co-op in mind. Players take on the roles of Zoe and Mio, two writers ensnared in their own and each other’s narratives, tackling both platforming obstacles and genre variations simultaneously. The game will debut on March 6.

Though Hazelight has released only two titles thus far, A Way Out and the previously mentioned It Takes Two, both games performed remarkably well in terms of sales. It Takes Two, in particular, has achieved over 20 million copies sold and won Game of the Year at both the 2021 Game Awards and the 25th D.I.C.E. Awards. Like its predecessors, Split Fiction will introduce a “Friend Pass,” meaning that only one of the co-op partners needs to purchase the game to enjoy it.

Sid Meier’s Civilization 7

The Civilization franchise is a significant mainstay in gaming, established since the early 90s and with over 70 million units sold to date. The 2016 title Civilization VI moved one million units within its initial two weeks of release. Now, Firaxis Games and 2K are advancing the series with the next chapter, the aptly titled Civilization VII, which is set for launch on February 11.

As per Firaxis, Civilization VII will be the most expansive game in the series thus far, and it brings innovation to the leader system by broadening the selection (to incorporate scientific and philosophical leaders alongside military ones) while permitting players to choose leaders for each era of their civilization. The epochs have been simplified to Antiquity, Exploration, and Modern. Civilization VII will also feature Gwendoline Christie as its narrator.

Pokémon Legends: Z-A

Nintendo’s 2025 lineup finds itself in a somewhat peculiar position — although the company has not made an official confirmation, it is widely believed that the Switch successor will be revealed early in the year. This suggests that all Nintendo titles announced thus far could be released on the “Switch 2” as well as the current Switch. Pokémon Legends: Z-A is poised to launch on “Nintendo Switch systems” in 2025, according to Game Freak.

This series consistently performs well for Nintendo, with its predecessor Legends: Arceus achieving nearly 15 million units sold within a single year. Currently, little is known about Z-A other than that it takes place in Lumiose City, the location featured in Pokémon X & Y.

Other anticipated titles

2025 already has a full release schedule, so the aforementioned titles are far from the only ones that could potentially top a best-seller list. Below is a compilation of other major releases currently planned for a 2025 release window:

• Donkey Kong Country Returns HD (Jan 16)
• Dynasty Warriors: Origins (Jan 17)
• Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. (Jan 28)
• Assassin’s Creed Shadows (Feb 14)
• Date Everything! (Feb 14)
• Lost Records: Bloom & Rage Tape 1 (Feb 18)
• Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii (Feb 21)
• Two Point Museum (Mar 4)
• FragPunk (Mar 6)
• Lost Records: Bloom & Rage Tape 2 (Mar 18)
• Tales of the Shire: A The Lord of the Rings Game (Mar 25)
• Atomfall (Mar 27)
• Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves (Apr 24)
• 2XKO
• The Alters
• ARC Raiders
• Borderlands 4
• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
• Crimson Desert
• The Dark Pictures Anthology: Directive 8020
• Death Stranding 2: On The Beach
• Doom: The Dark Ages
• Dune: Awakening
• Dying Light: The Beast
• Fable
• FBC: Firebreak
• Ghost of Yōtei
• GreedFall 2: The Dying World
• John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando
• Killing Floor 3
• Kingmakers
• The Legend of Baboo
• Little Nightmares III
• Mafia: The Old Country
• Metroid Prime 4: Beyond
• The Outer Worlds 2
• Phantom Brave: The Lost Hero
• Professor Layton and the New World of Steam
• The Sinking City 2
• Slay the Spire 2
• Sonic Rumble
• South of Midnight
• Splitgate 2
• Tron: Catalyst
• Vampire: The Masquerade — Bloodlines 2
• Virtua Fighter title
• Witchfire