The 50 biggest fresh game releases coming in 2025

2024 was a weird year for video games, if not amusement in general. While there surely were major AAA releases, like Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Dragon Age: The Veilguard, and Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, it was smaller and indie titles that more or little stole the show. Games like Balatro, Tactical Breach Wizards, and Animal Well dominated best-of-the-year discussions, while squad Asobi and Sony Interactive Entertainment’s Astro Bot unexpectedly won the hearts of gamers yearning for a challenging, personality-driven platformer.

By all accounts, 2025 is shaping up to be 1 of the biggest years for the video game manufacture in fresh memory. The upcoming release of Grand Theft car 6 and the impending announcement of the successor to the Nintendo Switch alone would clinch that distinction, but there are even more releases to look forward to on the horizon. From AAA behemoths like Borderlands 4, Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, and Ghost of Yōtei to ambitious fresh titles like 2XKO, Arc Raiders, and Marvel 1943: emergence of Hydra, there’s almost besides many breathtaking fresh releases to keep track of.

Not to worry, though; we’ve compiled a list of the 50 games to look forward to this year, organized by their expected release date or release window.

Donkey Kong Country Returns HD

Release date: Jan. 16
Where to play: Nintendo Switch

When Donkey Kong Country Returns first came out in 2010, it was the first DK Country game not to affect developer Rare, and it came as any relief to fans that Retro Studios’ installment of the classical platformer series felt fresh and fun. It may not be the Wii game you were expecting to get an HD Nintendo control version, but it’s inactive worth checking out, especially if you never had the chance to play it back in 2010. —Maddy Myers

Release date: Jan. 23
Where to play: PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox Series X

Do you like sci-fi? What about mechs? If so, this extraction shooter is 1 to watch. You’ll research the planet of Amasia alongside your AI partner in search of uncommon resources, taking on unusual creatures and another players in the process. —Saira Mueller

Release date: Jan. 30
Where to play: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X

Meaning no disrespect to the older Sniper Elite games, it’s beautiful awesome the way this series has just kept getting better with all entry. The latest, Sniper Elite: Resistance, will bring the series’ trademark stealth and sniping gameplay to Nazi-occupied France, where players will join the resistance. —Austen Goslin

Release date: Feb. 11
Where to play: Mac, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X

The latest installment in the popular strategy franchise, Civilization 7 makes any bold changes to the acquainted gameplay — including the introduction of 3 Ages to represent different eras of civilization. Changes aside, it’ll likely inactive have you up until all hours taking “just 1 more turn.” —Saira Mueller

Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2

Release date: Feb. 4
Where to play: PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox Series X

With Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, developer Warhorse Studios plans to deliver on the fantasy of role-playing a 15th-century Bohemian warrior with the reality of a life simulation. Players don’t just engage in first-person medieval warfare; they request to sleep, eat, and train for visceral sword-based combat. The first Kingdom Come: Deliverance is simply a fan-favorite smash hit, and the sequel looks to go even bigger. —Michael McWhertor

Assassin’s Creed Shadows

Release date: Feb. 14
Where to play: Mac, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox Series X

Pretty much for the full run of the series, Assassin’s Creed fans have had 1 request: a game set in feudal Japan. That game, Assassin’s Creed Shadows, is yet out in 2025, bringing literal years of clamoring to a close. You’ll play as 2 protagonists, swapping between the fictional assassin Naoe and the nonfictional samurai Yasuke, with stealth- or combat-focused gameplay respectively. Though Shadows was initially planned for a late 2024 release, Ubisoft delayed it, citing the request for additional polish. All told, Shadows could be the biggest Assassin’s Creed in years — or the biggest flop. Either way, 1 to watch! —Ari Notis

Release date: Feb. 18
Where to play: Windows PC, Xbox Series X

The role-playing game experts at Obsidian amusement return to the fantasy planet of Eora — from the Pillars of Eternity series — for a brand-new, first-person adventure. Avowed looks like fantasy RPG comfort food, with swords and spells (and guns!) at the heart of combat, and choices and consequences driving its wizards-and-warriors narrative. Adventure and danger await in what appears to be a classical fantasy tale on the diverse and mysterious surviving Lands. —Michael McWhertor

Lost Records: Bloom & Rage

Release date: Feb. 18
Where to play: PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox Series X

Don’t Nod’s Lost Records: Bloom & Rage seems to have quite a few what made Life Is Strange and Life Is unusual 2 special: a heartfelt, complex communicative about teenagers. This time, the studio is taking on a mid-’90s group of friends — in a band — and adding a supernatural mystery to the mix. It looks like it’ll blend both the past and the present to make a woven narrative. —Nicole Carpenter

Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii

Release date: Feb. 21
Where to play: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X

Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth was my favourite game of 2024, a colossal open-world RPG that doubled as a conclusion of sorts and starting point for the long-running franchise. Its communicative felt like gathering eclectic weirdos on a flight to Hawaii and then deciding to spend your full vacation hanging out with your fresh best friends. 1 hitch: the game features turn-based combat, which isn’t everyone’s cup of rum.

Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii offers an alternate for folks who want the Hawaiian adventure, but like to spend time mashing buttons as they pulverize baddies. Same beautiful setting. Same charming storytelling. But now you get a sword and naval combat! —Chris Plante

Release date: Feb. 28
Where to play: PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox Series X

Capcom’s Monster huntsman franchise someway manages to get both deeper and more approachable with each entry. Monster huntsman Wilds is the franchise’s most ambitious adventure yet, with a sprawling ecosystem that will feature fresh monsters to battle, a fresh mount to further velocity up travel, and even greater depth for the series’ trademark combat. Dynamically changing environments and multiple weapon loadouts will aid keep things fresh, even for Monster huntsman veterans. —Michael McWhertor

Release date: March 6
Where to play: PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox Series X

This fast-paced, colorful shooter is set for release in March. conventional hero shooter mechanics are bolstered by power-up cards, which grant chaotic bonuses like a teeny-tiny noggin that’s tough to headshot, or an upside-down world. This free-to-play game has super short rounds and rewards aggressive play, fast reflexes, and clever usage of hero powers and shard cards. —Cass Marshall

Release date: March 25
Where to play: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox Series X

Although Frodo and his pals ended up getting pulled into any very un-hobbit-like adventures, we all know that most hobbits can’t abide that kind of thing at all. Tales of the Shire embraces the core activities of the hobbit lifestyle — farming, eating, and socializing — already a trifecta in the cozy life sim genre. So if you wished Frodo had never left the Shire, and indeed that you yourself could make a home for yourself there, this is the game for you; here’s a glowing preview of the game from Polygon’s own Lord of the Rings expert Susana Polo if you request more details. —Maddy Myers

Release date: March 27
Where to play: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X

Inspired by Fallout: fresh Vegas, this upcoming game from Sniper Elite developer Rebellion Developments is set in an alt-history 1960s version of England in the wake of the Windscale atomic disaster. In the planet of Atomfall, the disaster has transformed northern England into a radioactive quarantine zone; the single-player, first-person endurance game features everything you’d hope to see in a New Vegas-inspired experience. That means scavenging, crafting, bartering with and/or fighting NPCs, and exploring and uncovering the mysteries of this ravaged world. —Maddy Myers

Release date: March 28 (early access)
Where to play: Windows PC

The first thing you’ll announcement about InZoi is how extraordinarily realistic it looks, especially compared to The Sims, its stylized and cartoonish competitor. Krafton’s upcoming life sim game — slated to be released in early access on March 28 — capitalizes on the capabilities of Unreal Engine 5, and it shows. What remains to be seen is how fun the remainder of the game is beyond the hyperrealism of its character creator. erstwhile Jordon Oloman previewed the game for Polygon at Gamescom 2024, he described InZoi as “a method marvel, a mind-boggling, genre-eating life simulator that I’m keen to dig deeper into.” —Maddy Myers

Release date: March 2025
Where to play: PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X

The communicative of Football manager 25 has been 1 of delays. While it initially released its fresh entries in the fall, Sports Interactive announced in October 2024 that this year’s game won’t come out until March (when many of the globe’s major leagues will be wrapping up their seasons), in order to “deliver the best possible experience” for the “biggest method and visual advancement in the series for a generation.” Among the many intriguing fresh features — better animations, a completely overhauled match day experience, an improved UI — the most breathtaking is the long-overdue addition of women’s football to the mega popular simulator franchise. —Pete Volk

Release date: 2025
Where to play: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X

Do we even gotta remind you that Grand Theft car 6 is presently slated for 2025? Though there’s no announced release date, publisher Take-Two Interactive has the game set for fall 2025. GTA 6 is easy the most anticipated game expected out in the next year, bringing the franchise back to Vice City, the franchise’s fictional version of Miami. While those games were set in the 1980s, GTA 6 brings Vice City to the present, following a Bonnie and Clyde-esque duo. —Nicole Carpenter

Release date: 2025
Where to play: PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox Series X

After dominating the planet of MOBAs, tactical shooters, and animated entertainment, Riot Games is now setting its sights on fighting games. 2XKO is set in the League of Legends universe and employs a fewer of its characters in a unique fighting game that’s designed from the ground up for 2v2 combat. —Austen Goslin

Release date: 2025
Where to play: PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox Series X

Borderlands 4, criminally not titled “4derlands,” doesn’t request to be anything beyond “more Borderlands” to work. But the next entry in Gearbox’s loot-shooter series introduces a number of fresh features, including a grappling hook (scientifically proven to improve all game it’s a part of) and an allegedly “seamless” map. Bring on the 87 gajillion guns! —Ari Notis

Death Stranding 2: On the Beach

Release date: 2025
Where to play: PlayStation 5

The next installment of the baffling and beautiful Kojima Productions game Death Stranding (2019) doesn’t yet have a release date, but what we do know is that it will be just as incomprehensible as its predecessor. We know that much from multiple lengthy trailers that have been released for Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, featuring specified bizarre fresh additions as Dollman, a surviving puppet animated in stop-motion style. I don’t know why there’s a surviving puppet in this game, but I’m besides not certain I can explain anything that happened in the first game, either. Bring it on, Kojima. —Maddy Myers

Release date: 2025
Where to play: Mac, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X

With a light horror narrative, this turn-based RPG will see you fighting large bads while attending school on a mysterious island. Aside from fighting monsters with your friends, you’ll plan your school agenda in order to build skills. —Saira Mueller

Release date: 2025
Where to play: PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox Series X

Get ready to rip and teardrop with a CHAINSAW SHIELD in this medieval prequel to the Doom series. Doom: The Dark Ages may be set in the past, but that doesn’t mean the gunplay will be any little contemporary. The setting simply gives the Doom Slayer a reason to smash demons with a spiked flail, ride on the back of a dragon, and pilot a giant mech that looks like an armored medieval knight. It’s rather possibly 2025’s most badass game. —Michael McWhertor

Release date: TBA
Where to play: PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox Series X

Played from a third-person perspective, Funcom’s Dune: Awakening will let players to customize their own characters and align themselves with the various factions vying for control of Arrakis. Combat is dictated through an interesting mix of melee and ranged abilities, including firearms, which is simply a crucial departure from the established canon. You’ll besides have the chance to build bases and drive vehicles that borrow much of the plan language utilized in the more fresh Villeneuve Dune saga through an open-world sandbox, pun intended.

The tiny amounts of gameplay we’ve been shown thus far look like a blend of Subnautica or No Man’s Sky with more live-service trappings thrown in, specified as colored loot, guilds, and character progression systems. —Alice Jovanée

Release date: 2025
Where to play: PlayStation 5

Not rather Ghost of Tsushima 2, Ghost of Yōtei is simply a fresh communicative from the developers at Sucker Punch, set in the early 1600s in the regions surrounding Mount Yotei. In that time period, the region was called Ezo, and was a separatist republic led by samurai. We don’t know much about the game’s fresh protagonist, named Atsu, but that she wields 2 katanas and she’s out for revenge. —Maddy Myers

Release date: 2025
Where to play: PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X

Nearly a decade after the release of Killing level 2, the FPS franchise is back with a sequel that should open up plenty of area for more co-op zombie killing. The game already looks a full lot prettier than its predecessor, and it seems to have even more unlocks and upgrades to go along with its improved visuals. —AG

Release date: 2025
Where to play: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X

We don’t know much about this upcoming multiplayer, co-op Elden Ring spinoff game, but we know adequate to be intrigued; the task brings roguelike and conflict royale elements to the punishing planet of the Lands Between, as well as randomized loot and preset characters from which to choice (rather than a player-created protagonist, as FromSoft’s games typically have). It all sounds very different from Elden Ring, and yet it will most likely have any ineffable Elden Ring-ness to it erstwhile it arrives sometime in 2025 (following a network test early in the year). —Maddy Myers

Professor Layton and the fresh planet of Steam

Release date: 2025
Where to play: Nintendo Switch

Level-5 announced Professor Layton and the fresh planet of Steam during a Nintendo Direct in 2023, but hasn’t shared much about the game, aside from a fewer brief trailers that hinted at a fresh antagonist in a technologically evolving world. The last mainline prof. Layton game was released in 2017, so fans of the franchise are eager to learn more about the game as its 2025 release approaches. —Nicole Carpenter

Release date: 2025 (early access)
Where to play: Windows PC, Xbox Series X

Would it even be an action roguelike if you didn’t fight through the underworld? 33 Immortals continues the trend with a game starring a damned soul who battles their way through hell, purgatory, and heaven — but here’s the truly unusual part. The game supports up to 33 players working in tandem, making this a massive cooperative experience. Killing god will most likely take any teamwork, after all. —Maddy Myers

Release date: 2025
Where to play: PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox Series X

The Anno franchise is truly drilling down into the actual sickos in its fan base now. The city-building simulation series is dropping its oldest edition yet, taking players all the way back to the days of ancient Rome where you can effort your hand at moving a small part of the empire. —Austen Goslin

Release date: 2025
Where to play: PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox Series X

A multiplayer extraction adventure where the player must loot a post-apocalyptic wasteland full of deadly robots. Those brave adequate to raid the above planet must build relationships with traders, last dangerous conditions, and upgrade their underground base. —Cass Marshall

Release date: 2025
Where to play: Windows PC, Xbox Series X

The first installment in the long-running series since 2012, this upcoming game is called simply Fable and, for respective years since its announcement in 2020, details about it have been scant. erstwhile entries in the action role-playing series were all about player choice, and the gameplay trailer that yet debuted in 2024 emphasized that as well, with a description that reads, “What does it mean to be a Hero? Well, in the fairytale land of Albion, that is entirely up to you.” This game is nominally coming out in 2025, so here’s hoping we’ll hear more about what those choices might be. —Maddy Myers

Release date: 2025
Where to play: PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox Series X

Set in the universe of 2019’s Control, Remedy Entertainment’s cooperative first-person shooter follows a squad of agents trapped inside the depths of the Oldest House, the office of the national Bureau of Control. Isolated from the outside world, players must work together to fight against the extradimensional enemies trapped alongside them, utilizing a variety of tools, weapons, and equipment cobbled together from whatever they can find on hand. Desperate times call for desperate measures! —Toussaint Egan

Marvel 1943: emergence of Hydra

Release date: 2025
Where to play: PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox Series X

Marvel 1943: emergence of Hydra, erstwhile Uncharted manager Amy Hennig’s fresh task at her fresh studio, Skydance fresh Media, is based on a 2010 Marvel Comics series about Steve Rogers and T’Challa’s grandpa teaming up to fight Nazis. The game has a four-character ensemble, so beyond those 2 more celebrated characters, there’s besides Gabriel Jones (a associate of the Howling Commandos, an elite peculiar forces unit formed by Nick Fury) and Nanali (described as the leader of the Wakandan Spy Network — and in the comics, a erstwhile queen of Wakanda as well). No release date yet, but anticipate to be punching out those Nazis in 2025. —Maddy Myers

Release date: 2025
Where to play: Nintendo Switch

Announced in 2017 and then followed by lots of radio silence and a full reboot, Metroid Prime 4: Beyond has been a long time coming. It came as a large surprise and relief, therefore, to see a full-length trailer for the game in 2024 that promised a 2025 release date. A more circumstantial release date has yet to be clarified for Samus Aran’s next first-person adventure, but rumor has it that it might accompany the Switch 2 — besides slated for 2025, natch. (For those who have no thought why longtime Metroid fans are frothing at the mouth, choice up the remastered version of the first Metroid Prime on the control and get a taste of what’s to come.) —Maddy Myers

Release date: 2025
Where to play: Nintendo Switch

Pokémon Legends: Z-A is the next installment in a series of Pokémon spinoffs that started with Pokémon Legends: Arceus. I’m peculiarly eager for this release due to the fact that it takes players to the urban setting of Lumiose City and the Pokémon X and Y generation. —Ana Diaz

Release date: 2025
Where to play: PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox Series X

Nearly six years removed from the release of the first game, Ukrainian developer Frogwares is returning with a follow-up to its 2019 endurance horror game The Sinking City. Inspired by the works of horror author H.P. Lovecraft, The Sinking City 2 takes place in the fictional city of Arkham, Massachusetts, which has late been afflicted by a supernatural flood. Though it’s a stand-alone communicative from The Sinking City, the sequel will likely boast a fewer references to the events of the erstwhile game. —Toussaint Egan

Release date: 2025 (early access)
Where to play: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X

Call it Skate 4. Call it skate. nevertheless you mention to Electronic Arts’ revival of its beloved and long-dormant skateboarding franchise, you gotta put any respect on its name due to the long, battle-tested, community-powered improvement period that (we hope) ensures developer Full ellipse will deliver on a bazillion requests for a fresh Skate game. Next year’s free-to-play Skate promises to be a living, increasing game, with something different to do all day, week, or season. —Michael McWhertor

Release date: 2025
Where to play: Mac, Windows PC

Slay the Spire is the perfect “just 1 more game” deck-building roguelike, providing variety through its 4 classes and massive assortment of cards and artifacts. Slay the Spire 2 doesn’t look like it will change the expression besides much, at least from what we saw in the gameplay trailer shown at The Game Awards, and that’s a good thing. While any of the concepts and characters look the same, there are adequate tweaks (including a fresh character called the Necrobinder) to make me excited to play hundreds of hours of a sequel. —Chelsea Stark

Release date: 2025
Where to play: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X

The first Splitgate was 1 of the most fun and breathtaking surprises of the last respective years, a snappy FPS with Portal-esque pathways that gave players the freedom to turn all map into an M.C. Escher firefight. As for how the sequel will improve the gameplay, we’ll just gotta wait and see. —Austen Goslin

Release date: 2025
Where to play: Windows PC, Xbox Series X

Compulsion Games, the developer of 2018’s We Happy Few, is set to return in 2025 with a fresh 3rd individual action-adventure set in a confederate Gothic fantasy planet inspired by the American South. South of Midnight follows the communicative of Hazel, a young female whose hometown of Prospero is ravaged by a supernatural hurricane. Set adrift in a planet that blurs the line between folklore and reality, Hazel must usage her powers as a “weaver” to reconstruct balance and find a fresh home. —Toussaint Egan

Release date: 2025 (early access)
Where to play: Windows PC, Xbox Series X

Subnautica 2 is the sequel to the underwater endurance game Subnautica. I loved the first game due to the fact that you can research breathtaking coral reefs and dark ocean depths. I’m excited due to the fact that developer Unknown Worlds amusement announced multiplayer for the sequel, so I’ll have another endurance game I can play with friends.—Ana Diaz

Release date: 2025
Where to play: PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox Series X

If you, like me, are looking forward to Bong Joon-ho’s sci-fi drama Mickey 17, you should definitely keep your eye out for this weird and chaotic endurance adventure. Set on an inhospitable planet, The Alters puts players in the function of Jan Dolski, a space miner who must navigate a gigantic circular space station to stay out of the scope of the planet’s deadly sunlight. With no 1 else to aid him, Jan must trust on the Alters — cloned versions of himself from alternate timelines — to aid him conquer the planet’s resources and devise a way to return home. —Toussaint Egan

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Release date: 2025
Where to play: PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox Series X

Even after a year of extraordinary RPGs in 2024, we’re inactive ready for what could be another banger — or at least something stunning to look upon — in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, a turn-based single-player fantasy RPG that’s besides the first-ever task from developer Sandfall Interactive. The French studio’s game takes inspiration from Final Fantasy and Persona, and its somewhat realistic, somewhat stylized character designs (courtesy of Unreal Engine 5) pair with a distinctive Belle Époque-meets-dark-fantasy setting. —Maddy Myers

Release date: 2025
Where to play: PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox Series X

It’s been nearly 10 years since the last game in the Mafia franchise, but developer Hangar 13, which previously made Mafia 3, is back for another tale of organized crime. This time around the open-world crime series is taking players to turn-of-the-century Sicily for any old-school action. —Austen Goslin

Release date: TBA
Where to play: PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox Series X

Ghost communicative Games (formerly Irrational Games) is back with its first release in over a decade. Set aboard a disintegrating spaceship, Judas is simply a first-person shooter centered on the eponymous protagonist, a pariah of this far-future society, who must fight to last while weighing the future of the surviving remnants of humanity. The game will prominently feature procedurally generated scenarios inspired by Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor’s Nemesis System. —Toussaint Egan

Release date: 2025
Where to play: PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox Series X

Obsidian amusement announced it’ll release The Outer Worlds 2, its cheeky discipline fiction role-playing game, in 2025 with a fresh trailer at The Game Awards in December. As the trailer narrator put it, The Outer Worlds 2 will have “everything that should have been in the first game — more action, more weapons, and more… graphics,” naturally. Again, there’s no circumstantial release date for this one, but the first gameplay trailer looks rather exciting. —Nicole Carpenter

Release date: TBA
Where to play: Windows PC, Xbox Series X

Gears 5 ended on a hell of a cliffhanger half a decade ago, so it’s intensely gratifying that, in 2025, the series picks up with— Wait. A prequel?! Yes, Gears of War: E-Day is about as much of a prequel as a Gears of War game can be, going back to the start of the Locust horde invasion. Dangling communicative threads aside, mowing down hordes of squelchy underground abominations never gets old. Plus, playing one more time as series mainstays Marcus and Dom is nostalgia in a bottle. —Ari Notis

Release date: 2025
Where to play: Playstation 5, Windows PC, Xbox Series X

A fresh game from Bungie would always be origin for celebration, but a fresh extraction shooter building on the bones of the developer’s first franchise is peculiarly interesting. This seems like Bungie taking a dive into the deepest end of the hardcore multiplayer FPS pool, and given the studio’s track record, it’s hard to think of anything more breathtaking in 2025 than that. —Austen Goslin

Release date: 2025
Where to play: PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox Series X

Like another open-world endurance games, Terminator: Survivors will task players — either alone or in co-op multiplayer — to scavenge for resources, build a base, and fight to last against another players. But there’s another wrinkle: In a post-Judgment Day world, players will besides gotta last against hunter-killer robots, namely the Terminator T-800 and the another terrors in Skynet’s mechanized army, which aims to wipe out humanity for good. —Michael McWhertor

Release date: TBA
Where to play: Windows PC

Valve’s team-based multiplayer shooter, which besides has a sprinkling of MOBA-inspired elements, didn’t have an average launch. Deadlock entered into secret early playtesting on Steam, with players sharing keys with 1 another through word of mouth and agreeing to a cone of silence about the game’s existence upon logging in. The game yet got a Steam page in August 2024, but it’s inactive not even technically in early access — although you can play it, if you know a guy who knows a guy, etc. We figure Deadlock will get an actual release date in 2025, and having played it a bit ourselves, we can tell you it’s got quite a few possible and (despite the weird rollout) is worth keeping an eye on erstwhile it’s full live. —Maddy Myers

Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater

Release date: TBA
Where to play: PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox Series X

At a preview for Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater, Konami maker Noriaki Okamura told Polygon that the squad “definitely didn’t want to alter any of the communicative or world” — but didn’t address the elephant in the area (the departures of erstwhile metallic Gear creatives from Konami, like Hideo Kojima and Yoji Shinkawa). Given the immense respect for the origin material seen in Konami’s Silent Hill 2 remake (developed by Bloober Team), despite the immense skepticism about it on the part of Silent Hill fans, it does seem possible that Metal Gear Solid Delta might likewise win over the skeptical superfans out there. That’s clearly what the squad is hoping for — and they seemingly have any more time to polish, since the game doesn’t yet have a release date beyond 2025. —Maddy Myers