Summary
2025is shaping up to be one of the best years for gaming, due to the fact that publishers are going to release many promising video games every single month. But what’s especially interesting about this new year is that multiple beloved developers are going to make their long-awaited comeback in the upcoming months.
Needless to say, game development is both complex and time-consuming, so it’s understandable why these developers would go MIA for such a long time. Fortunately for their fans, however, the stars have finally aligned. Some of the industry’s most important studios are set to release new games in 2025.
Three years may not seem like much time at first, but it’s important to keep in mind thatGame Freakis the main development studio behind thePokemonfranchise, and it usually works on yearly releases. It seems likethe Pokemon Company learned its lesson after the polarizing reception of 2022’sPokemon Scarlet and Violet, so it has given Game Freak much more time to work on its next project.
The next entry in the mainlinePokemonseries isPokemon Legends: Z-A, which was announced in early 2024 with a tentative 2025 release. More than a yearafter the initial reveal, Game Freak still hasn’t said anything else about the game — which, weirdly enough, has given fans hope that the studio is dedicating a lot more time and care to it. As a result,Pokemon Legends: Z-Ahas the potential to become one of the best games in the franchise, especially if it improves on the refreshing new ideas introduced inPokemon Legends: Arceus.
Josef Fares’ development studio,Hazelight Studios, has made a huge impact on the gaming industry with its innovative co-op games, likeA Way OutandIt Takes Two.The latter even obtained the Game of the Year award in 2021. Now, four years after that massive success, Hazelight Studios is returning in March with its most ambitious project yet.
Originally revealed during The Game Awards 2024,Split Fictionis a split screen co-op action game with two female protagonists: Mio, who writes a science fiction story, and Zoe, who writes a fantasy story. As a result of this dichotomy, both players will have to constantly keep playing through their respective themed levels. This brilliant mechanic has the potential to turnSplit Fictioninto a distinctive and innovative experience.
Sucker Punch Productionsdisappeared during the late 2010sin order to deliver its magnum opus,Ghost of Tsushima, in 2020, at the very end of the PS4’s lifespan. This was such a high-quality game inspired by Japanese culture that most fans had no problem with waiting five more years for the next installment, and that’s precisely what ended up happening.
The sequel toGhost of Tsushima, titledGhost of Yōtei,is slated to come out sometime in 2025, and PlayStation fans couldn’t be more excited. While the studio hasn’t revealed much information about its upcoming project, the new setting, new main character, and beautiful graphics are already makingGhost of Yōteilook like one of the best PS5 exclusives of the year.
Everybody knows thatHideo Kojima is one of the most creative auteurs in the entire video game industry. After leaving Konami, he established a brand-new studio,Kojima Productions.There, he and his team madeDeath Stranding, one of the weirdest but most brilliant action-adventure games ever made.
A world as unique as this one, populated by so many wacky characters, needed to be explored a second time, so Kojima Productions is busy with the development of the sequel,Death Stranding 2: On the Beach. Judging by the trailers, this game promises to be even more over-the-top and innovative than its predecessor, with the potential to become another Kojima masterpiece. Kojima Productions is currently working on many other projects, likeODandPhysint, but it is confirmed thatDeath Stranding 2will come out in 2025, so it’s definitely the studio’s biggest priority at the moment.
We Happy Fewis a unique first-person video game that came out in 2018. Despite its admittedly divisive reception, it at least put its developer,Compulsion Games, on the map. Weirdly enough, the studio disappeared from the public eye after it was confirmed that Microsoft had acquired it, so players were left wondering what they were working on.
Over the past seven years, Compulsion Games has been hard at work,developing a new third-person action-adventure game titledSouth of Midnight. With its fascinating setting based on Southern American myths , coupled with a beautiful art style, dynamic mobility and satisfying combat,South of Midnightlooks like the comeback that Compulsion Games needed to make a bigger impact on the industry.
There’s no denying thatGrand Theft Auto 6is not only the most anticipated game of 2025, but maybe the most anticipated game of the entire decade. After all,it has been seven years sinceRockstar Gamesreleased its last open world masterpiece,Red Dead Redemption 2, and twelve years since the launch of the last game in the series,Grand Theft Auto 5.
Since the early 2000s, Rockstar Games has been focusing on making massive open world titles with lots of content and possibilities. But these types of games have gotten more and more ambitious with time, meaning that their development also takes a lot of time and money.Grand Theft Auto 6may be the biggest and most revolutionary video game of the generation. However, its scope has seemingly expanded so much, that many fans are afraid Rockstar Games will delay it to 2026, especially since it hasn’t revealed much more information after its initial 2023 announcement.
Many gamers keep wondering whatRetro Studioshas been working on since 2014. After all, one of Nintendo’s most prestigious subsidiarieshas completely vanished after the release of the excellentDonkey Kong Country: Tropical Freezefor Wii U. From 2019 onwards, it has been working hard on the long-awaited fourth entry in theMetroid Primeseries.
It’s because of this, coupled with the fact thatMetroid Prime 3: Corruptioncame out in 2007, thatMetroid Prime 4: Beyondis arguably the biggest and most anticipated Nintendo Switch game of 2025. It’s important to keep in mind that Retro Studios has worked on 2023’sMetroid Prime Remastered, but that was just a remaster it developed alongside Iron Galaxy Studios.Metroid Prime 4will be its first full new game in eleven years and fans are extremely excited, especially because all the previews so far made it look absolutely incredible.
The excellentBioshocktrilogy was synonymous with high-quality single-player games of the late 2000s and early 2010s. Yet, it disappeared from the gaming industry after the launch of 2013’sBioshock Infinite, alongside its creator, Ken Levine, and his development team,Irrational Games. After years of planning, they’re finally coming back in 2025with a promising spiritual successor toBioshocktitledJudas.
The studio is now calledGhost Story Games, but that’s just a new name and a rebranding. It’s still working as a subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive, with Ken Levine still at the helm. The studio hasn’t revealed much aboutJudasyet, but it seems like it’s going to be yet another incredible first-person shooter with a unique setting and heavy political and social commentary. Take-Two expects this game to come out around March 2025, so it seems like Ken Levine and Ghost Story Games will be making their long-waited comeback very soon.
