For all of the great games released in 2024, it was a year that felt somewhat bereft of major blockbusters. Instead, last year was the perfect time to explore your niche—getting lost inside something new and hyperspecifc. To the point that, when the PC Gamer team came together to decide our Game of the Year awards, we all realised we'd spent the last 12 months obsessing over completely different games.
Looking ahead at the next 12 months, things already feel different. February alone is packed with multiple hotly anticipated releases—games that we've been waiting months (or even years) to get our hands on.
The months following are no slouch either. And hanging over it all is the possibility that Rockstar will meet its release window and actually launch GTA 6 this year—even if we'll have to wait longer for it to appear on PC.
Of course delays are inevitable, and not everything currently sporting a vague "2025" release window will actually come out. But even with that caveat, there's plenty to look forward to. So to give you an idea of what cool stuff is on the horizon, I asked the PCG team to pick out some personal favourites they simply can't wait to play.
Release date: Feb 28, 2025
Kara Phillips, Evergreen Writer: I'd love to make some sort of wistful remark about how it's nearly time to dust off my dual blades and polish my armour ready for the release of Monster Hunter Wilds, but let's be real—no one really takes a break from Monster Hunter. Even if you've poured hundreds of hours into any of the mainline games, there's always the excuse of one more hunt. Or at least that's what's been seeing me through the over-a-year-long wait for Wilds.
Promising the 'ultimate hunting experience,' there's already a lot to expect. Monster Hunter World felt like a pretty epic hunting experience if you ask me, so I'm absolutely desperate to know what's going to take that to the next level. The amuse-bouche of an open beta test in October was enough to wet the whistle, but it definitely left me with an insatiable craving. When I was gliding through the air atop a Seikret or going toe to toe with a pack of Doshaguma, Monster Hunter Wilds delivered an experience that I can only describe as true glee, and something I'm impatiently waiting to feel again when I can finally get my hands on the full game.
Release date: Feb 11, 2025
2025 games: Upcoming releases
Best PC games: All-time favorites
Free PC games: Freebie fest
Best FPS games: Finest gunplay
Best RPGs: Grand adventures
Best co-op games: Better together
Tyler Wilde, US Editor-in-Chief: I've yet to encounter a Civilization-like game that I want to play as much as whichever new Civ is available. Firaxis is an uncommonly reliable studio, but I'm pleased that it's still taking risks: As controversial as I expect Civilization 7's big structural changes to be, I wouldn't have been satisfied by a Civ 6 do-over with a new look. (Though the new look is great.)
Civ 7's new three-act framework is in part a reaction by Firaxis to the discovery that hardly anyone was actually finishing games of Civ—guilty as charged. It'll take some getting used to, but I welcome Civ 7's slightly more organized progression from agriculture to modernity. Maybe this time I'll actually see modernity instead of giving in to the siren call of starting a new campaign whenever I start feeling things slow down.
Release date: 2025
Ted Litchfield, Associate Editor: I deflated a little bit when I learned that the next release by FromSoftware would be "a multiplayer thing," but "it's so over" once again gave way to "we're so back" when I saw Nightreign's first trailer and read Wes' hands-on impressions of the game.
I've wanted to play Elden Ring in new game plus for over two years now, but while I was once held back by a desire to save my guys for Shadow of the Erdtree, now I'm impeded by the sheer quadruple-decker hamburger size of the game—I'd have to block off a month of my gaming time for a run or just resign myself to losing steam partway through.
Snackable, repeatable, roguelike Elden Ring in the form of a standalone expansion pack feels like just the thing to address my hunger without fully monopolizing my free time. And whether I'm going in with friends or soloing everything like a little freakazoid, I can't wait to be back at it again in Limgrave Limveld.
Release date: Feb 18, 2025
Joshua Wolens, News Writer: If Obsidian's weird anti-marketing campaign had its way, most of what I'd know about Avowed is what it isn't. It's not Skyrim, it's not class-based, it's not as crunchy as its isometric RPG predecessor games—Pillars of Eternity 1 and 2.
And yet, in spite of that (and partially thanks to previews from our own Phil Savage and Robin Valentine), I can't wait to finally get my hands on it. So far as I'm concerned, Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire is one of the best RPGs of all time, and the series' setting of Eora is heinously undertapped. Getting to return to that world is exactly the treat I need in 2025, and if the game does well enough to open up more games in that universe? I'll be a very happy camper.
Release date: March 28, 2025
Lauren Morton, Associate Editor: It's finally time. A competitor for The Sims series is going to launch. It is not going to get delayed or cancelled at the last minute (I am now manifesting). Sims enjoyers have been watching Inzoi with great interest for over a year now and it's time to see if Krafton has the chops to compete.
Inzoi is beautiful—there's no debating that. I was thrilled with the intricacies of the Inzoi character studio demo and I know that at full launch there are going to be incredible lookalike creations. What remains to be seen is if Inzoi is more than just a ton of pretty faces. Krafton has shown off features like the open world that Sims players have been yearning to see return since The Sims 3. But simulation games in all genres are notoriously buggy and it's impossible to say how well Inzoi will survive first contact with its eager playerbase.
Release date: 2025
Jody Macgregor, Weekend/AU Editor: I'm not a Kojima-liker, so when people talk about Death Stranding as just another volume of "that kooky guy doing his thing" it gives me a start. I loved every second of Death Stranding for its own merits, not for shining more light on the brain of one dude who put his name all over it. Everything that's boring in other open world games—inventory management, the empty spaces between encounters—became interesting because Death Stranding committed to simulating it. Climbing a particularly steep hill while balancing a pile of crates is, it turns out, a real cool little challenge, and doing the same thing when an ocean of oil from another dimension is trying to eat you becomes even more stressful than it otherwise would be.
So I'm looking forward to finding out what the deal is with Framerate Punch the Weird Puppet Guy and why everyone is on a submarine, but mostly I just want another game made with as much care and thought as Death Stranding was.
Release date: TBA
Robert Jones, Print Editor: I've got serious hype for Sandfall Interactive's debut game, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, with the studio taking the traditional turn-based combat JRPG formula, as seen in series such as Persona, Suikoden and Final Fantasy, and then bringing a uniquely western flavour to it. From the game's stunning Belle Époque art style, to classical symphonic soundtrack, this is a game dripping in a non-traditional JRPG style. This is shaping up to be a dark fantasy RPG adventure that genuinely moves the genre forward, too, as its reactive combat mechanics offer something fresh, injecting a real-time action-RPG element that enhances engagement. Here's hoping this will be an expedition to remember.
Release date: Feb 14, 2025
Morgan Park, Staff Writer: Despite my best efforts, I'm really excited for Assassin's Creed Shadows. Sure, the loot-heavy RPG route the series has been on since 2017 bums me out, but last year's Mirage was basically a "classic" Assassin's Creed with a stealth focus and quick-kill combat. Everything we've seen of Shadows suggests it's even stealthier: You can go prone, snuff out lanterns to create shadows, and hidden blade guards in the neck without worrying about their level. This is also the first time in ages that AC combat has looked really cool. The blocking, stance breaking, and devastating katana cuts are definitely a step up from Valhalla's endless axe chopping.
But I also just have this feeling that Shadows is gonna bang. It looks gorgeous, the little snippets of combat and stealth Ubisoft has been dropping look instantly fun, and I'm even on board with the two protagonists thing: I like the idea of splitting up the shinobi and samurai fantasies into two characters who live by those creeds instead of say, the Ghost of Tsushima, who is both the best ninja and samurai in the world.
Release date: April 24, 2025
Phil Savage, Global Editor-in-Chief: Most of the recent attempts to revive the RTS genre—Company of Heroes 3, Homeworld 3, StormGate—left me cold, and not just because all of them landed with significant problems. For me, their main mistake was far more foundational: Not being Command & Conquer. Unfortunately, there's no sign that we'll ever get an actual new Command & Conquer—the latter games in the series suggested that EA had no interest in making one even when it actually was. But this year we are going to get Tempest Rising, and everything I've seen suggests that it's exactly what I'm looking for.
"Inspired by RTS greats of the '90s and 2000s," the game's Steam description claims, but really there's no need to be coy about it. It's a Command & Conquer in all but name. An alt-history setting? Check. A mysterious, highly profitable plant spreading all over the globe? Check. Two warring factions, one a well funded Western peacekeeping force, the other a collective of nations who claim the aforementioned money plant is their birthright? Check. It's all music to my ears, and I'm very ready to get my hands on a revival of this style of RTS in just a few months time.
Release date: Jan 23, 2025
Mollie Taylor, Features Producer: Quite frankly it's criminal that two of 2024's best games—Astro Bot and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth—weren't on PC, but at least we're fixing things with the latter getting ported over later this month. Now I'll admit I wasn't totally sold on Final Fantasy 7 Remake, which was a little fetch quest-heavy for my liking, but from everything I've seen Rebirth is a total step up from its predecessor. An improved story, combat, and exploration have me super jazzed, and I'm looking forward to seeing what awaits Cloud and the gang beyond Midgar.
Release date: Early 2025
Christopher Livingston, Senior Editor: It's a bit weird to find myself looking forward to Dune: Awakening because I don't really like MMOs and the Star Wars universe's Tatooine fetish has made me utterly sick of desert environments. I wasn't even entranced by the new Dune movies. But I do like survival and crafting, and every time I learn a bit more about Dune: Awakening I get more interested in playing.
Funcom has taken pains to make even routine activities like smashing rocks and gathering water fun, plus you can build your own ornithopter and get high on spice to see into the future. Base-building, exploration, liquefying your enemies to extract drinking water from them, and oh yeah, sandworms: maybe this will be the MMO that finally makes me an MMO guy.
Release date: 2025
Elie Gould, News Writer: Little Nightmares is probably one of the most reliable horror franchises. I loved both of the previous games, and I appreciated how the second one was able to raise the stakes and introduce some more intense action sequences without feeling too gimmicky. So, I've really gotten my hopes up for the next game.
We still don't know when Little Nightmares 3 is set to release in 2025, but I'm hoping it'll be as soon as possible, especially because it's going to have a two-player co-op. With different tools like a wrench and a bow and arrow, you'll be able to solve puzzles and make your way through the creepy corridors.
I'm incredibly excited to jump into this scary version of It Takes Two and begin to explore the often beautiful yet chilling world of Little Nightmares. Plus, it's always helpful to have a second player in horror games—as the old adage goes: You don't need to be faster than the monster, just faster than your teammate.
Release date: March 11, 2025
Harvey Randall, Staff Writer: Wanderstop is not a game that captured my imagination right away. Oh cute, I thought, a little tea shop game. Maybe I'll dabble in it a little bit to scratch my Potionomics fix. Then the protagonist, Atla, has a full-on 1,000 yard episode which she has to be pulled out of by one of the otherwise 'cosy' inhabitants. Then I found out it was being made by the freaking Stanley Parable dev, and now my curiosity is at a fever-pitch. I'm sweatin', here.
For context, The Stanley Parable is delightfully weird. It's a walking sim that played around with the idea of choice in a videogame in ways that, while a little less novel nowadays, was downright fascinating at the time. All of this to say, Atla's near-breakdown isn't just a promise that this game'll have some cool narrative moments—it's a promise that it's going to be doing something funky, and my brain, ever hungry for new and excitingly weird ways for games to tell stories, has attached myself to the idea of it like a particularly stubborn limpet on a boat. Sign me up for some hot leaf juice with feelings.
Release date: 2025
Andy Chalk, NA News Lead: I really enjoyed the vibe of the Bogdan's Cross reveal trailer in June 2024 and I think (or at least I hope) it could be very good, but what's really aroused my curiosity is the way the game presents itself to anyone who's not paying particularly close attention. From the Steam page: "Bogdan's Cross is an action-adventure game set in the tumultuous era of the Crusades. Follow the journey of Bogdan, a humble shepherd boy, as he rises to become a legendary Templar knight." Utterly conventional, entirely unremarkable—the sort of thing we've seen in countless other games (and movies, and television shows) to come before it.
What the Steam description completely omits, and this is what has me baffled, is the fact that Bogdan is a bear. A literal bear. All the Templars in Bogdan's Cross are bears as far as I can tell, although there are other woodland creatures present in the game including a rather sinister-looking fox—part of a different order, I would guess—and some supernatural creatures too. Yet there's not a single word about it on the Steam page, which leans heavily into the game's historical grounding and themes of faith and redemption, promises "a richly woven narrative that captures the essence of the medieval period" in an exploration-focused world filled with secrets and puzzles, and does not mention even just once that, oh yeah, bears. And for me, that's the hook. I have no particular interest in the Templars or the Crusades, or even the action-adventure genre really, but bears, man. I want to know more. I want to know why.
Lookit them goddamn ears and tell me you're not curious too.
Release date: 2025
Lincoln Carpenter, News Writer: I like to clamber in videogames. I've been doing it for years. I've done so much clambering in so many places I shouldn't—looking at you, Skyrim—that my first thought on seeing Cairn was that I could probably clamber all over those rock faces, no sweat. I can clamber as easily as I breathe.
Sometimes it's fun to be punished for my hubris.
I've since learned from a few terrifying falls while playing Cairn's demo earlier this month that I may not be the free-climbing wunderkind I'd believed myself to be. That's fine, because I've also learned that its freeform climbing mechanics are incredible. Inching your way up each stretch of rock is magnificently tense: a kind of prolonged game of chicken against your character's quaking limbs, where you're trying to get as much distance as possible before your grip gives out and you're sent swinging back down to wherever you last drove in a piton.
Assuming you remembered to drive in a piton, of course. Again, hubris can be fun.
Release date: 2025
Wes Fenlon, Senior Editor: Why do you all keep picking new games when there are obscure mid-2000s curiosities coming to Steam next year, too? Cowards and fools, all of you. This duology of strategy games being released on PC for the first time next year probably has the "most unexpected PSP-to-PC conversion" GOTY award on lock in advance (yes, I'm already lobbying for next year's award categories). I've never played them because in 2008 I owned a Nintendo DS and not a PSP. Didn't need one, since I already had Final Fantasy 7: Advent Children on DVD. But anyway, I know I missed out on a couple good JRPGs, a few great puzzle games, and this truly bizarre adaptation of a legendary horizontally scrolling shooter into turn-based strategy.
As writer Dominic Tarason called out in his review of Metal Slug Tactics this year, R-Type Tactics is one of vanishingly few examples of "a studio performing the forbidden alchemy of transposing a game into another genre entirely," and also one of the most successful. Dominic knows his oddities well, so that's all the vote I need to give these a shot—particularly as the sequel was originally only released in Japan.
Strange as this tactical conversion may be, though, it'll never be the strangest thing about R-Type. That honor goes to developer Irem releasing "R-Type Final" in 2003, then releasing no fewer than six more R-Type games afterward, including the perfectly named "R-Type Final 3 Evolved." Surely we learned this lesson with Final Fantasy 2, guys!
Release date: Sometime before the heat death of the universe
Sean Martin, Senior Guides Writer: This year is the one. I can feel it. There's a colony of ladybirds hibernating in one of my window frames this winter, and I'm telling you it's a portent from the insect deities that Silksong's arrival is imminent.
"Someone says this every year!" you retort and yes, that may be true. Too many times have we gotten our hopes up, tuning into every award livestream and Nintendo Direct, only to have them crushed underboot like so many ants.
Monster Hunter Wilds may be just over the horizon—and I can't wait to pick up my beloved insect glaive again—but Silksong is the game I'm really banking on. Exploring Hollow Knight's haunted bug kingdom remains one of my fondest gaming memories, and considering how long Team Cherry has been left to cook, I expect it'll turn out quite special.
Release date: It doesn't technically exist yet
Fraser Brown, Online Editor: Europa Universalis 5 isn't real. At least not officially. Paradox has yet to announce its existence, but that hasn't stopped PDS from dropping dev diaries full of maps and musings on mechanics. It's some next-level gaslighting. And it's totally working on me. While Crusader Kings took the place in my heart previously reserved for EU, that doesn't mean I ain't still a sucker for Paradox's old flagship series.
The lack of an official announcement suggests that my hopes for a 2025 launch are misplaced, but stranger things have happened. At the very least, I'm expecting that we'll get confirmation that it's happening, and then I'll see about weaseling my way into a hands-on.
