7 best upcoming games confirmed for a 2025 release

While there are certainly plenty of upcoming games slated for 2024, it's always tempting to take a look at what's slated for the next year and beyond. 2025 is already looking to be another trip around the sun resplendent with amazing (or, at least, potentially amazing) titles. Of course, when a publisher or studio says an upcoming game is coming out and when it actually does are usually two entirely different things.

So, the games we're looking at today are slated for a 2025 release; when they eventually hit shelves is anybody's guess. If anything, we can reasonably say these titles aren't coming out before next year, at the very least.

Games slated for release in 2025

One thing you'll notice about the games on today's list is that they're all franchise titles. We do not expect this fact to surprise anybody. It's no secret that modern publishers and studios are pretty risk adverse. While we're not about to go in-depth of why that is (or the current state of the video game industry overall, for that matter), it does explain why all the titles on this list are sequels or reboots.

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That's not to say we're not excited for them, however. From Rockstar's first title in what will be at least seven years to a franchise we frankly assumed was dead, there's plenty here to get hyped about.

So, let's get to it, shall we?

1) Grand Theft Auto VI

Our "heroes" in Grand Theft Auto VI (Image via Rockstar Games)

Might as well start out with a bang, yeah?

For the last *counts on fingers*... wow, 15 years or more, Rockstar Studios' games have been an event upon release. Sure, they take forever to make, which is probably a big part of it but, because of that, there's an intense amoout of polish and attention to detail that goes into them. An almost obnoxious amount of attention the detail, if we're really being honest with ourselves.

Now, of course, "2025" is a pretty big release window for Grand Theft Auto VI. We can probably safely assume that we're not going to see it in, like, January - probably not even Q1 (we'll assume you know what that means if you assume we do). While it'll probably be closer to the holidays next year, it's not out of the realm of possibility that we could see the game next summer, either.

2) Metroid Prime 4: Beyond

The logo for the upcoming game Metroid Prime 4 (Image via Nintendo)

How long has it been since Nintendo officially announced that Metroid Prime 4 was going to be an actual thing? That announcement came the same year the Nintendo Switch launched. We're now expecting an announcement on Nintendo's next system, and we're just now getting gameplay footage.

Thankfully, like most of these other upcoming games, Metroid Prime 4 looks pretty awesome.

While, like we said with GTA VI, "2025" is a vague window, Nintendo has been pretty forthright regarding Prime 4. Two years after the initial announcement, Nintendo revealed that they were essentially starting development over from scratch and moving production back to Retro Studios, the developers behind the first three games in the series.

Frankly, after moving the franchise to Team Ninja and the debacle that was Metroid: Other M, we're shocked Nintendo went to anyone other than Retro in the first place.

3) Doom: The Dark Ages

Some action from Doom: The Dark Ages (Image via Steam/Valve)

The Doom games have always been thought of as kind of "scary," and that's not entirely unfair. Fighting demons and zombies on Mars isn't exactly Stardew Valley-like territory. While the third game in the series leaned more heavily into the "horror" aspect, the others were less about scaring you and more about throwing you headfirst into those scary things armed with a chainsaw and a shotgun.

Doom: The Dark Ages looks to continue that philosophy but with a twist. In this case, "Dark Ages" is almost literal, bringing the action to a medieval fantasy setting. Imagine Doom taking place on an album cover of some 1970s-80s heavy metal band. You know, the aesthetic Double Fine was going for with Brutal Legend.

While Doom: The Dark Ages' release date is listed just as "2025," you can probably expect it to arrive earlier in the year.

4) Civilization VII

Civilization VII's logo (Image via Steam/Valve)

Sid Meier's Civilization series is both astoundingly long-running and ridiculously successful. The latest, Civilization VI, has been ported to nearly everything, from the Nintendo Switch to mobile phones. When you hear the words "PC strategy game" (assuming you hangout somewhere where this gets said sometimes), this series is probably among the first you think of.

Continued success usually means continued sequels, and that's certainly the case with Sid Meier's most recognizable franchise. Announced during this year's Summer Game Fest, the teaser didn't really shed much light on the game itself, which might have something to do with the fact that it's not coming out until 2025.

Still, if the last few titles in the series are any indication, we're probably looking at another good time, which is why Civilization VII is on our list of 2025's best upcoming games.

5) Death Stranding 2: On the Beach

Death Stranding 2 *totally* looks normal, sure (Image via Kojima Productions)

So, Death Stranding is basically a game where you play as a delivery man in a world that has been destroyed by ghosts. Something like that, anyway. It's a weird game, both on paper and in execution, but it's also Hideo Kojima's first post-Metal Gear effort. Say what you want about it but, love it or hate it (incidentally, we love it), it's definitely a Hideo Kojima title.

It was also very successful, gaining not just an upgraded "Director's Cut" and plans for a feature film adaptation (which is as likely to see the light of day as the Metal Gear Solid film is), but also a sequel.

Death Stranding 2: On the Beach was officially announced during the 2022 Game Awards. It is far from the only project Kojima has on his docket of upcoming games, but it's the one we're most likely to see first.

6) Monster Hunter Wilds

Epic doesn't begin to describe it (Image via Capcom)

It's been a while since we've had a real, full-fledged Monster Hunter title. While Monster Hunter Rise hit the Nintendo Switch in 2021, the last multi-platform entry came out all the way back in 2018. That's about to change once Capcom launches Monster Hunter Wilds. As you probably guessed, the release is set to happen next year.

Monster Hunter: World was a smash hit for Capcom and is often considered one of the best (if not the best) in the franchise. It's a series that has spawned two feature films (one in Japan and one in the west - though that one is a Paul W.S. Anderson movie so... does it even really count?), so there's clearly a massive fanbase anxiously awaiting this one.

7) Fable

Let's get Fable-y up in this town! (Image via Microsoft)

The Fable games were meant to fill the Sony-exclusive Final Fantasy-shaped hole in the original Xbox. It was ambitious, it looked amazing, and it had some major names behind it, including a score worked on by Batman and Spider-Man 2 composer Danny Elfman. However, one of those other big names was Peter Molyneux, the designer behind Populous and Dungeon Keeper.

Plenty has been written about the various promises Molyneux made regarding Fable and the game that was eventually released. Suffice it to say, though, those expectations overshadowed what was still a pretty incredible game. That's still a footnote the series is going to carry with it for a long time, despite the success it's seen over the years.

Now, the series is set to be rebooted in 2025, with a whole new studio (Forza Horizon developers Playground Games) behind it and a clean slate ahead of it.

Microsoft knows expectations are (once again) high for this one, which would explain why they've been stingy with details regarding it. That lack of information, however, hasn't kept fans from anxiously awaiting the return of this beloved franchise.

Obviously, these aren't the only upcoming games anticipated in 2025. Which ones are you looking forward to? Let's talk about it in the comments.