It’s hard putting together a list of anticipated games with how packed the2025 release calendarlooks. How do you find the time to get excited about anything when everything seems to be releasing this year?
We’re barely in the second quarter and have already hadsome major 2025 hits.Doom: The Dark Agesis getting FPS fans hyped up for the new album (and the game, of course). The Switch 2 andMario Kartis a major talking point right now (for better or for worse). And there’s no doubt thatGTA VIis the biggest releasethis year.
Since these games are already receiving limitless coverage, let’s focus on PC exclusives this time and see which 2025 releases look promising.
1Kingmakers
Ever wondered what it would be like if you took a modern soldier and military equipment and threw them onto a medieval battlefield?Kingmakersis the answer to this very specific power fantasy.
There’s something so magical about a formula so simple, yet intrinsically satisfying for the child in our hearts. As absurd as it might sound, mowing down scores of medieval pikemen with a machine gun looks like a lot of fun. Completely unbothered by historical accuracy,Kingmakershas you, a simple modern soldier, fighting off entire medieval armies on your own.
Modern arms, equipment, tanks, and even drones can be used on the poor, unsuspecting ye olde soldiers on giant battlefields.Kingmakersis a power fantasy through and through, and one of the most anticipated titles of 2025 with an absurd, but charming premise.
2Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era
The last mainline release of aHeroes of Might and Magicgame was all the way back in the ancient year of 2015, withMight & Magic Heroes VII. The beloved strategy-RPG franchise is making a big return 10 years later withHeroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era.
Fans are clamoring for early access to this latest installment in the franchise. Why is that? Because (to my limited knowledge of the HoMM community),Heroes of Might and Magic III and Vare considered to be the best in the series.Olden Erais promised to be a spiritual successor to these games.
The developers promised classic turn-based strategic gameplay, kingdom building, exploration, and a return to the fantasy roots of the originals that expand on the lore. Looks like the Olden Era will have everything fans of the HoMM have been craving for years. Luckily, its release isn’t too far off; Q2 of 2025.
3Tempest Rising
Another long-awaited return in gaming is the now somewhat-dead real-time strategy genre, andTempest Risingis on its way to boost the genre into overdrive. Some games, such as theTotal War and Age of Empiresseries, have kept the genre alive. But long gone are the days of those big-budget futuristic strategies with those cheesy, but insanely charming cutscenes that were theCommand & Conquerseries of games. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what killed the genre, but there are a number of suspects, such as the rise of the MOBA and even console gaming.
Tempest Risingis a callback to those times. Here’s what the developers promise:
While a single game release doesn’t mean the genre is back in full swing,Tempest Risingis a game many betrayedCommand & Conquerfans have been craving. Though not part of the actual franchise, the influence of C&C is palpable.Tempest Risingeven has those cheesy cutscenes, this time rendered in 3D.
No, they do not feature the likes of J.K. Simmons, George Takei, and Tim Curry, but they’re better than nothing. And best of all, by the time you’re reading this, Tempest Rising has been released.
4All Will Fall
tinyBuild always has a very interesting portfolio. All of their games are incredibly unique and always put a fresh spin on any genre. This time, developer All Parts Connected (fitting name considering what they’re working on) brings youAll Will Fall,a post-apocalyptic city builder with a very special twist.
We’re not unfamiliar withapocalyptic city builders, thanks to games likeFrostpunk and Surviving The Aftermath. ButAll Will Fallhas a more wacky tone because this city builder isn’t any ordinary city builder, but a physics-based one.
To build your city, you must stack different buildings and modules on top of each other. Every new addition you make could collapse the entire structure, so be careful, otherwise you will witness the quite literal fall of civilization. It’s these kinds of twists that always get us intrigued about tinyBuild games, andAll Will Fall, expected to launch sometime in 2025, is no different.
5Deadlock
While Valve is famous for refusing to make a game with thenumber 3 in the title, they’re still capable of making some bangers nonetheless. At first sight,Deadlocklooks like your standard hero shooter, just in a steampunk or gaslamp setting. Sounds pretty by the books.
But then you realize that it’s a lot more than just another hero shooter. It’s actually a blend of hero shooter and MOBA, which is a hybrid that’s been done before, but has never hooked the mainstream crowd (rememberBattleborn?).
While many were initially quite cynical about the game, that sentiment faded during the brief closed alpha, where tons of testers got their hands on the game. The feedback was quite positive. The game was praised for its wide variety of champions, all of whom played very differently.
Unlike more traditional hero shooters, champions in Deadlock can be upgraded similarly to MOBAs. Each champion had a different playstyle, depending on the upgrades that were chosen, which affect their stats and abilities in a variety of ways.
Deadlockalso has “minions”, like the ones inDota and League of Legends, you have to take out to earn resources, which you can spend on upgrading your character. So, combining the fun factor and power fantasy of hero shooters with the strategic gameplay and branching maps of MOBAs seems to be a winning formula forDeadlock.
No release date has been announced forDeadlockyet. However, some sources claim that the earliest expected release is Q4 of 2025, and hopefully another closed testing session sometime before then.
Turning initial negative responses into one of the most anticipated games of 2025 is surely a major win for Valve.
