1 Grand Theft Auto VI

It will probably be among the biggest video game releases of the decade and even the most lucrative entertainment product of all time. Rockstar is returning to Vice City with a Bonnie and Clyde-inspired crime couple. Rockstar, a subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive Software, has offered a fall 2025 release date. Since the announcement of a teaser trailer for the game in late 2023, shares of the parent company have risen more than 30 per cent.

2 Civilization VII

It’s been years since the last mainline Civilization title was released, so fans have been asking for something beyond expansions. Set to arrive on February 11, one of the biggest changes involves players requiring to choose a new Civ each time they progress to a new Age. The rework may lead to more diverse strategies and playstyles. Also, the Ming Civ is a good choice for the Exploration Age.

3 Assassin’s Creed Shadows

Arriving on Valentine’s Day, Assassin’s Creed is headed to Japan and will continue the series’ journey back to its roots. Shadows is following after Mirage by prioritising stealth again. In terms of story, fans already know that there are two protagonists — a shinobi named Naoe and an African samurai named Yasuke.

4 Avowed

Arriving on February 18, Avowed brings you to a previously unseen region from the unforgettable world of Eora, first introduced in the award-winning Pillars of Eternity. In your role as envoy, alongside your companions, you’ll uncover hidden truths and navigate delicate situations, where every choice shapes the fate of the land and the people living here.

5 Doom: The Dark Ages

Yet to get a release date, the game is the next part of one of the most influential FPS series, taking us back to a grim fantasy medieval-like prequel setting in The Dark Ages. It will be aggressive and players will take on all manner of demons.

6 Monster Hunter Wilds

Coming in on February 28, the game appears to be an evolution from Monster Hunter World that we were hoping for. In the new game, players take control of a customisable Hunter, a professional monster hunter who uses resources from hunts to craft new weapons and armour.

7 Death Stranding 2: On The Beach

Sam Porter Bridges sets out on another open-world adventure to reconnect an apocalyptic landscape and save humanity from extinction. In the trailer, we see Fragile and a baby playing in a room with screens projecting the outside world. Fragile looks younger here than in the original, which suggests a flashback.

8 Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra

It’s time to return to a WWII-era adventure with an ensemble of four heroes playable at different points in the game. Players will assume the role of four central characters: a young Steve Rogers, aka Captain America; Azzuri, T’Challa’s grandfather and the WWII-era Black Panther; Gabriel Jones, a US soldier and member of the Howling Commandos; and Nanali, a Wakandan spy embedded in Occupied Paris.

9 Light No Fire

Light No Fire will be an open-world, co-op experience on a generated planet. Survival elements like gathering wood and building structures appear to be a major component. Each player will create their own custom character but aren’t limited to just being human. Multiplayer will be an important aspect of the game and appears to be attempting a similar MMO-style approach as No Man’s Sky.

10 Atomfall

Arriving in March, it’s an alt-history retelling of the aftermath of the Windscale fire — the largest nuclear accident in the UK’s history. Set five years later, the military has occupied a nearby village, robots patrol the streets, and residents have wandered off into the woods.

11 Mafia: The Old Country

If you like Godfather, the film, this game will be of interest. Uncover the origins of organised crime in Mafia: The Old Country, a gritty mob story set in the brutal underworld of 1900s Sicily. Fight to survive as Enzo Favara in this immersive third-person action-adventure.

12 Anno 117: Pax Romana

The game will feature two playable regions at launch. Latium is warm, sunny, full of large cities, and the kind of area you might traditionally associate with an ancient Roman city-builder. However, the other region is far more interesting. Albion, another name for ancient Great Britain, is grey, wet, and conflicted about its new rulers. You’re either building a society completely from scratch or taking an existing society already developing along a clear path and trying to nurture that future.

Mathures Paul