10 Hottest Games of 2025 You Need to Play

The 2025 gaming calendar is lined up with some massive releases for this year; and while some specific dates are still not known, this is set to be a monster year for gaming on all platforms. We’ve rounded up the most-anticipated releases heading your way in 2025:

Kingdom Come Deliverance 2

Release date: 4 February 2025 (Xbox Series X/S | PS5 | PC)

2018’s Kingdom Come: Deliverance was a huge hit upon release, giving gamers a true medieval RPG to sink their teeth into. The sequel expands upon all the mechanics and world of the first game, with some meaty first-person combat, a revenge-soaked tale, and a lush immersive world to explore.

Assassin’s Creed: Shadows

Release date: 20 March 2025 (Xbox Series X/S | PS5 | PC) – Delayed from 14 February 2025

Assassin’s Creed makes its long-awaited jump to feudel Japan and stars two new playable assassins — Naoe, a ninja assassin, and Yasuke, an African samurai. Players will be able to play as either Naoe and Yasuke as they see fit, but the two protagonists play very differently – Naoe is a shinobi who uses stealth, parkour, and gadgets, whereas Yasuke is combat-oriented and armoured – the pair’s personalities ultimately complement each other to form a unique dynamic throughout Shadows. Of course, smoke bombs, a vast variety of weapons, parrying, and the beloved hidden blade will all be present during combat.

Monster Hunter Wilds

Release date: 28 February 2025 (Xbox Series X/S | PS5 | PC)

Capcom has been working on its most action-packed and accessible Monster Hunter entry with Monster Hunter Wilds; and it’s arriving this February. Players need to master their weapons, skills, and surroundings to take down some truly terrifying creatures, all while harvesting their parts to build better and more durable armour, weapons, and accessories. It looks gorgeous too, and we can’t wait to get our hands on this one.

Borderlands 4

Release date: 2025 (Xbox Series X/S | PS5 | PC)

As a bit of a palette cleanser to the less-than-good Borderlands movie, Borderlands 4 from Gearbox Software throws players back into the zany and colourful world of vault-hunting and never-ending randomised guns. It’s set on a new planet, so there should be a host of horrifying new enemies to take on, along with some surprising loot to hunt down.

Ghost of Yotei

Release date: TBC 2025 (PS5)

Ghost of Tsushima is still easily one of the best games around, and the sequel arrives in 2025 to deliver some more samurai action to gamers. Set in 1603, you play as a new samurai-assassin named Atsu, who sets out on a journey in the lands surrounding Mount Yōtei, an area filled with sprawling grasslands, snowy tundras, and unexpected dangers.

Dying Light: The Beast

Release date: TBC 2025 (Xbox Series X/S | PS5 | PC)

The Dying Light series has mastered the parkour-zombie-survival genre at this point, but things get shaken up with the spin-off/sequel, The Beast. You play as the original game’s protagonist Kyle Crane, who, after more than a decade in captivity, finds himself in a world that’s changed, and not for the better. Players will need to use the survival skills that kept you alive all those years ago to save even more innocent lives.

Grand Theft Auto 6

Release date: TBC 2025 (Xbox Series X/S | PS5 | PC)

Undoubtedly the biggest game of the year, GTA 6 is set to be a landmark moment for gamers. The next big release in the open-world crime saga heads to the state of Leonida, home to the neon-soaked streets of Vice City and beyond in the biggest, most immersive evolution of the Grand Theft Auto series yet. Expect a Hollywood-level story, an insane amount of detail in the game world, and some slick combat, driving, and a variety of other gameplay mechanics.

Mafia: The Old Country

Release date: TBC 2025 (Xbox Series X/S | PS5 | PC)

Coming from Hanger 13, the fourth long-awaited game in the Mafia franchise takes players back to early 1900s Sicily, where the origins of the original mafia began. This is set to be a big, cinematic single-player experience like previous Mafia games, full of shootouts, backstabbing, family drama, and more. We cannot wait.

Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater

Release date: TBC 2025 (Xbox Series X/S | PS5 | PC)

One of the most beloved Metal Gear Solid entries is getting its remake this year with Snake Eater getting a ground-up rebuild from Konami themselves. Like the original, the remake is set in 1964 and follows a FOX operative codenamed Naked Snake (who becomes Big Boss) who has to infiltrate a secret base hidden deep in a Soviet jungle. The remake features modernised gameplay mechanics and current-gen visuals using Unreal Engine 5, but will utilise the original (and admittedly great) voice acting.

Doom: The Dark Ages

Release date: TBC 2025 (Xbox Series X/S | PS5 | PC)

After 2016’s Doom and its sequel Doom Eternal, we’ll be getting a prequel in the form of Doom: The Dark Ages, which follows the demon-hunting marine in his earlier days, taking on the hordes of hell in the Middle Ages and donning medieval weapons and a furry cape, along with his trusty shotgun and a mech. Trust us, it makes sense (we swear).

Which games are you most looking forward to? Let us know by tweeting @MenStuffZA, posting on our Facebook page, or commenting below.