2025 Game Awards Unveils Dozens of New Titles and Expansions

Highlights from the 2025 Game Awards

The 2025 Game Awards, held in Los Angeles and hosted by Geoff Keighley, drew millions of viewers for its blend of honors and game reveals, serving as a key preview of the industry’s next few years. The event featured over 30 world premieres, trailers, and announcements, spanning genres from action RPGs to shooters and adaptations.

Major Franchise Expansions and Sequels

Several established series received updates, focusing on new content and sequels with confirmed release windows.

• Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic: Developed by Arcanaut Studios, this single-player action RPG marks the return of ex-BioWare director Casey Hudson, known for the original Knights of the Old Republic and Mass Effect trilogy. The trailer highlighted narrative-driven gameplay set in the Star Wars universe.
• Divinity: Larian Studios, creators of Baldur’s Gate 3, announced a new entry in the series. The cinematic trailer depicted a brutal scene of a man burned by cultists, with developers stating the game will surpass Baldur’s Gate 3 in scale.
• Resident Evil Requiem: A new trailer showcased Leon Kennedy in action, emphasizing survival horror elements. No specific release date was provided.
• Tomb Raider: The next mainline entry, set for 2027, features Lara Croft voiced by Alix Wilton Regan, previously the Inquisitor in Dragon Age. The cinematic trailer showed combat against scavengers.
• Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis: A remake of the 1990s original, slated for 2026, included footage of acrobatic sequences and dinosaur encounters.
• Control Resonant: Remedy Entertainment revealed the sequel to 2019’s Control, set for 2026. The cinematic trailer built on the original’s supernatural themes in a twisted New York City setting.
• Diablo IV – Lord of Hatred: Blizzard’s expansion, launching April 28, introduces new classes and significant gameplay changes, following a cinematic trailer with the demon Mephisto.
• Lords of the Fallen II: The fantasy soulslike sequel debuted its first gameplay trailer, with the original game receiving an update on the event day.
• 2XKO: Riot Games confirmed the League of Legends fighting game arrives on consoles in January, featuring Caitlyn as a roster addition.
• Marvel Rivals: NetEase announced Deadpool joins in January’s season, followed by Elsa Bloodstone, via an animated trailer without gameplay footage.
• Zenless Zone Zero: Hoyoverse revealed a new character for the action RPG, targeting ongoing player engagement.

These updates build on franchise histories, with developers like Larian and Blizzard emphasizing expanded scopes—Larian’s project noted as “even bigger” than its predecessor, though exact sizes remain unquantified.

New IPs, Adaptations, and Indie Reveals

The ceremony spotlighted original titles from notable studios and celebrities, alongside film tie-ins, with many targeting 2026 and 2027 launches.

• 4:LOOP: A shooter-roguelike from Sony and Bad Robot, introduced after a performance award segment.
• Coven of the Chicken Foot: Wildflower Interactive’s debut narrative adventure, led by ex-Naughty Dog director Bruce Straley, follows an older woman and a plant monster in a survival story. The trailer hinted at relational tension.
• Ontos: Fractional Games and Kepler Interactive’s first-person horror game, from the Soma team, features body horror and releases in 2026.
• Order of the Sinking Star: Jonathan Blow, developer of The Witness and Braid, unveiled this fantasy puzzle game with over 1,400 puzzles, set for 2026.
• Exodus: Wizards of the Coast’s sci-fi action RPG shooter stars Matthew McConaughey and aims for a Mass Effect-like experience, launching early 2027.
• Warlock: Dungeons & Dragons: Also from Wizards of the Coast, introduced by Trisha Helfer (Battlestar Galactica, Mass Effect), this title confirms a 2027 release with gameplay reveal planned for 2026.
• Gang of Dragon: Nagoshi Studio’s first project, led by ex-Yakuza series director Toshihiro Nagoshi, delivers a bloody Japanese crime drama trailer.
• Street Fighter Movie: The live-action adaptation offered a first look at combat sequences, with cast members in attendance; no plot details were disclosed.
• Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight: A new entry echoing the Arkham series, previewed after a conversation with a Batman minifig.
• Forest 3: A moody trailer for this survival series entry, unrelated to Half-Life despite initial logo confusion.
• Invincible VS: The fighting game adds fighter Ella Mental, set for 2026.
• Orbitals: Described as an anime-inspired co-op platformer akin to Split Fiction, with a short trailer.
• 007: First Light: The James Bond game casts Lenny Kravitz as the villain in his video game debut.
• Saros: Housemarque’s roguelike shooter, featuring actor Rahul Kohli, focuses on story and characters; PS5 release on March 20.
• No Law: A cyberpunk-style title evoking Cyberpunk 2077’s aesthetic.
• Total War: Warhammer 40k: Announced by David Harbour (Stranger Things), this strategy crossover launches without a specified date.
• Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve: Bandai Namco’s flight combat sequel, arriving 2026.
• Star Wars: Galactic Racer: A podracing-inspired title for 2026.
• Out of Words: A stop-motion co-op platformer emphasizing emotional storytelling, set for next year.
• Phantom Blade 0: S-GAME’s wuxia action game, comparable to modern Ninja Gaiden, launches on PS5 and PC September 9.
• Mega Man Dual Overdrive: Capcom’s new entry, with brief gameplay, targets 2027.
• The Super Mario Galaxy Movie: A clip showed Mario and Luigi battling Bowser Jr.
• Highguard: Wildlight Entertainment’s (ex-Respawn team from Apex Legends and Titanfall) free-to-play fantasy shooter emphasizes traversal and hybrid weaponry; January 26 launch.

Notable uncertainties include exact gameplay mechanics for cinematic-heavy reveals like Gang of Dragon and precise scales for ambitious projects like Divinity, pending further details. As the gaming landscape evolves with these announcements, from horror revivals to crossover strategies, what could this influx of titles mean for player choices and industry trends in the coming years?