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1 The first half of 2025 gave us some huge contenders for Game of the Year; Blue Prince, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, and Split Fiction, to cherry-pick a few. Thankfully, the back end of the year also looks stacked with quality. Among them are a new Pokémon game, a follow-up to Ghost of Tsushima, a new Silent Hill entry, and the long awaited Metroid Prime 4. It’s also alleged that a sequel to Hollow Knight is due to release before Christmas this year, but I wouldn’t know anything about that.
Ignoring all those games, though, here are 10 games set to release in the rest of 2025 that I can’t wait to get my hands on. I’ve listed them alphabetically for fairness — I love all my children equally.
Cairn | PlayStation, PC
Genre: Simulation, Survival
Developer: The Game Bakers | Publisher: The Game Bakers
Date: 5th November 2025
An intricate and unique climbing survival experience, Cairn clambered its way onto my list following my demo playthrough. The story follows Aava as she attempts to be the first person to summit a mountain called Kami. You’ll have almost complete freedom to tackle the climb in whatever way you see fit, but you’ll need to be strategic in your management of limited resources. If you’re on the fence about this one, I highly recommend playing the demo, which is available on PS5 and Steam. I wrote my thoughts about it here.
Coffee Talk Tokyo | PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, PC
Genre: Visual Novel, Cosy, Narrative
Developer: Chorus Worldwide, Toge Productions | Publisher: Chorus Worldwide
Date: 2025
Coffee Talk is one of my happy place series’. This trailer alone is a pure dopamine factory for my brain; the ring of the bell, the bleep-bloop of the text, the coffee machine steamer… bliss. Coffee Talk Tokyo is a spin-off, set in a new location and featuring a host of new characters. Don’t worry, though, the DNA of the series is there and there are even some familiar faces among your clientele. I’m once again ready to listen to the customers stories and worries, and find the perfect brew to suit their needs, all while listening to a beautiful lo-fi soundtrack.
Dispatch | PlayStation, PC
Genre: Narrative
Developer: AdHoc Studio | Publisher: AdHoc Studio
Date: 2025
A first outing for AdHoc Studio — formed in 2018 and partially comprised of former Telltale Games alumni — Dispatch is a superhero narrative game, putting you in the coaching seat for a bunch of former villains. It features an A-list voice cast including Aaron Paul, Jeffery Wright, Laura Bailey, and Matthew Mercer, and the good old ‘so-and-so will remember this’ choice-and-consequence mechanic synonymous with Telltale titles.
Dispatch looks and sounds amazing, and I cannot wait to dive into the story. There’s a demo on Steam now if you want a trial run. Again, my thoughts on that demo are here.
Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles | PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, PC
Genre: Tactics RPG
Developer: Square Enix | Publisher: Square Enix
Date: September 30th 2025
Despite being a fan of Final Fantasy since the 90s, loving first Tactics Advance game, and owning War of the Lions, I’ve somehow never played Final Fantasy Tactics. That will all change this year though when the new remaster Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles arrives.
This is one of the final Square Enix titles from the infamous Nvidia GeForce NOW leak to see the light of day (we’re going to see that FFIX remake any day now…) and I’ve been patiently waiting so I can finally see what all the fuss is about. Not long to wait at all, September 30th is right around the corner.
inKONBINI: One Store, Many Stories | PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, PC, Mac
Genre: Simulation, Narrative
Developer: Nagai Industries | Publisher: Nagai Industries
Date: TBA
Meaningful stories and choices meet cosy, meditative management elements in this convenience store simulator. Stock and organise the store, listen to the stories of your customers, and just generally enjoy the ambience, in inKONBINI: One Store, Many Stories.
I recently played the prologue on Steam and was impressed with the relaxing vibes. Starting up the shift, grabbing stock to put out and making sure items were aligned correctly, and on the right shelves, without any time pressure, was surprisingly pleasant. It was only a really short preview of what’s to come, so I’m hungry for more. There’s no solid date yet, but the open sign should be flipped on this one sometime this year.
Is This Seat Taken? | Switch, PC, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android
Genre: Puzzle
Developer: Poti Poti Studio | Publisher: Wholesome Games Presents
Date: August 2025
That first moment stepping onto a crowded bus or train and surveying the seating area to find your favoured spot can be a mental logistical nightmare. Well, Is This Seat Taken? aims to distil that experience into a cosy puzzle game, swapping out the anxiety for satisfaction. As an all-powerful, benevolent seating planner, it is up to you to ensure all the little shape-people find their optimal place in the world. This person doesn’t want to sit in a messy place. That one wants a window seat. And this other one doesn’t like bad smells. You’ve got to find a configuration that ticks all the boxes.
It’s a great concept that has a lot of potential to become increasingly more complex. I look forward to dragging and dropping these little guys into their happy spots in August.
MIO: Memories In Orbit | PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, PC
Genre: Metroidvania, Platformer
Developer: Douze Dixièmes | Publisher: Focus Entertainment
Date: 2025
This list is a testament to how good demos and previews are at selling a game. MIO: Memories In Orbit is another game I played a short demo of recently and another instance of that gameplay guaranteeing I pick up the full release. This is a super fluid, 2D platforming Metroidvania with wonderful exploration. The pastel coloured environments are stunning and a pleasure to navigate. The combat might be hit-and-miss for some people, but has some great customisation options. Make sure you check out the demo to get a feel for it. We’ve only got a 2025 window so far in terms of a release date, so add MIO to your wishlist to keep up to date.
PowerWash Simulator 2 | PlayStation, Xbox, PC
Genre: Simulation
Developer: FuturLab | Publisher: FuturLab
Date: 2025
A sequel I didn’t really expect, but am happy to see. PowerWash Simulator was a surprise hit for me, pairing methodical power-washing gameplay with an unusual, piecemeal story centred around strange occurrences and disappearing cats. I’m once again ready to tackle the dirt in Muckingham and beyond. In PowerWash Simulator 2, we’ll also be able to decorate our own space with furniture collected throughout the game. Additionally, there are new tools, better soap, and split screen multiplayer. Sounds like this sequel is going to scrub-up well later this year.
Usual June | PC, Mac
Genre: Action, Adventure
Developer: Finji | Publisher: Finji
Date: 2025
I’m doubling up on Usual June — a game that was on my most anticipated games for this year as a whole. Finji have a solid history of producing wonderful games, both as a developer and publisher. June’s summer is thrown into chaos as she ends up in the middle of a conspiracy that could lead to a reality ending cataclysm. Boasting fluid combat, witty companions, and a story mixing comedy, thrills, and sweetness, Usual June is on track to have a winning recipe. Finji have not yet given a concrete date for release, but we hope it’s not too much loner away.
Witchbrook | Xbox, Switch, PC
Genre: Simulation, RPG
Developer: Chucklefish, Robotality | Publisher: Chucklefish
Date: Winter 2025
Chucklefish finally gave us our first proper look at Witchbrook during the Nintendo Direct in March. It’s been a long road for this cute, magical life-sim, witch was first teased all the way in 2016. Witchbrook has all the hallmarks we’ve come to expect from a cosy life-sim: character customisation, decorating, a living town where NPCs have routines, a seasonal calendar, friendship and romance, and multiplayer. What I’ve not seen much of so far is an over arching story to drive the gameplay loop forward. Hopefully we’ll see more details as the winter release window draws nearer.
What’s Your Most Anticipated?
Have I mentioned the game you’re most excited about above? If not, give it a shout-out in the comments so we can add it to our wishlists!
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