It’s hard putting together a list of anticipated games with how packed the 2025 release calendar looks. How do you find the time to get excited for anything when everything seems to be releasing this year?

We’re barely in Q2 and have already had some major 2025 hits. Doom: The Dark Ages is getting FPS fans hyped up for the new album (and the game, of course). The Switch 2 and Mario Kart is a major talking point right now (for better or for worse). And there’s no doubt that GTA VI is the biggest release this year.

Since these games are already receiving limitless coverage, let’s focus on PC exclusives this time and see which 2025 releases look promising.

1

Kingmakers

Not the most historically accurate game.

Ever wondered what it would be like if you took a modern soldier and military equipment and threw them onto a medieval battlefield? Kingmakers is 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, Kingmakers has 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. Kingmakers is a power fantasy through and through, and one of the most anticipated titles of 2025 with an absurd, but charming premise.

2

Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era

Long-awaited return of a classic.

The last mainline release of a Heroes of Might and Magic game was all the way back in the ancient year of 2015, with Might & Magic Heroes VII. The beloved strategy-RPG franchise is making a big return 10 years later with Heroes 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 V are considered to be the best in the series. Olden Era is promised to be a spiritual successor to these games, and as the developers have stated on the official Steam page:

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.

3

Tempest Rising

The second coming of real-time strategy?

Another long-awaited return in gaming is the now somewhat-dead real-time strategy genre, and Tempest Rising is on its way to boost the genre into overdrive. Some games, such as the Total War and Age of Empires series, 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 the Command & Conquer series 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.

Real-Time Strategy Games: The Sad Victims of Console Dominance?

People seem to prefer being soldiers to generals.

Tempest Rising is a callback to those times. Here’s what the developers promise:

• Classic RTS base building with fast and fluid hard-hitting combat.
• 3 asymmetrical factions, (2 playable at launch), each featuring a distinct economy and play styles.
• Each faction offers a unique roster of units.
• 2 epic single-player campaigns with between-mission cutscenes.
• Skirmish, custom games, and ranked multiplayer matchmaking.

While a single game release doesn’t mean the genre is back in full swing, Tempest Rising is a game many betrayed Command & Conquer fans have been craving. Though not part of the actual franchise, the influence of C&C is palpable. Tempest Rising even 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.

4

All Will Fall

A stylish post-apocalyptic city builder.

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 you All Will Fall, a post-apocalyptic city builder with a very special twist.

We’re not unfamiliar with apocalyptic city builders, thanks to games like Frostpunk and Surviving The Aftermath. But All Will Fall has 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, and All Will Fall, expected to launch sometime in 2025, is no different.

5

Deadlock

Newest MOBA-hero shooter hybrid from Valve.

While Valve is famous for refusing to make a game with the number 3 in the title, they’re still capable of making some bangers nonetheless. At first sight, Deadlock looks 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 (remember Battleborn?).

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 vaerity of ways.

Deadlock also has “minions”, like the ones in Dota 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 for Deadlock.

No release date has been announced for Deadlock yet. 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.