Last Updated on Dec 24, 2025 @ 14:40:37 PM.
It’s that time of year again, and we’re looking back at 2025’s releases, specifically, some of the best releases we’ve been treated to over the last 12 months. This year has felt extraordinary, with both indie and AAA seemingly releasing a genre-defining game every month, so strap in, as the list is long and the titles are many! In no particular order:
Dying Light: The Beast
A game formed from a leaked DLC for Dying Light 2: Stay Human, Dying Light: The Beast, is something of an anomaly. Not in the fact it’s great, because it really is, and it moves the franchise on in many meaningful ways that fans old and new will appreciate. No, it’s an anomaly in the fact that when Techland announced it, they confirmed that owners of the second game would get this for free. Something unheard of in today’s capitalistic market.
Featuring the return of Kyle Crane, the protagonist from the first game, with some swanky new zombie-induced powers, Dying Light: The Beast fixed a lot of the perceived issues with the second entry, and at the same time, has put it in a position where we’re desperate for the fourth entry, after THAT ending.
Split Fiction
I’m still shocked that Split Fiction didn’t win any awards at The Game Awards this year. Hazelight Studios is well known for its mandatory co-op experiences like A Way Out, It Takes Two, and Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, so when they released Split Fiction, we all knew what we were getting into, or so we thought. Telling the story of two struggling writers participating in what they thought was a scheme to get published, the game twists and turns through different mechanics, settings, and timelines, not to mention genres.
Multiple times throughout my time with the game, I was left with my mouth agape, wondering how Josef Fares and co had managed to pull off one of the most impressive and unique experiences in recent memory. That final level was one of, if not the most memorable moments of the year, so if you haven’t already played it, don’t miss it!
The Alters
Ever wondered what it’d be like to play a sci-fi epic as multiples of the same character? Well, with The Alters, that particular situation is now answered. And it is answered in some of the most gloriously weird and heartbreaking ways.
Jan Dolski, being the sole survivor of a deep space expedition, crash-lands on a seemingly inhospitable hellscape of a planet, before realizing it is teeming with a rare element that would just so happen to fix all the problems of a broken Earth. However, he’s one guy, with one set of skills, and one pair of hands. With no surviving crew members left, he does the only sensible thing left. He clones himself, but a different version of himself with new skills.
The Alters will take you on a winding story of survival, capitalist greed, multiple choices and endings, and two questions we all ponder regularly: what if, and what next?
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
A small, independent French studio releasing its first game in 2025 probably wasn’t expecting to be included in lists like these, much less breaking records for the most nominations (and most wins) at The Game Awards, but here we are.
Set around an annual ritual where anyone of a certain age is wiped out, a group decides that they’re going to put an end to it, and to the perpetrator, the Paintress. Mixing Soulslike, JRPG, and a deep story is no easy task, but Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 manages it almost flawlessly. All of the games listed here should be played, there’s no doubt about it, but if you can only manage one, it’s hard to argue about Sandfall Interactive’s debut title.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2
The sequel to perhaps the most accurate and realistic medieval RPG ever released, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 doubled down on everything we knew and experienced in the first one. With more depth, a longer story, more opportunities to craft your own adventure, and the return of Hans and Henry, fans of the original will be happy, and it’s also a suitable jumping-on point for anyone yet to join the franchise fun. If you’ve ever wanted to be a medieval knight, a philandering manwhore, or just someone who ambles about a beautiful Bohemian countryside appreciating the historically accurate castles, then Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 will be your go-to game in 2025.
Arc Raiders
What can we say about Arc Raiders that hasn’t already been said? Perhaps the most surprising breakout hit of 2025, a PVPVE experience that’ll be around for years, we expect, it’s as much a test of trust in our fellow humans as it is a third-person Extraction Shooter.
Arc Raiders has quickly become the definition of ‘one more round’, and with each round feeling massively different, its longevity is all but guaranteed, barring some ridiculous fall-off. Embark has promised content, events, new weapons, and more, but with the lore of Speranza expanding by the day, it’s hard to not sing the game’s praises to anyone who’ll listen. So yeah, who’s up for one more round? I need some Arc Alloy for my bench.
Battlefield 6
While Call of Duty continues to push out yearly entries with seemingly diminishing returns, the Battlefield franchise took a bit of a hiatus for a few years, making us wait. During that time, the developers worked, polished, and made an FPS that is leaps and bounds ahead of the competition. I’ve been privileged enough not to experience war on a first-hand basis, but Battlefield 6 does a grand job of making me feel like I know what soldiers go through.
Hectic, fast-paced, all-over-the-shop carnage that never lets up. The arcade experiences of other shooters are out of the window for something more akin to old-school Battlefield, and whether you prefer the large-scale mayhem of the bigger maps or the close-quarters combat of the smaller maps, the gameplay scales perfectly. There’s no better modern experience out there right now.
Dispatch
A superhero tale that opens with the hero losing everything? What is this, Daredevil? Dispatch asks a LOT of questions over its eight episodes, and for a game that is based off the premise of the Telltale games, packs a surprising amount of gameplay and heart into its relatively short playtime. From hacking to help your dispatched heroes, to making choices that’ll affect your story way ahead of time, this is one of the few games in the ‘interactive movie’ genre that will have you questioning your choices long after you’ve made them.
Top-notch writing, incredible performances from some of the gaming industry’s biggest and brightest actors (and Breaking Bad‘s Aaron Paul), it’d be a shock if we don’t get a season 2 to continue our adventures as Mecha Man, or preferably more time behind the desk, commanding a variety of somewhat heroes to help others.
Ghost of Yotei
We waited years for this, and while it may not be the continuation of Jin Sakai’s story as we all expected, it is a natural continuation of the franchise, and much like Dying Light: The Beast improves the franchise in a multitude of ways, so too does Ghost of Yotei. More weapons, more variety, more missions, more NPCs, and a new map that’ll take your breath away any time you stop and take a minute to appreciate what’s in front of you (or behind you, everywhere really).
Cronos: The New Dawn
Survival horror has had something of a renaissance over the last couple of years. Starting with Bloober Team’s Silent Hill 2 Remake, the studio has gone from strength to strength, and this year, the studio turned its attention to an original IP, the bizarre, dark, dangerous, and all-out bonkers Cronos: The New Dawn.
In a world where a mysterious virus has swept the world and transformed the few ‘survivors’ into grotesque versions of humans and non-humans, Cronos: The New Dawn will have you on the edge of your seat throughout its story, for numerous reasons. Actual horror is back on the menu, boys!
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
Is there ever a time when we expect a Hideo Kojima release not to make one of these lists? Well, if there is, that time is not now, as Death Stranding 2: On the Beach is a shoo-in for most people’s lists, and that includes us.
Carrying on the weird and wonderful story of the first game, Norman Reedus returns with a new, but familiar mission. This time, he’s headed to Australia to attempt to reconnect the continent to the Chiral network, but as is Kojima’s way, not everything is that simple, or as it seems. Same deliveries, different environments, tools, and hazards stand in the way of Reedus’ Sam Porter Bridges accomplishing his latest mission.
Doom: The Dark Ages
After the excellent Doom and Doom Eternal, many of us were wondering exactly what ID Software could do to make another entry different enough to warrant being made. Well, Doom: The Dark Ages certainly answered that particular quandary, and did it rather well. As something of a prequel to the whole franchise, sending Doomguy ‘back in time’ to the proverbial Middle Ages to fight the Hellspawn with nothing but a spiked shield and a range of weapons – some noteworthy, some new, some best forgotten – proved to be a master stroke.
The slower pace may have been controversial to some, but it added a layer of tactical thinking to the franchise and allowed us, the players, to strategize our carnage and destruction. Of course, if you’re like me, you just went for the biggest one first. Importantly, it’s just good fun.
Blue Prince
Ever wondered what it’s like to try and find a hidden 46th room in a gigantic, ever-changing, and ever-moving mansion, with procedurally generated rooms and clues? Well, wonder no more, because Blue Prince answers that question, and it’s undoubtedly addictive, fun, and oh so rewarding when you finally manage it.
Similar to Arc Raiders above, Blue Prince makes it all too easy for you to wile away your day playing ‘just one more round’, and just like Sandfall Interactive’s Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, it’s all the more impressive as it’s the studio’s first title. Even more impressive? It’s a singular developer.
Honourable Mentions
This list probably could have been a fair bit longer, but there’s only so much time and space. That said, we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention Hollow Knight: Silksong, finally releasing to much acclaim after what has felt like a lifetime, the shadow drop of Hades II, taking everyone by surprise, and Ubisoft’s premium strategy game Anno 117: Pax Romana, to keep the strategy lovers happy. There really has been something for everyone this year, and with what feels like more hits than misses, it wouldn’t be the biggest surprise if 2025 goes down as one of the best years in gaming history. How will 2026 fare, though?
For more from us, check out our discussion with Dean Hall, creator of Day Z and ICARUS!
Luke Addison is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Thumb Wars. Having previously been a part of multiple outlets over the years, including building an entire gaming team from nothing to something, he thought it best to forge his own path and answer only to himself. As likely to be found playing the latest game as he is in the kitchen relaxing (by cooking), he always brings the same bold and brash attitude to everything he does, with a heavy leaning on sarcasm and dry wit!
