Even if you were lucky enough to get a new console or games this Christmas, you’ve probably got your eye on some upcoming releases.

And 2025 is shaping up to be a big one.

Most agree that 2024 was a painful year for the games industry, with tens of thousands of layoffs and worldwide studio closures.

There’s a hope that things will bounce back – at least in part – next year.

And two huge releases in particular are likely to cut through in a big way.

A cultural moment, a day millions of gamers have been awaiting for a very, very long time.

The release of Grand Theft Auto 6 (GTA 6).

It’s due to land in autumn, 12 years after prequel GTA 5 arrived on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, breaking launch records.

The sequel already broke records with its first trailer, which racked up an astonishing 90 million views in 24 hours when it debuted last December.

And that probably won’t be the last record that will be broken.

“The anticipation for this is impossible to measure,” says James Batchelor, editor-in-chief of GamesIndustry.biz.

“It’s undoubtedly going to be one of, if not the biggest, game launches of all time.”

Developer Rockstar hasn’t revealed a huge amount about the new game beyond its dual protagonists and scenes from its fictional, Florida-inspired setting Leonida.

The big question on most fans’ minds is whether the release date will slip, as has happened for previous big releases from Rockstar.

James says he’s seen nothing to suggest that it will – yet – but if things stay quiet it’s time to start worrying.

“If we still have seen absolutely nothing by summer, and certainly if we’ve seen nothing of it by, say, end of August, then yeah, that’s going to 2026,” he says.

The release of GTA 6 is expected to have an impact on the wider games industry.

“I think it will probably be one of those moments where the rising tide is going to lift all of the boats,” says George Osborn, consultant and author of the Video Games Industry Memo newsletter.

He says a big hit – especially one with the cultural resonance of GTA – can get more people “in the mood to buy video games” and publishers want to capitalise on that.

There are other big releases planned for this year – Assassin’s Creed Shadows from French publisher Ubisoft, Ghost of Yōtei from Sony and strategy game Civilization VII, to name just three.

“The challenge for the developers is how do you keep yourself out of the Grand Theft Auto window?,” says George.

Avoiding the juggernaut of GTA 6 will likely mean other publishers launch their new games early in the year or even hold them back to early 2026.

One more thing we do know is that the game will release first on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series consoles, with a PC release to follow later.

Many gamers are still sticking with their previous-generation machines, and Sony and Microsoft will be hoping GTA 6 will finally inspire them to upgrade.

“If anything is going to convince people to jump to a new console if they haven’t already it’s going to be GTA 6,” says James, who estimates that PlayStation 4 users still count for 50% of Sony’s active players.

But if we’re talking hardware upgrades, there could be some competition.

Here’s what we know, officially, about Nintendo’s next console.

It exists.

Your current Switch games will work on it.

And that’s it.

There’s no official name yet, but fans have been calling it the Nintendo Switch 2.

Despite unconfirmed leaks and rumours the machine’s capabilities remain a mystery and the company’s promised some sort of official announcement by the end of March.

There’s a feeling, though, that Nintendo won’t want to change the winning formula of the original Switch, which has sold 146 million units since its 2017 launch.

“The sensible money is on just a bigger, better Switch,” says James.

Expect it to look similar with more processing power under the bonnet.

“That might sound reductive,” he adds.

“But given the level of success this has had they would be daft to not just build on the foundation they’ve made here.”

James argues that confirmation of backwards compatibility – being able to play games originally made for the first Switch – strongly suggests the new machine won’t be a million miles away from its younger sibling.

He says there is a danger that, as has happened with previous Nintendo consoles, customers might not understand that the new machine is different to what they’ve already got at home.

But James isn’t sure it will experience the same fate.

“That was a long time ago,” he says. “I think they’ve learned a lot of lessons since then.”

Some of 2024’s biggest success stories came from small, independent developers.

The most notable was Balatro – an addictive, poker-inspired card game that ended the year in the running for high-profile game of the year awards.

Journalist Rachel Watts, who hosts the Indieventure podcast, feels that has helped to set the stage for more breakout success this year.

“There’s been so many great indies this year,” she says.

“On the triple-A side a lot of critics and players have said ‘it’s such a quiet year, there’s not many big releases’, but for indie games, there’s always so many cool things to play.”

A success like Balatro is incredibly rare, and one of the big issues for indie developers in 2024 has been discoverability – getting players to actually find your game.

Rachel says the number of releases on Steam – the online store where most PC games are bought – is “frankly bonkers” and getting noticed is “one of the most difficult things”.

“I just don’t see that becoming any easier,” she says.

Rachel says indie developers are also struggling to find investment and the financial outlook is “pretty bleak” going into 2025.

But she does think that more gamers are starting to recognise the creativity that exists in the sector – and more breakout hits will follow.

“The indie space is a place where I retreat to just play games that get me excited about gaming again,” says Rachel.

“If Balatro can knock elbows with some of the biggest titles of the year, then I’m hoping other other indies will.”

There’s another big moment to watch in 2025: the first Olympic Esports Games will take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

“I think it’s an important moment because the Olympic movement has traditionally not been too keen on esports,” says George.

After years of campaigning the International Olympics Committee agreed a 12-year deal with Saudi Arabia to host the gaming version.

The first esports World Cup took place in the kingdom this summer, and George says the event “didn’t really cut through” to a wider audience.

“It’ll be interesting to see whether or not the eSports Olympics with the official IOC branding and the official Olympic movement branding behind it has a different impact,” says George.

Some fans, players and commentators boycotted the World Cup in protest over Saudi Arabia’s human rights records.

George says the esports Olympics will revive conversations about sportswashing – the idea that Saudi Arabia uses its vast wealth to invest in sports and entertainment to improve its international reputation – something it’s denied.

“You have this really interesting thing,” says George.

“Your big esports moment – esports becomes an Olympic sport.

“That’s really interesting. But the only way it’s basically been able to happen is because Saudi Arabia’s bankrolled it.

“So, you know, what do people feel about that?”

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