I really feel like a damaged file, however as soon as once more, in some ways this was a nasty 12 months for builders, players, and the business writ massive. However hey, simply because AI slop is ruining all the pieces and grasping execs are destroying popular culture, that doesn’t imply we will’t discover some pleasure and genuinely nice moments in all of the bullshit.
Like we’ve done in years past, here we’ve collected 10 of the most effective online game surprises and bits of fine information from the previous 12 months. Maintain on to them tightly. Cherish them. Reread this record just a few instances. Do not forget that issues could be good. Hope is necessary. We’ll doubtless want lots of it to get by way of 2026.
Elden Ring Nightreign Guidelines
The common individual appears fairly burnt out on live-service multiplayer video games. Followers had each purpose to reply with groans and sighs to the concept of the premier action-RPG maker turning its consideration and sources to precisely that—an online multiplayer game—as an alternative of towards its subsequent single-player journey.
However FromSoftware delivered with Elden Ring Nightreign. It didn’t simply efficiently nail multiplayer Elden Ring; it produced a whole new mash-up of genres that I want extra video games would attempt to experiment with. Do you want shut mates to get most enjoyment? Positive. However in contrast to a few of the friendslop turning heads on the market this 12 months, Nightreign‘s magic goes far beyond capturing hot mics and silly moments. (It’s nice for that too, although.) I now anticipate nice issues from The Duskbloods and would like to see FromSoftware reimagine Armored Core PVE for the fashionable period. -Ethan Gach
Star Wars: Destiny of The Outdated Republic Introduced
The 2025 Recreation Awards began off with a super-surprising announcement: Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic. It is a new single-player RPG from Knights of the Outdated Republic and Mass Impact director Casey Hudson, and is a religious successor to KOTOR. Holy shit, people! Positive, it ain’t KOTOR 3, nevertheless it’s doubtless the closest we’ll ever get to that recreation, and that alone has followers excited.
Earlier than you begin getting too hyped to play Destiny of the Outdated Republic, it ought to be famous that the studio engaged on FOTOR was fashioned just some months in the past, so this recreation is probably going 5 or extra years away from launch and will launch on PlayStation 6 and even PS7. Hudson denies this, however, and claims will probably be out earlier than 2030. I need to consider him, however I’m not bought on that being potential until Destiny of the Outdated Republic is way smaller in scope than most AAA RPGs. We’ll simply have to attend and see, and hope this one doesn’t get canceled.
Digital Foundry And Large Bomb Going Absolutely Impartial
The digital video games media house has by no means been extra pervasive, due to creator platforms like TikTok and YouTube, nevertheless it’s additionally by no means been much less in a position to assist massive institutional groups producing work that wouldn’t in any other case flourish on our algorithmically pushed web. So it was heartening to see that regardless of the broader digital media apocalypse, there’s nonetheless room for as soon as corporate-owned retailers to thrive within the indie house. That includes the re-launch of Giant Bomb and Digital Foundry, in addition to issues like Recreation Informer coming again to life with a bodily journal you can truly purchase IRL. – Ethan Gach
Nintendo Provides Digital Boy Emulation To The Swap On-line Catalog
There aren’t many individuals round who fondly bear in mind Nintendo’s failed stereoscopic 3D Digital Boy console from 1995. It was a giant flop for the corporate, was barely supported by it or third-party studios, and has largely pale into the previous as an odd misfire from the Mario maker.
However it’s nonetheless part of online game historical past, and so it was extremely unexpected but nice to see Nintendo announce Digital Boy video games coming to Nintendo Swap On-line. And to allow you to play these rudimentary 3D video games correctly, Nintendo is delivery a complete new headset accent that appears so much just like the OG Digital Boy. All of this arrives in February 2026.
Terminator 2D: No Destiny Was Value The Wait
Again in February, Terminator 2D: No Destiny was introduced with a reveal trailer that instantly propelled the sport to the highest of my most needed record. With its stunning pixel artwork and glorious animation, No Destiny regarded prefer it may lastly ship the pulse-pounding run-and-gun motion recreation that James Cameron’s seminal sci-fi flick has at all times deserved, however by no means obtained. Amping up my pleasure within the months that adopted have been movies like this one, which highlighted that the parents at developer Bitmap Bureau had the data, expertise, and expertise to ship a recreation that paid homage to the arcade motion classics of yesteryear whereas additionally feeling thrilling and rewarding at this time. However you by no means know for positive till a recreation arrives, in order hopeful as I used to be, I additionally feared that the tip consequence may be a disappointing one.
Initially set for launch in September, No Destiny noticed delay after delay, pushing it again to December 12 and making me extra anxious than ever. But the end result proved to be everything I hoped it could be: a beautiful, various, difficult, and immensely rewarding motion recreation that not solely does the movie justice, however earns a spot among the many finest arcade-style motion video games of all time. What an exquisite shock to assist shut out the 12 months! – Carolyn Petit
Helldivers 2 Comes To Xbox, Gears Of Battle Goes To PlayStation
The period of online game exclusives has really come to an finish. I imply, all of us type of knew that already, however in 2025, we watched it occur in real-time in a manner that I’ve by no means seen earlier than. On August 26, Gears of War: Reloaded, a remaster of a remake of the primary recreation within the as soon as Xbox-only sequence, arrived on PlayStation 5. On the exact same day, the PlayStation published Helldivers 2 launched on Xbox Series X/S consoles. It was like watching a prisoner trade on a bridge between two nations that have been as soon as at conflict, however who now have struck a truce.
And yeah, playing Gears of War on a PlayStation is strange! I earned Xbox achievements on a PS5. We dwell in bizarre instances. However I’m additionally completely satisfied that the long run appears to be one during which you received’t must personal each console to play each recreation. That’s good, and as consoles get dearer, will probably be a boon for players making an attempt to benefit from the pastime on a restricted finances.
Id Software program, Bethesda, and Ubisoft Studios In North America Unionize!
Regardless of the underside falling out of the AAA online game business this 12 months, gaming’s nascent labor motion has continued to eke out notable victories. Multiple teams at Blizzard announced new wall-to-wall unions, while developers at Bethesda secured their first contract. And the organizing isn’t simply remoted to Microsoft-owned studios within the U.S., Ubisoft Halifax in Canada just formed a union as well. – Ethan Gach
Fortnite’s Mini-Simpsons Season Was Nice, Really!
A mini Fortnite season based mostly solely on The Simpsons may have been a catastrophe. However regardless of the chances, Epic was in a position to make it work and delivered what may be my favorite season of Fortnite in a long time. The Springfield island map was unimaginable to discover. The visuals felt very cartoonish and Simpsons-y with out trying too garish, and all of the Simpsons Easter eggs and characters that appeared all through the occasion have been a deal with for followers. And on prime of all that, this season included humorous animated segments that includes Simpsons characters that have been written by the employees of the present. Is that this only one extra signal of all of popular culture merging collectively into a gray slurry? Positive. However no matter, man, I can now play as Moe in Fortnite. I’m completely satisfied.
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered Shadow-dropped
Years of selling, teasers, and trailers are annoying and tiring. I imply, we’ve been ready years for extra details about The Elder Scrolls 6, a recreation that was introduced all the best way again in 2018 when E3 was nonetheless a factor. So getting a remake of 2006’s The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion out of nowhere was super nice. No lengthy waits. No delays. No annoying sequence of teasers and trailers. Only a reveal and growth, you have been enjoying the sport.
Based mostly on how nicely it did, individuals appear to agree that shadow-dropping a recreation like Oblivion is a good suggestion. Even Todd Howard seems into the idea of launching video games like this. And hey, Oblivion Remastered ended up being a stable and really fairly solution to play (or replay) Bethesda’s seminal open-world RPG. Now, let’s hope subsequent 12 months’s record of finest surprises options an entry a couple of Fallout 3 remaster shadow-dropping out of nowhere.
Hole Knight: Silksong Lastly Launches After A Lengthy Wait
Hollow Knight: Silksong may have simply been delayed out of 2025 or been disappointingly mid when it launched. As an alternative, it constructed on the muse of the unique with out dropping sight of what made that one so particular. Could each long-awaited sequel *cough* GTA 6 *cough* handle to ship the identical. – Ethan Gach
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