The first six months of 2025 are unfolding like that Netflix queue you never clear—packed with hits you actually want to experience. Publishers have stacked the release calendar with genuine powerhouses across every platform, from Nintendo’s shiny new console to the demon-slaying depths of id Software’s latest creation. You’re looking at months where your gaming backlog might finally meet its match.
6. Doom: The Dark Ages (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S) – May 15, 2025
Doom: The Dark Ages shifts toward heavier, more grounded combat compared to previous entries, trading Doom Eternal’s acrobatic mayhem for medieval brutality that hits like a battle axe to the skull. Set many years prior to Doom (2016), the prequel follows the Doom Slayer’s efforts to save humanity during a war against Hell. Players can pilot vehicles like a cybernetic dragon and a 30-story Atlan mech to combat building-sized demons during certain sections.
The introduction of the Shield Saw allows for blocking, parrying, and attacking within a single input, while new weapons include the Skull Crusher that fires bone fragments. Melee weapons like gauntlets, iron maces, and flails round out the medieval arsenal. The game received positive reviews and reached 3 million players in its first week, available day one on Xbox Game Pass for subscribers.
5. The Alters (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S) – June 13, 2025
The Alters from 11 bit studios transforms survival gaming into an existential journey where you create alternate versions of yourself to survive on a hostile planet. Playing as Jan Dolski, you use a substance called Rapidium to generate “Alters”—versions of yourself shaped by different life choices, each with unique skills, personalities, and psychological baggage. Managing these alternate selves becomes as crucial as gathering resources or maintaining your mobile base.
Each Alter has distinct emotions, needs, and fears that require attention, potentially acting rashly if neglected and causing unforeseen consequences. The game blends third-person exploration with base-building mechanics as Jan races against time before sunrise burns everything to ash. Available day one on Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass, The Alters sold over 280,000 copies across all platforms in its first month.
4. Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist (PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch) – January 22, 2025
This dark fantasy metroidvania from Binary Haze Interactive launched as the sequel to Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights, set decades after its predecessor in the corrupted Land of Fumes. Playing as Lilac, an “Attuner” who can purify corrupted Homunculi, you’ll navigate a hand-drawn post-apocalyptic world where artificial life forms have been driven mad by toxic underground vapors. Each boss you defeat joins your cause, adding abilities to create custom fighting styles with over 30 total abilities available.
The game promises 35 hours of content with ten abilities per boss (each with three alt-fires), letting you equip up to four abilities at once. Explore vast interconnected biomes while gathering resources to upgrade equipment at the Blacksmith’s storefront. The international indie band Mili returns to compose the melancholy soundtrack, building on their work from the original game. Currently available in physical collector’s editions through Limited Run Games.
3. Dune: Awakening (PC) – June 10, 2025
Dune: Awakening from Funcom launched as an open-world survival MMO set on Arrakis, where thousands of players compete for spice while avoiding massive sandworms that respond to surface movement. Set in an alternate timeline where Paul Atreides was never born, players assume control of undercover Bene Gesserit agents seeking to find the missing Fremen and “wake the Sleeper.” The game divides into four progression phases: Survive, Protect, Expand, and Control.
Players can join either House Atreides or House Harkonnen for faction-specific quests while managing thirst levels and maintaining stillsuits in the harsh desert environment. The Deep Deserts serve as primarily player-versus-player zones accommodating hundreds of players, with weekly Coriolis storms reshaping the map to keep content fresh. PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S versions are planned for 2026, while PC players get early access starting June 5 for Deluxe and Ultimate Edition pre-orders.
2. Split Fiction (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S) – March 6, 2025
Split Fiction from Hazelight Studios drops you into a reality where sci-fi and fantasy worlds collide, requiring two players to navigate completely different genres that somehow mesh perfectly. The cooperative adventure features authors Mio and Zoe who become trapped in their own stories when connected to a machine designed to steal creative ideas. Your characters literally jump between worlds—one minute you’re commanding gravity bikes in neon-drenched cityscapes, the next you’re raising dragons in mystical forests.
The game supports cross-platform co-op between PlayStation, Xbox, and PC, with Hazelight’s signature Friend’s Pass returning to let one player invite a friend to play for free. Split Fiction received critical acclaim and sold over 4 million copies as of May 2025. A Nintendo Switch 2 version launched on June 5, 2025, alongside the new console.
1. Mario Kart World (Nintendo Switch 2) – June 5, 2025
Mario Kart World launched worldwide as a launch title for the Nintendo Switch 2 on June 5, 2025, revolutionizing the franchise with races supporting 24 racers—doubling from the 12 seen in Mario Kart 8. The whole world becomes your racetrack with races spanning interconnected paths across mountains, forests, cities, and more with shifting weather patterns and day/night cycles that change the atmosphere completely.
The game features the most brand new playable character additions to the Mario Kart series to date, including enemies like Cataquack, Swoop, and Conkdor. The new Knockout Tour mode creates an all-out battle where players race over consecutive tracks across the open world and face elimination at checkpoints if they place in the bottom four. Nintendo charges $79.99 for the standard edition, but the scope and innovation justify the premium pricing.
