Opinion Piece: Now Is An Excellent Time To Be A Gamer
2025 has been a stellar year for gaming and we still have another four months to go. While we've had some amazing releases so far this year, such as Monster Hunter Wilds, Clair Obscur Expedition 33, and Death Stranding 2, we haven't had a month this stacked since February.
There's no doubt February had some standout video games, and 2025 itself is shaping up to be a year people will look back fondly on for all it's amazing releases. But I think August has been the bigger milestone for game releases. Unless the next few months are loaded with as many hits, August may be the peak of 2025.
August started off strong with Gradius Origins and Mafia: The Old Country launching within days of each other. Gradius Origins launched with 18 different versions of the 7 arcade titles in the series, including the first-ever appearance of Gradius III. Mafia: The Old Country took the series back to formula and then some, with its early 1900s setting, where it received praise for its characters, dialogue, and the simple fact it didn't outstay it's welcome, something that's become all too commonplace in recent years.
Big games made there way to other platforms, starting with Apex Legends joining the Switch 2 library, meanwhile Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II joined its little brother on PlayStation 5. After pushing back the console release in favour of a mobile port, Delta Force did release on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S earlier this month. And just last week, Black Myth Wukong also came to Xbox Series X|S in a totally-not suspicious launch exactly one year after due to “issues with the Series S” console and absolutely not because of a one-year exclusivity deal with Sony.
And to really knock the ball out of the park, this last week in August sees multiple big titles launching (or relaunching), with enough games to keep you busy for weeks on end. Just yesterday, we got the joint launch of Gears of War: Reloaded and Helldivers II, two former exclusive powerhouses joining their rival’s platforms. While there was no specific crossover (a missed opportunity, in my book), Helldivers II does feature a Halo: ODST premium war bond full of new weapons and cosmetics from the game. Seeing a former Xbox exclusive making its way to Sony's PlayStation has become a bit par for the course, but with the release of Helldivers II on the Xbox consoles shows Sony is softening their stance a bit. And neither company tend to pass up money on the table. How the future will pan out for multiplatform releases remains to be seen, but there's no two ways about it: this can only be a good thing.
To round out this admittedly full week, we also have Nintendo's longest-title-ever Kirby and the Forgotten Land - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Star-Crossed Worlds launching the same day as Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater, Konami's first foray back into the stealth-action series since their departure with Hideo Kojima. The following day sees Lost Soul Aside on PC and PS5, which is giving the Xbox a miss, at least for now.
And that's to say nothing of all the indie titles that have already launched this month. Turbo Kid, Heretic + Hexen, Midnight Murder Club. If we're to add the individual games from each collection released so far this month, there would be around 100 games big and small that launched in August. There's something for everyone this month and we haven't even hit the holiday period yet. Prepare your wallets for the next few months because it's all set to kick off next month with the long-awaited Hollow Knight: Silksong and Hell Is Us on September 4th, with Cronos: The New Dawn arriving on the 5th.
What August games are you playing and what else are you looking forward to? Sound off in the comments.
I created this website as I feel the state of the games industry and games reporting as a whole has gotten overly negative and full of clickbait. While I understand both of these are a great way to generate engagement, it’s a detriment to those gamers (like myself) that are just trying to enjoy games and not have to worry about the negativity of the current state of the gaming industry. I want a space where gamers can come for unbiased news that doesn’t rely on clickbait or rumours with a dash of humour and have the opportunity to share their passion for games.
