It's been such a year, and it's only January.
A couple of weeks into 2025 and nominally refreshed from my time away over the holidays, I want to take a look at gaming trends and possible stories that I'm expecting to see dominate 2025. I recently wrote about the most important gaming trends and stories in 2024, so you can think of this as something of a sequel to that piece.
From the impending arrival of one of the biggest games of all time, to new gaming hardware finally popping up, there's a lot to be curious, cautious, and excited about all at once. We'll see about revisiting this at the end of the year and seeing how I did, but for now, let's dive in.
5. The black hole games continue, but GTA 6 provides possible opportunities
I've previously talked about the problem of "black hole" games, titles that are evergreen or yearly (sometimes both). These titles include the likes of Call of Duty, Fortnite, and more, taking up a significant chunk of the time and money people are spending on games. This year, there's one heck of a shuffle coming that could shake things up.
Rockstar Games and Take-Two Interactive's Grand Theft Auto 6 is primed to be one of the biggest games of the year when it launches across Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5 at some point this fall. If any game has a chance of pulling people away and getting them to spend time on something else and keep spending that time elsewhere, it's Grand Theft Auto 6.
Of course, there are a couple of huge asterisks attached to this. Will Grand Theft Auto 6 include any kind of online component at launch? If not, how long will it take to arrive? Most important of all, will the game actually release this year?
4. More generative AI rumblings with little payoff
Talk of generative artificial intelligence (AI) is everywhere right now, and I don't think we're escaping it in 2025. With companies openly exploring how to implement AI with user generated content, or figuring out what generative AI can do in narrative design, there's far more to come.
I'm expecting a lot of companies to make big claims about how they'll alter the gaming landscape and change game design forever, but with little to actually show for everything they're talking about, at least for this year.
3. PC gaming handhelds continue evolving, but all fall behind the Nintendo Switch 2
Fresh off of CES 2025, it's clear there are plenty of exciting new gaming handhelds on the way, with the Windows Central team particularly excited about what the Lenovo Legion Go S will bring, especially since the device will be available with a variant using SteamOS.
All of that is cool, and I'm really interested in seeing how well they'll all do. When it comes to the best-selling devices of the year, however, they're all going to need to take a huge step back. Nintendo has finally announced the Nintendo Switch 2, its long-awaited successor that seems to pack a slightly larger design and more powerful hardware.
The Nintendo Switch 2 should sell extremely well in its first year, no matter when it launches, and the only limiting factor will be how many of the consoles the company can manufacture.
Speaking of Nintendo's new hardware...
2. Xbox supercharges support for the Nintendo Switch 2
Many different publishers will have ports of their games ready for the Nintendo Switch 2, but I'm not sure any will be as eager as Xbox.
I'm fully predicting Xbox to bring every possible game to Nintendo's newest device, hitting the ground running to get people buying their games on a new platform. Rumors currently swirl of ports for games like Halo: The Master Chief Collection, and I'm also firmly expecting to see Rare's pirate adventure Sea of Thieves arrive on Nintendo's new machine.
The exact scale of the ports will depend on what kind of hardware the Nintendo Switch 2 is packing. Will it be enough to get games like Indiana Jones and the Great Circle or DOOM: The Dark Ages running? We don't know right now, but if it can be done, I expect Xbox to give the green light to ports as fast as possible.
While we're talking about ports...
1. PlayStation further dips its toes into multiplatform waters
Sony has been infinitely more cautious than Microsoft in bringing its games anywhere outside of its own console, but the times are changing, and I expect we'll see further slips later this year.
Make no mistake, it won't be anywhere remotely near the volume or cadence of what Xbox is doing, but there will be a tactical shift. While Sony currently opts to wait before bringing its single-player PlayStation Studios games to PC, the average time between ports is decreasing.
The firm also brought LEGO Horizon Adventures to Nintendo Switch last year, and it's not impossible (dare I say likely?) that the game could be ported to Xbox consoles later this year. Who knows, even something like Helldivers 2 coming to Xbox alongside a Halo: ODST crossover event doesn't seem quite so impossible anymore.
