Summer Game Fest 2025: Games I Better Hear About
With the kickoff of Summer Game Fest just a few hours away, I’m anxious for some updates on games I’ve been waiting for. Some of these games I’ve been patiently awaiting the release of for as long as six or seven years. It’s time for some answers! And I better get those answers in the next few days!
The Wolf Among Us 2
It’s been probably close to a decade since I played the original The Wolf Among Us, and it’s been even longer since it first hit store shelves. Telltale Games has gone through a lot since then, including closing down midway through their final season of The Walking Dead and leaving Skybound Games to clean up their mess back in 2018, only to be reformed nearly a year later under LCG Entertainment.
Since then, as far as The Wolf Among Us 2 goes, Telltale has taken the approach of going spans of 18ish months without any news, allowing hopeful fans to lose hope and assume the project has been canceled, only to reappear to announce simply that the project is still ongoing. It’s hilarious that there’s a seven-year-old announcement trailer out there for the game with Adam Harrington, the voice of main character Bigby Wolf, saying “Season 2. 2018.“ That’s good for a laugh now.
Our latest knowledge of the game comes from a couple of years ago when it was revealed that a significant portion of the development team had been laid off, the game was delayed out of 2023, and the project was switched from Unreal Engine 4 to Unreal Engine 5 to take advantage of some new features. I think that’s quite long enough. It’s time for some more info. I don’t usually encourage this, but at this point, even a bogus release window that will almost certainly not be hit would be a welcomed sight just to be reminded that the game is still in the works.
The Outer Worlds 2
Since the first The Outer Worlds, I’ve become obsessed with Tim Cain’s YouTube channel. Time Cain, of course, is the director that has brought he world many incredible games, but most well-known are the original Fallout and The Outer Worlds. Knowing that he’s involved with the second iteration of this Obsidian Entertainment game just spurs my excitement. Cain has gone on record multiple times saying that the team was very comfortable making a shorter experience for the first game and receiving complaints that it was too short.
I’m hoping this next time around will be a longer (but only slightly) experience with iterations on the original game’s enemies, narrative, and companions. I’d love to see the game take a more Mass Effect approach to its companions, making each one more compelling with their backstories and side quests. All of the companions in the first game were rather forgettable. Some player-character romance options wouldn’t be the worst idea either, to go even further into the Mass Effect realm. The enemies were also a bit forgettable, feeling largely generic. My hope is that the team has gone over these aspects of the first game and put more meat on the bone for number 2.
Currently, it’s slated for release in 2025. However, I always get nervous for any games with a year as their release window when entering the second half of that year. If half the year is gone and your studio still can’t narrow it down to Q3 or Q4, then my doubts skyrocket.
If there’s any news to be had here, I’ll be expecting it on Sunday, June 8, in the Xbox showcase.
Star Wars Eclipse
I love Star Wars, and yes, I love Quantic Dream games. They’re not the cleanest games or the most captivating from a gameplay standpoint, but I adore the studio’s commitment to storytelling. There have been some whiffs with games like Heavy Rain, but others like Beyond: Two Souls and Detroit: Become Human have found a special place in my heart over the years. When I saw that they were now working on a Star Wars title, that was a huge adrenaline rush.
It’s hard to believe that that initial announcement was over three years ago already with little update since. If I were to put my money on the table, I would guess that we’re still several years away from this becoming a reality. That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t love a little something to latch onto in this year’s Summer Game Fest, though.
Nivalis
It’s been agonizing waiting for this one through the delays. Another game that’s slated to release this year but seemingly has no release date in sight. A business sim set in a cyberpunk city has my name written all over it. I’m just as anxious to get my hands on this one as I was when it was first announced in 2022. I’ve been patient, and I hope my patience is rewarded in 2025.
As a side note, I like the developer’s commitment to hit those of us who are heavily anticipating the launch date with a full release, stating that they have no interest in an early access period. The market has become so flooded with early access titles that have a lot of promises but don’t deliver because, “It’s early access, bro.” It’s often times nice to receive a game that has been through a more traditional cycle of alpha, beta, release.
Clockwork Revolution
I just love this concept. The ability to make changes in the past to affect the present is a concept that I love. I think not enough is done in the games industry with time travel. There’s so much potential, but I think the complexity that the mechanics imply often scare developers away from committing to it. Time travel typically means a highly reactive world with tons of room for bugs or gating issues. It also comes with a lot of extra art assets. How far back in time can you go? 20 years? 50 years? 300 years? All of these time periods have very different looks and feels to them that need to be captured by the artists.
Whatever inXile Entertainment has in store for us, I’m ready to experience it. Another game being published by Xbox, I expect to hear about this one on Sunday as well during the Xbox showcase. Hopefully I can at least get another trailer to provide me with more context and expectations for the game.
Tavern Keeper
2012. That’s the last time developer Greenheart Games released a game, and it was their first game, and it was incredible! To this day, I still occasionally pick up Game Dev Tycoon and take a shot at the Pirate Mode (spoiler alert, it’s extremely difficult). It’s one of my favorite simulation games. It focuses on a topic I love, has a great balance of difficulty and allowing for experimentation, and it’s streamlined.
I played the demo for Tavern Keeper that released roughly a year ago ahead of what was supposed to be a November release date. The demo showed a lot of promise, with fun characters, a witty narrator, and a solid gameplay loop. It’s stale now, though. It’s time for more info. It’s frustrating that a game that had a release date has been delayed to this year and now still doesn’t have a release date seven months later.
I’m not about to drop this game from my list, no matter how long it takes to come out, but some news would be encouraging.
Mixtape
I loved the style of Mixtape the second I saw it. It struck me as a Life Is Strange-style, coming-of-age tale with heavy focus on style. I’m still eagerly awaiting the opportunity to experience such an adventure. While I haven’t kept my ear to the ground very well regarding this game, that’s largely because I’m already sold on it. I didn’t need any more convincing beyond the reveal trailer. Now we wait.
Subnautica 2
My girlfriend and I have spent probably hundreds of hours playing co-op survival games together. At one point, we were ready for another, and I suggested Subnautica. Neither of us had played it, but it seemed like the perfect sort of game for us. However, for some reason, I had completely forgotten that the first Subnautica is not a multiplayer game.
Enter Subnautica 2. Still, neither of us have played the first. We’re eagerly awaiting the chance to play together, and the second installment of the franchise appears to be geared specifically toward that. Coming off of Split Fiction, I’m hoping that later this year, Subnautica 2 will fill the void that Hazelight’s latest masterpiece left in our gaming schedule.
Stage Fright
Stage Fright is poised to serve a similar sort of purpose to Subnautica 2. It looks very much like the type of game you’d expect to come out of Hazelight Studios, and that speaks to me and my girlfriend. Hazelight has had a seeming monopoly on co-op, story-driven adventures, and Ghost Town Games seems to be ready to share the space.
The game appears to ooze style, and similar to what I expect these days from Hazelight, I’m anticipating a heavy focus on narrative and plenty of attention put toward creating unique puzzles.
The game comes from the creators of Overcooked, so we already know that the team knows what they’re doing when it comes to co-op gameplay. It’ll be interesting to see how well those skills translate from a fast-paced, simulation game to what will likely be a slower burn with more subtle gameplay that aids the story.
Dispatch
Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.
AdHoc Studio just launched a demo for Dispatch, and my goodness. This is my kind of game! Characters with actual personalities. A captivating premise. Simulation mechanics. Talented voice actors. This game has everything. I think it has the potential to become one of my top 20—or even top 10—favorite games. I need to get my hands on this.
Oh, what’s that? Coming in 2025? That better be corroborated in this year’s Summer Game Fest!
Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet
How can you not be excited about the next Naughty Dog game? I’m trying not to get my hopes up for release dates too much with this game since I’ll just drive myself crazy with anticipation. However, something would be really great. I’d love to know more about the narrative and gameplay. We got a teaser, but what is the game truly about? I especially would like some more information on what’s unique about the setting. Futuristic sci-fi is a pretty generic category.
I have no shortage of faith that there is more to this under the surface since it’s headed up by Neil Druckmann, a savant when it comes to game direction. I want that feeling I got waiting for the release of The Last of Us Part II. Please, don’t disappoint this weekend, Naughty Dog.
Jackbox Party Pack 11
Last year, Jackbox skipped a party pack and went for the Jackbox Survey Scramble, a departure in format, but not in style. Since its release, they added two more game modes to it, but it’s still not the same as having a party pack with 4-6 games with different themes, gameplay, and fun. We already know it’s coming fall 2025, and I have high faith in that since Jackbox has managed to hit their release dates consistently every year. I just want the actual date. Gimme gimme.