The Most Anticipated Video Games of 2015
Confirmed or highly likely releases
Below, we list some of the most noteworthy games expected to arrive in 2015. Release dates (for North America, unless otherwise noted) are provided when known. Games exclusive to a single platform are marked
below.
New properties
Bloodborne Watch trailer(s)
March 24 | Sony | Action-RPG
The latest from Demon's Souls and Dark Souls developer From Software (following last year's acclaimed release Dark Souls II) is a PS4-exclusive action-RPG-horror title set in an ancient city where you must fight off a plague and myriad deranged beasts lurking in the dark, foggy Victorian-era setting. It's not technically part of the Souls series, though fans will note some similarities in look and gameplay—as well as in the level of difficulty. Don't expect a previous-generation release, as Bloodborne is designed to take advantage of the PS4's advanced capabilities.
The Division Watch trailer(s)
tbd | Ubisoft | Action-RPG
This highly-anticipated (and highly ambitious) third-person tactical shooter/MMORPG hybrid under the Tom Clancy banner is one of several repeats here from our 2014 game preview, though it should finally surface in 2015. Set in a realistic-looking, near-future New York City, The Division takes place after a disease outbreak has wiped out much of the country's population in less than a week. You are one of a group of government sleeper agents ("The Division") charged with restoring order after the surviving population turns lawless. You'll get a chance to work with and against other players, and the game is designed to encourage lengthy gameplay even after you exhaust the original story progression.
Dying Light Watch trailer(s)
January 27 | Warner Bros. Interactive | Survival horror
One of 2015's first major game releases is this open-world survival horror title (another holdover from 2014) from Dead Island developer Techland. Set during a zombie apocalypse, Dying Light allows you to show off your running and Mirror's Edge-style parkour skills as you attempt to evade the undead. The gimmick here (aside from slick graphics on the next-gen consoles) is the game's day-night cycle. Daytime isn't so bad, with your day spent scavenging and completing various tasks. But when the sun goes down, the zombies turn fast, athletic, and aggressive, and you'll need to utilize a combination of stealth and quick-thinking to survive. The developer has promised at least 50 hours of gameplay, not including three upcoming DLC packs.
Everybody's Gone to the Rapture Watch trailer(s)
tbd | Sony | Adventure
Yet another repeat from last year's preview, PS4-exclusive Rapture comes from indie studio The Chinese Room, makers of Dear Esther and Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs. The game is set in a detailed, scenic, but mostly empty English village after an apocalypse (make that the apocalypse), where six inhabitants remain after much of humanity has vanished. Unlike the entirely story-driven Esther, the open-world Rapture will have more interactivity (i.e., it'll be more of an actual game), with the ability to pick up and manipulate objects as you search for clues about what transpired.
Evolve Watch trailer(s)
February 10 | 2K Games | First-person shooter
Will Evolve be 2015's first great game? Delayed from last October, this highly anticipated new asymmetric shooter is a years-in-the-making project from Left 4 Dead creator Turtle Rock Studios—and the game that unseated more well-established franchises (including Batman: Arkham Knight) to take the title of the year's best overall game at the 2014 E3 Game Critics Awards. (It then duplicated that honor at Gamescom.) Up to four players, each controlling one human character (with its own unique class and skillset), play as a team of hunters who attempt to take down a gigantic, monstrous creature controlled by a fifth player. The monster can choose between taking out the full human squad or targeting their base, and can also evolve throughout the game (hence the title) by killing other creatures and gaining new abilities. Along with four classes of human hunters, there are three choices of monster—a stompy Goliath, a stealthy Wraith, and a flying Kraken—though pre-orders come with a fourth choice: the even huger, boulder-like Behemoth. Evolve will also include a single-player campaign for when you want to go it alone. An Xbox One open beta is expected to take place next week prior to February's official launch.
Inside Watch trailer
tbd Q1/Q2 | Playdead | Platform/Adventure
Tired of shooters? Inside offers something very different from the norm. Most notably, it's also the first game from indie studio Playdead since its groundbreaking 2010 hit Limbo. While Inside looks like it will be equally bleak as that game, gameplay will be a bit more complex with the addition of stealth aspects. (And there's even a slight dash of color in the new game, though it's still mostly grayscale.) While most aspects of the game are still under wraps, you'll play as a young boy who still has control of his own mind in a desolate, totalitarian future where most citizens have been turned into automatons. The Xbox One will get the game first (likely in the first half of this year), with other platforms possibly following at a later date.
Mighty No. 9 Watch trailer(s)
tbd Q2 | Comcept | Platform
One of several notable Kickstarter-funded projects that could see release in 2015, Mighty No. 9 is the brainchild of Mega Man creator Keiji Inafune. This 2D side-scrolling platformer takes place in a world whose mechanized inhabitants have gone amok thanks to a widespread computer virus. Your character, the ninth in a line of "powerful robots," is free of the virus and serves as the world's last line of defense. Mighty No. 9 easily passed its original target and ultimately raised over $3.8 million on the crowdfunding site, which, among other things, means that the one-time PC-only game will now come out on virtually every existing platform.
No Man's Sky Watch trailer(s)
tbd | Hello Games | Adventure
Another original title that greatly impressed critics during 2014's major gaming conferences, No Man's Sky comes from the four-person British game design shop Hello Games (previously working exclusively in the Joe Danger series). This ambitious sci-fi exploration/FPS game features a truly massive, procedurally-generated universe (so no two planets will be alike, and you'll get to explore virgin territory each time) with stylized, colorful artwork and an original soundtrack by Sheffield's 65daysofstatic. The game will seamlessly incorporate both space-based and planet-based combat and travel, and you can expect increasing danger and surprises as you progress at your own pace toward the center of the universe. Though the PS4 will be the only platform to get the game at first, a PC version will follow, and ports for other consoles are possible in the future. Also likely in the future is a "traditional" multiplayer mode, though the game will have some minor (and optional) MMO elements at launch.
The Order: 1886 Watch trailer(s)
February 20 | Sony | Action-adventure
Yet another title delayed from 2014, this supernatural, steampunk-themed, third-person shooter/adventure game comes from Ready at Dawn, a development studio that has yet to release a game scoring lower than 84. The setting is Victorian London, albeit an alternate-reality version where zeppelins, monorails, and wireless communication are commonplace. You play as one of a group of long-lived knights—descendants of King Arthur's Knights of the Round Table—who lead humanity in an ongoing war against a group of half-men, half-beasts who have been wreaking havoc for centuries. Complicating matters are growing tensions between the lower classes and the wealthy, though your job is made a bit easier by new high-tech weaponry created during the Industrial Revolution. Developers are aiming for a cinematic feel, with the single-player-only PS4 exclusive featuring a unique widescreen aspect ratio and running at a slower-than-normal (for modern games) 30fps. The resulting look is already earning raves from the gaming press.
Ori and the Blind Forest Watch trailer(s)
tbd | Microsoft | Platform/Adventure
Originally expected to arrive last fall but now set for an early (though still undated) 2015 release, Microsoft's new "Metroidvania"-style, exploration-driven 2D platformer is the first release from new-ish indie developer Moon Studios, which has been working on the game for over four years. Early demos elicited excitement (as well as numerous Super Meat Boy comparisons), with raves about the game's gorgeous visual design, responsive controls, and deep gameplay. You play as Ori, an animal-like guardian spirit who is forced into the forest alone after his mother is taken by an evil entity, but who gains a companion/weapon in the form of Sein, a sentient energy blob. The game features a flexible, RPG-like character progression which finds Ori gaining numerous abilities as the game progresses. The Xbox One and PC versions should finally arrive early this year, while an Xbox 360 version should follow at a later date.
Quantum Break Watch trailer(s)
tbd | Microsoft | Action
Max Payne studio Remedy Entertainment will follow its somewhat divisive (but mostly acclaimed) story-driven 2010 release Alan Wake with yet another long-in-development project sometime this year. If anything, Quantum Break is even more ambitious than its predecessor, with a blend of third-person-combat, adventure, and mystery gameplay and a complex story that unfolds over not just the game but also a companion live-action TV series which focuses on the story's villains and will change based on your actions in the game. (Last year's shutter of Xbox Entertainment Studios won't stop the TV show from going forward.) The game itself centers on three protagonists who gain the ability to manipulate time—specifically, the ability to keep moving while time is frozen for everyone else—after a time travel experiment goes wrong.
Splatoon Watch trailer(s)
tbd Q2 | Nintendo | Third-person shooter
A third-person shooter from Nintendo? If you are thinking that the Mario publisher is suddenly going to start churning out something akin to Gears of War or Max Payne, well, just look at the image above. Splatoon might be a shooter, but your ammo of choice is ink, not bullets, and the target audience is a bit younger than some of the other games listed here. Featuring team-based play (up to 4-on-4 in an online match, or 1-on-1 locally), the new game features characters called "inklings" who can transform between Mii-like humans and squid-like, well, squids. While human, you can use what looks like a giant Super Soaker to paint the environment in your color (with the goal being to out-paint the opposing squad); while a squid, you can swim through your own color ink to recharge and hide from the other team. Splatoon also features a single-player mode that pits your squid against its natural enemy, an octopus.
The Witness Watch trailer(s)
tbd | Thekla, Inc. | Puzzle
Iconoclast game developer Jonathan Blow has gotten plenty of ink over the past five years as he toiled away at a follow-up to 2008's widely praised Braid. But will 2015 be the year when we finally get to see The Witness, the result of all that work? Blow's team has been in "finish-the-game mode" since last August, though the game—obviously—isn't finished, yet. When it does arrive, The Witness will be an ambitious, maze-oriented, 3D puzzle game (self-funded by Blow, and influenced by Myst) that has players exploring an uninhabited, abandoned island, solving over 600 challenges along the way to unlock additional regions and uncover more information about the island's (and the game's) mysteries. Audio logs scattered across the island will provide some clues about the overarching story, but you'll need to piece everything together yourself. Note that the PC and PS4 versions may arrive before the iPad version.
Also ...
This new Nintendo IP blends turn-based strategy with shooter elements and a comic-book/steampunk style (not to mention a storyline that features President Lincoln and alien invaders while taking place in London). The titular acronym, by the way, stands for Strike Team Eliminating the Alien Menace.
This atypical space shooter from the developer behind Spec Ops: The Line plays more like a naval combat game thanks to its focus on large, lumbering spaceships (think something more like the Battlestar Galactica, not an X-wing).
Obsidian's crowdfunded throwback fantasy RPG takes the classic Baldur's Gate as a major inspiration in both design and gameplay. Unlike the latter game (and other inspirations like Planescape: Torment), Pillars will not be based on Dungeons & Dragons (either rules or content), instead utilizing a wholly original story and setting.
Drinkbox Studios will follow their hit Guacamelee! with a surreal (and visually stunning) new Vita-exclusive action-adventure title that pits you as a one-armed heroine with a living sword.
The creators of PixelJunk return with a stylish, Cold War-inspired genre mashup (with bits of strategy, shooting, resource gathering, and collaborative building, among other things) set in a post-apocalyptic world after a Soviet mind-melding experiment went horribly wrong. It looks weird, confusing, and beautiful.
Drastically retooled from its original planned incarnation as a PS3 game, Until Dawn is now a dark, cinematic, third-person horror adventure (think of it as an interactive slasher flick—or maybe just another Heavy Rain), featuring vocal acting from Hayden Panettiere.
Sequels, remakes, adaptations, etc.
Assassin's Creed Victory
tbd Q4 | Ubisoft | Action-adventure
Last year brought not one but two new Assassin's Creed entries, and both Unity and Rogue underwhelmed critics and gamers after years of mostly green scores. (It certainly didn't help matters that Unity was buggy at launch.) Ubisoft hopes to rebound with the ninth major game in the ongoing open-world action-adventure series this fall. Victory will be set in Victorian-era London and will come from Ubisoft's Quebec studio, the first game in the series to do so. Early leaked footage suggests that the new development team isn't playing it safe, which is a good sign. It looks like there will not be another AC release for the previous-gen consoles.
Batman: Arkham Knight Watch trailer(s)
June 2 | Warner Bros. Interactive | Action-adventure
The fourth main entry in the blockbuster Batman: Arkham series hopes to overcome the glitchiness and lack of innovation in 2013's disappointing Batman: Arkham Origins and return the franchise to its original glory. The new hardware certainly won't hurt, as this will be the first game in the series available for the PS4 and Xbox One. Also encouraging is a switch back to original development team Rocksteady Studios, which took the last game off. Arkham Knight picks up a year after events in Arkham City and finds Batman (voiced once again by Kevin Conroy, also absent from the previous game) at the peak of his powers, which he'll need to defeat Scarecrow (among other villains). The Batmobile—yes, you'll be driving it—has a major role in gameplay for the first time, which, combined with the larger-than-ever open world setting, has us thinking that this could be Grand Theft Auto: Arkham City. One thing the new game won't have, however, is multiplayer.
Battlefield Hardline Watch trailer(s)
March 17 | Electronic Arts | First-person shooter
Delayed from a planned fall release in order to beef up the game (basically, developers have spent the last three months adding more of everything), this latest entry in EA's first-person shooter series departs from past releases in several ways, most notably by abandoning the usual military setting to focus on cops and robbers, doing battle in familiar settings like downtown Los Angeles. It's also the first title in the series to come from Visceral Games, best known for the Dead Space series. A single player campaign, guided by Justified producer Wendy Calhoun, is said to be influenced by TV's top crime shows (and will even borrow some of their stars, like The Shield's Benito Martinez) and seems more promising that past Battlefield campaigns, but you're no doubt here for the multiplayer. In that department, expect more variety than ever.
Halo 5: Guardians Watch trailer(s)
tbd | Microsoft | First-person shooter
Will Guardians become the first must-have exclusive for the Xbox One? The arrival of the first new Halo game designed for Microsoft's newest console is certainly expected to be one of the gaming events of 2015, though it isn't strictly a "gaming" event: the game's release will be accompanied by a new live-action Halo television show produced by Steven Spielberg. The game itself centers on a major new playable character, Agent Locke, a Spartan who must track down Master Chief (and who was the focus of a recent digital film series, Halo: Nightfall). Taking advantage of the new hardware, Guardians will run at 60fps and feature a larger world than ever before.
Untitled Legend of Zelda game
tbd | Nintendo | Action-adventure
Nintendo fans could be looking at a good 2015. The Wii U should finally get its first Legend of Zelda game late this year, though the game's official title and release date are still up in the air. It'll be the first new Zelda game to arrive in HD, and it will also be the first truly open-ended (i.e., non-linear) Zelda game in recent memory, with a huge open Hyrule that players can explore in any order they please. How huge is it? The entire Twilight Princess map makes up just one small part of the new game. Expect to make plenty of use of your horse Epona, and expect to get distracted by plenty of side missions along the way.
Mario Maker Watch trailer(s)
tbd Q2 | Nintendo | Game construction/Platform
There may or may not be a great new Mario game headed to the Wii U this year, and it's all up to you and your creative skills. Nintendo's new Mario Maker, you see, will give you the ability to create your own Mario side-scrolling 2D platformer. Originally designed for internal Nintendo use before developers realized that it could be fun for the public as well, the new "game" is a level editor which will allow you to create (and then play) your own Mario levels in both old-school 8-bit (à la the original Super Mario Bros.) and newer high-def (think New Super Mario Bros. U) styles. You'll also be able to share your creations with your friends.
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain Watch trailer(s)
tbd | Konami | Action-adventure
Picking up nine years after Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes left off, this much, much larger (we hope) stealth action-adventure follows a revenge-seeking Snake (voiced by Kiefer Sutherland) through several massive open-world settings in the mid-1980s, including Africa and Afghanistan (during that country's war with the Soviet Union). Gameplay is similar to that of Ground Zeroes (with some elements returning from Peace Walker as well), though simultaneously far more complex and far less limiting. Phantom Pain will also come with a free copy of the brand new version of multiplayer title Metal Gear Online.
Mortal Kombat X Watch trailer(s)
April 14 | Warner Bros. Interactive | Fighting
The Xth (or 10th, as some might say) installment in the classic fighting franchise is being developed in tandem for the current- and previous-generation consoles by two different developers, with NetherRealm Studios (who handled the well-received 2011 franchise reboot) tackling the PS4 and XB1 versions. Expect a more cinematic visual style (running at 1080p and 60fps on the new hardware), new interactive backgrounds, and a new character variation system that will allow you to change up your fighting style (from among three choices) prior to each fight and unlock special moves—providing more depth and replayability for each character than in previous games. A handful of new characters will be joined by returning names like Sub-Zero, Kung Lao, Raiden, and Kano.
Rise of the Tomb Raider Watch trailer(s)
tbd Q4 | Microsoft | Action-adventure
This sequel to the strong 2013 series reboot returns Camilla Luddington as the voice (and motion-captured body) of Lara Croft and continues to develop the heroine's story after the traumatic events of the previous game. How it does so, precisely, is still a mystery. As is when it will do so. As the A.V. Club so accurately puts it, "Rise Of The Tomb Raider is slated for release in 'holiday 2015,' a game industry term for spring 2016." To the anger of non-Xbox gamers, Rise will be a timed exclusive on Microsoft consoles, though ports to other hardware are possible next year.
Untitled Star Fox game
tbd | Nintendo | Action
Nintendo surprised fans last year by announcing a revival of this scrolling aerial shooter franchise. You'll pilot a flying Airwing that can also transform into a ground-based tank, while a two-player co-op mode allows you and a friend to control a new helicopter. The new Star Fox will exploit some of the Wii U's unique hardware, most notably by displaying a cockpit view (with precise targeting controls) on the GamePad controller while a third-person view of your craft and the surroundings displays on the television screen. (There may also be integration with Amiibos, if you like that sort of thing.) The game—the first new entry in the Star Fox series in almost a decade—is expected to hit stores prior to the release of the Legend of Zelda title later this year.
Uncharted 4: A Thief's End Watch trailer(s)
tbd | Sony | Action-adventure
The first three Uncharted games—88 Drake's Fortune, 96 Among Thieves, and 92 Drake's Deception—were easily among the best games released for the PlayStation 3 console. This year, Naughty Dog's beloved action-adventure franchise comes to the PlayStation 4 for the first time, which makes A Thief's End easily one of 2015's most-anticipated releases. The new game takes place several years after the last, and it finds Drake's retirement apparently coming to an end as he sets off in pursuit of a fabled pirate treasure that's caught up in a historical conspiracy. Expect the game to run in 1080p at 60fps, and also expect some sort of multiplayer. Some personnel changes at Naughty Dog mean that there will be some new faces involved in Thief's End, but given that those faces (specifically, Neil Druckmann and Bruce Straley) were behind 2013's great The Last of Us, there may be nothing to worry about.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Watch trailer(s)
May 19 | WB Games | Action-RPG
Another title that's at or near the top of many most-anticipated game lists this year is this third chapter in the Polish open-world fantasy series based on The Witcher novels. Following 2012's acclaimed The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, Wild Hunt features a world that is 30 times larger than the previous games, though you'll be able to travel by horse and sailboat to get across those large distances. Developers CD Projekt RED have promised 50 hours of gameplay and another 50 if you perform all of the side quests, and though the new game wraps up the storyline of Geralt of Rivia, newcomers to the series can jump right in without having played the previous two installments. Early buzz on this one strongly suggests it may be the best Witcher game yet, and a potential game of the year candidate—provided that it doesn't get delayed yet again.
Xenoblade Chronicles X Watch trailer(s)
tbd | Nintendo | Action-RPG
2011 JRPG Xenoblade Chronicles was the last great game released for the original Wii console. Now it's time to see what developers Monolith Soft can do with the Wii U. Described as a "spiritual successor" to Chronicles rather than a sequel, the new game again features a large, explorable open world and a sci-fi storyline, here set in the year 2054, when Earth is caught in the crossfire between warring alien civilizations. (At least it wasn't destroyed to make way for a highway bypass.) The world you'll get to explore is that of another planet after you (and the rest of humanity) evacuate. And you'll get to do so with cool Titanfall-style giant mech, here called "Dolls," which can fly, swim, and transform into vehicles.
Also ...
This Kickstarter-funded remake of the 1985 strategy title Chaos: The Battle of Wizards could be ready to go as soon as May.
Few details have been released about Microsoft's reboot of its open-world, third-person shooter franchise, though this simply titled game is considered more of a reboot rather than a sequel to Crackdown 2.
The fifth entry in Microsoft's Fable series is structured as a 4 vs. 1 co-op RPG. The interesting addition, however, is that "1": if you so choose, you can play as a villain, battling against the team of four heroes.
Stardock's latest 4X space strategy game (which adds hex tiles and multiplayer to its usual "Civilization-in-space" formula) has been available in a beta release for a while, and the final, full-featured release is expected in April.
Also known as Touch! Kirby Super Rainbow, this latest Kirby game is actually a sequel to the 2005 DS title Kirby: Canvas Curse and features a similar drawing mechanic, though the artwork now features a claymation look.
The 2000 Nintendo 64 classic comes to the 3DS for the first time.
The first Mario Party release for the Wii U console will once again feature a variety of competitive minigames for up to four players, with many designed to take advantage of the new GamePad controller.
The first installment for PlayStation in the N series of extra-challenging platformers (preceded by N and N+), N++ will again feature a ninja character and physics-based platforming, with the addition of new levels and new multiplayer modes.
The StarCraft II trilogy will conclude this year with this stand-alone expansion (which works both with and without the previous two games). Legacy of the Void follows 2013's Heart of the Swarm and will feature a single-player mode that focuses on diplomacy and the Protoss race. For multiplayer, expect several new modes as well as new and redesigned units.
The latest strategy game in the Total War series will trace the rise to power of the most famous of the Huns during the Dark Ages.
It seems like every Nintendo character is getting a new game in 2015, including Yoshi, who hasn't had a console release since 1997. Woolly World is a side-scrolling platformer that takes the cute yarn-and-cloth environment from Kirby's Epic Yarn and makes it even more appealing, though possibly also a little creepy: in the two-player co-op mode, you can swallow up and spit out your fellow player.
Speculative: 2015 possible but not certain
The following announced but undated titles could conceivably surface before the end of 2015, but could just as easily get pushed back to 2016.
Landmark for PC
Sony's newest chapter in the fantasy MMORPG series EverQuest will be neither sequel, prequel, nor remake, but instead will present a new story in a parallel world, and is being billed as the largest sandbox-style MMO ever created. Further along in development (and actually now in closed beta) is the companion world-building tool Landmark.
Gran Turismo 7 for PS4
The just-announced Xbox One exclusive Forza Motorsport joins the previously announced Gran Turismo 7 as racing games headed to the next-gen platforms in either 2015 or 2016.
A new IP from Blizzard—in fact, the company's first new IP this century—Overwatch is a cooperative squad-based shooter with comic book-style graphics set in a near-future Earth that has been overrun by intelligent robots. While a beta will definitely open sometime in 2015, it is uncertain if the finished game will be available this year.
This brand-new property from Bayonetta developer PlatinumGames is being kept under wraps for now, though it is expected to be a big, open-world action-RPG with dragons that will be unlike anything the studio has made before.
Legendary game developer Hideo Kojima (most famous for his work on the Metal Gear series) is teaming with film director Guillermo del Toro for this very scary reboot of the Silent Hill survival horror franchise, with The Walking Dead's Norman Reedus playing the game's protagonist. Wait, why is this buried at the bottom of the page? Only because many industry observers are predicting a 2016 release rather than 2015. Just how anticipated is this game? One publication already named last year's short teaser ("P.T.") the best horror game of 2014.
We're not sure if this is a game or a never-ending money collection device. The most successful crowd-funded project of all time, Star Citizen has now raised over $69 million, and continues to add a million dollars every few weeks. That means close to 300 people are now working to make this space simulation—incorporating trading and combat, set in a persistent, online universe in the 30th century—a reality. The project comes from Wing Commander creator Chris Roberts, and has already released the full first version of its Arena Commander combat sim module. Also on tap for the near future is an FPS module and the story-based campaign Squadron 42, among countless other stretch goals enabled by the extra funding ... though the complete package likely won't be available to the public until next year.
What will you be playing this year?
Which games are you looking forward to this fall? Let us know in the comments section below.
