If you told me that a turn-based cRPG rooted in Dungeons & Dragons would have surpassed a tentpole Bethesda game, I would have never believed you. They didn’t even believe it – Baldur’s Gate 3 moved its release day for Starfield. This is a niche genre that thrives on a diehard audience, not the mainstream. But with such a charming cast of characters, it took Larian further than ever before.
Looking into 2025, I’m curious about what could make a similar splash, There are a lot of worthy contenders, but before we look forward, let’s look back at the year we’re leaving behind.
What Was 2024’s Baldur’s Gate 3?
There are a lot of candidates for this year’s Baldur’s Gate 3. We have Black Myth: Wukong, Palworld, Helldivers 2, and potentially even Dragon’s Dogma 2 to name a few. But none made quite the splash that Balatro did.
It has sold 3.5 million copies, crossed over with Among Us, Vampire Survivors, and Cyberpunk 2077, and won Best Indie at The Game Awards where it was even nominated for GOTY. With a mobile port thrown in, it has broken containment for a card-based roguelike, going mainstream in a way developer LocalThunk could have never expected.
At the start of the year, if you told me a Poker game from a solo dev would be bigger than a Dragon Age sequel, I would have never believed you — yet here we are. But who will take the crown in 2025?
Avowed
In Obsidian We Trust
It’s hard to pin down exactly what to expect with Obsidian Entertainment’s newest RPG. On the surface, Avowed looks uncannily like The Elder Scrolls, right down to the stilted NPCs and awkward jank. The clunky, hamfisted gameplay and boxed-in dialogue dragged The Outer Worlds down, so going back to its Bethesda inspirations should be worrying.
But the previews are glowing, and I’ve yet to play a bad Obsidian game. Even when rushed to a tight deadline, it managed to deliver the best Fallout in the series, and so much of that is down to the meticulous care put into its world and character-building. At the very least, I can expect Avowed to grip me with every conversation and quest… but I’ll be surprised if it manages to stand out in a month as crowded as February, let alone the whole year. It feels doomed to be a cult classic already.
Fable
I’m Not Holding My Breath
If Avowed is unlikely, Fable would be a miracle. It was announced four years ago before it even had a lead writer or narrative designer, despite already being in development for several years. It’s supposedly due to finally release in 2025, but we’ve seen very little so far. Maybe it’ll defy the odds and come out great, offering a fresh new perspective on this world, but I’m not holding my breath.
Citizen Sleeper 2
Don’t Sleep On It
Citizen Sleeper, developed by one-person studio Jump Over The Age, was one of the most surprising games of 2022. We even gave it GOTY. While it began life as a niche, narrative-driven dice-based RPG that the most devoted fans of the genre cherished, word-of-mouth and critical acclaim steadily pushed it into the limelight until it eventually sold over one million copies.
A sequel is already underway for next year, and while it has some fierce competition, it’s not hard to imagine Citizen Sleeper 2 taking the ideas of its forebear even further and becoming one of 2025’s most renowned icons.
Light No Fire
Might Just Light A Fire After All
No Man’s Sky crashed and burned at launch, and could’ve easily gone down in gaming history as an unfortunate lesson to aspiring developers: a warning against larger-than-life promises you can’t possibly fulfil. But Hello Games clawed back goodwill with every single update, making No Man’s Sky into one of the best indie sandboxes of all time.
A lot is riding on its spiritual successor, Light No Fire. The excitement is infectious, and it’s hard not to get swept up in anticipation like we did in 2016. There’s some scepticism gnawing at the back of my mind, but if Hello Games sticks the landing this time, it could easily be one of the biggest games of 2025 and beyond.
Can Anything Beat Grand Theft Auto 6?
Baldur’s Gate 3 launched in a stacked month in a stacked year, competing with the likes of Starfield, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Diablo 4, and Final Fantasy 16, yet miraculously, it came out on top — we’re still talking about it today, and it’s more popular than ever. However, the competition will be even fiercer in 2025.
Winning the Most Anticipated award at TGA, it’s hard to imagine anything standing against the mammoth that is Grand Theft Auto 6 next year. Like every GTA before it, it’s destined to be the biggest, most talked-about game of the year, carving out a legacy that will last a decade and beyond. Its trailer alone raked up over 100 million views in just 24 hours, becoming the second most-watched video game trailer of all time.
Under GTA 6’s enormous shadow, I doubt we’ll see anything come close to the influence Baldur’s Gate 3 had. If something does, it will be the biggest breakout in video game history.
Next
In 2025, I Want To Take RPGs Slower
Trying to rush through mammoth RPGs to keep up with the industry is exhausting.