Grand Theft Auto 6 is just the tip of the iceberg for video games in 2025

digitaltrends.com:

A lot of long-awaited video games will finally release in 2025. But don’t let them be the only ones to grab your attention this year.

If all goes according to plan, 2025 will contain the launches of Nintendo’s Switch successor, Metroid Prime 4:Beyond, and Grand Theft Auto VI. Other high-profile games like Elden Ring: Neightreign, Doom: The Dark Ages, Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, and Ghost of Yotei flesh out Digital Trends’ most anticipated games of 2025 list. It’s likely that these AAA adventures, and whatever Nintendo decides to deliver with its new console, will dominate gaming conversations throughout the year.

While there will certainly be no shortage of AAA games to pay attention to heading into 2025, it’s always worth keeping an eye on the games that fall outside the typical gaming zeitgeist online. These games, mostly made by indie developers, don’t often get the marketing budget or attention that the industry’s biggest titles do. Despite that, they’re often some of the year’s best experiences. Keep an open mind about what you play in 2025, as a rewarding year of gaming could lie ahead of us.

It’s OK to be hyped for a game like GTA 6. I, too, want to see what Rockstar Games has been cooking up for the past decade and hope it’s a technically impressive landmark that will set a new standard for AAA games this generation. I’m not going to let my prerelease excitement for GTA 6 and my feeling for the game at launch determine how I feel about this year of gaming, though.

As individual games get bigger and demand more of our intention, looking outside the realm of the most-talked-about titles online can be tough. However, whenever I’ve looked outside those confines in 2023 or 2024, I’ve found some wonderful hidden gems I wouldn’t have expected to adore heading into the year. Take Balatro, for example. Long before that game went mainstream and earned three trophies at The Game Awards 2024, I found it to be a