GTA 6, Nintendo Switch 2, More Gaming Handhelds: Here's What to Expect From Gaming in 2025

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Between games industry layoffs, studio closures, live service disasters, and — despite it all — some excellent games, 2024 was a packed year for the medium. Some of the biggest stories of the year were marked by industry-wide shifts — from Xbox making its first-party games available on PlayStation and Nintendo Switch, to live service games losing ground. 2024 also saw the release of PlayStation 5 Pro and Microsoft's acquisition of Activision-Blizzard finally bearing fruit with Call of Duty coming to Game Pass.

But for all of 2024's biggest gaming stories, 2025 somehow promises to be bigger. From a little game called Grand Theft Auto 6, to the successor to a modestly successful console called the Nintendo Switch – the coming year could be a landmark year in gaming. With 2024 in our rearview mirror, let's look at our picks for things to look out for in gaming in 2025:

What feels like three decades after the launch of Grand Theft Auto 5, Rockstar Games, the original rockstars of open world games, will finally release Grand Theft Auto 6 in 2025. It's been years of wait and years of leaks, but patience is going to pay off when GTA 6 becomes a reality in the Fall of next year. It is, without a shred of doubt, the most anticipated game of all time. At this point, it's not just a game; it's a lightning rod for all that gaming is and can be.

The next Grand Theft Auto is not only a watershed moment for Rockstar, a studio that has perhaps set the bar higher than anyone else in the medium, but also for the games industry as a whole. It is bound to revitalise console sales, bring unprecedented press and global attention to the medium and inspire endless conversation online for years to come.

Just like during the run up to the release of Cyberpunk 2077, there's also an undeniable feeling that GTA 6 will slam open a window to what games of the future will look and play like. The first trailer already set the expectations high, and the clamour for a second trailer has now crossed