{"id":1174823,"date":"2026-02-13T16:30:16","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T16:30:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.polygon.com\/?p=553483"},"modified":"2026-02-13T16:30:16","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T16:30:16","slug":"the-best-new-video-games-of-2025-so-far","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/the-best-new-video-games-of-2025-so-far\/","title":{"rendered":"The best new video games of 2025 so far"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We\u2019re a few months into 2025 now, and already we\u2019ve played some all-timers. Several major studios pushed their games from 2024 to 2025<\/a>, for one thing \u2014 the long-awaited Assassin\u2019s Creed Shadows<\/em><\/a> captured several of our hearts, as did the surprisingly deep fantasy lore of Avowed<\/em><\/a> (featuring Garrus voice actor Brandon Keener as a beloved party member). There have also been some stellar smaller games in the mix that have made their mark on the year, like the delicious brainteaser factory that is Blue Prince<\/em><\/a> and Cowboy Bebop<\/em> simulator Citizen Sleeper 2<\/em><\/a>. <\/p>\n

We play a lot of games here at Polygon, and we\u2019ve got a range of genre experts here as well, all of whom have convened to tell you about the very best games that have come out so far this year. To help you keep up as the months go by, we\u2019ve collected this list of the very best, and we\u2019ll keep it updated through the end of the year. Games here are listed in reverse chronological order, so you\u2019ll get to see the most recent ones up top. We\u2019ve also included a short section at the bottom for one great game that came out late last year, after our staff voted on the best games of 2024<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

How we pick the best new games of the year<\/h4>\n
\n

Polygon\u2019s staff consistently keeps up with new video games, playing them as they are released and adding to this list with the best of the best across all platforms. We prioritize quality, unique artistic vision, and variety \u2014 different genres, different vibes, different approaches to the medium \u2014 to make sure every reader finds multiple options that interest them, as well as new games they may not have heard of.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The best new games of 2025 so far<\/h2>\n

Late 2024 gems we couldn\u2019t ignore<\/h3>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We\u2019re a few months into 2025 now, and already we\u2019ve played some all-timers. Several major studios pushed their games from 2024 to 2025, for one thing \u2014 the long-awaited Assassin\u2019s Creed Shadows captured several of our hearts, as did the surprisingly deep fantasy lore of Avowed (featuring Garrus voice actor Brandon Keener as a beloved party member). There have also been some stellar smaller games in the mix that have made their mark on the year, like the delicious brainteaser factory that is Blue Prince and Cowboy Bebop simulator Citizen Sleeper 2.  We play a lot of games here at Polygon, and we\u2019ve got a range of genre experts here as well, all of whom have convened to tell you about the very best games…<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1174824,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1174823","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-polygon"],"yoast_head":"\nThe best new video games of 2025 so far | Arcader News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"We\u2019re a few months into 2025 now, and already we\u2019ve played some all-timers. Several major studios pushed their games from 2024 to 2025, for one thing \u2014\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/the-best-new-video-games-of-2025-so-far\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The best new video games of 2025 so far | Arcader News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We\u2019re a few months into 2025 now, and already we\u2019ve played some all-timers. Several major studios pushed their games from 2024 to 2025, for one thing \u2014\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/the-best-new-video-games-of-2025-so-far\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Arcade News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-13T16:30:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/the-best-new-video-games-of-2025-so-far.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"480\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"270\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Arcade News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Arcade News\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/the-best-new-video-games-of-2025-so-far\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/the-best-new-video-games-of-2025-so-far\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Arcade News\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8460f5e5076b52fb2369f2f7ce6f2839\"},\"headline\":\"The best new video games of 2025 so far\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-13T16:30:16+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/the-best-new-video-games-of-2025-so-far\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":314,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/the-best-new-video-games-of-2025-so-far\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/the-best-new-video-games-of-2025-so-far.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Polygon\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/the-best-new-video-games-of-2025-so-far\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/the-best-new-video-games-of-2025-so-far\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/the-best-new-video-games-of-2025-so-far\\\/\",\"name\":\"The best new video games of 2025 so far | Arcader News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/the-best-new-video-games-of-2025-so-far\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/the-best-new-video-games-of-2025-so-far\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/the-best-new-video-games-of-2025-so-far.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-13T16:30:16+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8460f5e5076b52fb2369f2f7ce6f2839\"},\"description\":\"We\u2019re a few months into 2025 now, and already we\u2019ve played some all-timers. Several major studios pushed their games from 2024 to 2025, for one thing \u2014\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/the-best-new-video-games-of-2025-so-far\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/the-best-new-video-games-of-2025-so-far\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/the-best-new-video-games-of-2025-so-far\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/the-best-new-video-games-of-2025-so-far.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/the-best-new-video-games-of-2025-so-far.jpg\",\"width\":480,\"height\":270,\"caption\":\"The best new video games of 2025 so far\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/the-best-new-video-games-of-2025-so-far\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The best new video games of 2025 so far\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/\",\"name\":\"Arcade News\",\"description\":\"Free Arcade News from the Best Online Sources\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8460f5e5076b52fb2369f2f7ce6f2839\",\"name\":\"Arcade News\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/3fea48a614d86edd987bc7bb25f4707c69546d4b1f78ad4aa20b26316bad1f9d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/3fea48a614d86edd987bc7bb25f4707c69546d4b1f78ad4aa20b26316bad1f9d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/3fea48a614d86edd987bc7bb25f4707c69546d4b1f78ad4aa20b26316bad1f9d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Arcade News\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/cricketgames.tv\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/author\\\/arcade-news\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The best new video games of 2025 so far | Arcader News","description":"We\u2019re a few months into 2025 now, and already we\u2019ve played some all-timers. Several major studios pushed their games from 2024 to 2025, for one thing \u2014","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/the-best-new-video-games-of-2025-so-far\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The best new video games of 2025 so far | Arcader News","og_description":"We\u2019re a few months into 2025 now, and already we\u2019ve played some all-timers. Several major studios pushed their games from 2024 to 2025, for one thing \u2014","og_url":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/the-best-new-video-games-of-2025-so-far\/","og_site_name":"Arcade News","article_published_time":"2026-02-13T16:30:16+00:00","og_image":[{"width":480,"height":270,"url":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/the-best-new-video-games-of-2025-so-far.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Arcade News","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Arcade News","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/the-best-new-video-games-of-2025-so-far\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/the-best-new-video-games-of-2025-so-far\/"},"author":{"name":"Arcade News","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8460f5e5076b52fb2369f2f7ce6f2839"},"headline":"The best new video games of 2025 so far","datePublished":"2026-02-13T16:30:16+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/the-best-new-video-games-of-2025-so-far\/"},"wordCount":314,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/the-best-new-video-games-of-2025-so-far\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/the-best-new-video-games-of-2025-so-far.jpg","articleSection":["Polygon"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/the-best-new-video-games-of-2025-so-far\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/the-best-new-video-games-of-2025-so-far\/","url":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/the-best-new-video-games-of-2025-so-far\/","name":"The best new video games of 2025 so far | Arcader News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/the-best-new-video-games-of-2025-so-far\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/the-best-new-video-games-of-2025-so-far\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/the-best-new-video-games-of-2025-so-far.jpg","datePublished":"2026-02-13T16:30:16+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8460f5e5076b52fb2369f2f7ce6f2839"},"description":"We\u2019re a few months into 2025 now, and already we\u2019ve played some all-timers. Several major studios pushed their games from 2024 to 2025, for one thing \u2014","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/the-best-new-video-games-of-2025-so-far\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/the-best-new-video-games-of-2025-so-far\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/the-best-new-video-games-of-2025-so-far\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/the-best-new-video-games-of-2025-so-far.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/the-best-new-video-games-of-2025-so-far.jpg","width":480,"height":270,"caption":"The best new video games of 2025 so far"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/the-best-new-video-games-of-2025-so-far\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The best new video games of 2025 so far"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/","name":"Arcade News","description":"Free Arcade News from the Best Online Sources","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8460f5e5076b52fb2369f2f7ce6f2839","name":"Arcade News","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3fea48a614d86edd987bc7bb25f4707c69546d4b1f78ad4aa20b26316bad1f9d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3fea48a614d86edd987bc7bb25f4707c69546d4b1f78ad4aa20b26316bad1f9d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3fea48a614d86edd987bc7bb25f4707c69546d4b1f78ad4aa20b26316bad1f9d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Arcade News"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/cricketgames.tv"],"url":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/author\/arcade-news\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1174823","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1174823"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1174823\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1496255,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1174823\/revisions\/1496255"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1174824"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1174823"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1174823"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1174823"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}