2024 may have been a great year for horror games, but with games like Doom: The Dark Agesand Poppy Playtime 4 on the horizon, 2025 could be even better. Events like Summer Game Fest and The Game Awards have already revealed what many of next year's biggest releases may be. Others have simply popped up online. Predictably, the ever-popular, enduring horror genre is well represented in these early previews.
From new installments in major franchises to unexpected, innovative indies, there are a lot of great horror games on the horizon for 2025. Here are some of the most anticipated titles.
10
Doom: The Dark Ages Blends FPS Action With Medieval Horror
id Software, TBA 2025
Revealed during an Xbox showcase back in July, Doom: The Dark Ages is the next installment in the rebooted Doom series. Like the others, it'll be an aggressive, fast-paced first-person shooter with a horror coat of paint. Players will take on all manner of demons, but this time, the game will have a dark medieval setting. That means more creative, pseudo-historical weapons like flails, saw-shaped shields, and miniguns that shoot out fragments of skulls, along with fantasy-tinged enemies like ogres and dragons.
Doom: The Dark Ages will be a prequel to Doom (2016), ostensibly starring the same protagonist, despite the massive time difference between the two games' settings. It may not be outright scary, but its adrenaline-pumping combat and menagerie of monsters place it firmly within the horror genre. It's expected to be released sometime in 2025 - no definite date yet - for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
9
The Occultist Is A Reality-Bending Psychological Horror
DALOAR, TBA 2025
In development by debut Spanish studio DALOAR, and set to be published by illuminated manuscript fighting game publisher Daedalic Entertainment, The Occultist promises a unique psychological horror experience. The premise has paranormal investigator Alan Rebels visiting the mysterious GodStone island, in search of his father who disappeared some time before. Alan uses his Mystic Pendulum to look into another reality, manipulating it to disrupt illusions and solve puzzles. Alan will face any number of terrifying enemies as he navigates the island and comes to learn more about his father's disappearance and the cult that once inhabited the abandoned GodStone.
Featuring stealth mechanics and reality-bending puzzles, little is known about The Occultist at this early stage, but it does look promising. Its unique twist on survival horror may prove refreshingly innovative. It's expected to be released sometime in 2025, and will be on PC, PS5, and Xbox once it's out.
8
Poppy Playtime 4 Continues The Indie Horror Saga
Mob Entertainment, January 2025
The fourth installment in the indie horror powerhouse Poppy Playtime is also scheduled for release in 2025. Like the previous installments, it'll follow an employee of the Playtime Co. toy factory, as they explore its long-abandoned depths. It'll feature skin-crawling sound design and brain-teasing puzzles, as sentient toys lurk around every corner. Unlike the previous installments, though, Poppy Playtime 4 will introduce a new antagonist, the leonine Yarnaby, who could be the most terrifying series villain yet.
Poppy Playtime 4 is expected to pick up where the previous chapter left off, with the protagonist heading even deeper into the factory to investigate their missing coworkers. It's expected to be released in January 2025, but that's likely the PC version only. Traditionally, new installments are released on PC first, then on other platforms, including consoles and mobile, several months later. A more concrete release date for all platforms is likely to follow closer to launch.
7
Tenebris Somnia Blends 2D Terror With Live-Action
New Blood Interactive, TBA
The next effort by Faith: The Unholy Trinity publisher New Blood Interactive is Tenebris Somnia. Just as Faith uses Atari 2600-inspired graphics to tell a survival horror story rooted in Catholic aesthetics, Tenebris Somnia instead borrows the visual style of classic point-and-click horror games like Clock Tower. But it blends those with real, live-action cutscenes, which have already shown off impressive effects as seen in the trailer above.
This creates a brilliant juxtaposition between the bright, sickly colored explorable game world, and the terrifying reality of FMVs. The title suggests the interplay of the two media is used to distinguish between reality and dreams in-game - but that's just a theory for now. Tenebris Somnia doesn't have a concrete release date, but will hopefully announce one sometime in 2025. It's likely to be a PC exclusive when it does, although like Faith, there's always the possibility of a Nintendo Switch port.
6
Dark Fracture
Twisted II Studio, TBA 2025
Dark Fracture has been a long time in the making. It first appeared online with a demo way back in 2020, which received positive reviews on Steam for its creepy atmosphere and brilliant body horror. As far as one can tell at this stage, Dark Fracture is mostly a walking simulator past various horrors, punctuated with puzzles. The creativity comes in with its unique takes on body horror: moaning, writhing faces lurk at the end of visceral corridors, bloodied arms reach through walls, mountains of flesh rise out of the ground. Meanwhile, the walls appear to shift around the player, complicating navigation and leading to a feeling of total hopelessness.
Dark Fracture will finally be released in 2025, barring any further delays, but no final date has been set yet. It appears to be a PC exclusive, at least for now, but that may change after its launch.
5
Cronos: The New Dawn Is Bloober Team's Next Game
Bloober Team, TBA 2025
After the smash hit success of the Silent Hill 2 remake, developers at Bloober Team revealed their next project - Cronos: The New Dawn. This will be a retrofuturistic horror game set between two eras: a panicked past and a desolate future in the midst of an apocalyptic event called The Change. The protagonist will travel back into the past, attempting to rescue those they believe can help save the future, then extracting their essences with a tool called a Harvester to bring them along into the future. No doubt there'll be a wrench in the works somewhere along the way, with some terrible secrets about The Change coming to light.
A wholly original horror property, Chronos is rooted in Polish history and culture - very much Bloober's neck of the woods. Itwill also feature third-person shooter combat against mutated enemies, not unlike that of Silent Hill 2. It's expected to be out sometime in 2025 for PC, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
4
Dying Light: The Beast Is A Classic Survival Horror Spinoff
Techland, Summer 2025
Featuring an open world, rooftop parkour, up to four-player co-op and an immersive day-night system in which enemies are more powerful after dark, Dying Light has always been something of a zombie survival horror icon. Now, it's returning to its roots with Dying Light: The Beast, which brings back original series protagonist Kyle Crane, as revealed at Gamescom 2024. But there's a twist: now infused with zombie DNA after years of experimentation, Crane can transform into a Volatile himself, unleashing his powers on any and all who stand in his way.
Dying Light: The Beast could massively improve one gameplay element I was a bit disappointed in when playing Dying Light 2.
Dying Light: The Beast is set 13 years after the original game, as Crane embarks on a quest for revenge against a mysterious figure named The Baron. Originally planned as a DLC for Dying Light 2, The Beast was eventually expanded into a full-length game. It'll be released in summer 2025, as long as everything goes according to plan, for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
3
Little Nightmares 3 Brings Back A Platforming Horror Classic
Supermassive Games, TBA 2025
Originally produced by Tarsier Studios, Little Nightmares is a series of puzzle platformers. Lacking any innate combat abilities, the series instead requires players to rely on their quick wits and found tools to sneak past or stymie enemies. Many thought the series had come to its end when Tarsier was acquired by Embracer Group, but Bandai Namco, owner of the intellectual property, decided to keep it going with a different dev. That turned out to be Supermassive, developer of the Dark Pictures Anthology (also with a new game coming out next year).
Despite the new developer, Little Nightmares 3 is expected to play much like its predecessors, but with one massive edition: co-op multiplayer. One character, Low, will use a bow and arrow, while the other, Alone, will use a wrench. (But the game will still be playable with one person and an AI-controlled companion.) It's scheduled for release sometime in 2025 on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
2
Directive 8020 Is The Next Game In The Dark Pictures Anthology
Supermassive Games, TBA 2025
The Dark Pictures Anthology is a series of interactive drama games, typically featuring multiple protagonists and pivotal choices that shape the story's outcome. Known for titles like Until Dawn, The Quarry, Man of Medan and The Devil In Me, developer Supermassive Games has another project on the horizon: Directive 8020. Set in a spacefaring future, Directive 8020 stars Lashana Lynch as Brianna Young, the pilot of a colony ship that crash-lands on a planet twelve light-years from Earth. From there, the plot delves into biological horror, with Brianna pursued by a creature that can imitate other life forms inspired by films like The Thing, Alien, and Solaris.
Although little else is known about Directive 8020, it promises the same kind of interactive, cinematic storytelling as the other games in the Dark Pictures Anthology. It'll be released in 2025 (release date to be announced), and will be available on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
1
Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 Is Our Most Anticipated Horror Game Of 2025
The Chinese Room, TBA 2025
Based on the Vampire: The Masquerade tabletop role-playing game, the original Bloodlines, released in 2004, was widely praised for its smartly written script and freedom of player choice. A sequel has long since been in the making, but after several delays and changes in development, has yet to materialize. Its release date, though, is currently set for 2025, on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S, and many hope it stays that way.
Set in modern-day Seattle, Bloodlines 2 will star a player-created vampire during a turbulent time, with a power struggle ongoing in the city's vampire court. They'll be able to select from one of the setting's vampire clans, which will determine their abilities and alliances in battle as they navigate the complexities of vampire politics and attempt to keep their identities concealed from humans. Certain aspects of the game may become more difficult if they're discovered. Years of hype have made Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 one of the most anticipated horror games of 2025.
Custom Image by Lee D'Amato
English (US) ·