If you're the type of person who likes to regularly sample a wide variety of games, the October release calendar is looking downright intimidating. This month has it all, with big AAA launches, remasters of beloved classics, and some potential indie gems. It's so crowded that one game – Moonlighter 2: The Endless Vault, sequel to the hit shopkeeping roguelike – has elected to delay out of the month to escape the crowd entirely.
"While our original plan was set for October 23," the devs write in a Steam news post, "the month has filled up with so many other great releases that we feel it has become too crowded for us. And as every wise shopkeeper knows, even the most precious gem can be overlooked in an overstuffed showcase. With that in mind, we've decided to move our release to November 19."
While the news post primarily attributes the delay to the onslaught of October games, a dev going by DigitalMallen in the comments says that's just one factor. "Other releases may play a role, but our main focus has been on polishing the game even further," they say. "We've been heads down implementing much of the feedback from the Steam demo, including a complete overhaul of the shop system. That takes time."
Still, it's clear that October is going to be an absolute crucible for the games releasing within it. We saw something similar when so many indies delayed to get out of the way of Silksong's sudden release, but now there's no one big monolith to get out of the way of – it's just a bunch of potentially great games releasing in a 31-day span.
AAA publishers are giving us Ghost of Yotei, Battlefield 6, Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2, Ninja Gaiden 4, Pokemon Legends: Z-A, and The Outer Worlds 2. We've got smaller-scale RPGs that are worth watching like Digimon Story: Time Stranger and Ys vs. Trails in the Sky: Alternative Saga. There's even the Super Mario Galaxy remasters, Dragon Quest 1+2 HD-2D Remake, the Mortal Kombat collection, and a new Katamari Damacy game, for cryin' out loud!
And that's not even counting the indies. Mina the Hollower, Bounty Star, Kingmakers, Absolum, and plenty more are coming in October, and those games are all at risk of being overshadowed even with the backing of notable indie labels, just like Moonlighter 2. For self-published indies trying to wade into the chaos? Forget about it.
But for players, this is a great time to remember you don't have to play everything – you don't have to gorge yourself sampling everything at a buffet, even when the food is this good. But it is a big problem for the chefs, or rather, developers, who have to do what they can to find their audience in this absurdly crowded release calendar.
Here are the new games for 2025 you need to know about. Just don't try to play all of them at once. Please, for your own mental health.
