Industry news: June Edition
Bring out your vacation transmogs and skins, because summer is here!
June is over and, as promised, we are coming back with a shiny loot box of video game industry news from this month. This time, with major online events such as Sony’s State of Play, Xbox Games Showcase, State of Unreal, Capcom Spotlight, and the always expected Summer Game Fest, June was an embarrassment of riches.
Release dates, new announcements, and exclusive content, our ice cream sundae has it all! Since it would be impossible to cover everything in one article, here are some of the main topics we thought might be worth mentioning, along with some personal titles that caught our attention in this month’s round-up.
Grand adventures and narratives
Impressive narratives, immersive RPG action, huge productions, or long expected titles – with one trailer after the other, news of upcoming games are everywhere. So, let’s not delay it any further and start our summary with some of the major titles, including long-awaited AAA games, newcomers, and popular franchises.
June had one of the biggest releases of the year – Death Stranding 2: On the Beach has been out since the 26th, and the reviews are already overwhelmingly positive. This is not a surprise, considering that Kojima made changes in the game because it was too good. Speaking of environments involving sand, Dune: Awakening, was also launched this month. The Arrakis survival adventure has been available since June 10, and it looks like fans are deeming it a proper tribute to Frank Herbert’s classic masterpiece.
Continuing the news about games with a sci-fi setting, here are some more titles the gaming community is excited about:
- Revealed at Summer Game Fest, The Expanse: Osiris Reborn is a new sci-fi RPG set in the world of the book and TV series The Expanse.
- Pragmata is real and we finally have in-game footage, along with the promise of a release date sometime in 2026. Capcom Spotlight featured some actual gameplay with the two protagonists, including a unique hacking mechanic.
- The retro-futuristic Atomic Heart II was announced at Summer Game Fest, but it’s not the only Atomic Heart game. The Cube is a multiplayer spin-off in development, set in the same universe.
- Ex-Blizzard developers from Dreamhaven are now ready to release their long-awaited PVP first-person shooter. Wildgate will be out in July 22, 2025.
- The Outer Worlds 2 closed the Xbox showcase, with an in-depth look into the upcoming sequel to be released in October 29, 2025.
In the realm of medieval games and fantasy, there is certainly excitement over CD Project Red’s Witcher 4 tech-demo, which we will discuss at a later point, but there were also quite a few announcements from other studios. Some worthy mentions are:
- Game of Thrones: War for Westeros dropped at Summer Game Fest, the RTS game should be released in 2026 and it’s an opportunity for George R.R. Martin fans to re-write the history of the Seven Kingdoms.
- Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy will be coming in 2026 and it promises to get to the origins of the Prima Macula.
- Fans of Kingdom Come: Deliverance or Witcher, might enjoy Chronicles: Medieval a newly revealed medieval warfare game, narrated by none other than Tom Hardy.
- A 20-minutes overview of Blood of the Dawnwalker was revealed this month, although the game is still being perfected.
In the world of skilled assassins, we have to mention the exciting Hitman and 007 cross-over, with LeChiffre’s reveal at Summer Game Fest for Hitman: World of Assassination, and also the announcement of 007: First Light. We finally have a release date for Mafia: The Old Country, out in August 8, 2025 and the game formerly known as “Project Century”, has received a new trailer and the official title Stranger Than Heaven.
Horror stories are getting even more contagious
Of course, we have not missed it, we could not forget one of the biggest announcements of June, so here it is! Headlining Summer Game Fest, the official announcement of Resident Evil: Requiem, was the crowning moment of the event, and also a main focus of Capcom’s Spotlight. The ninth instalment of the franchise (as subtly mentioned in the letter “q” of its logo design) will be out February 27, 2026.
But fans of dark adventures and horror games might also be viciously delighted by the other announcements we got in June. First revealed in 2022, the game Ill received a new trailer, although we don’t have an official release date yet. Also announced in 2022, Silent Hill f is set to launch in September 2025, this time returning to its Japanese roots with a Showa era setting. Another iconic franchise, Dying Light: The Beast presented a new gameplay trailer at Summer Game Fest and announced a release date for August 22, 2025.
In the search of Soulslike games
Speaking of games with a dark setting, From Software fans are known to always be on the hunt for Soulslike games. Even though Nightreign’s recent launch might’ve done it for the moment, some of the upcoming releases could be interesting to the community.
The list includes the PlayStation State of Play announcement of Nioh 3, set to launch early 2026. At Summer Game Fest we saw Code Vein 2, also scheduled for 2026, a new trailer for the upcoming July 24 release, Wuchang: Fallen Feathers, along with the new instalment Mortal Shell II.
An unexpected surprise was the shadow launch of Lies of P: Overture, the new DLC of the 2023 GOTY candidate. The DLC was launched in front of a live audience, who were surely expecting new content, but were not prepared to such a surprise. Citizens of Krat were delighted when the end of the video announced the content as “Available Now.”
Riding the nostalgia wave
Nostalgia for gamers takes many forms, sometimes it comes in the shape of remakes and remasters of old games that we played as kids, sometimes it’s new instalments of legacy franchises, and sometimes completely new games with a flavour of the past. Here is another rich category, in which we found excitement, curiosity, and adventure.
You are young, you are listening to Smashing Pumpkins and Joy Division. Ennui, existential crises, and rebelling against the world with your friends is back. You might’ve guessed, we are talking about Mixtape, the nostalgia-tinged title from which we got a more in-depth look at the 2025 Day of the Devs showcase.
But this is not all, the 2010’s are back with Scott Pilgrim EX and Super Meat Boy 3D, both coming up early 2026 to make us feel like we’ve never left that decade.
Speaking of being young, both kids and adults can enjoy the newly announced Lego-based two-player adventure called Lego Voyagers.
And, closing the nostalgia chapter, old-school game fans were surely excited by the PC release of System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster on June 26.
Self-proclaimed comic book nerds, rejoice!
Summer Game Fest spared no one, and comic book lovers were also included in June’s reveals. An Invincible tag versus game was announced, appropriately entitled Invincible VS. We were also delighted to hear that Neil Patrick Harris has undertaken the role of Deadpool in the new Deadpool VR game, in which players can live their best Deadpool fantasy right from Wade’s POV.
PlayStation State of Play surprised Marvel fandom by announcing MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls, an upcoming Marvel versus game.
Curiosities and oddities
Just like in 1925, surrealism seems to be back in 2025.We reserved a small section of our news article for games that caught our attention for being unusual in the best way.
With a nod to classic cartoons and Freudian-inspired surrealism, Nicktoons and the Dice of Destiny promises to create an immersive, wicked, quirky experience. The convoluted time-space adventure Romeo is a dead man received an official announcement trailer this month. The Xbox showcase showed us a peak of There Are No Ghosts at the Grand, an eerie musical home renovation game.
Another worthy mention, from the Day of the Devs showcase this time, is Out of words, a co-op indie adventure revolving around non-verbal communication, innovatively translating body language for the video game medium.
New technology to play with
It’s time to end our June recap properly, with some exciting technology news. The month has started with the historical launch of the Nintendo Switch 2, already leading in console sales.
Also from the console side of business, we’ve been presented with Microsoft’s new handheld device – Rog Ally X, which is promised to offer +1200 titles from the Xbox library. In turn, Sony has revealed what they call the “first-ever wireless arcade-style fight stick.” Presented as Project Defiant, this peripheral is meant to bring a new experience to fighting games.
In an impactful State of Unreal showcase, Epic has offered an in-depth look into the technical collaboration with CD Project Red. Forests, horse movement, and a theatre stage, their tech demo has it all, including new shots of Witcher 4’s main character, the beloved Ciri. With their proprietary Nanite Virtualized Geometry system, Unreal 5 once again seems to level up the world of gaming technology.
