Games That Are Very Successful In 2025

Summary

Plenty of great games have dominated 2025 so far, from live-service and AAA blockbusters to small indie hits.
Despite releasing in 2024, Marvel Rivals and Delta Force remain live-service successes with large player bases and ongoing updates.
R.E.P.O., PEAK, and Schedule 1 all emerged as surprise indie hits, gaining popularity with high player numbers and positive reviews.

By the halfway mark, 2025 has proven itself to be a bountiful year for gaming, brimming with high-quality games vying for Game of the Year (GOTY). Ranging from eagerly awaited AAA spectacles to unexpected indie sensations, and encompassing ongoing live-service titles as well as standalone single-player experiences – players on all platforms and with various preferences can discover something engaging to play this year.

In this discussion, we’re exploring several standout video games from the year 2025 that have left a significant mark, even surpassing high-profile releases such as Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, Assassin’s Creed: Shadows, and Death Stranding 2: On The Beach. We’re not focusing on a top seller list, but instead, we’re evaluating various aspects like sales figures, peak player counts, critical acclaim, online chatter, and general buzz surrounding each title to determine the games that have made an impact in 2025 thus far. Here are some notable games from the year.

The games below are sorted by release date, from older to newer.

Delta Force

An Unexpected Competitor for Call of Duty and Battlefield

It seems there’s a bit of confusion here. Originally, Delta Force was released in 2024. However, since then, it has gained considerable popularity on PC platforms, reaching an impressive peak of 200,000 simultaneous players on Steam in 2025. Moreover, Delta Force has now expanded to other major gaming platforms, offering crossplay support. This timely release could provide an alternative for fans of Call of Duty and Battlefield, who are currently waiting for the next big titles to drop.

The current advantage of the game “Delta Force” is undeniable, but it remains uncertain if it can survive this autumn amidst the releases of “Black Ops 7” and “Battlefield 6”. However, its free-to-play structure could potentially aid in its survival, and it may continue to thrive in 2025 due to its diverse game modes.

Marvel Rivals

The Recent Live-Service Heavy-Hitter

In a fashion reminiscent of Delta Force, Marvel Rivals made its debut in December 2024. However, its enduring appeal has kept it consistently among the top-played games of 2025 across multiple platforms, with a massive player community and regular updates introducing new characters.

Marvel’s “Rivals” game achieved its highest player count of 644,000 simultaneously on Steam in January, indicating a sustained presence within the gaming industry, unlike many other popular games that tend to fade away after initial success. After numerous less successful attempts, Marvel-themed games have finally found their stride and are making a significant impact on the contemporary gaming scene. Successful titles like “Marvel Snap” and “Marvel Rivals” have already been launched, with more highly anticipated releases such as “Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls,” “Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra,” “Marvel’s Wolverine,” and “Marvel’s Blade” scheduled for the future. The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is on an upward trajectory in the gaming world.

R.E.P.O.

The First Among Indie Dominators Of 2025

In 2025, the game known as R.E.P.O., or Retrieve, Extract and Profit Operation, shocked everyone by becoming a massive hit among PC indie games. It appeared suddenly, defying expectations, and raked in substantial revenue despite being an early access title. Boasting 96% positive reviews from players and reaching an astounding peak of 271,000 concurrent players on the platform, R.E.P.O. managed to sneak into Steam’s list of top 50 most-played games of all time.

This online survival horror game resembling the popular choice, “Lethal Company,” delivers chills and enjoyable gameplay primarily due to player interaction. Its budget-friendly cost and positive buzz among players make it intriguing to anticipate what the future holds for “R.E.P.O.” in 2025 and beyond.

Monster Hunter Wilds

When Hype Outweighs The Result

Monster Hunter Wilds has sparked a great deal of discussion and controversy, with ongoing debates and negative sentiments due to its technical issues, limited endgame content, and various other factors that keep it from matching the acclaim of its predecessor, Monster Hunter World. Despite these concerns, the game is undeniably one of the best-selling (over 10 million copies sold) and most popular new releases this year, a fact that can’t be overlooked.

Initially, Monster Hunter Wilds attracted a staggering 1.4 million players, but sales dropped sharply following the first month, largely due to negative word of mouth and currently holding a 50% positive rating on Steam. It remains intriguing whether Capcom can reverse this trend in the future, particularly with their upcoming crossover events potentially drawing in fresh gamers.

Schedule 1

Simplicity & Fun Make For An Overwhelming Success

One more surprise among indie hits, the cooperative crime simulator named “Schedule 1“, managed to stay among the top-played new titles for nearly three months following its early access launch. The statistics are astounding: “Schedule 1” achieved a 98% positive rating and climbed to rank among the top 30 most-played games on Steam, with approximately 459,000 simultaneous players in March alone.

In many highly played and enjoyed games of 2025, it’s evident that simplicity and enjoyment are key factors in their success. This shows that having massive budgets or ultra-realistic graphics isn’t always necessary to keep players satisfied.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

RPG Of The Year, No Less

Hasn’t everyone talked about the release of “Clair Obscur: Expedition 33” this year? This first RPG from a small team was almost too good to be real, but amazingly exceeded expectations, landing among the most cherished RPGs of recent times. Remarkably, it made its debut on Game Pass, and yet accumulated impressive figures, reaching nearly 150,000 players on Steam and selling over 3 million copies in total across all platforms.

In various realms such as art, music, storytelling, and its unique combat system, “Clair Obscur: Expedition 33” stands out as an exceptional achievement, highly regarded as a potential Game of the Year (GOTY) in 2025. Widely acclaimed by those who’ve had the pleasure to play it, this game has been one of the most talked-about and shared on social media platforms for quite some time.

Elden Ring Nightreign

Most Experimental For The Studio Yet

One of the more unconventional games FromSoftware has produced in quite some time, Elden Ring Nightreign, sparked debate within its fanbase, and it’s not hard to understand why. Rather than adhering to many familiar elements found in single-player soulslikes, Nightreign provides a speedy, cooperative roguelike boss-rush gameplay experience.

Contrary to early doubts, it’s clear now that Elden Ring Nightreign has made its mark among gamers, reaching a peak of 313,000 players and maintaining an impressive 83% positive feedback on Steam. Although it doesn’t quite match the original Elden Ring’s achievement in 2022, FromSoft’s innovative approach with this game, which is a new direction for the series, has proven successful and only serves to reinforce the prestige of the Elden Ring brand.

Mario Kart World

Welcoming The New Platform Owners

In any comprehensive list of top games, a Nintendo title is indispensable, and this year it’s “Mario Kart World” that reigns supreme (apologies to “Donkey Kong Bananza”). As a debut game for the Switch 2 console, “Mario Kart World” quickly emerged as one of the most buzzed-about games of the year, with sales exceeding 5 million units within its first month.

In a generally enthusiastic response to its expansive open-world concept, Mario Kart World faced some criticism for its limited content offerings, particularly given its high $80 price point. Regardless of personal opinions on whether the criticism is warranted, it’s clear that Mario Kart World stands as one of the standout games of the year.

PEAK

Joining The Elite Club Of Indie Smash Hits

Among the recent unexpected successes including R.E.P.O., Schedule 1, and now PEAK, the game has captivated players even more intriguingly as its popularity continues to surge over two months following its initial successful release. This weekend alone, with its first discount, PEAK surpassed 170,000 players, and it’s been announced that the game had already sold over 10 million copies – leaving one wondering about the future of this compact yet endlessly entertaining cooperative game.

The game, which has been praised for over a week by 93% of its reviewers online, is being increasingly played by people with their friends. So far, only a small number of players have expressed disappointment.

Battlefield 6

A Teaser Of What’s To Come

The upcoming game, known as Battlefield 6, is generating significant anticipation, set to release in October. Already boasting multiple highly attended beta versions that attracted millions of players on various platforms, Battlefield 6 has already eclipsed the total player count of Call of Duty on Steam – a promising sign of a potentially massive and long-awaited triumph for Electronic Arts (EA).

As for Battlefield 6, it seems its launch promises to be just as spectacular. Fortunately, gamers won’t have much longer to wait before they can dive into all that the game has in store upon its release.

2025-08-20 21:22