2024 was particularly big for Canadian video games.
Whether it was Balatro (anonymous single designer LocalThunk) taking numerous hours from countless people and being chosen for numerous Game of the Year awards, 1000 xResist (Vancouver’s Sunset Visitor) telling a truly extensive immigrant tale or a Ubisoft Toronto team playing a critical duty in the first-ever real open-world Star Wars game, Star Wars Outlaws , Canadian video game manufacturers made some quite major dashes in 2015.
Impressively, 2025 only aims to continue that fad with several appealing video games from Canadian developers. From the most recent entrances in the preferred Assassin’s Creed and Skate franchises to new IPs commemorating often-underrepresented cultures, there’s a whole lot to expect this year.
Read on for our break down of a bunch of Canadian video games that need to absolutely get on your radar this year. Note that we’re only thinking about releases with validated 2025 home windows, so games like Vancouver-based Incredibly Alright Gamings Earthblade (which was postponed indefinitely in 2015) aren’t included here. Early gain access to releases are fair game, though!
Everlasting Strands
Developer/publisher: Yellow Block Gamings (Montreal, Quebec)
Platforms: PS 5, Xbox Collection X/S, PC
Release day: January 28 th, 2025
In very early 2020, Dragon Age seasoned Mike Laidlaw and a number of former Ubisoft programmers founded Yellow Brick, and 2025 will certainly mark the launch of the workshop’s launching title. Motivated by the similarity Shadow of the Titan and Breath of bush , Everlasting Strands jobs players with discovering a completely climbable world and wielding all kinds of magical capabilities to beat gigantic bosses. It’s all looked fairly outstanding in gameplay video footage, and if that weren’t enough, Grammy-nominated author Austin Wintory ( Trip is taking on the score, which should bring a lot more gravitas to the action-adventure video game.
Lost Records: Blossom & & Rage
Developer/publisher: Do Not Nod Montreal
Systems: PS 5, Xbox Collection X/S, PC
Launch date: February 18 th, 2025 (Component 1, March 18 th, 2025 (Part 2
While Life is Strange has actually lived on at Square Enix and developer Deck 9, the series’ original developer, Do not Nod, is dealing with a spiritual successor, of sorts, and it’s being made at the French company’s incipient Montreal office. The adventure video game sees four youth pals rejoining after almost 30 years to face the dark tricks that made them assure to never ever talk once again. Anticipate a Life is Odd -design psychological choice-based narrative concerning teen friendship, with some solid dream pop music to further enhance the vibes.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows
Programmer: Ubisoft Quebec (Quebec City, Quebec)
Author: Ubisoft
Platforms: PS 5, Xbox Collection X/S, COMPUTER, Mac, iPad
Release date: March 20 th, 2025
The most up to date Assassin’s Creed game hails from the designer of the acclaimed Syndicate and Odyssey and brings the collection to a long-awaited feudal Japan setup. In Shadows , you control two characters: Yasuke, an African samurai motivated by the historical figure of the exact same name (the first time the collection has allow you play as a real person) and Naoe, an initial female shinobi. The former concentrates extra on brute force melee fight, while the last embraces a parkour-heavy stealth strategy, providing players multiple playstyle options and opening up quest layout.
Rooster
Developer: Sticky Mind Studios (Toronto, Ontario)
Author: Sticky Brain Studios, Astrolabe Games (Shanghai-based, with an office in Toronto)
Systems: COMPUTER, Mac
Release day: Q 1 2025
This charming celebration of Chinese culture from an Asian-led team follows a mischievous rooster that is sent to Ancient China to discover some lessons. As Fowl, you’ll play through 12 Zodiac-inspired comfortable minigames ranging from food preparation and puzzles to garden design and also tower defence. At the same time, the spectacular brush painting artstyle and motifs of family and love objective to produce a deeper and much more psychological connection to this culturally abundant setup.
For even more on Rooster , look into our meeting with Sticky Mind.
Battle Vision Network
Developer/publisher: Capybara Games (Toronto, Ontario)
Platforms: COMPUTER, Android and iOS (Netflix Games)
Launch day: TBA 2025
A spiritual successor to its 2009 acclaimed video game May & & Magic: Clash of Heroes , Capybara’s Fight Vision Network is a PvP puzzle-battler that mixes comfortable colour-matching gameplay with turn-based combat. In an enjoyable space-themed riff on Eurovision, you’ll have to face off against various diverse groups from around the galaxy with all kinds of personalized devices. It’s also set to get routine updates adding new characters, seasonal twists, challenges and even more, which is exciting offered Capybara’s solid assistance for Grindstone.
For even more on Battle Vision Network , look into our interview with video game supervisor Dan Vader.
Button Male
Developer/publisher: Styrax Studios Inc. (Halifax, Nova Scotia)
Systems: COMPUTER
Launch date: TBA 2025
It’s rare for Canada to obtain itself, and when it does, it’s normally Toronto. That alone makes Switch Guy so fascinating– it’s a side-scrolling adventure video game set in prohibition Halifax. As the title recommends, you play as the hired awesome of the neighborhood authority and should hunt down the guy who whacked him. From the refreshingly special and vibrant comic book-esque visual design to the nostalgic old-school beat ’em up gameplay, Button Guy resemble an actual blast.
A cost-free trial is readily available on Steam.
33 Immortals
Developer/publisher: Thunder Lotus Gaming (Montreal, Quebec)
Systems: Xbox Collection X/S, PC (Legendary Games Store)
Release date: TBA 2025 (very early accessibility)
In a marked separation from its acclaimed emotionally-charged comfy monitoring sim Spiritfarer , Rumbling Lotus’ next video game is an action-roguelike in which you play as a damned heart rebelling against God’s last judgment. While the property sounds Diablo -esque, the video game in fact draws much more from World of Warcraft , if anything, many thanks to its concentrate on thrilling 33 -person co-op raids. (Why 33 That’s the number of phases in Dante’s Divine Comedy ) On the other hand, the roguelike elements– randomized enemy positioning, gameplay obstacles and benefits– purpose to make each session feel much more distinct.
Skate
Developer: Cycle (Vancouver, B.C.)
Author: EA
Systems: PS 4, PS 4, Xbox Collection X/S, COMPUTER
Release date: TBA 2025 (early gain access to)
After years of teases and growth updates, EA’s long-awaited fourth Skate game is slated to debut in very early gain access to this year. Led by veterans of the original Skate video games, this Canadian-made access includes an overhauled variation of the series’ signature Flick-It trick system, adjustable personalities, a new explorable city called ‘San Vansterdam’ and much more. It’s also readied to be a free-to-play real-time solution that can expand in time, so ideally, it’s supported well past early gain access to and the final 1.0 launch.
South of Midnight
Developer: Obsession Games (Montreal, Quebec)
Publisher: Xbox
Systems: Xbox Collection X/S, PC
Release date: TBA 2025
There’s no video game that looks rather like South of Twelve o’clock at night. In addition to its lovely Coraline -esque stop-motion aesthetic, the action-adventure video game features a completely unique dark modern-day folktale set in the American South. South of Twelve o’clock at night tells the tale of Hazel, a young Black woman that has to use her enchanting Weaver powers to heal Southern folklore-inspired animals and uncover her household’s past. Lovingly rooted in community and society, South of Midnight is one of Xbox’s a lot of interesting games.
For more on South of Twelve o’clock at night , take a look at our full sneak peek, that includes behind-closed-door demo impressions and meetings with the growth team.
Soulframe Preludes
Developer/p ublisher: Digital Extremes (London, Ontario)
Platforms: PC
Release day: TBA 2025
Normally, I would not include a pre-alpha here, however I’ll make an exception considered that it’s originating from Digital Extremes, the storied Canadian developer behind the enormous Warframe As a result, any type of demo for its initial new IP given that Warframe launched in 2013 is fairly significant, and Soulframe , to DE’s enormous debt, seems considerably different. That’s since it’s a playable co-op activity hybrid-MMORPG set in a fantasy globe. While it’s uncertain when we’ll in fact obtain the complete launch, fans can a minimum of participate in growth cycle via ongoing minimal Starts pre-alpha tests, which are set to broaden commonly to everybody this year.
I ‘d additionally be remiss as well as that DE will certainly organize its tenth yearly TennoCon event in July, once again bringing thousands of fans from worldwide to none besides London, Ontario. Expect to see even more from Soulframe there, in addition to a lot of updates on the ever-popular Warframe. In 2014’s TennoCon provided us a marvelous Y 2 K-inspired Warframe development led by Final Fantasy ‘s Ben Starr, to name a few things, so that recognizes what DE has in store for 2025
Naturally, this being January indicates there are still many video games we do not yet also understand about. Particularly, some will certainly no doubt be disclosed for Nintendo’s yet-to-be-unveiled Switch successor. (It’s been 3 years considering that Vancouver’s Next Degree Gamings released Mario Strikers: Battle League — could we see that group’s next video game this year? Will certainly it be Luigi’s Estate 4 ) After that, naturally, even more exposes will come throughout the year’s various displays, including, most especially, June’s Summer Video game Fest. That’s to say nothing of when authors Xbox and PlayStation may hold their own large discussions. (Xbox’s Developer_Direct on January 23 rd will include South of Midnight )
Ultimately, there are Canadian games that have been disclosed but don’t yet have actually confirmed launch home windows, consisting of:
- All Systems Dance — an adventure rhythm game from Toronto’s Mighty Scream (The Big Con)
- Assassin’s Creed Infinity– the real-time service system hosting multiple Assassin’s Creed games from the likes of Ubisoft Montreal
- Beastieball– a turn-based volleyball RPG from Vancouver’s Wants Ultd. (Chicory) [released in 2024 in early access, 1.0 release TBA]
- Croak– a platformer from Montreal’s Woodrunner Gamings (a team that includes 2 former Cuphead developers)
- Earthblade– a Metroidvania platformer from Vancouver’s Incredibly alright Games (Celeste)
- Fairgame$– an affordable heist shooter from Montreal’s Sanctuary (a new studio from Canadian Ubisoft and EA professional Jade Raymond)
- Equipments of Battle: E-Day– a brand-new third-person shooter Equipments innovator from Vancouver’s The Union
- Untitled new Mass Result video game– the following access in EA’s beloved sci-fi RPG series from BioWare Edmonton
It’s additionally worth keeping in mind that Exodus , an enthusiastic Matthew McConaughey-starring new sci-fi video game from Wizards of the Coast’s Archetype Enjoyment, is being led by BioWare Edmonton alums James Ohlen and Drew Karpyshyn.
What Canadian video games are you most thrilled for this year? Let us recognize in the remarks.
Image credit rating: Ubisoft/Xbox/Yellow Block Gamings
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