SHERIDAN, WYOMING – Feb. 28, 2025 - The Game Developers Conference is where members of the game community come together to network, share ideas, and inspire the future. It's also served as a launchpad for iconic games and projects. Here are the biggest reveals, announcements, and games coming to GDC 2025.
The Legacy of GDC: A Hub for Groundbreaking Announcements
For decades, GDC has been a space for developers to share the latest industry news. Last year, Swen Vincke announced that Larian Studios would not be making any future games or expansions for the Baldur's Gate series, surprising fans across the world.1 In 2014, we saw the reveal of "Project Morpheus," Sony's virtual reality experiment that evolved into PlayStation VR and PlayStation VR2.2 And let's not forget Google Stadia, announced with fanfare at GDC 2019... only to be shuttered less than four years later. These moments underscore GDC's pivotal role in shaping the gaming landscape.
See the Industry's Top Games at GDC 2025!
This year, several upcoming AAA and indie games are being showcased at the event—both in GDC sessions and on the expo floor.3 Expect exclusive reveals and inside looks at the development of some of the year's most-anticipated releases. In addition, take a look behind the scenes at some of the past year's biggest live-service games and top-selling standalones, including those that have been nominated at the 2025 Game Developers Choice Awards.
Upcoming AAA & Indie Games From Major Studios at GDC 2025
- Assassin's Creed Shadows
- Ubisoft's latest venture into the world of Templars and Assassins takes players to Feudal Japan, where a shinobi assassin and a legendary samurai discover their common destiny and work together to usher in a new era for Japan. This massive open world game posed many rendering challenges that Technical Artist Nicolas Lopez dives into in his session, "Rendering Assassin's Creed Shadows." Looking to learn more about the game's music, as well as its innovative Priority-Based Music System developed specifically for the Assassin's Creed franchise? Join members of Ubisoft's music team for an enlightening talk! (Release Date: March 20)
- Split Fiction
- Hazelight Studios returns with another exciting co-op adventure, Split Fiction, about two writers trapped in the worlds of their own creation.4 The award-winning studio behind It Takes Two is presenting two talks at GDC: One about the code base of Split Fiction and a look at how they implement gameplay features, and a second about using sound and music to make sense of two stories unfolding simultaneously. (Release Date: March 6)
- For the Stars
- ARK series publisher Snail Games is bringing the works to GDC 2025.5 The publisher has announced they'll be sharing an inside look at their upcoming game, For the Stars, an open-world sandbox MMO that invites players to explore and settle a vast universe of diverse planets.6 Fans of the ARK series, including ARK: Survival Evolved, will be pleased to know that Snail Games is set to provide content updates for the franchise.7 And finally, they'll be giving an exclusive first look at a brand-new game being developed in-house. You can find Snail Games at Booth S1149, located on the expo floor.8 (Release Date: TBD)
- The 'Absurdaverse'
- Rockstar Games cofounder Dan Houser (behind the Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption franchises) has been hard at work building up his new studio, Absurd Ventures, and its flagship multimedia franchise, the "Absurdaverse."9 Cameron Williams, Senior Mission Designer II at Houser's new studio, is giving a talk at GDC 2025 about "9 Ways to Encourage Open World Engagement." It's unclear whether he'll be directly touching on the "Absurdaverse" in his session, but the lessons being conveyed will certainly play a role in the game's development. Meanwhile, Rockstar keeps on trucking with the upcoming GTA6, coming out in fall 2025.
Biggest AAA Games of 2024 and 2025 at GDC
- Avowed
- Obsidian Entertainment's Avowed, just released in February 2025, is the latest first-person RPG from the developers behind The Outer Worlds and Fallout: New Vegas.10 This fantasy epic puts players in the world of Eora, where choices carve a path through war, intrigue, and ancient mysteries. QA Lead David Benefield is set to discuss how the QA team approached Avowed's branching narratives, while producers Kaitlin Long and Daniel Chamberlin will be diving into the game's immense voice-over process, which involved voicing over 45,000 lines of dialogue in six months.
- Kingdom Come: Deliverance II
- Warhorse Studios has captivated the game industry with Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, the sequel to their 2018 hit game.11 This thrilling story-driven action RPG, set in 15th century Medieval Europe, is being praised for its open world, dynamic storytelling, and interactive NPCs. At this year's Game AI Summit, learn how AI Programmer Matej Marko and his team utilized a combination of Goal Oriented Action Planning and Modular Behavior Trees to implement behaviors of its NPCs.
- ASTRO BOT
- Team ASOBI delighted the world in 2024 with ASTRO BOT, a 3D platforming title that was released alongside PlayStation’s 30th anniversary.12 It's a love letter to the many iconic characters and worlds from PlayStation’s wide roster of franchises, and has garnered seven nominations at the 2025 Game Developers Choice Awards. Team ASOBI is holding four talks at GDC 2025 about the development of their award-winning game—including an in-depth behind the scenes look with Nicolas Doucet, a 20+ year Sony Interactive Entertainment veteran who currently leads Team ASOBI.13 The Making of 'ASTRO BOT' will give developers and game enthusiasts a look at the initial internal pitch, early prototypes, level creation, and how they worked to ensure the game would "appeal to both gamers and families alike."
- Black Myth: Wukong
- Game Science's Black Myth: Wukong, an action RPG rooted in Chinese mythology and inspired by the literary classic Journey to the West, has wowed players and critics alike (also garnering seven nominations at the 2025 Game Developers Choice Awards).14 NVIDIA Distinguished Engineer is coming to GDC 2025 with an Advanced Graphics Summit talk that delves into the implementation of full ray tracing in Black Myth: Wukong.15
- FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE & REBIRTH
- SQUARE ENIX's lauded remake of the FINAL FANTASY VII trilogy is headed to GDC. Battle Director Teruki Endo is giving attendees a detailed account on the challenges involved in designing an innovative battle system for the FINAL FANTASY VII remake project.16 Learn how this beloved entry in the franchise has been brought to new life for an all-new audience.
- Sid Meyer's Civilization VII17
- The award-winning strategy game franchise recently returned with a new chapter that emboldens players to build the greatest empire the world has ever known. GDC has several talks covering many aspects of developing this highly anticipated game. Whether you're looking for narrative advice on recreating history or using procedural environment art in combination with more traditional game-art practices to create a tactile and lived-in world, you'll surely find what you're looking for.
Top Live-Service Games & Updates Heading to GDC 2025
- Infinity Nikki
- Fashion is a weapon in the cozy live-service adventure game, Infinity Nikki, the fifth installment in the Nikki series by Infold Games.18 This multi-platform game features puzzle-solving, missions, and, of course, dress-up. Infold Games' Sub-Director Kentaro Tominaga heads to GDC 2025 to talk about how they successfully scaled up their workforce to design their ever-growing world... even though many of them were first-time level designers.19
- Roblox
- Millions of players and creators have flocked to Roblox, a widespread virtual universe that lets you create, share experiences with friends, and be anything you can imagine.20 Companies are eager to find out how they can be part of this virtual blockbuster, and luckily for them Roblox is giving a series of sponsored talks at GDC 2025 Those wanting to be the first to know about the latest in Roblox technology, be sure to check out the exclusive first look at Roblox's 3D Foundational Model, the innovative AI technology designed to supercharge developers and unlock new use cases in gaming.21
- Fortnite
- One of the world's leading live-service experiences, Fortnite continues to dominate the marketplace. Epic Games is giving a series of sponsored talks at GDC 2025 about the latest Fortnite updates for 2025, which includes how (and why) to build with Unreal Engine, as22
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- One of the world's leading live-service experiences, Fortnite continues to dominate the marketplace. Epic Games is giving a series of sponsored talks at GDC 2025 about the latest Fortnite updates for 2025, which includes how (and why) to build with Unreal Engine, as22
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