The Switch 2, Microsoft’s platform ambitions, and GTA 6: The stories that will shape gaming in 2025

It's set to be a bigger year than 2024, that's for sure.

We’re just a few weeks into 2025 and its already shaping up to be significantly more eventful than the past year. We’re set to see a brand new console launch, a major games developer aim to steer itself out of hot water, and a console-maker realise its goal to become hub for cloud gaming. It will also be interesting to see how many of last year’s predictions pan out. AI-powered non-playable characters in games appear to already be on the cards.

It’s now harder than ever before to peer too far into the future with the gaming industry. Gone are the day of giving the market months and months of notice with a launch date. Date-less teasers are now the norm, release dates for titles any anything launching beyond March are scarce.

But, with so many moving parts and emerging stories, this first piece for the year essentially sets the scene for the year ahead.