The Most Anticipated Horror Games of 2025
2024 was a strange year for games: on the one hand, general dysfunction in the world of AAA development led to fewer big-budget releases than usual, while on the other, there was an overwhelming bounty of compelling smaller-scoped titles. Basically, there was plenty of interesting stuff if you knew where to look, but not all of it was easy to find. This was especially true with horror, which saw lots of interesting releases, like Mouthwashing and Crow Country. And, at least based on the current release schedule, it looks like non-AAA studios will continue to carry the load for horror gaming in 2025 with a long list of intriguing output embodying a range of styles and aesthetics. With that in mind, we’ve rounded up five of the most exciting upcoming horror games currently slated for 2025 that you’ll want to keep an eye out for. Will all of these actually come out this year? Probably not, but you never know!
Centum
Platforms: PC, Xbox Series X/S
Release Date: TBA
The best teasers lay out the vibe of a story without spoiling the full surprise, and Centum’s evocative trailer certainly leaves a lot to think about. This is a point-and-click adventure experience that follows a prisoner whipped between disparate settings, like a medieval cell or a computer room full of tangled wires, all apparently in search of escape. In the trailer, we see DOS prompts, five-headed judges, post-apocalyptic skylines, “a boy with the eyes of an old man,” allusions to Alice in Wonderland, and other strange sights brought to life with sharp pixel art. While I’m not sure how all of this will tie together, apparently, the plot involves an unreliable narrator and seemingly other dosages of postmodernism. On top of these eye-catching details, it helps that the game’s publisher, Serenity Forge, has put out some great horror titles in recent years, such as Slay The Princess and Paratopic. I can’t say that I fully understand what Centum is about, but I’m eager to find out.
Post Trauma
Platforms: PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S
Release Date: TBA
At this point, classic survival horror has fully come back into vogue, and Post Trauma is just one of many games in this style coming out this year. However, this one stands out from the crowd thanks to surreal imagery, impossible architecture, and unnerving monsters, all intentionally framed via fixed camera angles. The story centers on Roman, a train conductor who finds himself in a twisted dream dimension following a panic attack. Considering Post Trauma’s psychological flourishes and allusions to running from past mistakes, it seems to be leaning into the Silent Hill side of the old-school horror canon, which is quite promising. This may be Red Soul Games’ freshman effort, but what they’ve shown so far demonstrates some real creative vision.
Pony Island 2: Panda Circus
Platforms: PC
Release Date: TBA
When it comes to the work of Daniel Mullins (Inscryption, Pony Island, The Hex), it’s probably a good bet to expect the unexpected. As such, I wouldn’t be surprised if Pony Island 2: Panda Circus outdoes the already off-the-wall glimpses we’ve gotten at its genre-splicing antics. The first Pony Island was a meta-textual puzzle game that began with trying to break free from a tedious pony platformer created by the Devil and quickly became something even more bizarre than that description implies. Pony Island 2: Panda Circus is also apparently about a character trying to escape a limbo, in this case, from an underworld inspired by Chinese mythology. In the trailer, Myst-style first-person exploration gives way to interacting with a computer that acts as a gateway to disparate sights, including programming-influenced puzzle sections, putting mini-games, a live-action performance from voice actor and YouTuber SungWon Cho (aka ProZD), and more. Inscryption was one of the most out-there games in recent memory, and I’m expecting the same type of creative fervor from Mullins’ latest.
The Midnight Walk
Platforms: PC (with Steam VR support), PlayStation 5 (with PS VR2 support)
Release Date: TBA
The Midnight Walk is a new game from some of the developers behind Lost in Random, and as such, it seems we can expect another Burton-esque dark fairytale. However, even compared to their previous work, their latest looks downright stunning, utilizing claymation to deliver a creepy-cute world full of danger and darkness. You play as “The Burnt One,” a traveler on a journey with an adorable little guy named Potboy, as the two of you “experience five tales of fire and darkness.” While we don’t have much information on how it will play, it’s apparently an adventure title playable with or without VR. I’m not sure what’s spurred the sudden uptick in stop-motion videogames between The Midnight Walk, Harold Halibut, and a few others, but this game further demonstrates why this is a delightful trend.
Heartworm
Platforms: PC
Release Date: TBA
Having played Heartworm’s demo, it seems to successfully do what it says on the tin: this is a PSX throwback survival horror with an emphasis on moody dreamscapes and staticky terrors. The story follows Sam, a young woman grappling with loss who, in her grief, seeks out an abandoned house rumored to provide passage to the “other side.” Between its intentionally chunky graphics, (optional) tank controls, and lo-fi VHS vibe, the game isn’t shy about its ‘90s influences, but from what I’ve seen, it stands on its own thanks to how it uses these nostalgic touchstones to deliver a woozy suburban hellscape. As you explore a backdrop that is just slightly off, you’ll use flash photography to fight off shambling creatures made of white noise, resulting in the type of claustrophobic scrambles only possible with fixed camera angles. Taking a picture is probably the last thing you want to do to an otherworldy attacker, but that’s very much the point. At least so far, Heartworm finds a unique way to frame its survival horror thrills.
Elijah Gonzalez is an assistant Games and TV Editor for Paste Magazine. In addition to playing and watching the latest on the small screen, he also loves film, creating large lists of media he’ll probably never actually get to, and dreaming of the day he finally gets through all the Like a Dragon games. You can follow him on Twitter @eli_gonzalez11 and on Bluesky @elijahgonzalez.bsky.social.