August 2015 Update: We've completely overhauled this list, including newly announced, as well as newly released games in 2015 across a broad spectrum of genres. Expect to see a few surprises and learn about games you might have missed in the pages within.
While the new consoles are really coming into their own in 2015 with a ton of titles and even some cool exclusives, when it comes to sheer quantity and diversity of games they can’t possibly beat the PC. As is usually the case with the platform, there’ll be a little something for everyone in 2015.
From the tiniest of indies to the biggest AAA developers, the depths of Hell itself to the depths of space, small journeys to epic adventures, completely new series and ideas to sequels and reboots, next year is looking like one of the strongest years in a long time not only for PC gaming but gaming in general. Look forward to a completely packed release schedule.
With that in mind, here’s our list for some of the PC games coming in 2015 that we’re really excited for! Feel like we left out or forgot something? Tell us in the comments!
After over a year of waiting, PC gamers are finally gonna get to explore Los Santos in the latest outing of Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto series. With three playable characters, heists to plan out and pull off and a massive open world based on modern-day California filled with tons of things to see and do, GTA V is an impressive accomplisment of a game, and will no doubt be even more impressive when played on a powerful rig. Here’s hoping the PC port is as good as the one for Rockstar’s previous game Max Payne 3.
Playing the original Killing Floor is without a doubt some of the most fun you can have with friends on the PC, and that's no small feat.
This brutal zombie shooter has managed to attract and keep a huge fanbase thanks to a combination of 6-player co-op, intensely bloody and addictive gameplay and continued support and updates to the game to this day from the developers. Killing Floor 2 is looking like it won't so much revolutionize as refine, but that's certainly not a problem for us. With a more complex gore system, smarter and more dangerous enemies, improved perks and melee combat and tons and tons of cool-looking weapons, Killing Floor 2 is looking like the incredibly fun zombie-slaying action we've come to know and love spiced up by some improvements and new additions. It's coming to PC and PS4, and while there's no release date yet here's hoping it arrives soon.
Playing the Battlefront games online was some of the most fun you could have on a PC back in the day, so a lot of people are unsurprisingly really excited for the third installment in the series. Theres not a lot of info to go on yet, except for the fact that Battlefield developer DICE is making it in the Frostbite 3 engine and that it’s a reboot of the franchise. The fact that some of their latest releases
To say that the visuals in Ori and the Blind Forest are simply stunning feels like doing a disservice to them, because they’re truly that remarkable. With a look and feel reminiscent of fairy tales and Ghibli films, Ori is a 2D platformer which tells the story of a young forest spirit forced to head out and explore a dangerous forest after the death of its caretaker at the hands of the malevolent entity Kuro. This is looking like it could be a real tear-jerker. Ori and the Blind Forest is out on PC and Xbox One in early 2015.
It doesn’t happen often, but sometimes a teaser is enough to totally sell you on a game. Firewatch just so happens to have one of those teasers. The player takes on the role of Henry, a lone fire lookout exploring the Wyoming wilderness during the summer, his only human contact being his supervisor Delilah who he talks to on the radio. Things take a dark turn when strange, strange things start happening in the woods. There’s barely any information on this game, but the concept is intriguing and the art style is stunningly gorgeus. Firewatch is expected to launch on PC, Mac and Linux sometime in 2015.
There are a lot of dungeon crawlers out there, but Darkest Dungeon definetly manages to stand out from the crowd? How, you may ask? Well, by making the mental well-being of the characters something the player has to think about. Adventuring takes it phsychological toll on the party in this gothic roguelike RPG, and the player will have to deal with everything from disease and alcoholism to phobias, stress and other problems. This intriguing concept paired with a turn-based battle system and a great Mike Mignola-esque art style makes Darkest Dungeon a game to keep an eye out for when it comes out on PC, Mac and Linux in January 2015.
It’s important to respect games that are just pure, unadulterated fun, and Broforce is one of the most fun games in ages. This explosive four-player co-op platformer follows the Broforce, a team of badasses inspired by action movie heroes (among others Bro Hard, Bro in Black, Rambro and Indiana Brones), as they protect the world and all that is good, macho and American from freedom-hating terrorists and satanic businessmen. Broforce is currently in early access, and will be exploding even more faces than usual when the full version is released in early 2015.
If you’re going to make something derivative, you might as well do it well. Case in point: Overwatch. This Blizzard-developed team-based multiplayer shooter looks like it’s taking a lot of, erm, inspiration from Team Fortress 2, but it looks just fun and fresh enough to escape being branded as just another clone. Amidst the guts and grimdark of modern games it’s refreshing to see that some developers aren’t afraid to make games starring gorillas in power armor, robots monks, viking engineers and shotgun ninjas, and the developers’ goal of making a shooter with the primary goal of letting players just have fun with friends is certainly admirable. There’s no release date for Overwatch yet, but what we do know is that the beta will launch in 2015.
The original Hotline Miami was strange, psychedelic, uncomfortable, disgusting and oh so very, very good. The fast-paced, top-down, brutal action mixed with an 80’s aesthetic and an excellent soundtrack comprised mainly of electronic music made it quite unlike any other game out there, and we can’t wait for more. Taking place both before and after the events of the first game, Wrong Number will feature several different playable characters each with their own abilities and play styles and be a conclusion to the hyperviolent epos that is the Hotline Miami story.
Just Cause 2 was one of the most fun sandbox games ever, and after years and years of fans clamoring for a follow-up a third game in the series has finally been revealed by Avalanche Studios. Rico Rodriguez is back to wreak havoc once more, this time tasked with taking down the dictator of a Mediterranean island. Now with wingsuits, destructible enviroments and a more densely packed map it’s sounding like Just Cause 3 will allow more even more chaos than ever, and we can’t wait. Just Cause 3 is out for Windows, PS4 and Xbox One in 2015.
Set in the dystopian not-too-distant future, Black Ops 3 is the follow-up to the previous Black Ops titles in the Call of Duty series of games and builds off the Exo-suit mechanics introduced in Advanced Warfare. It offers a campaign with four-player cooperative support, extensive multiplayer options, and promises to dramatically change the franchise formula.
The latest, and perhaps final entry in the Metal Gear Solid series developed by Hideo Kojima, The Phantom Pain provides gamers with a first-rate stealth-action experience on the PC. Offering more than the console versions of the game, the PC version of MGS5 has better graphics and runs better.
Galactic Civilizations 3 can be described as one of the largest strategy sandbox games ever developed. Players start on a single planet and expand their empire across the galaxy through diplomacy, exploration, cultural hegemony, and military conquest.
Heroes of the Storm is Blizzard’s entry into the massive MOBA genre, currently dominated by League of Legends and DOTA 2. Players can choose to play as the many popular characters from Blizzard’s Diablo, Warcraft, and StarCraft franchises including characters like Arthas and Kerrigan.
Set in the dawn of the Dark Ages and the fall of the Roman Empire, Total War: Attila is the latest entry in the fantastic Total War series of strategy games. Players take on the role of Attila the Hun and his army, or one of the many empires and barbarian clans in his path.
First impressions are everything, and Sunless Sea makes a strong one. LOSE YOUR MIND. EAT YOUR CREW, the website proclaims. Set in the Victorian Gothic city of Fallen London, Sunless Sea has players helm a ship voyaging an unlit ocean, battling enemies and trying to survive an exploration of the dark seas. It came out back in February and since then has received very positive reviews from critics and gamers alike.
This painfully difficult but immensely interesting simulator allows players to piece together space shuttles and send them into orbit, often with disastrous results. You may need to brush up on your knowledge of physics before committing yourself to Kerbal Space Program, but the satisfaction of successfully sending a shuttle into orbit by far makes it worth it. A PlayStation 4 version was recently announced, which means this PC experience will be coming to console soon.
Something of a surprise hitter, ARK: Survival Evolved has quickly become one of the most popular PC games of 2015. Players take on the roles of survivors on an island in the middle of nowhere, where dinosaurs roam. Players must quickly learn to adapt to their surroundings or risk being devoured by one of the gigantic beasts that roam the land.
Leave it to the folks behind Amnesia and Penumbra to spin another terrifying yarn, one that will no doubt reinforce Frictional Games’ reputation as one of the best purveyors of pure horror in the business. Get ready to get back to fear delivered in first person when SOMA debuts on September 22.
The sequel to this turned based tactical shooter is set 20 years after the events of the original, and explores the fate of humans after their defeat at the hands of the aliens as they now attempt to challenge and overthrow alien rule. It comes out in November and will remain a PC exclusive.
An oldschool RPG inspired by classic Black Isle Studios titles, Pillars of Eternity features six races, eleven classes, a tabletop-inspired game system with pausable realtime combat, much like Baldur’s Gate and Icewind Dale. The game offers extensive world building and an in-depth storyline and is slated to expand with the release of expansion packs and sequels.
Cities: Skylines offers players the ability to construct gigantic cities unrestrained by small land plots, and extensive modding capabilities. Inspired by the likes of the SimCity series of games from Maxis, Cities: Skylines is everything a city-building fanatic could ever ask for in a game.
Had you told us last year that Fallout 4 would be released in 2015, we’d have laughed ourselves to death. Heck, if you’d told us that even at the announcement a few months ago, we’d have laughed ourselves to death. But here it is, 2015 and we have the long awaited sequel to Fallout 3 in our sights, right on the horizon. The game will take us back to the East Coast for a sci-fi tech-heavy adventure set in Boston upon its October 10, 2015 debut.
When it comes to putting gaming PCs to the test, few games measure up to the Witcher series. These Polish RPGs based on the works of Andrzej Sapkowski have garnered a lot of fans for their hardcore difficulty, dark fantasy world, deep gameplay systems and incredible visuals and it’s looking like Wild Hunt will deliver on all those fronts. This final installment will feature a large open world to explore, giant monsters to hunt and over a hundred hours of main story and side-quest content and is looking like a fittingly excellent conclusion to series mainstay Geralt of Rivia. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is out on February 24th on Windows, Xbox One and PS4.
Zombies are pretty overdone, to say the least. So how do you make a game about them interesting nowadays? Well, throwing in parkour and setting it in South America is certainly one way. Dying Light is the latest title about the undead from Dead Island developers Techland, and looks to be an evolution of sorts of said game. Players will have to parkour they way around a large city, completing missions, helping strangers and making sure to get somewhere safe before dark, since the zombies get more powerful. With over 50 hours of gameplay and four-player co-op, Dying Light may become a new multiplayer favorite when it comes out on PC, PS4 and Xbox One in January 2015.
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