Thinking about 2025 may seem premature; 2024 hasn’t ended yet, and not all the big games of this year have been released. The elephant in the room is that when February arrives, we’re going to have problems with both our wallets and our leisure time. February will be so packed with major releases that it’s impossible for some video games not to be negatively affected.
What do we mean by this? That it doesn’t matter which week of February we look at: in all of them, there are at least two major releases. In some cases, there are three or four overlapping. And why is this bad? Because at a certain point, you have decisions to make—what to play, and what to buy… and what not to buy.
Let’s go week by week. Let’s study what happens this February to understand why it is so dramatic.
First week of February
The big release this week is Kingdom Come: Deliverance II. This realease recently moved up a week to avoid competing with other heavyweights, so its situation has improved. But to what extent? Kingdom Come: Deliverance II is released on February 4th, making it the first game of February, but it faces competition from the last games of January, which we are going to include in this same week.
Why? Because they are Sniper Elite: Resistance and Spider-Man 2. The first might be more of a niche game, but the PC release of Spider-Man 2 is a major launch. This may weigh down part of the audience for Kingdom Come: Deliverance II. To the point of affecting its sales? We don’t think so, but for the beginning of the month, we already have three major games. And things are just getting started.
Second week of February
This is where the terror begins. Two heavyweights shake hands in the form of Civilization VII and Assassin’s Creed Shadows. These are so heavy that Kingdom Come: Deliverance II decided to move its release forward by a week. With Civilization VII scheduled for release on the 11th and Assassin’s Creed Shadows on the 14th, it will be a very busy week. Because—you guessed it—they are not the only games coming out that week.
JRPG fans will have the highly anticipated The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak II. Nostalgic fans of platformers will enjoy Tomb Raider IV–VI Remastered. And fans of Ace Attorney-style games should not lose track of Urban Myth Dissolution Center. Closing a strong week.
Third week of February
If you are a fan of action games with a strong narrative weight, you’re in luck. Because the two big releases of the week, with three days apart, are exactly that. Avowed is released on the 18th, Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii comes out on the 21st. And in between, perhaps out of respect for this battle at the top, no one has intervened, either knowing it’s better not to get in the way or out of fear of what’s at the end of the month.
Fourth week of February
Monster Hunter Wilds. February 28. No one has dared to release anything around the new Capcom title. Its last two iterations have been a hit both in the East and the West. In Japan, it has been a colossal success for two decades, and no Japanese studio would even think of competing against it. Except, apparently, Konami, which on the 27th releases its notable collection of portable Yu-Gi-Oh! games named Yu-Gi-Oh! Early Days Collection. But Konami is Konami. And Capcom is Capcom. And if anything is clear, it’s that Monster Hunter Wilds is going to sell like hotcakes.
And that’s all?
This is not all. We have not listed all the games that are released exclusively on Steam here. The games that may be launched by surprise. These are the games we do not expect, but that can make a big splash. We have stuck to what we know for sure and have come up with a list that could cause nightmares for a good marketing department (or very happy dreams, depending on which side you are on).
That’s why, get ready for February. Because if you think the January slope is tough, get ready to discover the March slope of this year.