With the end of 2025 getting closer, people are bound to take a look back on the year’s biggest moments. In the media, awards shows like the Oscars and grammys take center stage for the film and music industries, but today, video games also garner more attention than ever. Some titles already released this year have seen amazing launches thanks to high fan anticipation, such as the recently released Hollow Knight: Silksong. However, some titles have not been so lucky, such as the first-person action shooter Mindseye and the first new game in the Civilization franchise in almost 10 years, Sid Meier’s Civilization VII, both of which took big hits from fans and critics upon release despite all the hype.
2026 is currently set to be one of the biggest years in all of gaming history, with titles such as Hades 2 and Lego Batman: Legacy of Dark Knight set to release. Fans’ anticipation is already high for these titles, but is that always a good thing? Throughout gaming history, there are countless titles viewed by fans as “let-downs,” but is that really due to the games themselves? Many upcoming titles people are looking forward to soon are sequels, and while piggybacking off an established IP can be an effective strategy, does it give the games too much to live up to? Tyler Hetherington, the coordinator of Fanshawe’s E-sports program says that isn’t enough on its own to make people buy the game. “You still have to make a good game, everybody’s been caught by a bad game that had good hype around it.” Hetherington said.
While the previously mentioned games coming next year and many others may have lots of hype around them, nothing can compare to Rockstar games next release, Grand Theft Auto 6. Originally set for release in the fall of this year the game was pushed back until June 26, 2026 and has fans around the world ready for its industry changing release. “It’s going to be a defining moment in gaming, it’s gonna be the biggest thing that’s released maybe in gaming history.” Hetherington said when talking about the game’s upcoming release. It is already being reported that the production of the game will cost over $2 billion when all is said and done with the 13 year project.
With social media becoming an increasing part of people’s everyday lives, conversations around new game releases online are instantly accessible including game development news, but so are criticisms. Fans today have become more impatient than ever as they push for earlier release dates on games they’re excited about frequently, so should studios be listening to this? Peter Lindsay, a student and avid gamer thinks this amount of power for fans could be harmful for the future of games saying, “It can lead to a lot more disappointment from fans if they push for an earlier release or different content, and it can end up being a lot worse than what the developers had originally intended for their game.”
You can find out more about the impact of fan anticipation on video games on the almost 107 podcast, available wherever you get your podcasts.
