Cory Barlog (pictured above being asked rapid-fire questions about God of War), director of God of War II and 2018's God of War, shared some vague details about what the team at Sony Santa Monica is currently working on. Sony Santa Monica is the developer, most recently, behind God of War Ragnarök.

"I’d like to share a little bit about our new project," Barlog wrote on Facebook. "I’m incredibly proud of what the team at Santa Monica Studio has been accomplishing. It’s a technically ambitious project, something that’s not easy to achieve. This is a new IP we’ve been working on for years, and if all goes well, we’re planning to show it to you later this year. I couldn’t be more excited." Barlog ended the post with two heart emojis.

Barlog's post doesn't specify that this is Sony Santa Monica next project or that it is its only project. Since the release of Ragnarök's free rogue-lite mode DLC, it has been quiet about what's next.

In terms of God of War, developer Bluepoint Games (primarily known for its remakes of Shadow of the Colossus and Demon's Souls) was working on a live-service game connected to the God of War franchise. That game was publicly cancelled earlier this year according to a statement Sony shared with Bloomberg.

Whatever this new project may be, we will apparently learn more about it later this year.

Nintendo shared an update in its Nintendo Today app this morning that it will be live-streaming a Kirby Air Riders-focused Direct presentation on Tuesday, August 19.

"Tune in on Tuesday, August 19, for a livestreamed Kirby Air Riders Direct featuring about 45 minutes of information about the upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 game."

The app then suggests you add the even to your calendar which reveals it will air at 8 a.m. CT.

Kirby Air Riders is the follow-up to the GameCube game, Kirby Air Ride (notice how the sequel is plural, like Aliens). Arguably one of the most interesting details about the game is that it is helmed by Masahiro Sakurai, the director of the Super Smash Bros. series, and the creator of Kirby. This will mark the first time Sakurai has actively worked on a dedicated Kirby game since the original Kirby Air Ride in 2003.

The description for the YouTube location where the Direct will air promises an appearance from Sakurai reading, "Join us on Aug 19 at 6 a.m. PT for a Kirby Air Riders Direct with director Mr. Sakurai. The livestreamed presentation will last roughly 45 minutes and provide an in-depth look at the upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 game."

Kirby Air Riders currently does not have a release date beyond the vague 2025.

We're nearing the start of the fall season, and that means a bevy of new games will roll in like an avalanche, stretching from now until the holidays. With that in mind, GI's Marcus, Wesley, and Eric are here to talk about their most anticipated games of 2025 alongside friend of the show Hayes Madsen.

Hear their picks for what to watch for over the coming months, as well as Wesley and Hayes' impressions of Phantom Blade Zero, Marcus' thoughts on indie darling And Roger, and a true debate: are suits mechs?

Listen to "Most Anticipated Upcoming Games In 2025, Plus PHANTOM BLADE ZERO, And Roger Impressions" on Spreaker.

Subscribe to Game Informer Magazine: https://gameinformer.com/subscribe

Follow our hosts on social media:
Marcus Stewart (@marcusstewart7)
Wesley LeBlanc (@wesleyleblanc)
Eric Van Allen (@seamoosi)
Hayes Madsen (@solfleet)

Watch the video version here:

Jump to a specific discussion using these timestamps:
00:00 - Intro
05:16 - Phantom Blade Zero / Wesley and Hayes' adventures
31:07 - And Roger
43:33 - Our 2025 backlog
52:20 - Most anticipated games yet to arrive in 2025

Gamescom kicks off next Tuesday, August 19, with its annual Opening Night Live showcase. Hosted by Geoff Keighley, the big showcase is comparable to Summer Game Fest and The Game Awards, featuring two hours of world premiere trailers, updates on upcoming games, and some surprise appearances.

You can check out the show on the official Game Awards YouTube channel (embedded below) starting at the following times:

Pre-show: 10:30 a.m. PT / 1:30 p.m. ET / 7:30 p.m. CEST

Main show: 11:00 a.m. PT/2:00 p.m. ET/ 8:00 p.m. CEST.

Expect plenty of games to appear, and while we don’t know the full line-up, Geoff has already confirmed the following titles will appear:

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 
Ghost of Yōtei
Lords of the Fallen sequel
Ninja Gaiden 4
The Outer Worlds 2
Resident Evil Requiem
Silent Hill f
World of Warcraft: Midnight

Outside of video game trailers, Opening Night Live will also present the first look at Season 2 of Amazon’s Fallout. It will also feature a Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 musical performance. 

What do you hope to see at Opening Night Live? Let us know in the comments. 

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 is a sequel to a game from over 20 years ago, and as a result, the two RPGs don't look similar. The art is modernized, and between the combat overhaul, the more linear approach to storytelling, and a completely new developer, it does raise a big question: why call it Bloodlines 2? After all, if the new game is so different from the original, why tie it to that game instead of calling it something new? On our exclusive cover story trip to Brighton, England, we asked the developers at The Chinese Room this exact question, and they had a few responses.

An alley in Bloodlines 2

When I ask creative director Alex Skidmore why the game is called Bloodlines 2 instead of something else, he thinks for a while, then starts his answer by saying, "It's what we were asked to do." It's an honest response. Notoriously, Bloodlines 2 was originally being made by Hardsuit Labs and got far enough in development to be shown at E3 2019, but the next two years were filled with delays, departures, and ultimately, the decision to remove Hardsuit Labs from the project entirely. The Chinese Room took its place, and since it was working on a project that had already been announced, it didn't have much of a choice – this game would always be called Bloodlines 2.

It raises a more interesting question, however. What exactly makes a game a Bloodlines game? It's a series with only one prior entry, and modernizing it, while largely for the better, creates massive differences. 

It makes me think about game series like Assassin's Creed. In its early days, I would have said it was defined by stealth, parkour, and the relationship between the past and modern day, but later entries de-emphasized all three of these traits, and the series is still going strong. It was a gradual shift, however; a jump straight from Assassin's Creed 1 to Assassin's Creed Shadows would be jarring, and that's a timespan several years shorter than between the Bloodlines games.

Ultimately, you could ask a hundred fans of a game what its defining characteristics are, and no two lists would be identical. When I ask narrative director Ian Thomas what stood out about the original Bloodlines, he says, "I think that's difficult to say from person to person, because everybody has a personal experience of it. For me, what it was so good at was atmosphere. Just completely drenched everything in atmosphere.

A street in Bloodlines 1

"The same, I think, is true of a lot of old games," Thomas continues. "[The parts] which stick, certainly to a story game player like me, tend to be the atmosphere, the music, the lighting, the characters that you meet. Those tend to be the key ingredients for me."

Naturally, he says the atmosphere is one of the main elements they tried to nail in the sequel: "You can meet the people and juggle the politics between them, which is very much [like] the old Bloodlines. [...] But again, as I said earlier, for me, the original Bloodlines was so much about being drenched in that atmosphere, and I like to think we carry that off really well, to try and give you the same kind of feel to it."

A vampire in Bloodlines 1

He concludes by saying the tone and the feel of Bloodlines inspired the sequel's plot as well. "Even if, beat by beat, the story doesn't directly descend from Bloodlines 1, the same feel – and the same shape – is there, and we're showing almost the same kind of set of playing pieces, just in a new stage in a different state," he says.

Unlike the newly embraced Kindred in the original game, Phyre, Bloodlines 2's protagonist, is an elder vampire. That said, they start the game by waking up in an unfamiliar city after a 100-year sleep, so they’re practically just as new to the game's world as a Bloodlines 1 protagonist. The game still has factions to manage, choices to make, and rules to abide by, even if this sequel seems to be more linear than its predecessor. Like Thomas says, the beats are different, but they form a familiar shape.

Still, I expect the changes may upset some diehard fans of the original, especially the fact that the base version of Bloodlines 2 only includes four clan options for Phyre (compared to the original's seven) and excludes some of the most game-altering options, like Malkavian and Nosferatu. On the other hand, I am very excited for the new combat system. I didn't know I wanted it until I tried it, and now I'm (pun-intended) hungry for more.

A bar fight in Bloodlines 2

While Skidmore started by saying Bloodlines 2 was what he was "asked to do," his full response is much more thorough.

"We wanted to broaden our capability and showcase extra skills that we could do," Skidmore says. "Because you can tell deeper stories when you get deeper mechanics, a story where you can be violent within it [...] In this game, there are story choices – I don't want to spoil them too much – where you will have people's lives in your hands. We don't have that in our other games. So as a studio, we've grabbed this opportunity with both hands.

"The World of Darkness fits our storytelling, our sort of mature style of storytelling. So ultimately, this Bloodlines 2 is what happens when The Chinese Room makes a Bloodlines 2."

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 is out this October. For more on the game, check out our hands-on discussion during The Game Informer Show, our interview with the art director, or our exclusive digital cover story.