The Biggest Titles Anticipated to Emerge from Canadian Game Studios This Year

Canada has long been a major player when it comes to video game development. The land of maple syrup is home to some of the brightest minds in the video game business. From Montreal, Vancouver, and Toronto there are budding indie game scenes emerging across the country yearly. Canadian developers are continually shaping the future of gaming and this year looks especially promising, with a catalog of highly anticipated games to be released.

From AAA blockbusters from seasoned studios to inventive titles from independent devs, Canada-developed games are generating serious buzz. Whether you’re excited for narrative-driven adventures or prefer unwinding with free online casino games, the country’s gaming contributions continue to cater to all kinds of players.

Here’s a look at the biggest titles poised to drop this year—and why gamers worldwide are following them with keen interest.

Lost Records: Bloom & Rage

Developed by Don’t Nod Montréal, this two-part adventure game is set in a fictional town called Velvet Cove during the 1990s. The lives of high school friends are lived by the players on a journey of self-discovery, confronting long-buried secrets. Part one, ‘Tape 1,’ was released on February 18, 2025, with ‘Tape 2’ being released on April 15, 2025.

South of Midnight

Montreal-based Compulsion Games will launch ‘South of Midnight’ in April 2025. This third-person action-adventure game drops players into an enchanted American South, providing an unforgettable storytelling experience. 

Players play as Hazel, a character who learns that she must become a Weaver, a magical being who heals broken spirits and bonds. The game has a dark, modern fairy tale theme fueled by character growth, poetry-inspired music based on the American South, and a story that explores Southern mythology.

Foundation

Polymorph Games, straight out of Quebec City, published the game titled ‘Foundation,’ which is a medieval city-building game with organic city-building gameplay. The objective of this game is to establish a medieval village with organic placing of buildings without the restriction of a grid. 

Players are assisted by a book that controls everything in the game, with progress unlocked by a tier system. The game was finally released on January 31, 2025, after an initial early access period. 

Eternal Strands

Eternal Strands is an action-adventure game that is played from a third-person perspective. In this game, players control the character Brynn, who controls the elements and temperature using the help of a magical cloak. Brynn is a warrior who sets out on a quest to uncover the secrets of an ancient culture known as the Enclave. 

Assassin’s Creed Shadows

Ubisoft Montreal brings the Assassin’s Creed series to feudal Japan with dual lead characters—a samurai named Yasuke and a shinobi assassin named Naoe. 

Set in the 16th-century Sengoku period in Japan, the game will follow the millennia-long struggle between the Assassin Brotherhood and the Templar Order, through the perspectives of the two protagonists. 

The game, which was initially meant to release in November 2024, has been pushed back to February 2025, in order to enhance its parkour and stealth gameplay.

Skate

It’s been years since Skate 3 dropped and  Electronic Arts has announced a fourth game in the franchise, to the excitement of avid skating lovers. Skate is a sports series predominantly developed and published by the American company Electronic Arts but the company opened a new studio in Vancouver, British Columbia, to handle its development.

Players assume the role of a skater who can be personalized and skate freely in a fictional city in an open world setting, completing diverse and progressively difficult challenges and being filmed by cameraman Giovanni Reda in a bid to access new locations, obtain new cosmetics and eventually gain fame. 

The exact release date of this free-to-play title isn’t known, but playtesting has already begun since September of last year.

Gaming in Canada

Canada’s game development scene continues to thrive, with 2025 shaping up to be an exciting year for gamers worldwide. As these titles hit the shelves, they’ll not only entertain but also help Canadian game developers make their mark once again within the gaming industry, and gamers everywhere are ready to dive into what the county has to offer.