Summer Game Fest 2025 has finally concluded, after a massive long weekend full of new game announcements, trailers, release date drops, and more. With such a big smorgasbord of showcases, plenty slipped through the cracks – and unless you watched every single minute, of every single presentation, you might’ve missed a few things.
From the Australian-made Big Walk quietly stealing the show, to under-the-radar indie adventures getting brief and worthy spotlights (Ambroise Niflette & the Gleaned Bell, Possessor(s), Grave Seasons), this year’s showcase was brimming with hidden treasures.
Here’s all the big Summer Game Fest announcements you might’ve missed over the weekend.
Summer Game Fest 2025 – Highlights
Big Walk is launching in 2026
Big Walk, the new game from Melbourne studio House House (Untitled Goose Game), got a brand new trailer during Summer Game Fest / Day of the Devs 2025, revealing much more of its wide open world, and how players will work together to chart a mountainous environment. As revealed, the game is all about cooperation, with various mechanics allowing players to solve puzzles using team work.
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You won’t just need to communicate well to travel through the game’s sweeping terrain. You’ll also need to use body language in certain puzzles where you can’t speak, or puzzle through certain environments by bouncing ideas, until one works well enough. If you’ve got a sense of whimsy about you, and a willing group of friends keen to get lost in an open world, this is the game for you. As announced, Big Walk launches in 2026.
Possessor(s) is a demon-infused platformer
Possessor(s) was another standout title shown off at Summer Game Fest, appearing during Day of the Devs 2025. This title is the next adventure from Heart Machine (Hyper Light Drifter) and features the same sense of style and cool that brought this studio to prominence.
In the latest look at Possessor(s), Heart Machine revealed more of this game’s moody, gloomy world, confirming it takes place in a universe where demons have flooded a “regular” world, transforming its inhabitants or forcing them to make uncanny deals. Against this backdrop of chaos and confusion, the game’s protagonist fights for a better future.
Ambroise Niflette & the Gleaned Bell is a mystery with real charm
Ambroise Niflette & the Gleaned Bell is a whimsical little detective game set in a French village, brought to life with a lovely stop-motion style. Based on the trailer for this game, shared during Wholesome Direct 2025, this adventure will be rather like a storybook tale, letting players explore a sweet sandbox, meeting quirky characters, and solving their troubles.
What’s most interesting about Ambroise Niflette is how well it replicates that storybook feeling, with its carefully-designed dioramas bringing to mind Thomas & Friends or Postman Pat – the sort of morning TV you might remember if you grew up in the 1990s and early 2000s. In capturing that nostalgia, Ambroise Niflette has captured our hearts.
Grave Seasons is a farming simulator for horror buffs
Grave Seasons is an upcoming farm simulator that’s also a supernatural murder-mystery with strong horror themes. While you’ll spend some of your time on cosy activities, planting crops, fishing and romancing the townsfolk, a strange and horrific mystery is growing in the background. In fact, the person you romance might actually be a supernatural serial killer – so even as you try to relax, you’ll also need to keep your wits sharp.
What’s most interesting about this game, beyond its supernatural horror twists, is that it’s one of the first games set to be published by Blumhouse Games, a subsidiary of film studio Blumhouse Productions (The Black Phone, M3GAN, Five Nights at Freddy’s). To date, the company has carefully curated a selection of novel horror experiences, so we expect big things from this adventure.
Paralives is launching in December 2025
As revealed in the Summer Game Fest edition of the PC Gaming Show 2025, upcoming life simulator Paralives – which is considered a major competitor to The Sims – is finally set to launch in early access on 8 December 2025. This game has been in development for several years now, with a dedicated team focussed on creating an inclusive life simulator that allows players to live virtual lives with a freedom of choice.
We’ve been waiting for the game’s early access announcement for many years now, and it’s lovely to see a date finally locked in, particularly as competitors like inZOI have also recently entered the life simulator scene, to mixed results. With a lovely aesthetic and a cool philosophy behind it, Paralives should be on your radar as it heads to launch.
Keeper is Double Fine’s next big project
During the 2025 Xbox Games Showcase, the next biggest event to Summer Game Fest itself, Double Fine Productions showed off its next game, Keeper. As announced, this new title follows a “forgotten” lighthouse which sets off on a quest “into realms beyond understanding.”
The first trailer for this adventure was marvellous, revealing a magical and whimsical journey full of strange and beautiful sights. Most importantly, you can really feel that Double Fine charm, with the game evoking Psychonauts in its quirky designs, and its colourful worlds. We can’t wait to see more of this project as it heads to launch on 17 October 2025.
The Fractured Shimmer is a new spin on Resident Evil
The Fractured Shimmer, revealed during Summer Game Fest / Southeast Asian Games Showcase 2025, looks like an incredibly spooky, very cool time. As revealed, this is a 2.5D horror survival game where you play as a journalist named Eddy who uncovers a string of strange, possibly supernatural murder cases. In his investigation, Eddy stumbles upon a remote mansion – and it’s there that the horror starts.
With elements of Resident Evil in its puzzles, and very lush, surreal visuals, The Fractured Shimmer is compelling by design. If you’re not somebody who enjoys being ambushed by creepy, ever-shifting beasts, or discovering strange tendrils lurking in basements, this might not be the game for you. But for everyone else, get ready for a treat when this game launches in future.
Town to City is a wholesome city-builder with unique style
If you’re looking for a more wholesome city builder, then Town to City – revealed during Summer Game Fest / Wholesome Direct 2025 – is the game for you. As revealed, this is a sunset-hued game with cosy vibes, where you can create your perfect town using simple building mechanics. The process moves at a “gentle pace” letting you make decisions carefully, creating a city where all of your townsfolk will be happy and relaxed.
With the city-building genre so often dominated by games laced with strategy, and experiences that demand your full attention and careful planning of tight resources, Town to City seems like it’ll be a breath of fresh air. For now, the game doesn’t have a release date, but a demo is now available on Steam.
