Upcoming Free Games

Gaming is expensive. Whether someone prefers consoles or PC, they will need to invest a fair amount of cash just to set up their stations. Once the hardware is ready to go, owners will need to turn to their platform’s libraries to pick up some software. Nowadays, Xbox Game Pass and PS Plus grant access to massive selections of games for monthly fees; however, most AAA titles do not debut on these subscription services. Consequently, players could find themselves regularly dropping $69.99, at a minimum, to experience the latest exciting projects.

Free-to-play games sound fantastic on paper and can serve as a way to keep someone entertained in between premium products. Plenty of titles showcase this model’s potential, and this selection is set to expand significantly over the coming months and years. What are the most highly anticipated new free games announced for the last months of 2025 or beyond? At the moment, there are not all that many no-cost projects with confirmed release dates; however, several games are in the pipeline, and they could very well debut over the next few months.

Updated September 3, 2025 by Mark Sammut: Rather than focusing on the “beyond” part, we have added three upcoming 2025 free games. They all look pretty great or, at least, interesting.

Dragon Ball Gekishin Squadra

Dragon Ball Gets A Free MOBA

OK, this announcement came as a surprise. New Dragon Ball games come out every other year, but the franchise has never glanced at MOBAs, let alone produced a free-to-play project designed to compete in that cutthroat genre. As unexpected as this move is, Dragon Ball has been attempting to diversify its gaming portfolio recently, and multiplayer-driven games seem to be a priority.

Perhaps inspired by The Breakers’ relative failure, Dragon Ball Gekishin Squadra will be free, in an effort to establish a player base as soon as possible. Gameplay-wise, the game appears to follow fairly typical MOBA guidelines, including round-based matches, evolutions, and defined roles. Matches will consist of 4v4, and there should be roughly 20 playable characters at launch.

Arena Breakout: Infinite

Arena Breakout: Infinite has been steadily building up momentum over the last 18 months, starting with a close beta in May 2024. The game is also on mobile devices, but its full release will happen on Steam and Epic on September 15, 2025. The extraction shooter genre is in a bit of a weird spot, as while there are not all that many options, new releases struggle to make their mark in a landscape dominated by Escape from Tarkov.

Arena Breakout: Infinite seems set to be an exciting free alternative to that polarizing game, offering a focus on tactics, realism, and customization. Squad runs will probably be the game’s bread and butter, but solo plays should be viable as well. With maps that require different strategies and unpredictable weather, this title could be quite good. That said, the game’s beta and past versions garnered mostly mixed receptions, so I would recommend sticking to cautious optimism.

Where Winds Meet

A Free Open-World Action RPG

You ever see an upcoming free game that just seems too good to be true? Well, Where Winds Meet is one of those examples. Here is a game with a vast open-world, flashy combat, and a rich setting based on China’s Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, a period that has barely been explored by the industry.

Where Winds Meet falls within the Wuxia category, which focuses on martial arts that often utilize weapons. This inspiration is evident in the game, which has seven weapons that each come with unique skills. Where Winds Meet looks gorgeous and seems to play like a dream, at least from the footage that has been released. The game has been out for a while in China, but its Western debut is scheduled for November 2025.

Path Of Exile 2

Sequel To One Of The Best Free Games

Grinding Gear’s Path of Exile enjoyed its 10th anniversary in 2023, and the game is still among the best free-to-play options on the market. Presented as an alternative to Diablo, the isometric action RPG delivers stellar customization, gameplay, and a lot of content that can be enjoyed without requiring any cash investment. Path of Exile prides itself on not being pay-to-win, and the developer has generally stuck to that commitment. Now, the sequel is on the horizon, and it is shaping up to be an exciting expansion of an already beloved hack and slash dungeon crawler.

Generally, when an upcoming free project vows to deliver the stars and moon, skepticism should be the natural reaction; however, Grinding Gear’s words are backed by years of generally good work. Therefore, when Path of Exile 2’s Steam description promotes a six-act campaign and extensive endgame content in the form of 100+ maps with unique boss fights, there is a chance that the final product might actually deliver on these promises.

Tom Clancy’s The Division: Resurgence

Mobile Third-Person Shooter

While Ubisoft canceled Heartland, a free-to-play The Division game that was fairly hyped up for a while, the publisher seems set to release a mobile game set in the same universe. Resurgence looks to adapt the franchise’s MMO structure for Android and iOS devices, delivering similar third-person shooter gunplay, missions, exploration, and loot. Returning to New York, the setting for the first game in the series, the upcoming free game will also feature an open-world that supports both PvE and PvP content, with the latter coming courtesy of the Dark Zone. The former will include a brand-new campaign and storyline that focuses on the early days of the virus’ spread, casting players as early members of the Strategic Homeland Division.

Going on the beta footage released so far, Tom Clancy’s The Division: Resurgence looks pretty promising, especially for a mobile device. While the pre-release gameplay shows some stutter, that could be ironed out by the time the final product launches; even then, the game still looks good in its current state. The Division has kind of a weird reputation. Despite not being as talked about as some other live-service projects like Destiny 2, the franchise has been largely successful, and The Division 2 is still quite active.

Arknights: Endfield

Landing On PC

Debuting in 2019 on mobile devices, Arknights is nowadays well established as one of the industry’s most famous projects. It was even successful enough to warrant an anime adaptation, and the franchise looks set to continue its expansion with a spin-off game set on a new planet. Endfield Industries has taken measures to bring civilization to Talos-II, but the world and its locals have been less than welcoming. Set following a disaster that greatly hurt this movement, players step into the shoes of PFRD operatives tasked with taming the alien planet.

Arknights: Endfield looks set to be fairly different from the mainline entry. For one, the spin-off will utilize real-time strategy combat, although exact details on the system’s mechanics have yet to be provided. It is also unclear whether the game will employ gacha mechanics, although that seems likely. More importantly, Endfield will be available on PC, an ecosystem that Arknights has yet to target specifically.

Crosswind

An MMO Survival Pirate Adventure

The world could always use a few more pirate-themed projects, and Crosswind looks perfect on paper. A survival MMO set during the Age of Piracy, aka the 18th century, the game promises a well-rounded experience that supports PvE single-player and, naturally, PvP multiplayer.

Going by the Steam description, the story starts with the player’s captain being left for dead, a strong inciting incident for both a survival game and a revenge story. After that, players will likely get to explore the open sea and various islands, all the while building their crew. As always, cautious optimism is advised for upcoming free games, especially ones that are absurdly exciting. Still, Crosswind is setting the stage for a public alpha test, so things are moving along nicely.

The Hidden Ones

Martial Arts Anime Fighter

Set within the universe of Hitori no Shita (aka The Outcast or Under One Person), The Hidden Ones is a martial arts fighting game that looks pretty interesting at a glance. As free-to-play arena fighters are pretty rare, this one has the potential to corner a niche market. The source material is not extremely well known outside of China, but it is popular enough to spawn five anime seasons, so there is a desire to see this IP expanded upon. While online multiplayer will be a selling point, The Hidden Ones seems set to also include a story mode, which would be a big bonus for this type of release.

Karlson

Made For Speed-Runners

Dani has two successful free games under their belt: Muck and Crab Game. Both titles focus on physics-based gameplay, and they are fairly impressive considering they largely stemmed from the mind of a single person. Dani’s next project is Karlson, a first-person shooter that heavily incorporates parkour and speed-running. The eponymous character is a prisoner who must wall-jump and blast their way through a series of levels en route to a glass of milk.

The creator’s resume and social media presence ensure Karlson would get some attention, but the game also presents a convincing case for meriting this hype. A version of the project can be downloaded for free on Itch.io, and it is quite good.

Neverness To Everness

Open-World Gacha RPG

Hotta Studio’s Neverness To Everness has been quietly attracting hype, garnering interest due to its seemingly ambitious combination of action JRPG combat and a GTA-style open-world. It also includes gacha mechanics, which seem to be a requirement for these types of releases in this day and age. Honestly, on paper, Neverness To Everness seems almost too good to be true, especially since the developer is fairly unknown; that said, Hotta released a 13-minute gameplay showcase video that does a pretty good job of highlighting the game’s world and combat. If nothing else, this free RPG at least appears to genuinely exist and seems to be developing nicely.

Neverness To Everness is slated to debut on mobile devices, PC, and PS5, which is quite a diverse platform slate. Nowadays, iOS and Android devices are capable of running AAA-level games, even ones that are being created in Unreal Engine 5. Obviously, it is still way too early to predict whether this project will be a success or not, but the early signs are positive enough to warrant keeping an eye on Neverness To Everness. It would be cool to have another great free action JRPG that is not developed by MiHoYo.

Paradise

The AI Era Is Coming

Love or hate it, AI is here to stay and will almost certainly become a major part of video game design moving forward. Paradise seems set to take advantage of this technology, using it to create an open-world where NPCs are more than just no-name figures with no identity beyond their set cycle. The idea is that AI will enable players to interact with NPCs in far greater detail than usual, with the latter having full lives that are automatically generated.

The concept is ambitious and could pave the way to more realistic worlds than ever before, ones that could (potentially) offer endless possibilities. Beyond this selling point, Paradise does not appear to have much of a story, at least not one that is being highlighted at the moment. Perhaps, the developers are primarily seeking to create a slice of life-type experience where players can just go about their day, enjoying unique activities as they mess about in the world.

Sonic Rumble

A Party Game With Up To 32 Players

An argument could be made that the best Sonic the Hedgehog game of the last five years is a freebie that was randomly dropped on Steam. The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog is shockingly good and an easy recommendation for fans of the franchise, as long as they do not mind a story-driven visual novel. As that worked so well, Sega looks set to dip into the free market once again, albeit with a very different project. Sonic Rumble is a 32-player multiplayer party game that seems to take a few lessons from Fall Guys, with players competing in races and other survival-themed modes. Naturally, players will have access to a plethora of characters from across the franchise, beyond just the obvious ones like Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails.

While probably better to not get too excited until more information is revealed regarding its Western release, which seems set to not include gacha mechanics, Sonic Rumble should be a fun time. Fall Guys might no longer be at its peak popularity, but there is really nothing wrong with its core concept and gameplay loop; furthermore, Sega has the resources and the pedigree to push this peculiar multiplayer subgenre to the next level.

Vaultbreakers

Vaultbreakers has been making the rounds for a while, and the game followed a playtest in February 2025 with a second set between April 9–13. Played from an isometric angle similar to old-school action-RPGs, the title incorporates extraction gameplay, with players accepting short-ish missions where they must collect loot while facing off against other users and AI enemies.

While seemingly not devoid of lore, Vaultbreakers’ selling point appears to be character customization, replayability, and its range of champions (which act as classes). Unlike quite a few other upcoming free-to-play games, BetaDwarf’s title is a bit more of a known quantity, and it has all the ingredients to be a memorable addition to the ARPG genre.

Special Mention: Deadlock

Not Confirmed To Be Free-To-Play, But Seems Likely

After roughly a year of rumors and undisclosed playtests, Valve finally acknowledged that Deadlock is a thing in August 2024. Despite having a Steam page and featuring a respectable active player count, the game is not currently available to try, with the only people playing are ones with special invitations. Furthermore, Valve has been very tight-lipped about the project, only revealing the bare minimum. Still, the available knowledge paints an exciting picture of a game that looks set to combine two popular free genres: MOBAs and hero shooters. The latter is fairly oversaturated nowadays and there is not much of a call for new representatives, but Valve certainly has the reputation and resources to craft an exception.

Now, Valve has not revealed that Deadlock will be free-to-play, so this mention is based purely on market and historical evidence. Except for Half-Life: Alyx, Valve seems to have mostly focused on free games over the last decade, at least whenever the developer decides to create something new. More importantly, Valve’s multiplayer projects tend not to be buy-to-play, and there is no reason the publisher should change course and try something different at this point. Also, Concord’s swift termination might not encourage many publishers to go down the premium hero shooter route.