Timeline
Wednesday31st Dec 2025
News PS Plus Essential Games for January 2026 Announced
Starting off with a bang?
Sony has officially announced the PS Plus Essential lineup of monthly games for January 2026. While one of the games was already leaked earlier today, we now know all of the titles members can look forward to playing next month. They will be available to claim starting 6th January 2026, and will remain in place until 2n
Game of the Year #2 - Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
Death can't tear us apart
An oddity of a debut game after the Metal Gear Solid fallout between Hideo Kojima and Konami, it's Death Stranding 2 that capitalises on the original's good faith for the definitive mixture of story, visuals, and package delivery. This is what Kojima Productions had been building to all along. It takes the first game and...
News Persona 30th Anniversary Website Opens, Teases Multiple Updates for 2026
First update next week
Atlus has unveiled an official website dedicated to the 30th anniversary of its Persona series. Currently, the site is plastered with some fantastic art from Persona character designer Shigenori Soejima, which features the protagonists from each game. It also states that the "Next Update" drops on the 8th January — which...
News Free-to-Play Fighter 2XKO Joins a Busy Start to 2026 on PS5
We're just getting started
Riot has now dated its free-to-play fighter 2XKO, which is inspired by characters from League of Legends. The game – which was previously announced for January 2026 – will launch specifically on 20th January. That date was spotted in a trailer, which has since been taken offline but captured by Nabil Mehari on...
Feature Our PS5 Predictions for 2025 - Results Revealed
Who's the all-seer?
As the year 2025 draws to a close, it's time to reflect on the last 12 months — but more importantly, it's time to see who did the best (and the worst) in our predictions from January. It's tradition around here for the editorial team to come up with a bunch of predictions for the year, and because we're all gamers at heart,...
News First PS Plus Essential Game for January 2026 Leaked Early
Happy new year
The ever-reliable billbil-kun has shared one of January 2026's PS Plus Essential monthly games, just hours before Sony is due to make its official announcement. According to the leaker, who has accurately reported on PS Plus via
Tuesday30th Dec 2025
Game of the Year Best PS5 Developer of 2025
The good guys
Alongside our Game of the Year top 10 list and personal picks from the Push Square editorial team, we are recognising the best PS5 games of 2025 in select categories. Today is the turn of the best PS5 developer of 2025. Bronze Trophy: Nihon Falcom (Trails through Daybreak 2 + Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter):
Game of the Year #3 - Split Fiction
Immersion therapy
Hazelight Studios has gone from strength to strength with every successive game it puts out, and Split Fiction is its best work yet. Once again, the team doubles down on two-player co-op as a core tenet of design and structure, and the result is a relentlessly imaginative experience that'll make you question what else can even be...
News Now Even Hinako's Parents Have Started Streaming Silent Hill F on PS5
Family feuds
Silent Hill F is an outstanding game, but one of the side-stories to its success has been how many of the brilliant actors from the title have started streaming it on YouTube. Konatsu Kato, the actress behind heroine Hinako, tallied millions of views earlier this month after she started playing the game. She would later even feature as...
News Fantasy Life i's Success Keeps Soaring After Free PS5, PS4 Update This Xmas
A life worth living
Level-5’s renaissance needs to be studied. The legendary Japanese studio released two hits this year: Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time and Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road. And the former – fresh from receiving a free update over the Christmas holiday – has now sold over 1.5 million units worldwide. It’s achieved...
Game of the Year Sammy's Top 5 PS5 Games of 2025
Inked
Our individual Game of the Year articles allow our lovely team of writers and editors to share their own personal PS5 picks for 2025. Today, it's the turn of editor Sammy Barker. 5. Wuthering Waves: Did I really need another gacha game in my life? The answer is, of course, no. I dabbled with Wuthering Waves when it debuted on mobile, but I...
News Fans Can't Believe How Much Sword and Fairy 4's Remake Looks Like Clair Obscur
We can certainly see the influences
Well, it was bound to happen: here’s your very first look at Clair Obscur-like Sword and Fairy 4: Remake, which has been confirmed for consoles and PC – but not the PS5 specifically yet. The Legend of Sword and Fairy 4 first launched on PC back in 2007, developed by Taiwanese company Softstar’s Shanghai...
Monday29th Dec 2025
Game of the Year Best PS5 Action Game of 2025
Lights, camera...
Alongside our Game of the Year top 10 list and personal picks from the Push Square editorial team, we are recognising the best PS5 games of 2025 in select categories. Today is the turn of the best PS5 action game of 2025. Bronze Trophy: Elden Ring Nightreign: Condensing Elden Ring's robust mix of combat styles down into a...
Rumour PS6 Could Be Delayed Due to RAM Price Chaos
RAMpage
Sony hasn’t even announced the PS6 yet, so there’s nothing for it to officially delay. However, the company has acknowledged its next console in tech roundtables with partner AMD, and all signs have been pointing to a late 2027 release. But Insider Gaming reports that
Game of the Year #4 - Ghost of Yotei
Revenge is sweet
Ghost of Tsushima ended up being one of the most beloved outings of the PS4 generation, and so topping the adventures of Jin Sakai was never going to be easy. And while we think that opinions will likely always be divided on which Ghost title is best, Ghost of Yotei is a superb sequel that both builds on its predecessor, and...
"We'll give it our all and see it through"
It sounds like 2026 will be a milestone year for Atlus and its uber-popular Persona franchise, which will celebrate its 30th anniversary. Speaking as part of a big feature in Famitsu magazine, creative producer and chief director Kazuhisa Wada teased a big year ahead for the franchise, including plenty of...
News Silent Hill Producer Aims to Release One New Game Per Year
Series back with a bang
If the producer of Silent Hill realises his ambition, there’ll be one new game in the survival horror series every year. Motoi Okamoto revealed his target in an end of year interview with Japanese magazine Famitsu, admitting that while the goal may be ambitious, it’s very much his focus. He said, as translated by Genki...
Sunday28th Dec 2025
Game of the Year Best PS5 Story Game of 2025
Experience this
Alongside our Game of the Year top 10 list and personal picks from the Push Square editorial team, we are recognising the best PS5 games of 2025 in select categories. Today is the turn of the best PS5 story game of 2025. Bronze Trophy: Indiana Jones and the Great Circle: While the Uncharted series takes a well-ear
Game of the Year #5 - Dispatch
AdHoc Studio will remember that
It turns out the appetite for episodic adventures hasn’t gone away – the format just needed sexy superheroes, a quicker release cadence, and management sim mechanics. Dispatch – developed by the ex-Telltale alumni at AdHoc Studio – made a late charge for Game of the Year, premiering on 22nd October and not...
News Ex-PlayStation Boss Believes Exclusives Make Consoles 'Sing'
"Mario on PlayStation is the apocalypse"
As the lines between consoles continue to blur, popular ex-PlayStation executive Shawn Layden has weighed in on the debate. Speaking with podcast Pause for Thought, he pointed out that while he doesn’t believe every game needs to be console exclusive, he believes tying certain software to specific...
Game of the Year Liam's Top 5 PS5 Games of 2025
Canvassing
Our individual Game of the Year articles allow our lovely team of writers and editors to share their own personal PS5 picks for 2025. Today, it's the turn of assistant editor Liam Croft. 5. Elden Ring Nightreign: Elden Ring Nightreign is the most I’ve been addicted to playing a game this year, with its run-based twist on the...
Saturday27th Dec 2025
Feature Going Platinum #5: The Sexy Brutale
No masking it
Platinum Trophy #5: The Sexy Brutale Date Earned: 2nd December 2017 Dopamine Index: stars:4 While knowing every game that comes out is a feat growing less and less achievable by the day, I like to think I have a higher-than-average level of awareness. I've never been formally diagnosed with autism, but I'm fairly sure I'm somewhere...
Game of the Year #6 - ARC Raiders
Don't shoot!
Embark Studios’ ARC Raiders takes our number six spot. It's a multiplayer experience that, against all odds, managed to capture the imagination of players with a riveting and immersive take on the extraction shooter genre. Switching somewhere in the middle of development from a PvE co-op shooter to the PvPvE extraction shooter we...
Talking Point What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 613
Seasonal slump
How’s your tummy handling all of those turkey sandwiches? You may want to consider a long brisk walk this weekend to shed some of those holiday calories. If not, you can just join us for some good ol’ fashioned video games. Aaron Bayne: After beating Resident Evil 4, I'm now moving onto Resident Evil Village on the PSVR2. I...
Friday26th Dec 2025
Game of the Year Best PS5 RPG of 2025
Turn takers
Alongside our Game of the Year top 10 list and personal picks from the Push Square editorial team, we are recognising the best PS5 games of 2025 in select categories. Today is the turn of the best PS5 RPG of 2025. Bronze Trophy: The Outer Worlds 2: In The Outer Worlds 2, developer Obsidian is all about player choice. The game lets...
News 'It Has the Power to Enrich the Creative World': Level-5 Boss All-In on Generative AI
"I'm praying the game industry continues to grow"
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 recently had a couple of awards it had won revoked after an old interview in which it revealed it used generative AI re-emerged. The French studio has since said it’ll never use the technology again, and all of its futur
News Test Out Tactics Remake Front Mission 3 for Free on PS5, PS4 Now
Demo available ahead of 30th January launch
A demo for the remake of PS1 tactics classic Front Mission 3 is now available to download and play on the PS Store. You can grab it through here. That gives you just about a month to get a feel for the Squaresoft strategy game, ahead of its full release on 30th January. It’s been available on the Switch...
Game of the Year #7 - Lumines Arise
Running through our veins
The vision for the Lumines series has always been very clear. Designer Tetsuya Mizuguchi wanted to combine the simple pleasures of a puzzle game with entrancing music and captivating visuals, making you feel like you're playing through a multi-sensory rave. He achieved this with the beloved PSP original, and with every...
Game of the Year Stephen's Top 5 PS5 Games of 2025
Obscured no more
Our individual Game of the Year articles allow our lovely team of writers and editors to share their own personal PS5 picks for 2025. Today, it's the turn of assistant editor Stephen Tailby. 5. Shinobi: Art of Vengeance: This year has been so rich with fantastic games that some of them, despite their quality, will simply not get...
Thursday25th Dec 2025
Game of the Year Best PS5 Art Direction of 2025
Right before your eyes
Alongside our Game of the Year top 10 list and personal picks from the Push Square editorial team, we are recognising the best PS5 games of 2025 in select categories. Today is the turn of the best PS5 art direction of 2025. Bronze Trophy: Ghost of Yotei: We lost count of how many times Ghost of Yotei made us stop and...
News The Original Space Invaders Blasts onto PS5, PS4 on Xmas Day
1978 classic returns on modern consoles
Arcade Archives, the industrious preservation initiative from Japanese dev Hamster, has crowned its 500th release: it’s Taito’s iconic 1978 effort Space Invaders. And it’s out now on PS5 and PS4, this Christmas Day. While it’s perhaps not the most exciting milestone release, it needs no real...
News Yakuza-Like Crime Drama Gang of Dragon Gets New Screens for Xmas
Kabukicho's calling
Itching for another look at ex-Yakuza director Toshihiro Nagoshi’s new game Gang of Dragon? If you recall, the announcement trailer at The Game Awards confirmed that Korean actor Don Lee will star in this crime drama, which is set in real-life Kabukicho – the grimy Shinjuku district upon which the fictional Kamurocho is...
Quiz Push Square's PlayStation Quiz of the Year 2025
Test yourself on 2025's biggest and weirdest stories
Christmas Day is here, and you know what that means! No, we're not talking about feeding your Brussels sprouts to the dog under the table. We don't mean falling asleep half-way through The Muppet Christmas Carol because you ate all your chocolate coins in one go. And no, we're not referring to...
Feature We Wish You a Very Merry Christmas
Compliments of the season to you
Whether you celebrate it or not, the thing that’s so great about Christmas is that it gives you an opportunity to take stock. With offices closed and the games industry in a very brief slumber, we finally have the opportunity to reflect on the past 12 months as a whole. And despite the scepticism and cynicism...
News PSN, Fortnite Holding Strong as Servers Almost Melted on Xmas Day
Stayin' alive
Spare a thought for the tireless engineers who will be working hard to keep your favourite services online today. A spike of users as we creep into Christmas has temporarily taken Fortnite offline, with Epic’s Tim Sweeney stating “the servers are melting down, sorry fam”. To be fair, the Fortnite Status account has been quick...
Wednesday24th Dec 2025
Game of the Year Best PS5 Open World Game of 2025
See that mountain?
Alongside our Game of the Year top 10 list and personal picks from the Push Square editorial team, we are recognising the best PS5 games of 2025 in select categories. Today is the turn of the best PS5 open world game of 2025. Bronze Trophy: Ghost of Yotei: Building on what it achieved in Ghost of Tsushima, developer Sucker...
News Merry Christmas! Claim a Free Route for Train Sim World 6 on PS5, PS4 Now
Steam powered
To reflect the spirit of the season, Dovetail is doing railway fans a solid and giving away a free route in Train Sim World 6. It’s picked one of the more unique ones, too: while there’s a lot to love about the dev’s latest simulation, we admit we don’t always have anything particularly interesting to say. But when it comes...
News Episodic Sensation Dispatch Will Be Eligible for The Game Awards 2026
So says Geoff
AdHoc Studio, the team behind the successful superhero adventure Dispatch, says it's been assured its game will qualify for The Game Awards in 2026. The narrative-driven title, which places a bunch of misfit superheroes into a workplace comedy, was included in The Game Awards 2025's Best Debut Indie category, but the game was not...
News Hope Prevails as Danganronpa Series Tops 10 Million Sales
Goodbye, despair
Danganronpa, the hit visual novel series from Spike Chunsoft, has surpassed global lifetime sales of 10 million. The franchise recently celebrated its 15th anniversary, and it's now reached an impressive sales milestone as a cherry on top. The Danganronpa series is broadly based on the visual novel structure, but the games feature...
Game of the Year #8 - Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2
Special deliverance
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 remains the open world western RPG to beat, boasting some of the most immersive and complex mechanics and systems of gameplay we've encountered, in addition to top-tier performances and environmental storytelling. We raved about it in our initial review, and developer Warhorse Studios has spent the...
"Whenever there’s work to be done – boom, overtime"
A new Zenless Zone Zero clip touching on the topic of overtime has once again raised questions about the sustainability of crunch. While the video, taken from the latest behind-the-scenes ZTALK, is presented in a light-hearted fashion – with goofy music and jovial vibes – it flags the real...
News 'Everything Will Be Made by Humans': Expedition 33 Dev Says No More AI After Post-Awards Heat
Generative AI "felt wrong"
With generative AI such a controversial topic right now, it's no wonder that the hottest game of 2025 has become embroiled in it. For those who may not know, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was inadvertently released with a small amount of AI-generated artwork still in place. Developer Sandfall Interactive said it was...
News New Spyro Game Hopium Builds as Ex-Toys for Bob Artist Reinforces Rumours
Where there's smoke...
Developer Toys for Bob has been an interesting one to watch in recent years, and eager fans of its games are grasping at any possible thread for clues as to its current project. A new clue has been discovered via a LinkedIn profile that suggests the studio is busy making a new Spyro game. After making Crash Bandicoot 4: It's...
News Your PS Plus Essential Sub Netted You $1,500+ in PS5, PS4 Games This Year
That's not bad
Was PS Plus Essential worth paying for in 2025? Well, after crunching some data, we can reveal that your $79.99/£59.99 membership added over $1,500/£1,300 worth of PS5 and PS4 games to your catalogue this year. It’s worth clarifying at this stage that these games are yours to keep, but only if you remain a member, so that’s an...
Game of the Year Robert's Top 5 PS5 Games of 2025
Die Hard fan
Our individual Game of the Year articles allow our lovely team of writers and editors to share their own personal PS5 picks for 2025. Today, it's the turn of assistant editor Robert Ramsey. 5. Dynasty Warriors: Origins: I've been playing Dynasty Warriors since the PS2 days, and while the series has certainly had its ups and downs...
Tuesday23rd Dec 2025
Game of the Year Best PS5 Indie Game of 2025
For the little guys
Alongside our Game of the Year top 10 list and personal picks from the Push Square editorial team, we are recognising the best PS5 games of 2025 in select categories. Today is the turn of the best PS5 indie game of 2025. Bronze Trophy: Skate Story: Forget about Tony Hawk for a second; you'll find this year's most unique and...
News 007 First Light's PS5 Release Date Has Been Pushed Back a Couple of Months
Release date shaken, not stirred
With the juggernaut that is GTA 6 now standing alone in the November wilderness, the rest of the PS5 release schedule has a little more room to breathe. Recently we saw Housemarque’s roguelite shooter Saros pushed back a few weeks, and now IO Interactive’s highly anticipated spin on James Bond has been delayed...
Game of the Year #9 - The Alters
You alter play it
Every year, there are a multitude of games that offer a different take on a traditional format. On the surface, 11 Bit Studios' The Alters was just another one of those games. A space-set survival title where the main cast are clones, it sounds like something halfway between No Man’s Sky and Duncan Jones' Moon. Potentially...
Mini Review Yakuza 0 Director's Cut (PS5) - A Questionable Cash Grab of a Classic
Hero to 0
Yakuza 0 remains one of the series' best games, and so you'd think that a PS5 re-release would be something to celebrate — but the circumstances surrounding the Director's Cut, and the new content that it actually adds, are questionable at best. Let's start with the objectively good stuff: Director's Cut enjoys a noticeable boost in...
News PS5's Next Big Gacha Game Wants You to Take It for a Test Drive
Park your opinions until you've played it
Does the PS5 really need another anime-themed gacha game? Well, probably not, they are all starting to get a teensy bit samey, aren’t they? But heck, we’ve been looking forward to Perfect World Entertainment’s ostentatiously named Neverness to Everness (or, for brevity, NTE) for quite some time. And...
