Hollowknight: Silksong, 4 September 2025
Despite this game releasing a week before our Academic year begins here at Newcastle, it is one of the most highly anticipated games of the decade and was most certainly at the top of my to-play list. Coming 8 years after its predecessor Hollowknight, Team Cherry teased Silksong at the Nintendo Direct this summer after years of speculation and rumoured cancellation. Hollowknight is a Metroidvania style game with souls-like elements, and Silksong is expected to follow suit in terms of gameplay. Silksong’s protagonist is Hornet, the former princess of Hallownest, who is fought twice in the original game. Fans are expecting to see a greater focus on movement, combat , a larger in-game world and even a quest system as Team Cherry has stated that “Greymoor”, an area in Silksong, is the largest they have ever created. With a whimsical colour palette and captivating earthy tones, Hollowknight: Silksong will be the perfect game to settle down with during our winter term here at Newcastle.
-Emily-Maisy Milburn, Gaming Sub-Editor
Skate, 16 September 2025
Another entry in a beloved franchise rolling onto game stores soon is the new Skate game. This game was announced all the way back in 2020 and now five years on it seems like the free to play soft reboot of the series will launch soon. With early access being available this month. Skate will introduce many new mechanics such as more parkour elements to pull off some insane gameplay tricks as well as focusing on online play with a live service format. The live service aspect has fans worried since this means that unlockables in the game such as character and board customisation might be heavily placed behind a paywall, unlike previous games where cosmetics came with purchase of the game. Hopefully, this new instalment can capture the pure joy and essence of the original games when it fully releases.
-Keyon Snoek, Gaming Sub-Editor
Mewgenics, 10 February 2026
Described as an ‘Endless Cat Breeding RPG’ via its Steam page, Mewgenics is an upcoming tactical roguelike, life-sim developed by Edmund McMillen, the creator of The Binding of Isaac and Super Meat Boy. Announced originally in 2012 by Team Meat, Mewgenics has had a long and tumultuous development period and was eventually reacquired by Edmund McMillen and Tyler Glaiel in 2018. Mewgenics gameplay is said to be slightly akin to that of Magic: The Gathering, as players acquire and breed cats before sending them out to fight with equippable items that boost stats and provide your cats with weapons. McMillen and Glaiel say that it will take an astounding 200 hours to beat the final boss in Mewgenic’s story. It is known that McMillens games are often full of content (it takes around 600 hours of playtime to 100% The Binding of Isaac) so expect Mewgenics to take a similar route in terms of hidden puzzles and secret bosses. Announced via IGN’s summer stream with a trailer created by Meat Canyon (a fellow Newgrounds Veteran), Mewgenic’s trailer embodies the outrageous and bizarre themes repeated in McMillen’s previous titles and promises a fun, almost flash-game-like experience.
-Emily-Maisy Milburn, Gaming Sub-Editor
Lego Batman: Legacy of The Dark Knight, 2026
Recently announced at Gamescon was Lego Batman: Legacy of The Dark Knight. This news is exciting to many video game fans since a lot of fond memories were crafted whilst playing the original Lego batman trilogy. With the most recent Lego Batman game being released in 2014 it is great to see Lego going back to its roots when it comes to video games. From what was shown at Gamescon it is evident that the game will have an open world playstyle featuring a much-upgraded fighting mechanic like the Arkham games that videogame and Batman fans are very fond of. On top of the new combat the game will feature new ways of exploring a brick-built version of Gotham including gliding and zipline/grapplehook mechanics. So far only seven playable characters have been announced diverging from previous Lego games which sometimes included over 100 playable characters. It will be a great gaming experience when it hits all platforms in 2026.
-Keyon Snoek, Gaming Sub-Editor