I'm the type of person who puts their Halloween decorations out a month too early, and a good season of spooky games only makes me more irritatingly festive. I'm not sure I'll even finish last month's Silent Hill before October's new games calendar of horrors kicks off, but I'm absolutely delighted by the handful of indies and bigger releases giving me the heebie-jeebies.
Little Nightmares 3 is first on that list, and I'm excited to finally drag one of my scaredy cat friends through the ordeal after nail-biting my way alone through the first—they're misleadingly cute, then escalate into terrifying stealth and chase sequences. Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 is my most anticipated of the bunch, but probably for reasons far more shallow than my (mostly) tasteful colleagues. I simply find the blood-guzzling monsters to be quite smoochable, and while it won't have traditional RPG romances, Bloodlines 2 will have, uh, "romantic feeding," whatever the hell that means. Sign me up.
There's also a growing list of exquisitely haunted-looking indies I'm hoping to squeeze in, like the old internet nostalgia horror story in Oneway.exe and the Lethal Company developer's next game, Welcome to the Dark Place. Speaking of Lethal, games like Misery and Mimesis look like one of several recent co-op survival horror games inspired by the 2023 surprise hit. And between all of that, I suppose I'll find time to squeeze in a little Battlefield 6 or Arc Raiders.
October's big PC release dates
Tortured childhood besties Low and Alone carry on the tiny puzzle series when Little Nightmares 3 launches early this month. It's the first co-op adventure of the three, and while I worried that would detract from the scares, my colleague Kara Phillips reassured me in her Little Nightmares 3 preview that it's just as frightening as ever.
After several record-breaking beta weekends, it's finally Battlefield 6 month. PC Gamer's resident FPS brain Morgan Park has been keeping tabs on the shooter since its reveal, and while his first impressions seemed keen on the multiplayer, Morgan likened the Battlefield 6 campaign to a Call of Duty cover band. I've been laughing about it for days now.
I was beginning to think this day would never come, but Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 launches this month with an adjusted DLC plan including all the vampy clans to boot. Based on gameplay footage and Robin's Bloodlines 2 preview, I'm not so sure the combat is for me, but I'm a sucker for broody vampires and sharp character writing.
It's been quite a busy year for Obsidian Entertainment with Avowed, Grounded 2, and now The Outer Worlds sequel coming in late October. In his preview for The Outer Worlds 2, Ted explained how he liked the first game well enough, but sounds way more into the character creation, sneaky gameplay, and skill checks of this one. I'm just here for the snarkiest companion, whoever that is.
I'm still trying to overcome my extraction shooter fatigue, but have to admit the hulking mechanical enemies and space cowboy aesthetic of Arc Raiders made it the first in a while to pique my interest. I'll probably give it a go as a solo sicko, but you can also scavenge, poach other players, or stealth around in teams of three.
Shovel Knight's developer caught our attention during this year's Summer Game Fest with its adorably dark action adventure, Mina the Hollower. The game wound up in our list of SGF 2025 favorites for its stunning Game Boy Color art style and topdown gothic horror world. It's out at the end of the month and right on time for holiday travel, so on the Steam Deck it goes.
October gaming events and sales
- PAX AUS kicks off on October 10 with guests like BG3 narrator Amelia Tyler, Obsidian RPG designer Joshua Sawyer, and Borderlands narrative director Sam Winkler
- EGX brings another show to London on October 24 with talent from Mass Effect, The Witcher, Portal, and God of War as part of its three-day line-up
- Gamescom Asia joins forces with the Thailand Game Show to close out the month with a four-day event in Bangkok on October 30
- It's also a big month for Steam sales with seasonal discounts and themed weeks:
- September 6 - October 6: Steam Autumn Sale
- October 13 - October 20: Steam Next Fest: October Edition
- October 27 - November 3: Steam Scream 4
Early access games and 1.0 updates in October 2025
Free-to-play League of Legends fighting game 2XKO enters the early access arena with its first season of 2v2 matches on October 7
Co-op dungeon crawler Fellowship "is essentially what you get if WoW's Mythic+ dungeons were the entire game" and enters early access on October 16
Social sandbox MMO Pax Dei makes the jump to version 1.0 on October 16 with a new business model for its player-run kingdoms
Factory builder and automation Modulus brings the satisfaction of "a thousand little parts on hundred conveyer belts" to early access on October 22
The back-to-back city-builder releases continue when Farthest Frontier launches its 1.0 update on October 23
Cozy city builder and tower defense hybrid Becastled gets its 1.0 update on October 23, adding Steam Deck support and new base-building options
Mimesis enters early access on October 27 with a co-op survival horror showdown against enemies that mimic player voices and movement
Games with major updates and events in October
The Sims 4 adds the Adventure Awaits expansion to its library on October 2, with features like Custom Venues, Imaginary Friends, and the Getaway System
The Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 beta begins for players with pre-orders on October 2, then opens to everyone days later on October 5
Final Fantasy 14 kicks off its Monster Hunter Wilds event with the dread Guardian Arkveld trial and crossover themed rewards on October 7
Guild Wars 2 releases its sixth expansion, Visions of Eternity, on October 28, adding four new zones, another homestead, and more raid content
More games releasing in October 2025
- October 3 — Digimon Story Time Stranger - Creature collecting RPG (Steam)
- October 7 — Deathground - Co-op dino horror (Steam)
- October 7 — Oneway.exe - Creepy internet nostalgia in a narrative puzzler (Steam)
- October 7 — SOPA - A cute kid on a mission for his grandmother (Steam)
- October 8 — Kingmakers - Change medieval history with guns (Steam)
- October 9 — Absolum - Wizarding beat-em-up roguelite (Steam)
- October 9 — Bye Sweet Carole - Beautifully animated narrative horror (Steam)
- October 9 — Dreams of Another - Trippy shoot-to-create exploration game (Steam)
- October 9 — Blue Protocol: Star Resonance - Anime-inspired MMORPG (Steam)
- October 9 — Yooka-Replaylee - Reimagined 3D platformer (Steam)
- October 9 — The Lacerator - Survival horror with '80s flair (Steam)
- October 15 — Ball x Pit - Breakout-style roguelite base builder (Steam)
- October 16 — Escape from Duckov - The ducks have guns (Steam)
- October 17 — Keeper - Wordless puzzle adventure from Double Fine (Steam)
- October 20 — Lessaria - Fantasy kingdom RTS (Steam)
- October 21 — Jurassic World Evolution 3 - Latest dinosaur park sim (Steam)
- October 21 — Ninja Gaiden 4 - The return of mainline Gaiden (Steam)
- October 21 — Painkiller - 3-player co-op horde shooter (Steam)
- October 22 — Chaos Zero Nightmare - Dark fantasy gacha (Site)
- October 22 — Dispatch - Superheroes in a messy, workplace drama (Steam)
- October 23 — Bounty Star - Mech combat meets farmsteading (Steam)
- October 23 — Double Dragon Revive - The '80s sidescroller returns (Steam)
- October 23 — The Jackbox Party Pack 11 - Five new party games for the collection (Steam)
- October 23 — The Lonesome Guild - Adorably fuzzy ARPG (Steam)
Lethal Company-inspired online co-op in a nuclear wasteland
Survival horror with improvised weaponry
Roll a big ol' ball as the Prince of All Cosmos (or his cousins)
- October 24 — Super Fantasy Kingdom - Vampire Survivor mechanics in a city builder (Steam)
- October 24 — Welcome To The Dark Place - Lethal Company dev’s next game (Steam)
- October 27 — Escape Simulator 2 - Puzzle room sequel (Steam)
- October 28 — Duet Night Abyss - Former gacha RPG scraps the RNG (Steam)
- October 28 — Simon the Sorcerer Origins - Point & click prequel (Steam)
- October 30 — Dragon Quest 1&2 Remake - Classic RPGs in HD-2D (Steam)
- October 30 — Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection - Collection of classic combat (Steam)
- October 31 — Flesh Made Fear - Retro survival horror (Steam)
- October 31 — Tales of Xillia Remastered - PS3 era Tales makeover (Steam)
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