6 Best Game Development Companies to Look Out for in 2025

With the way technology is advancing, it’s no surprise that the new games arriving on the scene are getting better and better. The companies behind them are constantly pushing their technical and creative limits and looking to offer something new to the players who have been following their work for years. As 2025 unfolds, these are the top eight game development companies worth keeping on your radar.

3 Oaks Gaming

The online casino industry continues to grow, and every year, there are new slots and table games being added to the rosters on popular gambling sites. One of the companies that has achieved major success developing these games is 3 Oaks Gaming. Founded in 2021, the studio is relatively new, but it has already left a huge mark on the entire sector. It has already created over 300 casino games that are currently featured on more than 2,000 casino websites. Some of its most popular titles, like Son of Egypt, Goddess of Egypt, Sticky Piggy, and Rio Gems, have emerged as go-to options for many players in traditional online casinos, but also on sweepstakes platforms. As this free-to-play model continues to attract interest and new sweep casinos emerge, it’s easy to see why they keep including 3 Oaks Gaming’s titles in their libraries.

Rogue Factor

Rogue Factor is a Canadian game development company that’s guaranteed to attract a lot of attention before 2025 ends. The release of its long-awaited Hell is Us is scheduled for later this year, and the game looks ready to launch the studio to success. Its creative director, Jonathan Jacques-Bellêtete, who previously served as the lead art director for Deus Ex, called it the hardest game he has ever worked on. He said that the studio changed directions multiple times and hit some big walls during the development. Hell is Us has been in the works for almost five years, and Bellêtete calls it the studio’s passion project. Rogue Factor is an extremely sustainable studio, employing 64 staff members and dealing with all aspects of development in-house. They handle everything from art and music to motion capture themselves.

MachineGames

Swedish game development studio, MachineGames, was founded in 2009 by seven former employees of Starbreeze Studios, including founder Magnus Hogdahl. The company started out by pitching game ideas to several publishers but was unsuccessful. In 2010, the studio finally agreed to a deal to work on a Wolfenstein installment with Bethesda Studios. The company was soon acquired by Bethesda’s parent company, ZeniMax Media. MachineGames continued to work on the Wolfenstein series, as well as develop content for older titles, such as Quake and Doom. 2024 was another important year for the studio with the release of its Indiana Jones and the Great Temple. The company has been busy since the release and is set to release a downloadable story expansion for the game, titled The Order of Giants.

Sucker Punch Studios

Another company that simply had to be included in this list is Washington-based Sucker Punch Studios. Founded back in the 90s by former Microsoft employees, this studio is best known for its PlayStation games that date back to the early 2000s. Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus turned out to be a major hit and resulted in several sequels. In 2011, Sucker Punch Studios became an official part of PlayStation Studios and continued with superhero games, creating the Infamous series. In 2020, Sucker Punch Studios released Ghost of Tsushima, which ended up becoming the fastest-selling PS4 exclusive ever. The famous samurai-themed game is getting a sequel later this year, and the fans are hoping it’ll match the quality of the original game. This standalone sequel, titled Ghost of Yotei, is often mentioned as one of the most anticipated games of 2025, and it’s easy to see why. Sucker Punch Studios has put a lot of effort into finding the best possible theme to explore, and the game was inspired by the studio’s multiple trips to Japan.

Sandfall Interactive

Sandfall Interactive is a French indie studio that has already sparked a lot of interest in 2025. The developer released its Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 earlier in April, and the reviews have been predominantly positive. The founder of the studio, Guillaume Broche, first came up with the idea during the 2020 lockdown, drawing inspiration from one of his favorite titles - Final Fantasy. He ended up quitting his job at Ubisoft to focus on this passion project. When first launching the studio, Broche started contacting friends, bringing together 30 people and subcontracting the rest of the work. People at Sandfall Interactive believe the latest game-making technologies make it possible for smaller teams to deliver outstanding production value in a realistic 3D style, and that’s exactly what they’ve been doing.

Playtonic

Fans of indie games should keep a close eye on Playtonic, as the studio has released some extremely interesting games recently. Formed in 2014 by a group of former Rare employees, this England-based company experienced success with Yooka-Laylee. The game was funded through a Kickstarter campaign, reaching its $1 million goal within 24 hours. It ended up raising $2 million, and the game was officially released in 2017. Two years later, it got its own spinoff titled Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair. In 2021, the studio launched its publishing division called Playtonic Friends. It has since published over 10 titles in collaboration with other developers such as Fabraz, Okidokico, and Badgerhammer.

Conclusion

Each of these studios has either already had major releases in 2025 or is set to have them before the year ends. You can expect to hear a lot more about them in the coming months, especially once talks about the best game of the year start taking place.