Slapped in the middle of summer, August is basically the hump day of the yearly calendar. And fittingly, this year it’s delivering a massive pile of video games for us to scale before we scamper down the slope to cooler days.
With Baldur’s Gate 3, a new FromSoftware title, and multiple brand new IPs to consider, your time has plenty of new suitors vying for its attention. We’ve picked out the biggest new games in August for PC, Switch, PlayStation, and Xbox below so that you can prepare your schedule accordingly. You weren’t planning on getting much sun this year, were you?
Baldur’s Gate 3 (PC)
© Larian Studios
Release date: August 3
Larian revives an ancient PC gaming and role-playing classic. Dungeons & Dragons comes to digital life in a grand fantasy RPG adventure built on the 5th Edition rules. You’ve been infected with a deadly mindflayer parasite – work with or against the others in the same boat to escape your fate before time runs out. New to Baldur’s Gate? Catch up on the story and style of the old games here. And if you’re not knowledgeable when it comes to the tabletop game, here are some key D&D rules you need to know.
Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical (PC, Switch, PlayStation, Xbox)
Release date: August 10
Being framed for murder doesn’t sound like a song and dance, but Stray Gods will deliver a musical score in which your choices help define the lyrics. The story features gods and magic, as lead star Grace (Laura Bailey) unexpectedly gains the powers of a muse and must defend her innocence. With hand-illustrated art, music directed by Austin Wintory (Journey, Hades), and writing by David Gaider (Dragon Age: Inquisition, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic), Stray Gods looks set to stage far more than just amateur dramatics.
Blasphemous 2 (PC, Switch, PS5, Xbox Series X/S)
© The Game Kitchen
Release date: August 24
The Penitent One returns for a grueling new side-scrolling action-platformer. Transported to a new world, they now find themself faced with the task of, you guessed it, battling pretty much everything in their path. Blasphemous 2 looks to expand combat options with exciting new weapons and a cavalcade of even more monstrous bosses to test their edges on.
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (PC, PlayStation, Xbox)
Release date: August 18
Revving its motor ahead of spooky season, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is a new asymmetric multiplayer horror game based on the iconic movie. Each game sees four survivors attempt to escape the confines of the notorious Slaughter house, while three players take the role of murderous family members including, yes, the chainsaw-wielding Leatherface himself. Think Dead By Daylight, but with more killers at once and multiple routes of escape.
Immortals of Aveum (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S)
© Ascendant Studios
Release date: August 22
Who needs guns in a first-person shooter when you could be slinging spells instead? Published by Electronic Arts, Immortals of Aveum is hoping to be a breakthrough new IP. It’s an entirely single player story set in a world that blends sci-fi and fantasy with Doom-like arena combat. Join an elite order of battlemages, master three colors of magic, and, ideally, end the Everwar. Straightforward enough, right?
Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon (PC, PlayStation, Xbox)
Release date: August 25
Elden Ring developer FromSoft revives their mech-based action series for a new round of reaction-challenging missions in a dystopian world. Customize your mech mid mission to adapt your combat style and overcome all opponents as you take part in omnidirectional battles within massive steel-wrought arenas.
Want to get the best experience with the games above? Pair them with the HyperX Cloud III gaming headset. Compatible with PC, Switch, PlayStation, and Xbox, it features angled 53mm drivers tuned specifically for the dynamic audio of games.
