PC game releases I'm most excited about this August

August isn’t usually the month I expect to see so many notable PC games lined up, but this year is different. From long-anticipated remakes, small inventive indies, and a few reissues that actually feel worthwhile, the release calendar has more than enough to pay attention to. Even with Gamescom around the corner, publishers aren’t holding back as much as I expected.

Remakes like Gears of War: Reloaded and Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater are the obvious headline grabs. But there are also titles like Sword of the Sea, Discounty, and Mafia: The Old Country that have something fresh to offer, whether it's through visual direction, mechanics, or setting. Some games lean heavily into nostalgia; others try out something unusual.

I've gone through the August lineup and picked out the PC games I'm genuinely looking forward to. Some will be familiar; others might not be on your radar yet. Either way, they're worth keeping an eye on.

August opens with high-energy fighters and strategy

August 5 kicks off with Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Hinokami Chronicles 2, a direct follow-up to the arena brawler that covers more of the anime’s arcs, including Swordsmith Village and Hashira Training. It’s still sticking to faithful, stylish visuals and quick-button mash combat, which works fine for fans who want to follow the narrative with some interaction.

The following day, Era One drops with ship customization and classic base-building RTS gameplay. It’s one of those games that could either quietly take over your evenings or fade into backlog status depending on how tight the pacing is.

Indies take the spotlight on August 7

There’s a strong run of mid-sized releases on August 7. Tiny Bookshop is exactly what it sounds like: a portable bookstore management sim with a cozy aesthetic and light business mechanics.

On the same day, Gradius Origins hits Steam, bundling several old-school horizontal shooters with a modern UI and built-in accessibility options like save states and a rewind feature. Also releasing that day is The House of the Dead 2 Remake, which brings back the rail shooter in fully remastered form. It’s over-the-top and probably exactly the right kind of dumb.

August 8: Crime drama in old-world Sicily

Mafia: The Old Country is easily one of the games I’m watching most closely. It goes back to the very early 1900s, placing you in Sicily as Enzo Favara, a young up-and-comer in the Torrisi family.

It’s more focused than previous Mafia entries and reportedly ditches the open-world bloat in favor of a more curated narrative experience. I’ve only really played Mafia III, mostly for the New Orleans setting, but San Celeste, the new in-game city, already looks demanding in all the right ways. The mix of Sicilian voice acting and tighter storytelling might make this one of the better crime games this year.

Sword of the Sea and the art of movement

Releasing on August 19, Sword of the Sea looks like the kind of meditative traversal experience you either click with immediately or bounce off completely. I previewed it earlier this summer, and it left me feeling like a cross between a half-decent rhythm gamer and someone trying to play Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater on a trackpad.

But that’s a compliment, as it takes the mood-first approach of games like Journey and gives you a slightly odd but satisfying control system to coast across vast, shifting landscapes. It’s the kind of game I keep thinking about days after playing it.

Satire meets capitalism in Discounty

Then there’s Discounty on August 21, which imagines what it’d be like to play a JojaMart manager if Stardew Valley ever let you take that route. You don’t exactly play as an evil overlord, but things in town do start to take a turn. There are some unusual and downright seedy things happening around the edges. It’s light, it’s weird, and it’s probably a welcome break from the larger, heavier titles clogging up the month.

Big-budget remakes close out the month

August ends with a bang. Gears of War: Reloaded launches on August 26, and it brings a full remake of the original 2006 cover shooter. This one includes all content from the Ultimate Edition, runs up to 120 fps with 4K support, and even includes cross-progression across PC and console.

It’s also the first time the game officially hits PlayStation. Then comes Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater on August 28. It’s a complete Unreal Engine 5 remake of MGS3, with multiple gameplay modes and the return of all the original story beats. There’s even a “Fox Hunt” mode and nods to old crossover content like Ape Escape and Bomberman.

This month feels unusually packed. Some of the biggest titles are reworks of older games, but the polish and effort behind them are hard to ignore.

If you’re tracking PC game releases this August, there’s plenty to get excited about. Personally, I’ll be playing Sword of the Sea and Mafia on day one, and probably trying not to get sucked back into Snake Eater for the tenth time.