It looks like Spongebob is having a major play moment

For 25 years, people around the world have been happily entertained by the wacky adventures of the sponge who lives in a pineapple under the sea, SpongeBob SquarePants. Over 300 episodes of Nickelodeon's hit animated series have told the story of the underwater chef and his friends, but SpongeBob SquarePants' the adventures weren't limited to television. Numerous films, television spin-offs, stage adaptations, books, comics, and, of course, video games have kept people fascinated by the sponge-possessing snail over the years. However, video games based on the world of SpongeBob only seemed to decline dramatically in the 2010s. That was until the surprise release of several SpongeBob games in the early 2020s, including one announced for 2025.

The modern video game rebirth of SpongeBob SquarePants

For gamers who grew up in the early 2000s, many probably have fond memories playing Nickelodeon video game classics like Pretty Weird Parents: Breaking the Rules, Nicktoons unite!AND SpongeBob SquarePants: Bikini Bottom Battle. It was due to nostalgia for this era of gaming that THQ Nordic commissioned Purple Lamp Studios to develop a remake Battle for modern audiences and platforms in 2020 called SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom – Rehydrated. While Rehydrated received mixed reviews, was a financial success selling over 2 million copies by 2021. This success inspired THQ and other game companies to develop more SpongeBob games and include the icon in many other games.

This resurgence of SpongeBob in video games continued for the first time with his 2021 appearance Nickelodeon All-Star BrawlA Super Smash Bros-fighting game with all kinds of Nickelodeon characters, old and new. SpongeBob would continue to be present Hot Wheels go wild, Minecraft, Nickelodeon Kart Racers 3: Slime SpeedwayAND Autumn guys. In 2023, THQ Nordic and Purple Lamp Studios released a spiritual sequel to Rehydrated in the form of the new game SpongeBob SquarePants: Cosmic Shock. As Rehydrated, Cosmic shock was a third-person platformer that received mixed reviews but saw lower-than-expected sales, much lower than the sales seen with Rehydrated.

The latest SpongeBob SquarePants video game

Despite the poor sales of Cosmic shockNickelodeon has continued to approve new video game developments in the world of SpongeBob, leading to the October 2024 release of SpongeBob SquarePants: Patrick Star's Game. A third-person physics-based sandbox game, Patrick's star game stars SpongeBob's lovable, goofy, best friend Patrick, a first for the video game medium. Here, Patrick can complete a series of minigames and short missions to earn sand dollars and participate in The Fry Cook Games. However, I like it Cosmic shock, Patrick's star game it has received mixed to negative reviews so far.

SpongeBob SquarePants: Patrick Star's Game
was released on the same day as Patrick's voice actor Bill Fagerbakke's 67th birthday, October 4, 2024.

The future of SpongeBob SquarePants in video games

While SpongeBob's recent resurgence in video games has been mixed overall, that hasn't stopped the jellyfish fan from being the star of upcoming games. In a recent trailer, the sequel from THQ Nordic and Purple Lamp Studios Cosmic shock was teased, apparently completing an initial trilogy Rehydrated. Little information is known about this next Spongebob game, but it has a release date of 2025. This game is expected to be a third-person platformer and will play similarly to both Rehydrated AND Cosmic shock. Only a few gameplay clips were shown, depicting Spongebob walking as a skeleton and himself in the dark, deep city of Rock Bottom.

In terms of story, this is new SpongeBob SquarePants the game appears to have the ghost of the Flying Dutchman as the main antagonist, as he is seen repeatedly in the trailer. The trailer was also titled the “Official Halloween Gaming Trailer” and features a lot of disturbing scenes, so having the Flying Dutchman as the antagonist could work. A mysterious pink portal opens and pulls buildings and buses in and appears to strike residents with lightning. Bosses from previous games also appeared, such as Squidward transforming into a giant octopus and Miss Shell appearing as a witch. Both SpongeBob and Patrick appear as little ghosts at the end of the trailer and will likely have to use these forms to save Bikini Bottom once again.