As we ring in the new year, it is time to honour the past year in gaming with CGMagazine’s Game of the Year 2025. In past years, our GOTY has gone to outstanding titles such as Elden Ring, Baldur’s Gate 3 and most recently, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. This year, contenders for this award spanned both indie and AAA titles, proving that heading into 2026, the race for GOTY isn’t always dominated by those with the biggest budget.
Some titles that came close, but didn’t quite make the Game of the Year 2025 list this year, which were nominated but ultimately did not earn enough votes, include Arc Raiders, which scored a 9.5 out of 10 according to writer Erik McDowell, DOOM: The Dark Ages, which scored 8.5 out of 10 from writer Matt Keith, and The Outer Worlds 2, which earned a 9 out of 10 from writer Marcus Kenneth.
CGMagazine’s top five games of 2025 featured some highly anticipated titles—even those that were shadow-dropped, like Hollow Knight: Silksong. Hades II, which won The Game Award for Best Action Game, also makes it on the list, with some die-hard fans on the CGM team. Of course, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 landed in the top, and if you’ve been paying attention to the industry lately, that is no surprise. We also saw Silent Hill f nominated and scoring votes from our team, and finally, Borderlands 4, the latest in the series, landed in our top five games this year.
Without further ado, here are our top five games of 2025, ultimately crowning CGMagazine’s Game of the Year 2025!
5. Borderlands 4
By Justin Wood
Borderlands 4 is one of the best games of 2025. It feels like a series that has finally learned its lessons and put its best foot forward. It is not louder for the sake of it, and not trying to chase whatever internet memes they think are funny this year. Borderlands 4 is just confident in its own chaos, and knowing when to be restrained. The writing is sharper without being exhausting, the humour actually lands because it knows when to pull back, and the stakes feel real thanks to a villain who doesn’t need to scream for attention.
Where Borderlands 4 really locks itself in as a 2025 standout, though, is in how good it feels to play. The shooting is snappier, movement is more fun and tactical than it’s ever been, thanks to the new grapple hook mechanic, and the drops are exciting again in a way Borderlands 3 often struggled to maintain. Exploring Kairos feels rewarding, co-op is still pure chaos in the best way, and the endgame gives you a reason to keep logging back in rather than quietly moving on. More than anything, Borderlands 4 feels like a game that respects your time and is Borderlands perfected
4. Hollow Knight: Silksong
When I was asked to write about why Hollow Knight: Silksong was a Game of the Year 2025 contender and one of CGM’s top five games of the year, my first thought was “…isn’t it obvious?” Like I said in my review, it was a game that was so anticipated that it crashed almost every storefront it was on the moment it launched. Is it any wonder that the sequel to Hollow Knight—a game that is considered to be one of the best Metroidvanias (and yes, that term is appropriate here) of all time—that expanded and refined its gameplay in almost every way, would make every top list of 2025?
Hollow Knight: Silksong was absolutely worth its eight-year wait. It maintains the incredible world-building, brilliant storytelling, and captivating exploration of its predecessor and enhances it tenfold with unbelievable fluidity of movement and intense combat encounters. It elevates its predecessor’s solum atmosphere and quiet beauty, and just when you think you’ve figured it out, it expands even further. Plainly put, it’s an unbelievable experience.
3. Hades II
By Zubi Khan
Hades II breaks the mould of Supergiant Games, with the studio making its first sequel to their roster of indie standouts, which lands it on our list of Game of the Year 2025 contenders. The beloved Greek mythology-inspired roguelike is deserving of that honour, as Hades II pushes the envelope of what made the original so great.
With two distinct routes, taking Melinoë either to the bowels of the underworld or to the surface toward Mt. Olympus, Hades II offers players a staggering amount of content to conquer. On top of a richer combat system, with inclusions such as the Magick bar and the Arcana system, Hades II is a standout game amongst a slew of other gleaming game of the year contenders.
2. Silent Hill f
By Brendan Frye
Silent Hill f is not only one of the strongest entries the series has seen in years, but it is also, without question, one of the best horror games of 2025. That makes its second-place finish in our Game of the Year 2025 selection especially satisfying to see.
For those who may not have played it, Silent Hill f transports the franchise to 1960s Japan, trading fog-choked American streets for the rural mountain village of Ebisugaoka. The story follows Hinako Shimizu, a teenage girl escaping a troubled home life, who becomes trapped as supernatural forces transform her hometown into a living nightmare. This entry steps away from the cult-focused mythology that defined earlier games, instead grounding its horror in Japanese Shinto influences while retaining the psychological depth the series is known for.
Developer NeoBards Entertainment delivers an experience that feels both familiar and fresh. The combat system blends classic vulnerability with mechanics inspired by Souls-like games, including destructible weapons, stamina management and precision-based dodging. Composer Akira Yamaoka returns with a haunting score that complements the Unreal Engine 5 visuals, as red spider lilies bloom from the ground and tentacle-like growths creep through traditional architecture. The result is a powerful and unsettling experience that stands as a welcome addition to the series, revitalizing a franchise that many fans hold dear.
1. Game of the Year 2025 — Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
It’s rare that a truly generation-defining game comes along, and rarer still to see a game deliver on all its goals and promises—but from the moment I first entered the world of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, I knew it would set a bar for the industry. (Though, I didn’t quite expect it to sweep so thoroughly through this year’s annual rewards.)
True to the first part of its name, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33—as a game, a story, and an experience—is about contrast and balance. Light and dark, life and death, joy and sorrow, challenge and triumph, grief and perseverance; all of these elements intermingle deftly throughout, a rollercoaster for our senses, reflexes, and emotions.
Right away, the game excels at drawing us into its world and making us invest in its characters, and its introductory segment is a masterclass in game design. In the first half hour, we are introduced to our first hero, shown the stakes of the larger conflict in very personal terms, and taught the basics of its gameplay systems in natural tutorials. From there, Expedition 33 unfurls with the same level of careful exposition and design for the rest of its 30-hour adventure, spiralling outward into one of the most heartfelt and unflinching conclusions I can name in any medium.
The gameplay systems carrying us through this adventure are among the most refined of the generation as well. Here, its influences are most clearly worn on its sleeve and interwoven into its original contributions, creating a potent system that appeals both to RPG aficionados and to those who normally avoid the genre. As the narrative and the challenges escalated into the final act, it was impossible to pry myself away (or to stop humming its breathtaking score when not playing).
It’s incredible that a game of such magnitude came from a new studio, and at a reduced price point as well. The rest of the industry should be sitting up and taking notes from Expedition 33–not to blindly copy its homework, but to live up to the level of thoughtful design and heartfelt artistry.
That wraps up our Game of the Year 2025. As we head into 2026, we are keeping a close eye on games like GTA VI, Marvel’s Wolverine, Resident Evil Requiem and more. 2025 was an excellent year for games, and next year looks like it will keep that momentum going!
