Every Game of the Year Contender Released in 2025

Now that August is almost halfway over, we’re just about three months away from the announcement of this year’s The Game Awards nominees. 2025 has been yet another one for the books, with plenty of games vying for the year’s greatest honors, whether in their respective genres or as one of the greatest interactive experiences of the last 12 months. Before the nominees are officially announced, we thought it might be prudent to take a look at the titles that are legitimate game of the year contenders released in 2025, taking into account their critic and user scores, as well as how much staying power they’ve had in the gaming community in their post-launch windows.

• Release Date — December 9, 2024
• Developer — MachineGames
• Publisher — Bethesda Softworks
• Review Aggregate Score — 86% (Generally Favorable)
• Steam User Score — 89% (Very Positive)

MachineGames’ brilliant take on Indiana Jones ended up releasing after the cutoff for consideration in 2024’s awards nominations, which makes it the first game to be a contender for Game of the Year honors in 2025. Plus, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle just made its way to the PS5 in April of this year, cementing it as a shoo-in for at least the Best Action Game category. If you haven’t played Indiana Jones and the Great Circle yet, you might be surprised to see how much DNA it shares with Arkane’s Dishonored games, and MachineGames did a phenomenal job capturing what makes Indiana Jones such an iconic character and property.

• Release Date — January 31, 2025
• Developer — Jump Over The Age
• Publisher — Fellow Traveler
• Review Aggregate Score — 86% (Generally Favorable)
• Steam User Score — 93% (Very Positive)

One of the year’s “dark horse” contenders for Game of the Year honors is the sequel to Citizen Sleeper, Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector. In terms of its gameplay, Citizen Sleeper 2 is an improved and streamlined version of its predecessor that both maintains the best parts of the original while adding in some new RPG mechanics and systems, but its narrative and writing are perhaps even stronger.

• Release Date — February 4, 2025
• Developer — Warhorse Studios
• Publisher — Deep Silver
• Review Aggregate Score — 88% (Generally Favorable)
• Steam User Score — 93% (Very Positive)

It’s a safe bet to assume that Kingdom Come: Deliverance II would be the front-runner for both Game of the Year and Best RPG were it not for Clair Obscur, and even then, it’s still a close race between the two for each category. Warhorse Studios went above and beyond to deliver an immersive RPG experience that places an equal emphasis on historical accuracy and realism as it does fun, and it proved that open worlds are better when they’re densely packed with plenty of worthwhile activities rather than just being large for large’s sake.

• Release Date — February 28, 2025
• Developer — Capcom
• Publisher — Capcom
• Review Aggregate Score — 88% (Generally Favorable)
• Steam User Score — 50% (Mixed)

As far as the contenders for Game of the Year in 2025 go, Monster Hunter Wilds is an interesting one. When it initially released, Wilds received plenty of praise for how it evolved the formula of Monster Hunter World to deliver one of the best and most accesisble versions of the iconic franchise. And while all that still rings true, lingering performance issues on both consoles and PC and a lack of new content have seen player interest in the title fall off a sharp cliff compared to its launch. Monster Hunter Wilds dominated the spotlight for a good while in the proximity of its launch, but it might be the least likely game to win top honors this year.

• Release Date — March 6, 2025
• Developer — Hazelight Studios
• Publisher — Electronic Arts
• Review Aggregate Score — 91% (Universal Acclaim)
• Steam User Score — 97% (Overwhelmingly Positive)

In the event that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 doesn’t win Game of the Year for 2025, there’s every chance that the honor will go to Split Fiction. Somehow, Hazelight Studios was able to craft a co-op experience that outdoes its previous work (and 2021 Game of the Year winner) It Takes Two, delivering so many moment-to-moment thrills that it’s not hyperbole to say that just one section of Split Fiction has more creativity and ingenuity present in it than some entire games.

• Release Date — April 10, 2025
• Developer — Dogubomb
• Publisher — Raw Fury
• Review Aggregate Score — 92% (Universal Acclaim)
• Steam User Score — 86% (Very Positive)

While it did hold the top spot of being the year’s best-reviewed game (until the release of Clair Obscur), user sentiment for Blue Prince has proven to be quite polarizing. There are just as many who find the game to be too obtuse and meandering as there are those who view its take on the roguelike puzzle/mystery genre to be absolute genius. Blue Prince is a game that will continually surprise you and reveal more and more layers of complexity as you keep playing, which should at least guaratee it a spot in the Best Indie Game category.

• Release Date — April 24, 2025
• Developer — Sandfall Interactive
• Publisher — Kepler Interactive
• Review Aggregate Score — 93% (Universal Acclaim)
• Steam User Score — 95% (Overwhelmingly Positive)

As of right now, the clear front-runner for netting many of the year’s top honors at the 2025 Game Awards is Sandfall Interactive’s Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Clair Obscur is a near-perfect game and a master class in design. Every element of the game — from its emotionally affecting and well-written narrative to its stunning art direction and incredible take on turn-based RPG combat — was so clearly calculated and well thought out that it’s immediately apparent that Clair Obscur is the type of title we only get once every few years and an instant classic.

• Release Date — April 24, 2025
• Developer — Too Kyo Games, Media. Vision Inc.
• Publisher — Aniplex Inc.
• Review Aggregate Score — 85% (Generally Favorable)
• Steam User Score — 88% (Very Positive)

Released on the same day as Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy is a game like nothing else that deserves to be in consideration as one of the year’s best. It’s a blend between a visual novel, a point-and-click adventure game, a dating sim, a turn-based tactical RPG, and so much more, and the incredible mystery that sits at its core (along with a compelling time travel-laden story) make it almost impossible to put down. Plus, its tactical battling is some of the best and snappiest the genre has seen in years.

• Release Date — May 1, 2025
• Developer — Julián Cordero, Sebastian Valbuena
• Publisher — Panic
• Review Aggregate Score — 89% (Generally Favorable)
• Steam User Score — 98% (Very Positive)

Even if it doesn’t net a nomination for Game of the Year, Despelote is most surely a lock for both Best Indie Game and Best Narrative. This loving tribute to the power of sports and the community that they help foster is both a creative and fun first-person ball-kicking simulator and one of the year’s most charming and heartfelt indie games. Despelote may have flown under a lot of players’ radars, but it’s absolutely deserving of a closer look.

• Release Date — May 29, 2025
• Developer — FromSoftware
• Publisher — FromSoftware, Bandai Namco
• Review Aggregate Score — 77% (Generally Favorable)
• Steam User Score — 83% (Very Positive)

It’s almost a given that anything with Elden Ring in its name is bound to net at least some nominations for end-of-the-year awards ceremonies, and Elden Ring Nightreign is no exception. Even if it has the lowest review aggregate score of any modern FromSoftware title, Elden Ring Nightreign is still an exciting and experimental take on the franchise that ended up being a massive multiplayer hit at launch. FromSoftware deserves some credit for taking a risk like they did with Elden Ring Nightreign.

• Release Date — June 5, 2025
• Developer — Nintendo EPD
• Publisher — Nintendo
• Review Aggregate Score — 86% (Generally Favorable)
• Steam User Score — N/A

While it’s more likely that the other first-party Switch 2 exclusive will get a Game of the Year nomination, Mario Kart World is still the best the franchise has been since, well, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, and it was an almost perfect title to launch the new console with. By now, most players have likely completed all the Grand Prix content currently available for Mario Kart World, but the new free roam mode and improved multiplayer battle can provide dozens upon dozens of hours of replay value that cement it as an essential for any Switch 2 library and one of 2025’s GOTY contenders.

• Release Date — June 13, 2025
• Developer — 11 bit studios
• Publisher — 11 bit studios
• Review Aggregate Score — 85% (Generally Favorable)
• Steam User Score — 89% (Very Positive)

Another of the “dark horse” contenders for Game of the Year is The Alters, which features some truly heady sci-fi concepts and a unique approach to survival gameplay to boot. While the gameplay side of The Alters can wear a little thin after multiple playthroughs, the game’s writing and character development (as well as its thought-provoking sci-fi concepts) never stop being interesting and encouraging yet another playthrough to try out Alters you haven’t used or attempt things differently.

• Release Date — June 26, 2025
• Developer — Kojima Productions
• Publisher — Sony Interactive Entertainment
• Review Aggregate Score — 89% (Generally Favorable)
• Steam User Score — N/A

Under the guiding hand of Hideo Kojima, Death Stranding 2 stands out from its predecessor as being a more streamlined experience that’s simply more fun to play, which helped it earn some strong review scores and a place as one of the year’s contenders for top honors come awards season. While Death Stranding 2‘s gameplay is an improvement over its predecessor, it does lose some of the identity of the original in the process, and its narrative is just as convoluted and ham-fisted as you might expect from Kojima. Still, Death Stranding 2 takes some big swings that, for the most part, land, and it’s likely a strong contender for being in the running for Game of the Year.

• Release Date — July 17, 2025
• Developer — Nintendo EPD
• Publisher — Nintendo
• Review Aggregate Score — 91% (Universal Acclaim)
• Steam User Score — N/A

Everyone expects a new first-party Nintendo game to be good, especially if that game happens to include one of its legacy characters. But almost no one could have predicted how great Donkey Kong Bananza would be, which is both the first 3D Donkey Kong game in more than a quarter century and the best one to feature the character. Donkey Kong Bananza excels thanks to its semi-open-world nature and environmental destruction, which seem to never get old as you slam through rocks and solve puzzles from one gorgeous biome to another.

• Release Date — July 31, 2025
• Developer — The Game Kitchen
• Publisher — Dotemu
• Review Aggregate Score — 84% (Generally Favorable)
• Steam User Score — 92% (Very Positive)

As discussions are starting deliberating which games from 2025 are worthy for taking the year’s top honors, one title that’s seemingly been left out of the conversation is Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound. But to discredit Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound as being a legitimate contender would be a mistake, as it’s one of the best action-platformers in years and a triumphant return for the Ninja Gaiden series to its 2D roots. It also happens to be one of the most frenetic and fun experiences of the year.