This year has been a blast through and through for gamers. Other parts of modern society have been shaken at their core over the course of 2025, but video games persevered, allowing us to escape what’s around us even if briefly.
Indie games utterly dominated the year, with back-to-back successes coming from solo developers, small studios, and independent ventures alike. They are the true heroes of 2025, having rung the alarms at every corporate AAA studio, causing them to rethink their approach to game development.
Some games were simply the best, and we wanted to honor their contributions to games as an art form. We previously nominated our potential winners, and are now ready to show you the best of the best.
Destructoid’s best games of 2025
The following games were nominated by Destructoid’s staff in 11 categories, each category containing the editorial’s top five favorite games, out of which we ran a second vote to choose the ultimate winner. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is the most nominated game, carrying three categories, including Game of the Year, and three performances in the Best Acting Performance category. It’s no wonder, as award shows have shown.
So, here are our winners.
Destructoid’s Game of the Year
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Read more about why E33 is our GOTY here.
Best Indie Game
- Dispatch
Best RPG
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Best Narrative
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Best Multiplayer Game
- ARC Raiders
Best Live-Service Game
- ARC Raiders
Best Acting Performance
- Ben Starr (as Verso in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33)
Best Sports Game
- EA Sports FC 26
Best Action Game
- Hades 2
Best Fighting Game
- 2XKO
Most Anticipated Game
- GTA 6
The most exciting part of this whole awards process was that we figured most games, and the most successful ones especially, are original titles and not sequels. 2XKO, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, and Dispatch are all standalone titles, with the first one only sharing a universe with League of Legends. Even so, sequels have overwhelmed the modern gaming industry, and it’s good to see original titles performing and even dominating the current scene.
Expedition 33 is, as expected, the most-awarded game, winning every category it was nominated in. We expect no less from tonight’s The Game Awards, where E33 is the most-nominated game of the show’s history.
