This is it. In a year overflowing with excellent games, these 5 stood above the rest.
Congrats to @bubbydarkstar.bsky.social, @dontnod.bsky.social, @giantsquidstudios.com, @compulsiongames.bsky.social, and @expedition33.bsky.social!
While visuals and gameplay are important, music is just as vital to imprint a game in our minds. These games had the best soundtracks of 2025.
Congrats @braceyourselfgames.com, @expedition33.bsky.social, & @compulsiongames.bsky.social!
2025 exposed us all to a lot of violence, suffering, and just bad vibes. These were the games that best countered that energy, these are the most wholesome games of 2025.
Congrats to @paperklay.bsky.social, @okomotive.ch, & @giantsquidstudios.com!
2025 left us with many stories to tell, but these games told us the best stories we heard all year.
Congrats to TearyHand Studio, @expedition33.bsky.social, and @compulsiongames.bsky.social!
These games might have been The Moment, but these were the best moments of those games.
Congrats @expedition33.bsky.social, @dontnod.bsky.social, and Game Freak!
We're not talking about framerate when we say we loved the performance in these games. These are the best video game performances of 2025.
Congrats @benstarr.bsky.social, @compulsiongames.bsky.social, and @obsidianent.bsky.social!
These possies were a cut about the casts of other games. These are our winners for Best Ensemble of 2025.
Congrats @dontnod.bsky.social, @bubbydarkstar.bsky.social, and @expedition33.bsky.social.
We fell in love with too many characters in 2025, but these were the ones we adored the most.
Congrats @compulsiongames.bsky.social, @obsidianent.bsky.social, and @bubbydarkstar.bsky.social!
Not all games are meant to be fun, but out of those that were, these were absolutely the most fun games of 2025.
Congrats to @crimsondev.bsky.social, Build a Rocket Boy, Team Ninja, @giantsquidstudios.com, and Nintendo!
In a rare case of *first" times a charm, these are the developers that gave the best possible first impressions with their debut game.
Congrats to @yellowbrickgames.bsky.social, @expedition33.bsky.social, & @dogubomb.bsky.social!
2025 brought a lot remakes and re-releases, but theses were the games that gave us the best reason to go back.
Congrats to @square-enix-games.com and Artdink Corp, Team Ninja, and @konamina.bsky.social!
Only a handful of games are great enough that they stayed in our minds and hands throughout the year, and in turned helped us through it. These games helped us through 2025.
Congrats to @expedition33.bsky.social , @dontnod.bsky.social , @reachthefinals.com, & @powerwashsimulator.co.uk!
Visual art reached some incredible heights in 2025, but these were the best looking games of the year.
Congrats to @compulsiongames.bsky.social, @giantsquidstudios.com, and @bubbydarkstar.bsky.social!
Every year there are some massive, often outta-nowhere, hits that take over all the conversation in a year. These were the biggest gaming Zeitgeists of 2025.
Congrats to @teamcherry.bsky.social, @expedition33.bsky.social, & @dogubomb.bsky.social!
2025 was full of a lot of bad news, but some good news, too! These were the biggest gaming stories of 2025.
Congrats to @stopkillinggames.bsky.social and @giantbomb.bsky.social!
And Rest in Peace to Vince Zampella.
There are too many new games to keep up with them all, but these are the older releases that made us say...What Took So Long?
Congrats to @teyongames.bsky.social, @square-enix-games.com, @sleeping-dogs.bsky.social, and @ericbarone.bsky.social
VGU Update 2026!
The Winners of all 16 of our Game of the Year Categories are now live on the site! You can see the winners in the article below, and listen to our deliberations in the quoted post.
We'll also be congratulating winners in the replies to this post, so stay tuned!
VGU.TV GOTY 2025 Day 4: Best Narative, Most Wholesome, Best Soundtrack, & Overall Game of the Year
All of our Game of the Year Deliberations are live on YouTube and all podcast services! We'll be sharing an article, and BS thread, with a full list of winners tomorrow, but if you wanna hear how those winners were decided, here's the links to each show:
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
VGU.TV GOTY 2025 Day 4: Best Narative, Most Wholesome, Best Soundtrack, & Overall Game of the Year
VGU.TV GOTY 2025 Day 3: Best Character, Best Ensemble, Best Performance, & Best Moment
VGU.TV GOTY 2025 Day 3: Best Look, Zeitgeist of the Year, Biggest Gaming News, & What Took So Long?
VGU.TV GOTY 2025 Day 2: Best Re-Release, Best Debut Studio, Most Fun, & Games as a Helping Hand
VGU.TV GOTY 2025 Day 2: Best Re-Release, Best Debut Studio, Most Fun, & Games as a Helping Hand
VGU.TV GOTY 2025 Day 1: Best Look, Zeitgeist of the Year, Biggest Gaming News, & What Took So Long?
VGU.TV Game of the Year 2025 Day 1: Best Look, Zeitgeist of the Year, Biggest Gaming News, & What Took So Long?
