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.... Read more