The winners of the Steam Awards 2025 were announced on January 3 at 21:00 Moscow time. As in previous years, nominees and winners were chosen by the Steam community of players.
Contrary to some recent trends and expectations, the community's choice for Game of the Year was not Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 nor the medieval epic Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2; the top prize went elsewhere.
Team Cherry's hardcore metroidvania Hollow Knight: Silksong was named Game of the Year at the Steam Awards 2025. The title also won the award in the category commonly described as the best game that players struggle to master.
The evacuation shooter Arc Raiders was singled out as the winner in the Most Innovative Gameplay category, while the superhero comedy Dispatch was voted Best Game with an Outstanding Story.
Hades 2 was chosen as Best Game on Steam Deck, and the role‑playing milestone Baldur's Gate 3 — which received its last major update during 2025 — earned the 'Beloved Child' award from the community.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 took home the Best Soundtrack award, underscoring the variety of tastes among Steam voters this year.
Hollow Knight: Silksong was the only title at Steam Awards 2025 to receive more than one award, reinforcing its broad appeal among players and critics alike.
Below is the full list of nominees and winners for Steam Awards 2025 as announced by the platform. Winners are indicated after the nominee lists:
Game of the Year: Arc Raiders; Clair Obscur: Expedition 33; Dispatch; Hollow Knight: Silksong — winner; Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2.
Game of the Year in Virtual Reality: Emissary Zero; F1 25; Le Mans Ultimate; Pavlov; The Midnight Walk — winner.
Best Game on Steam Deck: Ball x Pit; CloverPit; Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor; Digimon Story Time Stranger; Hades 2 — winner.
Beloved Child: Baldur's Gate 3 — winner; Dota 2; Helldivers 2; No Man's Sky; Rust.
Friendship and Teamwork (roughly translated from the original category title): Battlefield 6; Peak — winner; R.E.P.O.; Schedule I; Split Fiction.
Outstanding Visual Style: Doom: The Dark Ages; Final Fantasy VII Rebirth; ENA: Dream BBQ; My Little Puppy; Silent Hill f — winner.
Most Innovative Gameplay: Arc Raiders — winner; Blue Prince; Escape from Duckov; Europa Universalis V; Mage Arena.
Best Game That You Can't Beat: Elden Ring Nightreign; Hollow Knight: Silksong — winner; Marvel Rivals; Path of Exile 2; Where Winds Meet.
Best Soundtrack: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 — winner; Deltarune; Marvel's Spider-Man 2; Rift of the NecroDancer; Tokyo Xtreme Racer.
Best Game with an Outstanding Story: Dispatch — winner; Dying Light: The Beast; Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2; No, I'm not a Human; The Last of Us Part II (remaster).
Get Comfortable (casual and relaxing games category): Chill with You: Lo‑Fi Story; Megabonk; PowerWash Simulator 2; RV There Yet? — winner; Slime Rancher 2.