Steam Awards 2025 Winners Announced (Expedition 33 Didn't Win GOTY)

Steam users have voted, and Hollow Knight: Silksong was chosen over Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 for the top honor in the 2025 Steam Awards. Voting for the 2025 Steam Awards started in November, as Steam users nominated eligible titles for 11 unique categories. The final voting round took place during the Steam Winter Sale.

The 2025 Steam Award categories consisted of evergreen categories like Game of the Year and Best Soundtrack, alongside unique categories such as Best Game on Steam Deck and the Sit Back and Relax Award. Nominations for the 2025 Steam Awards were chosen by eligible Steam users during an initial voting window in late November, with the last round conducted from December 18 to January 3. Each of the Steam Awards’ 11 categories had five nominees, with games like PEAK, Dispatch, and ARC Raiders nominated for multiple awards.

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2025 Steam Award Winners Revealed

Game of the Year

Hollow Knight Silksong
Arc Raiders
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Dispatch
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2

VR Game of the Year

The Midnight Walk
EA Sports F1 25
Emissary Zero
Le Mans Ultimate
Pavlov

Labor of Love

Baldur’s Gate 3
Dota 2
Helldivers 2
No Man’s Sky
Rust

Best Game on Steam Deck

Hades 2
Ball x Pit
Clover Pit
Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor
Digimon Story: Time Stranger

Better With Friends

PEAK
Battlefield 6
R.E.P.O.
Schedule I
Split Fiction

Outstanding Visual Style

Silent Hill f
Doom: The Dark Ages
Dream BBQ
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
My Little Puppy

Most Innovative Gameplay

ARC Raiders
Blue Prince
Escape from Duckov
Europa Universalis 5
Mage Arena

Best Game You Suck At

Hollow Knight: Silksong
Elden Ring: Nightreign
Marvel Rivals
Path of Exile 2
Where Winds Meet

Best Soundtrack

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Deltarune
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
Rift of the NecroDancer
Tokyo Xtreme Racer

Outstanding Story-Rich Game

Dispatch
Dying Light: The Beast
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2
No, I’m Not A Human
The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered

Sit Back and Relax

RV There Yet?
Chill With You: Lo-Fi Story
Megabonk
Powerwash Simulator 2
Slime Rancher 2

On January 3, after two weeks of voting in the final round, the 2025 Steam Award winners were officially unveiled. Hollow Knight: Silksong claimed Game of the Year over nominees Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Dispatch, ARC Raiders, and Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2. In addition to taking home the top Steam Award of 2025, Hollow Knight: Silksong also claimed the Best Game You Suck At Award. While the category’s name may be a tongue-in-cheek moniker, the honor of Best Game You Suck At is often awarded to a game known for being a challenging experience from the start. Although it was not chosen for Steam’s 2025 Game of the Year Award, the critically acclaimed Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 did not walk away empty-handed from the Steam Awards, as it was chosen for the Best Soundtrack Award.

The Best Game on Steam Deck Award, which often goes to titles that players can enjoy on the go via the Steam Deck, was given to Hades 2. The latest project from Supergiant Games is also one of 2025’s highest-rated Steam titles, with a 95% to 96% overwhelmingly positive rating on Valve’s platform at the time of writing. Two other indie titles, PEAK and RV There Yet?, won the Better With Friends Award and the Sit Back and Relax Award, respectively. Both PEAK and RV There Yet? are online multiplayer games that have captivated gamers throughout 2025.

Although it was first launched in 2023, Baldur’s Gate 3 remained a popular title in 2025, thanks to various updates and support from fans. This netted Larian Studios’ hit RPG the 2025 Labor of Love Award, with games like Helldivers 2 and No Man’s Sky also getting nominations. Additionally, ARC Raiders claimed the Most Innovative Gameplay Award over titles like Blue Prince and Europa Universalis 5. With a high player count that has averaged over 400,000 active players since launch, Embark Studios’ hit shooter has kept players coming back for more within its first two months of online service.

What’s Next for Some of the Award Winners?

Hollow Knight: Silksong developer Team Cherry announced in December that the game would receive additional content throughout 2026. The Sea of Sorrow expansion for Hollow Knight: Silksong will be available as a free update to download sometime in 2026. The upcoming DLC will add new weapons and areas for Hornet to explore, and new enemies to battle. While Sea of Sorrow will have some water-based themes, further details about it remain elusive as of this writing.

Following the 2025 edition of The Game Awards, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 developer Sandfall Interactive surprised fans by dropping a free, ‘Thank You Update’ on all platforms. The patch included some new endgame challenges for players to test their character builds on, with some battles that can truly test Expedition 33 parrying skills. Although it is unclear whether Expedition 33 will receive additional content, time will tell what Sandfall’s plans are throughout 2026 and beyond.