Funnily enough, award season for the video game industry isn’t quite over yet. Through the controversies of last year’s Game Awards’ Highguard announcement and Indie Game Awards’ revocation of Clair Obscur’s GOTY award, there was but one awards ceremony for 2025 that hadn’t finished up. The Steam Awards, which unlike the Game Awards, has all of its nominees decided by the community, wrapped up over the weekend after over 43 million votes, and we have the results. Make sure to also check out what our top 10 games of 2025 were here.

Game of The Year Award:

Hollow Knight Silksong

Those of whom in the loyal fanbase for Silksong who were disappointed at its performance in the 2025 Game Awards will be excited to learn that, at least in the eyes of Steam users, it was the crowning title of the year. Perhaps this doesn’t come as much of a surprise, however, considering that the game was so anticipated that upon its launch, it caused widespread Steam outages due to the level of traffic the store experienced.

VR Game of the Year Award:

The Midnight Walk

Although a smaller collection in Steam’s catalogue of games, VR titles nonetheless have been a flagship attraction of the platform–no thanks to the competitiveness of Valve’s VR hardware. This year, a stylized horror title a la Little Nightmares took the cake: The Midnight Walk. Critics and fans alike lauded the game for its gripping storytelling and daring claymation art direction, which made it a unique entry to a genre filled with “imagine your favorite game but in virtual reality” titles.

Labor of Love:

Baldur’s Gate 3

This category is reserved for games that receive an outstanding level of updates and care far beyond their initial release, and for 2025, GOTY 2023 winner turn-based RPG Baldur’s Gate 3 has come out on top. From adding new subclasses, to entirely new storylines, and of course openly celebrating and supporting the game’s sprawling modding community, developer Larian has done an excellent job of cherishing their achievement. Although moving forward they might have to address fan backlash over alleged usage of generative AI in their upcoming game, Divinity.

Best Game on Steam Deck Award:

Hades 2

Developer Supergiant is no stranger to success, with both Hades 2 and its predecessor winning multiple awards from different outlets–including Best Action Game at both the Game Awards and the Indie Game Awards–but especially for the ever-mobile users of Valve’s Steam Deck, Hades 2 was enrapturing in 2025.

Better With Friends Award:

Peak

Peak, the silly but challenging climbing game from Aggrocrab and Landfall, was chosen by the community as the best of the best when it comes to co-op. It is indeed simply a delightfully treacherous experience with friends, and its mechanics of proximity chat, assisted climbing–think “take my hand!”–and physics based item systems make for an endlessly replayable and enjoyable game.

Outstanding Visual Style Award:

Silent Hill F

Konami’s newest entry to the Silent Hill franchise released last year to critical acclaim, and for Steam users its most notable feature were its visuals. And while there are so many words to describe them– vivid, grotesque, atmospheric, visceral, surreal–players lauded it as truly an experience that has to be had first hand to understand it.

Most Innovative Gameplay Award:

Arc Raiders

It’s only been around two-ish months since Embark’s second ever game swept up multiplayer gamers into a frenzy that still hasn’t died down and in that time frame also snatched Best Multiplayer at The Game Awards 2025, and in a victory lap Arc Raiders has taken home another accolade. It shook up the extraction-shooter genre not by making it more complicated or any harder, but by introducing a never-before seen dynamic between players and the game’s carefully crafted scarily intelligent NPC robotic enemies that makes for a gripping experience regardless of your success in one of its raids.

Best Game You Suck At Award:

Hollow Knight: Silksong

And we’re back again with Silksong, the only title on this list to win two categories at the Steam Awards; this one for its notorious difficulty. Not only did the game capture players with its stunning illustrated graphics and world, but kept them stuck in it, over and over again as they attempted to grapple with its biggest challenges and obstacles. It just goes to show that at least if you fail a mind-boggling amount of times in a game, you could make it all worth it and enjoy the scenery.

Best Soundtrack Award:

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 not only won GOTY at the Game Awards 2025, it won nine of the categories it was nominated for. The live music featured at the event was also from the game. It might as well have been a Clair Obscur themed awards ceremony. And though at the Steam Awards it has only won one category; it is indeed one that it wholly deserved in players’ eyes. Clair Obscur has a breathtaking orchestral score, and it made an already phenomenal title into something just that more memorable. Though it is somewhat funny that Steam’s generic capsule text calls the game an “unsung hero.”

Outstanding Story-Rich Game Award:

Dispatch 

It sold millions of copies, but despite two nominations at the Game Awards 2025, Dispatch won neither, much to the chagrin of its many fans. But at least it won Best Story at the Steam awards–and in that department the game shines brightest. Players raved about its excellent narrative-driven gameplay and vocal performances, and at one point it didn’t take very long to scroll through social media without seeing a clip from one of the game’s many notable beats.

Sit Back and Relax Award:

RV There Yet?

Yet another “friendslop” title on the award list–though that’s not a bad thing. PC Gamer dubbed 2025 the year friendslop reigned, citing Peak, REPO, and the winner for this category, RV There Yet as prominent examples of the burgeoning genre of co-op games. RV There Yet is a game best envisioned as a weekend camping-trip with your chainsmoking uncle simulator, and as such, features navigating a bouncy, creaking RV through the beautiful terrain of a national park. It is a game not so focused on challenge, but rather the anecdote that it’s all about the journey, not the destination.