Steam Awards: Players choose "Hollow Knight Silksong" as Game of the Year
At the Steam Awards, the game of the year is not chosen by a jury, but by the players themselves. They have chosen "Hollow Knight Silksong".
(Image: Team Cherry)
For Steam users, "Hollow Knight Silksong" was the game of the year 2025. In a vote, the Steam community chose the title ahead of other nominated games such as "Kingdom Come Deliverance 2" and "Clair Obscure: Expedition 33", which in turn was awarded best game of the year at the Game Awards. The challenging Metroidvania game was also awarded "Best Game You Suck At".
While other game awards use a jury to prevent major blunders, the Steam Awards are ruthlessly democratic – and are sometimes interpreted satirically by gamers. Last year, for example, the Steam community awarded the mediocrely received "Starfield" the award for most innovative gameplay. The "Labor of Love" award for games that are maintained long-term went to "Red Dead Redemption 2", whose fans have been complaining for years about the lack of updates for the multiplayer mode.
Other winners
This year, however, there are no awards that stand out as particularly suspicious. This year, the "Labor of Love" award was won by "Baldur's Gate 3". The role-playing game from Larian Studios was still supplied with significant innovations and patches in 2025. The adventure game "The Midnight Walk" was voted best VR title, and the award "Best Game on Steam Deck", created not entirely altruistically by Valve, was snatched up by "Hades 2".
The award for best co-op title went to the climbing game "Peak", and "Silent Hill f" won the "Outstanding Visual Style Award". The multiplayer game "Arc Raiders" received the award for most innovative gameplay, which was mockingly awarded to "Starfield" last year.
"Clair Obscure Expedition 33" won in the "Best Soundtrack" category, while the story award went to the episodic superhero game "Dispatch". Finally, "RV There Yet?" was awarded best cozy game. The complete list of winners and finalists can be found at Steam.
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The Steam Awards are not endowed with prize money and are considered relatively unimportant compared to other awards such as the Game Awards. Nevertheless, game companies can use an award for marketing. In addition, a Steam Award is always an expression of the ability to mobilize a community – for better or for worse.
(dahe)
