OU Gaming Club Game Awards 2025

As another year comes to a close, another host of diverse video games have been released.

2025 has been an incredible year for gaming. Many new developers and franchises have taken off, and powerhouses like Nintendo have shown why they retain dominance in AAA gaming.

As is now tradition for the OU Gaming Club, I made a poll for the club to fill out in fourteen categories.

While some of these results certainly shocked me, there were a few that I saw coming a mile away. Check out the video here to see the full breakdown of the awards, and read on in this article for the breakdowns.

Here are the results of the 2025 OU Gaming Club Game Awards!

2025 has seen its share of deep and enriching narratives that have pushed the expectation for gaming stories higher than ever. Ghost of Yoteibrought a no-holds-barred revenge story, while Silent Hill fdove into women’s struggles with gender roles and the patriarchy.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’s haunting narrative about the cycle of grief wins the award for Best Narrative! Expedition 33’s meditations on family and destructive creativity proved resonant with thousands of gamers.

No game is complete without a soundtrack, and 2025 has raised the bar for video game OSTs. Mario Kart Worldhas brought remixes and unique arrangements of beloved track themes from across the entire series. Expedition 33,meanwhile, gave a fledgling composer complete freedom and brought a wildly varied soundscape to the game.

Hollow Knight: Silksongtakes the award for Best Soundtrack! Silksongbrought gorgeous string motifs and beautiful piano melodies into the world of Pharloom, capturing the hearts of gamers in the Gaming Club and beyond.

In an industry where pure realism has become the most popular form of graphic design, many game developers have bucked this trend. Donkey Kong Bananzabrought the depths of the world to life with vibrant flair. Expedition 33’s Lumiere is a world straight out of a painter’s imagination with all the style to match.

Hollow Knight: Silksong’s beautiful 2D graphics have taken the award for Best Art Direction by a landslide, however! This long-awaited sequel proves time and time again that it was worth the wait in presentation alone.

2025 is my favorite year for voice acting in a long time. We’ve had excellent performances across the board, such as Troy Baker’s performance as the insane but inexplicably charming antagonist, Higgs. Jennifer English and Ben Starr have brought nuanced performances to Maelle and Verso, respectively.

Erika Ishii takes the award for Best Performance by a Voice Actor for their performance as Atsu from Ghost of Yotei!Ishii blends rage and sorrow well with Atsu’s hardened character. They brought one of my new favorite characters to life and added so much depth to Atsu’s character.

Indie games are the lifeblood of creativity in gaming. It seems as though every year, indie games push the limits of what defines gaming further and further. Hades IItakes the foundations of an already solid game and makes it better. Deltarunecontinues its intriguing narrative about control.

Despite these successes, nothing stood a chance against Silksong.Seven years of waiting make for a rabid fanbase, and thankfully, Silksongis one of the best games to come out of 2025, if not the past few years. It still blows my mind how much influence the Hollow Knightfranchise has.

While pushing the boundaries of gaming is fun, sometimes you just want to experience a solid action game. From remakes like Metal Gear Solid Delta, to sequels like Ghost of Yotei, and new IP like Split Fiction,2025 has plenty of excellent choices.

Ghost of Yoteitakes the award for Best Action game by a landslide! Yoteiexpanded on Tsushima’sexcellent foundations with more weapons and tools to use to take out your enemies. Animations are more fluid, and options for killing your foes are more varied than ever.

I’ve always been a massive fan of RPGs, and 2025 has seen the release of a new all-time favorite. Whether you’re a fan of Western RPGs, JRPGs, or something in between, there have been tons of options this year.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33has won the award for Best RPG, with over half the votes! It comes as no surprise that this lovingly crafted debut title from Sandfall Interactive has taken the gaming world by storm with its gorgeous visuals, beautiful soundtrack, gripping narrative and tight gameplay. I couldn’t be happier that my favorite game of the year has won.

Sometimes, all you need is a good scare. Video games are a perfect avenue to push the boundaries of interactive fear, and 2025 has brought many new and varied experiences to the table. From Silent Hill f’s haunting atmosphere and tragic narrative to Dying Light: The Beast’s return to movement-based action, there’s something for everyone.

R.E.P.O.barely edged out Silent Hill fto take the award for Best Horror game! The game’s co-op focus and proximity chat have made each extraction unique and provided tons of replayability value for gaming with your friends.

2025 has been a great year for new Esports games. Mario Kart World,which launched with the Switch 2, has given fans the first new entry in the Mario Kartseries in elevenyears, with new additions like wallriding. The yearly football games have launched to moderate success, as well.

None of these titles comes close to the latest team-based shooter, Marvel Rivals,which wins the award for Best Esports game! Since its launch, it has taken the esports world by storm with its excellent gameplay and varied hero roster. We even have a Rivalsesports team here at OU!

Once again, Nintendo has dominated the family genre thanks to its creativity, accessibility and focus on making games fun first.

Donkey Kong Bananzabreathed new life into its titular character with a brand-new gameplay loop. Pokémon Legends: Z-Areinvented Pokémon battles into a frantic, real-time format that has taken the community by storm.

Despite these successes, Mario Kart Worldhas taken the award for Best Family game. Between World’s beautiful tracks, excellent soundtrack, and tight new gameplay, there’s plenty to love and more than enough reason this game deserves the praise.

I’m a sucker for getting more content for games I already enjoy.

Donkey Kong Bananzagot a DLC expansion in record time with DK Island & Emerald Rush,which added a roguelike mode to the game along with a brand-new area to explore. Lies of P: Overtureintroduced a prequel story to the ruined city of Krat.

No Man’s Sky: Voyagersedged out Overtureto win Best DLC/Expansion! Voyagersintroduced a new ship type to the game that lets players travel as crews instead of separately, as well as a host of graphical improvements. I couldn’t be happier to see No Man’s Skycontinue to evolve since its release in 2016.

While there have been so many incredible games that have come out in 2025, only one can be crowned king.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33proved that mid-budget games can have massive success and well-crafted stories.

Hollow Knight: Silksongwas released to rave reviews and gave its fanbase a crisp and well-crafted experience filled with beauty and danger.

Split Fictiondeveloper Hazelight Studios continues to remind everyone that couch co-op isn’t a dying gameplay format.

Donkey Kong Bananzashowed that Nintendo can take any of its IPs in new and refreshing directions.

Death Stranding 2continued Sam Bridges’s story and showcased the beauty of one of the best-looking game engines in the industry.

Only one of these games can be the victory, and thanks to the Gaming Club, we have it.

Hollow Knight: Silksongtakes the title of the OU Gaming Club’s Game of the Year for 2025! After seven long years, Team Cherry brought us an unforgettable experience in this polished sequel to the critically acclaimed original.

As is tradition, I asked all the members of the Media & News team to give me their personal favorite games released in 2025 to determine which was the most beloved by the Gaming Club.

This category was much closer than many, but Hollow Knight: Silksongtook yet anotheraward! I was seriously banking on an Expedition 33win, but we can’t have everything.

Silksongdeserves its flowers.

An honorable mention goes out to Dispatch,which was released shortly after this poll was completed. Had it come out sooner, I would’ve included it in the GOTY polls. Check it out if you’re interested in a solid choice-based narrative!

While 2025 was an amazing year for gaming, next year contains a few giants, one of which won last year’s Most Anticipated award.

And, of course, due to a delay, it wins the Gaming Club’s Most Anticipated game award for 2026. Grand Theft Auto VIis set to release in November 2026, and it is fresh on everyone’s minds. Let’s hope it doesn’t get delayed again.

I’m thankful for the wonderful community we have in the OU Gaming Club and OU Esports Co-Curricular & Innovation. Without the support, I wouldn’t be able to make projects like this.

Thank you so much for reading! Thank you to all the Gaming Club members who voted in the polls. No matter where you look, you can find a perfect video game for you.