Steam is the biggest digital distribution platform for games. The Steam website also hosts its own regular annual awards ceremony that recognizes the best games every year. Unlike the Game Awards, the Steam Awards is more of a digital event for which players become the judges by casting their votes. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 dominated the Game Awards 2025, but it was a different story for the 2025 Steam Awards on January 3.
Voting for the 2025 Steam Awards opened on December 18, 2025. Then, Steam users got their chance to vote for their favorite games across 11 award categories. There were five finalist nominations for each category that were also selected (or suggested) by the Steam community. Valve reviewed the vast number of nominations to select the most widely nominated games for each category. The nomination categories for the 2025 Steam Awards were:
- Game of the Year
- VR (Virtual Reality) Game of the Year
- Labor of Love
- Best Game on Steam Deck
- Better With Friends
- Outstanding Visual Style
- Most Innovative Gameplay
- Best Soundtrack
- Outstanding Story-Rich Game
- Sit Back and Relax
- Best Game You Suck at
Valve has now announced the winners of those awards in early 2026. Hollow Knight: Silksong won the Steam Game of the Year award for 2025. It was voted best game ahead of Clair Obscur, Arc Raiders, Dispatch, and Kingdom Come: Deliverance II.
Hollow Knight: Silksong is a 2D Metroidvania-style platformer that has delighted players throughout 2025. Players have loved Hollow Knight’s refined gameplay loop, impressive presentation, and beautiful world design. It was an altogether bigger and better sequel to the original Hollow Knight. The game currently has a Metacritic score of 90, and the user rating of 8.9/10 for Silksong closely matches media reviews.
Hollow Knight: Silksong also received the Steam Best Game You Suck at award, which might need further explanation. The Best Game You Suck at award is essentially an accolade for the most challenging game of the year. It recognizes games with the most punishing yet rewarding gameplay. Thus, Hollow Knight: Silksong is a tough game that players loved in 2025.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 won nine awards at the Game Awards 2025, but did not have so much to celebrate for the Steam accolades. However, it did win the Steam Best Soundtrack Award for its outstanding musical score. The mesmerizing soundtrack in Clair Obscur, with music that has strong emotional resonance, is one of the game’s highlights.
Hollow Knight: Silksong was the only game to scoop two 2025 Steam Awards. There were eight other award winners. The other award winners were:
- Baldur’s Gate III: Labor of Love (for best content updates)
- Hades 2: Best Game on Steam Deck
- Peak: Better With Friends (best multiplayer)
- Silent Hill: Outstanding Visual Style
- Arc Raiders: Most Innovative Gameplay
- RV There Yet: Sit Back and Relax
- Dispatch: Outstanding Story-Rich Game
- The Midnight Walk: VR Game of the Year
One thing to note about the Steam Awards is that they are primarily for Windows PC games, which can also be available for consoles. Steam is a distribution platform for PC games, and titles nominated need to be available for download from there. More exclusive console games, such as Nintendo titles, do not figure in the Steam Awards.
So, congratulations to Hollow Knight: Silksong and all other Steam accolade winners, for which Valve sends physical award trophies to the developers’ offices. Note that Hollow Knight: Silksong is also widely available for alternative console platforms. So, that is a best Steam game of the year that you can also play on the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, and Xbox Series consoles.
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