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We’re at the end of the year, and something that The Game Awards has really hammered home for me is that 2025 was the year when indie games made the industry their own. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 becoming the big winner of the night wasn’t really a surprise, but it is the way that nearly every big game of the year was from an independent studio. Indie games didn’t just show up in 2025; they dominated. In fact, all my favorite games of the year were indie darlings, and I can’t remember that ever happening before.

Blue Prince. Wanderstop. Hades II. Dispatch. Hollow Knight: Silksong. And, yes, Clair Obscur. All of them came from independent studios and showed the incredible power of going it alone. They’re all different, with different tones and budgets, but each was made by a company without a parent company. It has been truly remarkable to watch unfold across the year.

Compared to a lot of the games on my list, Wanderstop is a bit of an anomaly. It probably didn’t get the mainstream attention it deserved, but it delivered a message on burnout and self-care that myself and every creative person I know desperately needed. Blue Prince took the roguelike genre and gave it a polish and scale that made it feel fresh and new. I sunk hours upon hours into it, getting lost over and over until I finally found my way. Meanwhile, Hades II took what the first game did and did it again. Not necessarily better, but more of it, which, considering how good both games are, wasn’t a bad thing.

Dispatch might be my game of the year, but that is partly because it delivered the hope and optimism that superhero stories have been missing for the past few years. There is something so satisfying about helping a group of selfish idiots become the best versions of themselves. And while Silksong didn’t vibe with me specifically, it is impossible to deny the achievement that Team Cherry pulled off with it. Turns out, when you get a studio a boatload of money and let them make the game they want to make, they usually do a pretty good job of it.

And then there is Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, which some people have argued isn’t an indie game because of its budget or cast or because of how polished its graphics are. Those people are, of course, very wrong, which is fine; I won't hold it against them. The fact that Sandfall Interactive made an RPG that feels as good as anything that a AAA studio with the backing of a major publisher is remarkable, and they deserve all the praise in the world for it.

Sure, there have been some big games from the usual players. Sony had a big year, with both Death Stranding 2: On the Beach and Ghost of Yotei delivering the cinematic experience that the PS5 has become known for. But they suffer from being merely good rather than great. Nintendo’s Switch 2 also had strong sales and a smattering of solid games – though it is clearly still waiting for the generation-defining hit. Meanwhile, Microsoft is slowly retreating from the console industry entirely – in the next few years, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Xbox is a thing of the past.

It wasn’t that there wasn’t a standout AAA game this year; it is more that every major studio release felt overshadowed by what indie developers were doing. GTA VI is almost assured to be the biggest game of the year, but 007: First Light and Resident Evil: Requiem are both going to make a splash in the first half of the year. Marvel’s Wolverine could be a hit with superhero fans, but none of these games are as exciting as the games I don’t know about yet. The small titles that do something unexpected and blow up bigger than they seem to have any right to.

I’ve been covering video games for over a decade, and 2025 was the first year when I felt genuinely surprised by what happened. Indie games weren’t just the most interesting story of the year; they were the only story worth talking about.

The gaming industry has come a long way since Pong blew all our minds in the 70s. We've got everything you need to know about the next big thing in games. Of course, Grand Theft Auto VI is going to be the big game of 2026, but there are plenty of other games coming out between now and then. Here is our starter guide for every gamer:

• All upcoming games in 2025 and beyond
• Gamify My Life, our weekly gaming column designed
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