We asked, and you delivered! AIPT put the power in your hands this year, asking readers to vote on their favorite games from 2025. We offered up a several categories, ensuring a variety of games would be represented among the best of the best. While a few may have been more popular than others with AIPT’s readers, together these games show just how great of a year 2024 was for gaming.
Game of the Year
(tie) Astro Bot, Stellar Blade
Just like at the industry’s award ceremony last week, Astro Bot took the top spot in our readers’ poll. It should come as no surprise — Sony’s single-player titles are exactly the type of games that get nominated for the top accolade, with Astro Bot joining God of War (2018) and The Last of Us Part II as winners. Astro Bot’s charm, fun platforming, and celebration of PlayStation’s franchises helped it connect with audiences. Our readers also enjoyed Stellar Blade, another PlayStation-exclusive (for now). Its action-focused gameplay and Nier-like themes made it a hit with audiences.
DLC/Expansion of the Year
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree
Was there really any other contender? Elden Ring fans were hungry for more — even though the base game easily packs over a hundred hours of content for a single playthrough — and Shadow of the Erdtree exceeded any expectations. Fans had to wait 16 months for it to release after FromSoftware announced the expansion, but the wait was well worth it as Shadow of the Erdtree delighted players and critics alike.
A reader asked, “Do the constant updates to Baldur’s Gate III count??” and they certainly do in my mind! Larian has been hard at work on its masterpiece, adding new endings and an official mod manager — included on the console versions, no less!
Developer of the Year
(tie) Team Asobi, Larian, FromSoftware, SHIFT UP Corporation, Game Science
This is one of a couple categories with no clear winner as our readers wanted to champion several developers for their outstanding work. Team Asobi is behind GOTY Astro Bot, SHIFT UP knocked it out of the park with Stellar Blade, FromSoftware delivered another 10/10 with Shadow of the Erdtree, and Larian continues to excel with Baldur’s Gate 3. While Game Science might be salty Black Myth: Wukong didn’t take home GOTY honors last week, they were still one of the best developers of the year (and they can dry any tears with the profit from selling 20 million copies).
Best Story/Narrative Direction
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
2024 had some great story-centered games, but a continued retelling of 1997’s Final Fantasy VII takes the cake here. Rebirth is the middle entry of the remake trilogy, following 2020’s Final Fantasy VII Remake, and picks up right where the previous game left off. It once again follows Cloud and friends in the battle against the Shinra company and Sephiroth. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth received near universal praise, and it sets up a momentous conclusion for when the third and final entry releases.
Best Art Direction
(tie) Astro Bot, Stellar Blade
Just like with the overall game of the year, Astro Bot and Stellar Blade once again tied in claiming the honor for Best Art Direction. Astro Bot has a delightfully charming art style with an instantly recognizable mascot — one whose design is easily imported over to other PlayStation mascots, like Kratos, perfectly translating them to Astro Bot‘s charming world. And while you may think of Stellar Blade‘s somewhat scantily clad Eve first when thinking of its visual design, the game is actually full of horrific, well-designed monsters and besieged levels that make for great art visuals.
Best Soundtrack
Stellar Blade
The final award AIPT’s readers gave to Stellar Blade was for its soundtrack. It bounces between pop, rock, jazz, and slow piano ballads and makes for an incredible OST as it deftly captures the frenetic action as well as the quieter moments in the game. Standout tracks include “Everglow,” “Beyond Fate,” and “Raven.”
Best Indie Game
Balatro
Seeing Balatro here shouldn’t be a surprise — the roguelike deckbuilder took the gaming world by storm earlier this year. The poker-like card game is addicting as any other other roguelike and easy enough to play. Its popularity spwaned several crossovers with other indies like Dave the Diver and Among Us while Cyberpunk 2077 has received its own Balatro-themed quest. Now that Balatro has reelased on mobile, you can enjoy it anywhere you go — for better or worse.
Best Ongoing Game
(tie) Fortnite, World of Warcraft, Final Fantasy XIV, Marvel Snap, Baldur’s Gate 3
As Best Ongoing Game isn’t tied to any specific release year, our readers gravitated toward a mix of classics and new releases. World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy XIV are both MMO staples and each received major expansions in 2024, while Fortnite‘s popularity continues to rise, especially as it brings in more IP collaborations. Marvel Snap and Baldur’s Gate 3 were two of AIPT staff’s game of the year picks for 2022 and 2023, respectively, so they should come as no surprise on this list due to their continued updates throughout the year. Don’t be surprise when BG3 continues to receive love in 2025 — Patch 8 promises 12 new subclasses, giving you another excuse to start a new playthrough.
Action/Adventure Game of the Year
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
We have some fresh blood on the list as The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom received top marks for 2024’s Action/Adventure Game of the Year. Stylized with diorama-like visuals, just like 2019’s Link’s Awakening remake, Echoes of Wisdom stars Zelda herself as the game’s hero. It utilizes her Tri Rod to recreate ‘echoes’ of objects — and even enemies — Zelda finds throughout the world to aid her exploration, puzzle solving, and combat.
RPG of the Year
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
This year had plenty of standout RPGs, like Dragon Age: The Veilguard and Dragon’s Dogma II, but our poll was a close race between Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and Metaphor: ReFantazio. Rebirth proved to be a hit with our readers — who will get to enjoy it on PC in just over a month — while ReFantazio‘s pull shows just how much people love the Shin Megami Tensei/Persona style of RPGs.
Fighting Game of the Year
Tekken 8
While I may have personally invested over 70 hours into Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero, our readers voted Tekken 8 as their fighting game of the year. It’s the first entry in the series to be developed first for consoles/PC instead of arcade systems, and it utilized the power of Unreal Engine 5 on its way to stellar reviews. It focuses on the climatic battle between Jin Kazama and his father Kazuya Mishima while the gameplay is more aggressive than ever, encouraging players to be on the offensive.
Multiplayer/Co-op Game of the Year
Helldivers 2
Helldivers 2 was one of the biggest hits of the year as players fell in love with its co-op third-person shooting against hordes of alien enemies. It had some ups and downs in 2024 as it battled Steam review bombing due to Sony’s unfortunate decision to implement a PSN account requirement, causing the game to not be available in over 170 countries (the company quickly reversed course on this issue, seeing the error of its ways). Helldivers 2 also had to win back its player base after nerfs and performance issues, which it successfully did via patches this past fall, ensuring that players are once again enjoying calling in orbital napalm strikes as we head into 2025.
Sports Game of the Year
EA Sports College Football 25
While “If you build it, they will come” may have been referring to a baseball field in Field of Dreams, it can absolutely be applied to College Football 25. Football fans flocked to the first entry in the NCAA series (now under a new name) in over a decade, making it the highest-earning US football game ever released in the States. Fans were starved for the fast-paced alternative to Madden, and the new NIL rules make it even easier to feel immersed in bringing your alma mater to glory as players have their names and likeness in game.
Most Anticipated 2025 Game
Grand Theft Auto VI
Like Hollow Knight: Silksong, Grand Theft Auto VI has been anticipated for some time now — especially when you consider that the previous entry debuted in 2013. Rockstar and Take-Two haven’t had much incentive for moving away from GTA5 as its sold over 200 million units and the multiplayer component Grand Theft Auto Online continues to bring in millions of dough via its microtransactions. Still, fans are hungry for more and can’t wait for a next-gen GTA experience in Grand Theft Auto VI. It’ll be set in a fictional Florida, parody social media and influencer culture, and star a couple evading the law. Take-Two is reportedly narrowing in on a fall 2025 release window (we’ll see if that holds or if it lands in 2026 instead), while prominent gaming journalist Jason Schreier reported that other publishers are hesitant to schedule their games just yet for late 2025 as they don’t want to be overshadowed by GTA6.
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