Following the completion of staff and community voting, Wccftech has officially announced the winners of its 2025 awards, highlighting the best games released during the year alongside the most anticipated titles scheduled for 2026. The awards are based on nominees selected across genre specific lists and reflect combined perspectives from the editorial team and the wider gaming community. While there was broad alignment between staff and community choices, a few categories showed differing preferences, underscoring the diversity of opinions within the gaming audience.
Among 2025 releases, Sandfall Interactive’s Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 emerged as the standout title of the year. The game secured four major awards, winning Best Indie Game and Game of the Year from both the Wccftech staff and the community. Its strong performance across categories positioned it as the most celebrated title of the awards. The only notable disagreement between staff and community votes appeared in the Strategy and Simulation category, where staff selected Square Enix’s Final Fantasy Tactics The Ivalice Chronicles, while the community favored Slipgate Ironworks’ Tempest Rising. In the roleplaying category, Kingdom Come: Deliverance II claimed the top spot, edging out Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 despite the latter’s overall dominance. Several other titles also collected multiple wins, including Ghost of Yotei in the action category, Hollow Knight: Silksong in platforming, Mario Kart World in sports and racing, Dispatch in adventure, Battlefield 6 in shooters, Silent Hill f in horror, Fatal Fury: City of Wolves in fighting games, ARC Raiders in multiplayer, and Lies of P: Overture as the leading expansion or DLC.
The awards also reflected a broader trend in 2025, which proved to be a strong year for indie and mid scale productions. While major franchises remained competitive, many of the most praised experiences leaned toward creative risk taking and distinctive design. This balance was evident across categories, with both long running franchises and newer IPs earning recognition. The voting breakdowns further showed how closely matched several categories were, particularly in genres such as shooters, RPGs, and multiplayer games, where margins between winners and runners up were relatively narrow.
Looking ahead to 2026, the Wccftech polls revealed a noticeable shift toward large scale releases from established studios. The staff and community results were less aligned compared to the 2025 awards, which is expected given that these titles have yet to be released. Even so, Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto VI stood out clearly, securing four major recognitions including most anticipated overall from both staff and community, along with top anticipation rankings in action and multiplayer categories from community voters. CAPCOM’s Resident Evil Requiem followed closely, earning multiple awards for anticipation in the horror category and tying for most anticipated overall among staff selections. Other highly anticipated titles recognized across genres include Fable, Forza Horizon 6, Gears of War E Day, MARVEL Tōkon Fighting Souls, Tomb Raider Legacy of Atlantis, an upcoming STALKER 2 DLC, Total War Warhammer 40,000, and Cthulhu The Cosmic Abyss. Together, the results suggest that while 2025 highlighted innovation and variety, 2026 is shaping up to be driven by high profile franchises and major studio releases that are already generating significant expectations within the gaming community.
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