The Games That Defined PC Gaming in 2025
Every year PC Gamer surveys its global team to decide which new releases truly stood out on PC. Instead of forcing games into the same old rigid categories, the staff nominates their personal favourites and then argues it out until a final list of award winners and one overall Game of the Year emerges.
For PC players, 2025 was stacked. From brutally precise action platformers to laid back co op survival sandboxes and inventive extraction shooters, almost every genre saw at least one standout hit. If you are wondering what to play next on your rig, this list is basically a curated shortcut to the best PC experiences of the year.
Below is a tour of the biggest winners, why they matter, and what kind of player each one is perfect for.
Standout Genre Winners PC Gamers Loved
Old Skies – Best Adventure Game
Old Skies is a throwback to classic point and click adventures. There are no giant dialogue trees or morality trackers here. Instead it focuses on what made eighties and nineties PC adventures legendary in the first place: memorable characters, sharp writing, clever puzzles and a strong sense of place.
You play in a tightly designed time travel story that actually sticks to its own rules. As you hop between past and future, the implications of wealthy clients being able to rewrite history turn from funny to bleak in a slow burn that really lands. Puzzles are fair and readable rather than obscure, so it is a great entry point if you have never touched the old Sierra or LucasArts greats.
Skin Deep – Best Immersive Sim
Skin Deep is what happens when someone takes the systems heavy design of classics like Deus Ex and Thief and mixes it with slapstick comedy. You are a cryo frozen insurance commando waking up on spaceships overrun by pirates, trying to sneak, improvise and occasionally fail in hilarious fashion.
The game runs on idTech 4, the engine behind Doom 3, giving it a distinctive neo retro look and very tactile first person movement. Almost every object on a ship can be used in some ridiculous way: soap bars and banana peels are as dangerous as guns if you are creative. Under the jokes there is a proper, demanding stealth sim that rewards experimentation and mastery.
Labyrinth of the Demon King – Best Horror
This first person horror game drops you into a cursed Japanese castle that feels like a mix of Silent Hill and old school Resident Evil. Movement and melee swings are slow and deliberate, stamina is limited and resources are scarce. Instead of constant jump scares, the game leans on atmosphere and dread.
An unkillable yokai stalks you after a mistake early in the story, and the level design is full of claustrophobic caves, sacrificial shrines and spaces that feel deeply wrong. If you like tense exploration and combat where every mistake hurts, this is one of the most notable PC horror releases in years.
Promise Mascot Agency – Best Cozy Game
Promise Mascot Agency looks like a chill cosy sim and technically it is, but it wraps that comfort in one of the strangest concepts of the year. You drive a beat up Japanese mini truck around a struggling town, taking on mascot gigs, recruiting bizarre characters and slowly revitalising the area.
Despite its surreal humour and talking severed finger sidekick, it is ultimately a wholesome story about redemption and community. There is light open world exploration, vehicle upgrades, and plenty of side jobs to sink into. It is ideal if you want something relaxed that still has strong writing and personality.
Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor – Best Roguelike
Taking the setting of co op hit Deep Rock Galactic and smashing it into the "survivor" auto shooter subgenre turned out to be a smart move. Survivor plays tighter and more demanding than Vampire Survivors and similar games. You do not simply become an untouchable god within minutes.
Progression comes from smart loadouts, weapon masteries and learning how to exploit each destructible biome. The terrain is part of the strategy, letting you dig new paths, trigger environmental hazards and channel swarming bugs. It is deeply moreish and especially suited to short, late night sessions on a handheld PC.
Baby Steps – Best Comedy
Baby Steps is a physics based walking sim where just putting one foot in front of the other is a technical challenge. You control every step manually and any lapse in concentration sends your useless manbaby protagonist tumbling down cliffs or into mud.
On the surface it is pure slapstick, but it also pokes at a certain type of aimless, resistant adult who refuses to take help. Improvised dialogue recorded with groups of actors gives conversations a messy, natural feel that is rare in games. It is a great pick if you enjoy watching your friends fail spectacularly in co op or streaming.
Battlefield 6 – Best FPS
Battlefield 6 marks a genuine comeback for the series on PC. Rather than chasing battle royale trends, it doubles down on big chaotic battles, vehicles, gadgets and emergent moments that feel uniquely Battlefield.
Movement and gunplay have been overhauled for a more physical feel. You can roll to absorb falls, drag downed squad mates into cover and deploy toys like acoustic mines and portable ladders to reshape firefights. There is no ranked mode or sweaty meta to chase. Combined with a map maker and server browser, it aims to be a casual friendly sandbox where losing can be just as fun as winning.
Abiotic Factor – Best Co op
Abiotic Factor is a co op survival crafter set in a Black Mesa style research facility after everything has gone horribly wrong. Instead of stranded Vikings or medieval peasants, you and your friends are lab nerds trying to survive aliens, anomalies and each other.
Progress is driven by scavenging high tech gear, wiring up elaborate bases and poking at strange phenomena just to see what happens. The game shines in multiplayer where jokes, pranks and disasters flow naturally from the systems. It has the depth to support long term groups without demanding wiki homework.
Arc Raiders – Best Multiplayer
Arc Raiders reimagines the extraction shooter formula by nudging players towards cooperation instead of pure griefing. You still drop into a shared map, loot gear and try to escape alive, but giant robotic enemies and the way rewards are structured make temporary alliances attractive.
Technically it is one of the slickest releases of the year, with four detailed maps, smart enemy AI and smooth performance on decent hardware. If you are extraction curious but bounced off punishing titles like Escape from Tarkov, this is a more approachable starting point.
Game of the Year 2025: Kingdom Come Deliverance 2
PC Gamer’s overall Game of the Year is Kingdom Come Deliverance 2, a hardcore single player RPG that feels like a spiritual cousin to classics like Morrowind and Oblivion. Set in fifteenth century Bohemia, it is obsessed with medieval detail in a way that will delight history and systems nerds.
Nothing is streamlined. Armour has layers. Swordfights are lethal and awkward at first. Saving your game requires brewing special potions. Guards remember your past crimes and piece together your behaviour. Instead of a power fantasy, you start as a fairly useless peasant and slowly claw your way up.
What makes it special on PC is how richly simulated the world is. Quests can spiral in unexpected directions because NPCs follow their own routines and react dynamically to what you have done. Side stories are written with as much care as the main plot, often delivering the most memorable moments. It is the kind of game where you can spend an hour just wandering a road, picking herbs and getting into small unscripted incidents, and it still feels meaningful.
If you miss big single player RPGs that trust you to read, experiment and sometimes fail, Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 is a must play and a showcase for what a deep, PC focused role playing game can still be.
Original article and image: https://www.pcgamer.com/games/pc-gamers-game-of-the-year-awards-2025/
