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| Victor Lucas and Behr Safi host the Rocket & Raygun Awards 2025, where Viewer Poll results and show picks were revealed. |
By Jon Scarr
The Rocket & Raygun Awards have always felt a little different from most year-end shows, and the 2025 results follow that same approach. Hosted by Electric Playground creator and Canadian media veteran Victor Lucas alongside Behr Safi, the awards combine viewer voting with the show’s own picks, which tends to lead to results that line up more closely with how games were actually played over the year. If you followed along earlier when voting first opened, this is where all of that finally lands.
This isn’t just a rundown of what came out in 2025. It’s a look at which games people kept coming back to and kept talking about once the new release rush faded. Some categories lined up cleanly between the Viewer Poll and the show’s picks. Others didn’t, and that’s where things get more interesting.
Watch the full Rocket & Raygun Awards show
Note: Each category below includes both the Viewer Poll winner and the show’s official Rocket & Raygun winner.
Best Remake / Remaster
- Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles
- Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater
- Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition
- The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered
- Super Mario Galaxy 1 + 2
Viewer Poll winner: Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater
Rocket & Raygun winner: Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles
Best Licensed Game
- Terminator 2D: No Fate
- Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4
- Deadpool VR
- Marvel: Cosmic Invasion
- Alien: Rogue Incursion – Evolved Edition
Viewer Poll winner: Terminator 2D: No Fate
Rocket & Raygun winner: Terminator 2D: No Fate
Best Fighting Game
- Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves
- Capcom Fighting Game Collection 2
- Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection
Viewer Poll winner: Capcom Fighting Game Collection 2
Rocket & Raygun winner: Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves
Best Role-Playing Game
- Kingdom Come: Deliverance II
- Octopath Traveler Zero
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
- The Outer Worlds 2
- Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition
Viewer Poll winner: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Rocket & Raygun winner: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Best Action Game
- Battlefield 6
- Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound
- Ninja Gaiden 4
- Shinobi: Art of Vengeance
- Hades II
Viewer Poll winner: Hades II
Rocket & Raygun winner: Ninja Gaiden 4
Best Action-Adventure Game
- Terminator 2D: No Fate
- Donkey Kong Bananza
- Split Fiction
- Hollow Knight: Silksong
- Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
Viewer Poll winner: Donkey Kong Bananza
Rocket & Raygun winner: Split Fiction
Best Sports Game
- MLB The Show 25
- NBA 2K26
- Madden NFL 26
- NHL 26
- EA Sports FC 26
Viewer Poll winner: MLB The Show 25
Rocket & Raygun winner: MLB The Show 25
Best Strategy Game
- Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles
- Sid Meier’s Civilization VII
- StarVaders
Viewer Poll winner: Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles
Rocket & Raygun winner: Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles
Best Roguelike
- Hades II
- Ball x Pit
- Absolum
- Blue Prince
- The Rogue Prince of Persia
Viewer Poll winner: Hades II
Rocket & Raygun winner: Hades II
Best Racing Game
- Mario Kart World
- Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds
- Fast Fusion
- Kirby’s Air Riders
Viewer Poll winner: Mario Kart World
Rocket & Raygun winner: Mario Kart World
Best Family-Friendly Game
- Mario Kart World
- Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds
- Donkey Kong Bananza
- Marvel: Cosmic Invasion
- Split Fiction
Viewer Poll winner: Donkey Kong Bananza
Rocket & Raygun winner: Split Fiction
Best Indie Game
- Hollow Knight: Silksong
- Hades II
- Blue Prince
- Pipistrello and the Cursed Yo-Yo
- Ball x Pit
Viewer Poll winner: Hollow Knight: Silksong
Rocket & Raygun winner: Hollow Knight: Silksong
Best Puzzle Game
- Lumines Arise
- Blue Prince
- Is This Seat Taken?
Viewer Poll winner: Blue Prince
Rocket & Raygun winner: Blue Prince
Best Buried Treasure
- Cronos: The New Dawn
- Hell Is Us
- Earthion
- LEGO Voyagers
- The Alters
Viewer Poll winner: Cronos: The New Dawn
Rocket & Raygun winner: The Alters
Best Art Direction
- Metroid Prime 4: Beyond
- Ghost of Yōtei
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
- Shinobi: Art of Vengeance
- Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
Viewer Poll winner: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Rocket & Raygun winner: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Best Music
- Arc Raiders
- Lumines Arise
- Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
- South of Midnight
- Hollow Knight: Silksong
Viewer Poll winner: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Rocket & Raygun winner: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Best 2D Game
- Terminator 2D: No Fate
- Shinobi: Art of Vengeance
- Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound
- Hollow Knight: Silksong
- Absolum
Viewer Poll winner: Hollow Knight: Silksong
Rocket & Raygun winner: Hollow Knight: Silksong
Game of the Year
- Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
- Shinobi: Art of Vengeance
- Hollow Knight: Silksong
- Donkey Kong Bananza
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
- Split Fiction
Viewer Poll winner: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Rocket & Raygun winner: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Closing Thoughts on The Rocket & Raygun Awards 2025
Looking back at the nominees and winners, 2025 doesn’t read like a year where one game or one genre took over. Instead, it feels defined by range. The same names show up more than once, but they’re appearing in different categories for different reasons, which lines up pretty well with how people actually spent their time.
It’s also interesting how often the Viewer Poll and the Rocket & Raygun picks land on the same game. When that happens, it usually points to something that didn’t just hit once and fade out. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 comes up a lot here, and it feels earned. It’s one of those games that stayed part of the conversation well past release.
The splits help tell the rest of the story. Donkey Kong Bananza and Split Fiction connected in very different ways, and that shows in how they’re recognized. One works right away and doesn’t ask much of you. The other rewards sitting down with someone else and letting it unfold.
Looking at the full list, this feels like a pretty honest read on how 2025 actually played out. You’ll probably agree with a lot of it, and there’s likely a pick or two you’d swap. Nothing here feels out of place, and that’s what makes the list work.
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