Silksong won at The Game Awards 2025

Hollow Knight: Silksong he had a feeling it would never work out, but it sure did. Its launch was so significant that it effectively broke digital game marketplaces like Steam, shutting them down for a few hours, and it would appear that the hype was justified. Hollow Knight Silksong is one of the top-rated games of 2025, earning an impressive 91 average critic score on OpenCritic.

Silksong takes place after the events of the first Hollow Knight and follows Hornet, a character quite different from her mute predecessor. Its journey is defined by major differences in gameplay and storytelling, ultimately more complex and multi-faceted than what came before. While this added complexity (not to mention difficulty) wasn't for everyone, a significant number of players and critics seem to agree that Silksong is a significant improvement. This is reflected in his nominations.

Silksong TGA 2025 Nomination

Game of the year
Best Art Direction
Best score and music
The best indie game
Best Action Adventure (WIN)

Hollow Knight Silksong won 1 award out of 5 nominations.

I don't think I can go back to Hollow Knight after Silksong

I love Hollow Knight, but after experiencing the new Silksong additions, I don't know if I can go back to the original anytime soon.

Hollow Knight Silksong at The Game Awards 2025

Hollow Knight Silksong was one of three awesome indies nominated for Game of 2025. Unsurprisingly, it was also nominated for Best Indie Game, along with other GOTY noms Hades 2 and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.

It was also nominated for Best Action Adventure Game where it went up against heavy hitters like Ghost of Yotei and Death Stranding 2: On the Beach. As such, it stands out not only as the only indie game in this category, but also as the only 2D game. His nominations for Best Score and Music are another unsurprising honor for Christopher Larkin Silksong the soundtrack was hailed as just as strong, if not more, than its predecessor. But this category was especially competitive because her fellow nominees such as Hades 2 and Clair Obscurothey are widely believed to have exceptional scores. The Best Art Direction category is similarly competitive, pitting Silksong against TGA 2025 mainstays such as Hades 2 and Clair Obscuro again.

What awards did Hollow Knight Silksong win at The Game Awards 2025?

It doesn't look like it Hollow Knight SilksongThe game's brutal difficulty had too severe an impact on its performance at the Game Awards, as it was named the best action-adventure game. It beat out some of the top AAA titles of 2025 in this category, and if nothing else, this win is going home Silksongairtight combat and traversal mechanics.

That said, it's a little surprising Hollow Knight Silksong did not finish The Game Awards 2025 with additional awards to her credit. It's a bit anticlimactic, that's for sure – Team Cherry's return to the industry would probably warrant more awards in any other year. But 2025 was definitely not like other years in gaming.

Indeed, while Hollow Knight Silksong is widely considered to be an improvement over its seminal predecessor and arguably the best metroidvania in years, it faced stiff competition. And unlike the first Hollow Knightshe didn't have glamorous debut ambitions on her side. Expedition 33 is in some ways an unexpected independent success story Hollow Knight was in 2017. It is also fundamentally more innovative and unique due to being a new IP, while Silksong it builds on what came before. A complete novelty Clair Obscurocoupled with his myriad strengths, may help explain why he defeated Silksong he was nominated in every other category.