The end of the year is generally a joyous occasion for most, as they get to spend time with loved ones, along with extra free time away from adult responsibilities to indulge in hobbies and interests. Some might say it's the most wonderful time of the year for gamers!
With the holiday season in full swing, we took Game Rant's polls to ask our esteemed readers which games they would burn the most on their gaming systems. The options were a plethora of highly rated titles from this year and the results came with the odd surprise!
These are the top 10 rated games of 2025 and 6 aren't even nominated for GOTY
The top 10 games of 2025 include six titles that received Game of the Year nominations at The Game Awards 2025.
Clair Obscur was the most popular holiday game, but it didn't win the poll!
The dust definitely didn't settle Clair Obscur: Expedition 33Success and, well, not so positive news of late, and the folks at Sandfall are well and truly enjoying the fruits of their labor during the game's second wind after GOTY. However, it wasn't the number one choice when it came to our recent poll here at Game Rant.
Which highly rated game from 2025 will you play the most during the holidays?
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Other (2025 game not in this vote) — 40% / 322 votes.
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 — 20% / 160 votes,
- ARC Raiders — 18% / 146 votes.
- Battlefield 6 — 10% / 81 votes.
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None (no time to play games this year) — 5% / 42 votes.
- Hades 2 — 5% / 39 votes.
- Blue Prince — 3% / 22 votes
In fact, none of the listed games came out on top this week! This isn't necessarily shocking, as 2025 was a really rich year for games, and top picks like Ghost of Yotei, Death Stranding 2, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, and a surprise blow Send all would fall under the “Other” heading. Despite his success and honors, even giants like Clair Obscuro can't compete with a team like that!
Of the named options, it's no surprise that TGA Game of the Year came out on top, but what's a bit unexpected is how close the competition was to the extraction shooter. ARC Raiders. Another surprise hit for this year continues to hold its player base and will definitely benefit from recent updates to keep players engaged.
While a large portion of our readers unfortunately couldn't make time for games this year, our results rounded out a nice spread of genres. Of the three remaining games, most players flocked Battlefield 6best selling game of the year, followed by best action game of the year, Hades 2. Last but certainly not least is Blue Princewho was recently crowned the King of India Game Awards.
With 2025 almost in the rearview mirror, we look to the future and what the next year has in store for players. With an absolutely stacked lineup of titles already on the horizon, we're wondering: which 2026 release are you most looking forward to?
