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The biggest story of the #GOTY night is the absolute dominance of Hollow Knight: Silksong. After years of development that many feared would never end, the game launched as a massive critical and commercial success in late 2025. It managed to snag both Game of the Year and Best Game You Suck At, beating out heavy hitters like Kingdom Come: Deliverance II and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.
While Expedition 33 was a critical darling at other shows, Steam users clearly preferred the tight, punishing platforming of Hornet’s journey. The “Best Game You Suck At” category was particularly competitive this year, with Silksong edging out Elden Ring: Nightreign and Marvel Rivals. It’s a rare feat to take the top prize while also being recognized as the most frustratingly difficult experience of the year, but for the Hollow Knight faithful, that challenge is exactly why they waited so long.
One of the most debated wins is Baldur’s Gate 3 taking home the Labor of Love award. Larian Studios has been remarkably consistent with free updates and massive patches, even rebuilding the Linux client from the ground up for native Steam Deck support in 2025. However, the win sparked a predictable amount of salt from fans of No Man’s Sky and Helldivers 2, who felt those titles—which have been supported for years (or in the case of Helldivers, fought through a rocky launch)—were more deserving. Still, the Steam community tends to vote for their current favorites, and BG3 remains the platform’s golden child.
Best Game on Steam Deck: Hades II won this handily, proving that Supergiant’s rogue-like loop is the gold standard for portable play. It beat out Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor and the sleeper hit BALL x PIT. The developers worked specifically to ensure the sequel was “verified” and battery-efficient from day one, and that effort paid off with the community.
Most Innovative Gameplay: This went to ARC Raiders (affiliate link). It was a controversial pick for some, as many felt the mind-bending puzzles of Blue Prince or the genre-blending of Mage Arena pushed the medium further. However, ARC Raiders’ unpredictable community-driven “story generator” in an extraction shooter setting won over the masses, proving that even a crowded genre can feel fresh with the right execution.
In a major upset, Dispatch from AdHoc Studio took home Outstanding Story-Rich Game. This superhero workplace comedy managed to beat out cinematic giants like The Last of Us Part II Remastered and Kingdom Come: Deliverance II. Players were enamored with its episodic structure and meaningful choices, showing a pivot toward tight, focused writing rather than sprawling open-world bloat.
On the visual front, Silent Hill f secured Outstanding Visual Style. It faced stiff competition from Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and DOOM: The Dark Ages, but its unique, unsettling Japanese folk-horror aesthetic resonated more than raw graphical power. This win signals that Steam players are increasingly looking for a cohesive art direction that defines the game’s identity.
| Category | Winner | Notable Runners-Up |
| VR Game of the Year | The Midnight Walk | Pavlov, Le Mans Ultimate |
| Better With Friends | PEAK | Battlefield 6, Split Fiction |
| Best Soundtrack | Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 | Spider-Man 2, DELTARUNE |
| Sit Back and Relax | RV There Yet? | Slime Rancher 2, PowerWash Sim 2 |
The 2025 results highlight a community that is increasingly independent from mainstream trends. Whether it’s the claymation beauty of The Midnight Walk or the chaotic cooperation in PEAK, the winners reflect a year where creativity and community engagement mattered more than budget. How do you like Steam GOTY 2025 results yourself? Please leave a comment.
The post The Silksong Sweep and the Salt of Love – 2025 GOTY Steam Awards Breakdown appeared first on Game Reviews, News, Videos & More for Every Gamer – PC, PlayStation, Xbox in 2026.
Claiming a free title on Steam usually feels like hoarding digital clutter, but ENA: Dream BBQ represents a pivot toward high-concept exploration that feels earned. Released in March 2025 by the ENA Team, the first chapter, “Lonely Door,” remains a masterclass in using the jagged, low-poly aesthetics of the PS1 era to build something that feels genuinely alien. The world is a hyper-saturated void where corporate language and surrealist horror merge, forcing the player to navigate environments that feel both nostalgic and hostile. It avoids the typical traps of modern indie design by refusing to explain its internal logic, instead opting for a sensory blitz that rewards the patient observer. You find yourself trapped in a reality where the colors are too loud and the dialogue is too sharp, yet the lack of a price tag makes the initial friction feel like a fair trade for the visual brilliance on display.
The core loop of the experience centers on tasks that feel like a mockery of productive labor, placing ENA in a position of perpetual, confused service. Walking through the Red Outworld or navigating the “Purge Route” involves interacting with entities that speak in riddles and demand nonsensical favors. This isn’t a power fantasy; the game functions as an exploration of emotional instability through a mechanical lens. The dual nature of the protagonist—shifting between the manic “salesperson” and the melancholic “meanie”—mirrors the exhaustion of maintaining a persona in a world that only values you for what you can provide. It utilizes the Unity engine to simulate a kind of hardware instability that feels intentional, creating a space where the glitch is the point and the discomfort is the primary export. This specific focus on the mundane made strange keeps the experience grounded even when the scenery begins to melt into a kaleidoscopic blur.
Choosing to release the first chapter for free on Steam was a calculated move by Joel G that bypassed the traditional demo cycle to create a self-contained cultural event. While the Supporter Edition and future chapters carry a cost, “Lonely Door” serves as a complete artistic statement that doesn’t hold back on the creator’s idiosyncratic vision. It captures a specific brand of “Internet Weird” that has matured from YouTube shorts into a fully realized interactive medium. The “Overwhelmingly Positive” reviews reflect a community that values vision over traditional gameplay polish, proving that there is a massive audience for games that prioritize mood over mechanics. We see a landscape where the most interesting ideas are often the ones given away for nothing, forcing the paid market to justify its existence against the high-quality surrealism found in these episodic experiments. It remains an essential download for anyone who thinks the current state of gaming has become too predictable or too safe.
The post ENA: Dream BBQ On Steam Is The Most Valuable Free ‘Catch’ Of 2026 Yet appeared first on Game Reviews, News, Videos & More for Every Gamer – PC, PlayStation, Xbox in 2026.
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Ever thought of reliving the early days of the Call of Duty boon by firing up the original Call of Duty Black Ops on your Steam Deck? Chances are, you've quickly put that idea to bed after finding out that it's a hitch-filled mess. Turns out you're not alone. Lucky for you, if the latest SteamOS beta build is anything to go by, older Call of Duty games could see a huge performance boost. And the benefits aren't limited to the classic FPS franchise, either. Theoretically, anyway.
Read the full story on PCGamesN: Valve's new Steam Deck update doesn't promise much, but classic Call of Duty games could see some real performance gains
Cubey sandbox crafter Hytale launches into early access next Tuesday, January 13th, after a dicey few months in which it was cancelled, bought out by the original developers, and revived like a majestic square-beaked phoenix. It’ll also have a native Linux version, allowing anyone fed up with Microsoft’s continued bullshit to play it on a system running something that isn’t an increasingly bloated or prematurely abandoned Windows.
There are caveats, mind. In a Xitter post announcing the Linux version, Hypixel co-founder and tech director Kevin Carstens – well spotted by Gaming on Linux – stresses that it’ll be an "experimental" endeavour, potentially susceptible to bugs specific to different distributions (sub-versions) of the open-source OS. And the Steam Deck, which runs the Linux-based SteamOS, is in a trickier position still. Carstens explains that limited testing on a docked Deck, with the handheld aided by a mouse and keyboard, suggests it can run local singleplayer fine, though it’s "not officially recommended" as a Hytale-playing device as the game currently lacks controller support.
Black Friday weekend may not offer the same deals it once did, but that’s not to say there aren’t savings to be had.
The original 256GB LCD version of Valve's Steam Deck is 20% off till 1st December, knocking it down to around $319.20 or £279.20 in the UK. It's all part of this year's Blackening of Friday, whereby whimpering price tags are shoved partway into sausage machines for the benefit of the first Xmas shoppers.
"That's a chunk of cheddar," whistled our new editorial director Julian, a choice of words I choose to take literally, mostly because he's just ruined my sausage machine analogy. According to the UK's Office of National Statistics, cheddar was 873p a kilogram as of January 2025, the last recorded figure. Assuming that average holds true, the Steam Deck is currently worth 32 kilograms of classic farmhouse cheese. That is a chunk of cheddar. Good work, Julian! This is why they handed you the big boss trousers.
The name Creative means a great deal in gaming and audio circles. Known as the creator of the Soundblaster range of PC audio cards, their range has expanded to include audio products of all kinds, from the excellent Creative Pebble series of speakers through to gaming headphones with SXFI technology. The Creative Aurvana Ace 3 is the newest edition of their ANC-equipped true wireless earbuds, offering a cost-effective alternative to Apple’s AirPods Pro 3 and the Galaxy Buds Pro 3.
The Aurvana Ace 3 are stem-style true wireless earbuds, available in an eye-catching translucent purple colourway, that’s matched through the charging case and each earbud. There is something quite retro about their look, with a mid-noughties vibe that brings an unexpected wave of nostalgia with it. When it’s paired with the silver band running down each stem, they’re certainly unique-looking, but if you’re hoping for a more understated option, this isn’t it.
They feel light in the hand, which diminishes that premium sensation, but it does mean that you can easily wear them for hours without any fatigue. The earbuds are rated for 7 hours, which is an hour less than the AirPods Pro 3 but an hour more than the AirPods Pro 2, with a total of 26 hours of playback with the charging case, all of which played out pretty effectively in our testing.
The charging case lid hinge is a little flimsy, but the body of the case itself feels solid and is the perfect size for chucking in your pocket. It also includes wireless charging, which is a very welcome inclusion. At half the price of their top-end rivals, it’s a good start for the Aurvana Ace 3.
The audio pairing and setup is a little more convoluted than its core competitors, though, as there’s a suite of features to set up to make the most of the Ace 3. The Creative app handles nearly everything here, but you also need the separate SXFi app, which seems unnecessary.
First, and perhaps most importantly, you use Mimi sound personalisation to create a listening profile. This involves a short hearing test – best done in a quiet space – and the results then tailor the output to your own ears. It’s a stark difference, particularly factoring in my 40+ year old hearing, and the years of damage I’ve done to them by, well, listening to headphones that I’ve turned up too loud.
After that, you can choose your EQ presets to tailor the audio to your personal taste, or delve deeper into a custom EQ setup. Even if you’re not clued up about audio, frequencies and kHz, it’s all easy enough to mess around with in search of the roght sound.
The Aurvana Ace sound very good indeed, even without any tuning. Part of that is the ability to utilise the best audio codecs out there, translating LDAC, AptX Lossless and AptX Adaptive into a seamless listening experience. The Ace 3 are equipped with Snapdragon Sound, so if your Android device meets the right specification, not only will you benefit from the high resolution audio, you’ll experience fewer connection issues, and benefit from exceptionally low latency, making your mobile gaming just that bit more enjoyable.
Putting them to the test with some of my favourite tracks, I was immediately surprised by just how detailed the audio was from the Ace 3. Billy Eilish’s No Time To Die sounded suitably epic, with her vocals sounding so precise that it felt as though she was singing directly to me.
Changing tack, the brutal cacaphony of Pupil Slicer’s Heather was delivered in spades, losing none of its venom on its way into your ears. It’s always incredibly satisfying to hear new elements in songs, and the Ace 3s combined technologies make that a certainty. The dual xMEMS drivers here certainly help with audio separation, and bass response in particular is fantastic, being rounded and full, without becoming overwhelming.
The hybrid ANC proved moderately effective at blocking out background noise, though it is a clear step behind the Airpods Pro 3 and Bose Quietcomfort Ultra, and on a windy walk to work, they struggled against the wind quite a bit. Still, at this price point, it’s effective enough, and with the quality of the audio itself being so high, I don’t think anyone will be too disappointed with their performance.
As with many less expensive earbuds, the touch controls aren’t quite as reliable as their more expensive brethren. The Aurvana Ace 3 does keep things pretty simple, and there’s only one touch point on the main body of each earbud, rather than a panel or squeezable section. That does make changing the volume less efficient, requiring a long press on each earbud to move the volume up and down, and if you’re running that’s a real pain, but it does work, once you’ve adapted to it.
Phone call quality is good, possibly helped by the ability to use Snapdragon Sound via the connection to my Honor Magic V5, and family members confirmed that my voice was clear and easy to hear during calls. It helps to wrap up a compelling package from Creative, and if you’re looking for an excellent-sounding pair of earbuds at a mid-range pricepoint, you’d be hard pressed to find better.
The Aurvana Ace 3 are amongst the easiest earbuds to live with in this price bracket, and though their RRP is £140, you can currently snag them for a slightly bonkers £90 via the Creative website. The Nothing Ear (3) are also worth considering, currently coming in at £139.99, though they have worse battery life than the Ace 3 and are noticeably heavier too.
Seven seriously special Steam Deck games can be yours right now for just $15 as part of this month's Humble Choice subscription. From the beautiful, hand-drawn, 2D action-platformer of Nine Sols to the epic Japanese action adventure of Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name, this bundle is packed with titles that are not just great in their own right, but play superbly on Steam Deck. The Steam Deck still sits supreme as the best handheld gaming PC, despite growing competition from big-name players like the Xbox Ally X and big-power alternatives like the stupendously powerful Ayaneo Next 2. As such, a Steam Deck Verified or Playable rating remains the hallmark of a game that will offer a great experience on a handheld, and this bundle includes seven titles out of eight that achieve this status, making it an incredible-value way to bolster your portable gaming library.
Read the full story on PCGamesN: Grab Nine Sols and six other great Steam Deck games for just $15, saving over $156
The Steam Deck has always offered amazing value, but right now, Valve has taken it to a new level. Thanks to a 20% discount this Black Friday weekend, the 256GB Steam Deck LCD is now just $319.20, dropping Valve's entry-level gaming handheld to its lowest ever price. While the Steam Deck OLED might have wrestled the title of best gaming handheld overall from the original Steam Deck - now called the Steam Deck LCD - the changes are relatively small, and the Steam Deck LCD still offers almost identical performance. What's more, with the cheapest Steam Deck OLED costing $230 more than the current Steam Deck LCD price, the difference in overall value is huge.
Read the full story on PCGamesN: The Steam Deck price just hit its lowest level ever, thanks to Valve's Black Friday weekend discount
Ever since the original Steam Deck dropped, other manufacturers have been quick to produce rival gaming handhelds with larger screens, extra features, and more powerful specs. However, the extent to which these brands are now pushing what a handheld can do is truly something else. Meet the Ayaneo Next 2, a handheld powered by AMD's ultra-powerful Strix Halo processor, with a GPU over five times more powerful than the Steam Deck, and now confirmed to include a ludicrously large and sharp 9-inch, 2,400 x 1,504 OLED screen as well. We actually caught wind of an early version of the Ayeneo Next 2 all the way back in 2022, with an initial version of the device expected to include a discrete GPU, rather than the integrated one here. A few months ago, it was also confirmed that the revised version of the handheld would include the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 Strix Halo chip. However, it's only now that the company has confirmed the device will include such a large and high-resolution OLED display. While it's impossible to say whether it'll make our best gaming handheld list when it finally drops, on paper it's one of the most powerful ever, and I can't wait to try it.
Read the full story on PCGamesN: New Steam Deck rivals are getting ridiculous, with 9-inch screens and 5x the performance, and I need one right now
