The joy of working with indies is never knowing what you’ll stumble upon next. Every year brings something unexpected and delightful, no matter what your genre of preference is. The indie-focused teams here at Sony Interactive Entertainment have bundled up some of their personal favorite indie games from the past year. Here are some of the games that surprised, enchanted, and tickled us in 2025.
Baby Steps
Developer: Gabe Cuzzillo, Maxi Boch, Bennett Foddy Publisher: Devolver Digital
Why we love it: We had a hard time really explaining the elevator pitch to our colleagues after we played it — this is one of those games you simply have to feel to understand. When we handed a controller to SIE’s Sid Shuman and his character immediately slid helplessly down a mountain in the most dramatic way possible, he broke into that tears-in-your-eyes kind of laugh. And it went on for a while. That’s when it clicked for us: the chaos, the tenderness, the humor — it all makes sense the second you take that first clumsy step.
Why we love it: A few of us got an early look at this one from Devolver, and we knew it was sticky when several folks on our team found themselves compelled to keep playing it long after they’d already finished writing up the review. It’s pure, joyful chaos — the kind of game that grabs you immediately and refuses to let go. And for me personally, seeing Kenny Sun behind this made it even better. I’ve followed his work since my early editorial days and loved his 2016 platformer Circa Infinity. Watching his evolution from those minimalist, mind-bending roots to something this loud, playful, and polished — all as a single developer — is incredibly cool.
Blue Prince
Developer: Banana Bird Studios Publisher: Raw Fury
Why we love it: There’s nothing better than a hypnotic, mysterious puzzle game that refuses to play by the rules, and Blue Prince nails that feeling. Several of us ended up having the same unexpected experience with it — even though it’s a single-player game, it became something we played alongside our partners or friends at home. We’d compare notes, swap theories, and brainstorm puzzle solutions together like we were part of some shared secret. That sense of quiet discovery, of unraveling something strange and elegant piece by piece, is exactly what makes this one so special. It’s stylish, clever, and lingers with you long after you stop playing.
A striking, painterly RPG about breaking a prophecy and claiming a future that was never supposed to be yours.
Why we love it: The art direction grabbed us immediately, and the combat hits that sweet spot between thoughtful and cinematic. Such a beautiful game with tremendous acting, tight gameplay, and possibly the greatest gaming soundtrack ever. Montpellier-based team Sandfall Interactive wears their inspirations on their sleeve — from European illustration traditions to the emotional arc and iconic gameplay of your favorite RPGs. You can feel those influences in every character, creature, and brushstroke. It’s bold, beautiful, and exactly the kind of creative vision we love.
Despelote
Developer: Julián Cordero and Sebastian Valbuena Publisher: Panic
Why we love it: Despelote captures a cultural moment that meant so much to so many Ecuadorians, and it does it through small, everyday details that feel incredibly personal. We were struck by how intimate it felt. The narrative is a step back in time drawn from the creators’ childhood memories in Quito. The art style adds to that effect with a gentle, dreamlike quality that makes the world feel both real and surreal. It’s warm, human, and a heartfelt celebration of their people.
Why we love it: From the get-go, Dispatch had us hooked: it draws you in with its vibrant art style, razor-sharp writing, and versatile mechanics that fluidly shift from thoughtful narrative choices to challenging puzzles and the chaos of superhero dispatch management. What sets it apart, though, is how quickly these larger-than-life characters develop as you play. Beneath the capes and theatrics, they’re full of surprising warmth, messy emotions, and a delightful streak of pettiness that fuels hilarious office drama. It’s a refreshing twist on the narrative-driven adventure games and super hero content we’ve all grown accustomed to. Dispatch finds its own unique voice in that space, which is a superhuman feat in itself, and focuses on unmasking the larger-than-life personalities to study the flawed people behind the costumes. AdHoc reminds us why this genre continues to be so compelling.
Why we love it: Few modern indies have had the cultural impact of Hollow Knight — it became a touchstone for precision platforming, atmosphere, and handcrafted design. Silksong builds on that legacy with the same meticulous attention to detail that made the original so beloved. Team Cherry’s craftsmanship is extraordinary for a studio of their size, and once again, we found ourselves completely lost in their world. It’s elegant, ambitious, and a reminder of just how far great artistry can go.
Why we love it: Enhance has been behind some of the most transcendent puzzle experiences ever made — from Rez Infinite to Tetris Effect — and Lumines Arise carries that same lineage of arcadey, synesthetic brilliance. They’re simply the best at what they do. When the visuals, music, and patterns lock together, it drops you into that unmistakable flow state where your brain finally exhales. It’s stylish, soothing, and one of those games we keep “accidentally” playing for an hour.
Why we love it: This is one of those games that feels instantly good the second you touch it. The movement is expressive, the combat has real snap, and the whole thing radiates personality. We were impressed by how they took such a simple mechanic and stretched it into something with real depth and momentum.
Why we love it: Watching Nava’s artistic evolution over the years has been such a joy, and Sword of the Sea feels like a culmination of everything he does best — movement, atmosphere, emotional quiet. It’s already gorgeous and calming on its own, but what really elevated the experience for us were the subtle, innovative touches he layered in. The DualSense haptics in particular add this gentle, tactile dimension to surfing across the dunes — you feel the world in a way that’s impossible to describe until the controller is in your hands. It’s thoughtful, immersive, and one of those experiences that stays with you long after you sign off.
Honorable Mentions
Citizen Sleeper 2
Demonschool
Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist
Hotel Infinity
Lonely Mountains: Snow Riders
Lost Records Bloom & Rage
Ninja Gaiden Ragebound
Promise Mascot Agency
Rematch
The Alters
The Midnight Walk
To a T
Wanderstop
Wheel World
These games represent just a fraction of the incredible creativity happening across the indie landscape. We’re thrilled to support such creative, genre-defying work and we can’t wait to see what’s next.
Hello everyone! I’m Takashi Ishihara, the Game Director and Art Director for Lumines Arise at Enhance. It’s been a little over a month since we released Lumines Arise, a reimagining of the Lumines puzzle game series originally introduced in 2004, on PlayStation 5 with optional PS VR2 support. Hopefully, you’ve been enjoying playing through the Journey mode, exploring the Mission mode and its Training missions and Challenges, battling other players around the world in Burst Battle, or taking part in Weekend Loomii Live events.
I’d like to give you more insight into the development of Lumines Arise and how the team at Enhance brought this project to life.
Defining next-generation Lumines
We already knew that after Tetris Effect: Connected, we wanted to revisit Lumines. The big question in our heads at that time was, “What defines the next Lumines?” An image began brewing in my head, and I spent time thinking about key words and colors that would represent the new game. It was all very abstract at first, but slowly the main idea took shape. This is when I sat down with Executive Producer Tetsuya Mizuguchi to align on the core concept and where we’d like this iteration to go. Once that was agreed upon, I went full tilt in designing individual stages, picking out moments or feelings I wanted to see visualized, including the UI/UX, getting an idea of the musical styles that might pair with each.
As it came together, I made a pre-visualization video. That’s when a real team was starting to take shape so I shared it with them. We started talking about how to make the concept even better and improve on the foundation. After this initial shaping and polishing process, that’s when we really started building out the game.
Developing Stages over time
A common question that we get is how long does it take you to create a full stage from start to finish. Well, that’s a bit of a difficult one to answer, since during development we continually polish, improve, and tweak little things throughout. It’s become a bit of our house style at Enhance! At no point do we say, “OK, we’re done with that stage time to move to the next!”
The initial design for a single stage is quite broad—its visuals, music, and sound, and the feeling that we want it to evoke. Then, as we work, each person on the team, be it a visual designer or a member of the sound team, contributes tweaks and changes. This back-and-forth process doesn’t stop, but if you laid it all out on a timeline, it might show that it took three or four months per stage from start to finish! At times we would shift focus to certain stages and leave others to “breathe” and come back to them later. Every component of a stage—visuals, sound effects, music—needs to work together in harmony. The design informs the music, the music informs the design, and we change things throughout the process until the very end. When we reach the point where it’s in harmony and feeling good to play, that’s when we know the stage is working and everything is in its most polished, perfected state.
Speaking a little more about matching the music to a stage’s visuals, at the beginning it’s very broad. From what I just described, you could say our development style is very flowy. But at the start, we do a lot of music-related planning, analyzing sound waves, looking at the MIDI, timing and BPM data. However, it’s very similar to making something out of a mountain of clay. You have a plan, but as you’re creating it you take things away, add textures, or maybe you have to add elements back to it. Maybe a shape or curve you added doesn’t work anymore. You’re always perfecting and correcting, and our development style gives some room for that flexibility.
On the cutting room floor
Now, were there any stages we cut from the game? There were a few that we’d started working on very early in development that just didn’t fit thematically. One had an ocean theme, and another was a forest theme—in the end, these didn’t feel cohesive to the Lumines experience we were building. I’d set a high bar for what I wanted out of this new Lumines game. After working on these types of games over the last 20 years, focused on the core synesthesia experience, I had to dig deeper and it turned out that the more darker, cooler feeling tones worked better than the brighter and sometimes softer epic-scale vibes that fit more naturally in a game like Tetris Effect: Connected.
That VR feeling
This is the first time a Lumines game has been playable in VR, too—have you tried it in PS VR2? We wanted playing Lumines in VR to feel like being in the front row at a concert. The lights, the energy, the stage in front of you. It took quite a bit of tuning to get the camera positioning perfect to elicit these feelings, too. If you’ve played on PS VR2 you may have noticed there are lights and particles and things happening that are not visible when playing on a TV. Those little details, along with the headset vibration, help immerse you in the experience even further.
An Immense Task
The games in the Lumines series up to now were all built in 2D. With Lumines Arise, we’re bringing all this into 3D, which means we’re working with a ton of assets, lots of sound components, and music. Every stage’s visuals, music, sound effects are different across all 36 stages. It was so ambitious in scope that we increased our production schedule by six months to get it all done. The finished project hopefully appears effortless, but the scale and volume of making this happen were immense. It was an absolutely huge effort by our team over three and a half years. In that time, our team grew, we learned a lot of new technology that we hadn’t used before, tuned each stage to painstaking detail, and we shipped a game that plays on your TV, PlayStation Portal, and in VR via PS VR2.
Hey, everybody! Sid, Kristen, and Brett are back this week to discuss their top games of 2025, both in terms of hours played and the ones they can’t stop thinking about. This episode also includes a spoiler-filled Ghost of Yōtei interview with Sucker Punch Creative Directors Jason Connell and Nate Fox.
Stuff We Talked About
Holiday Cards 2025 — Celebrate the holidays with festive cards from our studio friends and developers. See if you can find your favorite characters getting into some yuletide shenanigans.
Marathon new features and updates — Get detailed information on all the changes and updates made to Marathon ahead of its March 2026 release. Extract all the data and be prepared to run as a squad or solo.
Saros developers reflect on Story Trailer — The Housemarque team breaks down the new story trailer, going over the emotional throughlines of the title, working with seasoned actors to bring the vision to life, and more.
Helldivers 2 update —.Blast into some mandatory holiday cheer with the Festival of Reckoning on December 18. Enjoy limited-time access to a host of stratagems and other themed goodies.
Sid Shuman – Senior Director of Content Communications, SIE
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Brett Elston – Manager, Content Communications, SIE
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Kristen Zitani – Globlal Content Content Communications Manager, SIE
Thanks to Dormilón for our rad theme song and show music.
[Editor’s note: PSN game release dates are subject to change without notice. Game details are gathered from press releases from their individual publishers and/or ESRB rating descriptions.]
Where to start? It’s a familiar mantra to those of us who have ridden into the lavish landscapes of Ghost of Yōtei’s Ezo. With a rediscovered home behind, and a world filled with revenge, myths and secrets ahead, it’s proven a wonderful dilemma to have. And every corner explored, each tale told, and duel won leading to further questions, one of which kept recurring throughout: how did this all come together? To answer, we reached out to ask two people who can speak to Ezo’s secrets best: the game’s creative directors Jason Connell and Nate Fox.
Sitting down with them, and a whole game to unpack, came the now-familiar refrain: where to start? The answer to that: begin at the end.
A word of warning then: this interview strays deep into spoiler territory. First, mark every member of the Yotei Six off your list, and discover every hidden corner of Ezo. The following chat charts game design choices, key side missions, the game’s conclusion and more.
Spoilers below
Note: This version of the interview is condensed for clarity and brevity. The full conversation will be available on PlayStation Podcast later today.
PlayStation Blog: The game’s final duel is a battle with Lord Saito. It really feels like it’s all been leading up to this moment, not just for Atsu, but also the player and that Saito throws practically every challenge you’ve learned to face at you in one single duel. Can you tell us a bit about how you approach the mechanics of this fight?
Jason Connell: We wanted the ending to be an emotional moment, one that brought together all of her journey of overcoming trauma. And it’s both about kind of figuring out that there’s something better to live for, but also to kind of celebrate the ways that the player has, through their efforts, kind of improved Atsu, made her more capable. And in Ghost of Yotei, that’s about mastering weapons, becoming more confident, more capable. And so, Saito himself will attack you with every weapon that you will need to counter with weapons that you’ve learned throughout your journey. This is a chance to celebrate your mastery and understand how to counter and deal with that. Ultimately, in the final battle, where it’s Katana versus Katana, it’s bringing it back down to that simple sword that your father forged in celebration of his two children, and that’s the weapon that you finished the battle with.
The Storm Blade story. It’s a fascinating one in so much that it reveals the fate of Jin Sakai. Can you tell us about how you approach the creation of this mission? Is there any concern about talking about the protagonist of the previous title in Ghost of Yotei, or confirming a relatively sad end to such a beloved character?
Nate Fox: I would say about a year or two into production, we had some ideas of where that might be and how we might be able to honor that character. We always knew it was going to happen. But then when we started placing it in the world, we just found this wonderful spot that really felt like it could be his spot, you know, and we could celebrate all aspects, whether it’s the tree or the Pampas grass or the or the Suzuki grass or the blade. Things you identify with his story and his legacy, and make it like a shrine / mission for him.
We wanted it to be in the right spot in the game. Like if you come out right out the gate, and it’s right there on your right, that doesn’t seem right. That doesn’t seem like it’s fitting. But putting it in the appropriate time space where you’ve sat with this game well enough, and you understand what this game is, and when you find it, it’s a gem, especially if you were a fan of the previous game. And getting the timing right was it was a big part of that too.
Was the intent always to make Takezo The Unrivaled the hardest encounter in the game. Or would you designate that as the hardest encounter in the game? I’m curious to know if the studio defeated him on Lethal difficulty, and how quickly you defeated him on that setting.
Jason Connell: Takezo was not in anyone’s plans at the beginning of the game. It was a great idea, put forward by one of the folks who makes missions, that we would keep to Takezo as a sort of ultimate battle after you’d finished the Atsu’s journey. And I couldn’t be happier that it represents this, you know, the hardest challenge in the entire game. In the most epic location. Our combat team set it to what many of us thought was impossible, until I saw one of the gameplay coders effortlessly beat it without all the upgrades. He said that he got it on his fourth try. Now, these people have been playing the game, programming the combat, for years! So that’s what you’re up against, if you’re having a hard time and you think this is impossible. The way to get better is just to simply make the game for many years and work in the combat team, and then suddenly it will all be easier.
So past the intro encounter with The Snake, the game’s designed to let you choose which of the Yōtei Six to hunt and in what order. This can shape your play style, such as The Kitsune path expanding your stealth options, or bring a deeper connection with the world, like the Oni’s, leading you to encounter Jubei. How do you design the game to accommodate those different play styles that result?
Jason Connell: Well, when we set out to make this game, when it was just Nate and I, you know, dreaming up what it would be, something we talked about was just really leaning into what we saw fans really love about playing in the open world, having the freedom to kind of sort of do what they want to do.
So from the very beginning, we were like, okay, let’s go real hard at this. Let’s invest in design and tech that allows us to give a little bit more freedom, even from the beginning. And so that has wrinkles, you know, it can get challenging to tell a really solid story that needs a beginning, middle and end. So some of our first stabs at this were way too open, right? Like, you can just go after any of the Six. And in that process, Nate pointed out, like, how hard that might be to have that beginning, middle and end, and we need that, because that’s Atsu’s story: that’s the structure.
Really early on, you definitely get this kind of choice. It’s not just a narrative choice. We added weight to that, by giving it a mechanical sort of choice. If you like role playing, if you like being a stealth- like character, or you like playing games that have ninja-like abilities, then you know, this area up here might be more for you. Or maybe you’re intrigued by this over here, which has got more of a traditional big castle and some cool fire weapons and a spear, and we kind of hint you with a little bit of it. So if it’s not just the story that motivates you, or that you’re intrigued by that narrative seed that we’re giving you, maybe it’ll be sort of the mechanics, and we’re giving you a number of ways you might be able to be influenced to make an informed decision.
Briefly talking about weapons, the Sensei quests clearly indicate which weapons they’ll unlock from the start, but the conditions to unlock the rifle and gun in comparison isn’t as obvious. Why was that?
Jason Connell: Well, we knew that the hand to hand weapons were a great source of pleasure for players. They loved getting them. They loved mastering them, and it adds a lot of diversity to your experience of fighting enemies. And that combat, the lethal precision inside of the game, is something that is sort of dead center of the experience.
So we wanted to make sure players knew that they were out there and make it pretty easy to find them, because they’re such a driver of joy in the game. Range weapons are not as core. So the firearms, we didn’t want to make them totally apparent where to go, so that you would have some of the pleasure of discovering them for yourself, whereas the melee weapons we knew were just too important to let anyone miss out on. They are optional, so you could miss out on them, but we didn’t want just sort of missing their presence to be the issue. We wanted to be a choice on the player’s part to say, I don’t want to bother with that.
There are some wonderful smaller encounters in the game, such as the guy who disappears – poorly, I will say – in a haze of smoke bombs… or the fight with a ronin that, I think he’s labeled as “Irritating Ronin”, that elicits an angry response from Atsu once she’s defeated him. Can you touch upon how these came about?
Nate Fox: Just really early on we had people that would work on the main story, then we have people fleshing out the world. Some of those smaller bits just come from, “hey, how would people operate in this place?” How can we give this place a little bit of personality that you might be intrigued and interested to hear about these people. They’re just flavors in the world. Which, you know, honestly, we didn’t have a ton of time to do in the last game. So it was nice to be able to sort of try some of those unique flavors early on. That smoke bomb guy might have been one of the very first ones that we created in the game. We went through a bunch of iteration to make him who he is, but that might have been the first six months of the project. And I’m happy to see some of those make it through to the end, because there’s plenty that do not [laughs].
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It is a beautiful world. There are numerous moments in which, say, a cliff climb or turning the road leads to a picturesque scene that is worth photographing. How intensive was it to get those moments to hit the sweet spot? Did it mean the immediate environment, how to be continually reshaped, to have the camera angles hit just right?
Nate Fox: One of the challenges of making an open world that’s as big as this and also trying to make a game that is artistically powerful and potent, that people step in the world and they feel the weight of the art… That is super hard to do.
The fact that we cannot control what you’re looking at makes it tremendously harder, right? Like, we have no idea where you’re looking. We have no idea what you’re doing. We have a clock that kind of moves when you’re in the open world. So we don’t know if you’re in day or night. Certainly, in some cases, we’ve specifically put you in areas where special times of day exist, like the Spider Lily mission.
But it is such a testament to the environment art team to be able to construct an environment with such beauty that no matter if I look that way, or that way, whether it’s daytime or it’s night time, shockingly, looks pretty good. That is very hard to do. Open World visual design: incredibly hard. Now they definitely know that you’re going to be coming up over this ledge during a Shrine climb. You’re going to be coming up over this ledge, and they might position those rocks to be, and that shrine, to look to the point where you know you’re going to be looking generally in this direction. They’ll definitely do that. And they do a wonderful job constructing what they think that you’ll do. But because we don’t know, we have to get a couple things right. We have to get the atmosphere right. We have to get lighting right. We have to get color. The pacing of the visual noise, and how much noise you have on the screen. All these things are just constructed in the open world DNA of the visual design. And we hope that we can guide you to areas where it just kind of puts a magnifying glass on that and makes it, you know, really pop in those moments. A very few amount of people on the team really get to contribute exactly to this, and I think they do a wonderful job bringing it to life.
Today, we reveal how your votes shaped the PlayStation Blog Game of the Year awards for 2025. This year’s voting saw nearly 1.5 million votes cast across the awards’ 19 categories, with your choices, and your choices only, deciding which games would earn the coveted top spots and accompanying trophies.
As with every year, the awards are a chance for you to help highlight the experiences that made your gaming year, and by extension, the creatives who have crafted those games. And as with every year, there was an abundance of titles to select from, leading to some tough choices.
Before we dive into the category winners, a thank you to all the creators whose collaborative work has brought PlayStation players so much enjoyment the world over these past 12 months.
And without further ado, the games which received the most player votes in each category are…
The category acknowledges the careful amalgamation of multiple creative disciplines, from concept design, through in-game modelling, to motion capture and voice work, that result in captivating characters. And 2025 was rich with iconic protagonists.
That included Silent Hill f’s Hinako, with players unearthing her story as she faced horrors that corrupted and twisted her quiet hometown life. The tag-team delivery of Sandfall Interactive’s artistry and Jennifer English’s performance that etched Expedition 33’s Maelle in such vivid detail. The quiet confidence of Silksong’s Hornet, and the sublime animations that defined her every leap and strike. Yet it was Ghost of Yōtei’s Atsu that caught the most attention. Striking design, a growing, multi-disciplined combat style that thrilled the senses, and a deeply personal, fully-formed character arc that carefully interwove revenge and redemption across a dense open world rich with stories. Sucker Punch Productions and voice actor Erika Ishii, take a bow.
Best Story
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Platinum Trophy: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
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Gold Trophy: Ghost of Yōtei Silver Trophy: Death Stranding 2: On the Beach Bronze Trophy: Silent Hill f
Silent Hill f’s small town horror. Death Stranding 2: On the Beach’s sweeping narrative. Ghost of Yōtei’s complex quest for revenge. All demanded dissection, but it was Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’s whose endings quickly became essential post-game discussion, a sign a story has found a cultural echo. Beyond its disarmingly authentic dialogue and some incredible bits of wisdom (whee whoo whee whoo), perhaps the game’s most striking achievement is how elegantly it maintains the delicate balance between darkness and light: levity and warmth cutting through the heavy existential themes with precise, intentional timing. Clair obscur, if you will.
Best Graphical Showcase
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Platinum Trophy: Ghost of Yōtei
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Gold Trophy: Death Stranding 2: On the Beach Silver Trophy: Battlefield 6 Bronze Trophy: Arc Raiders
With each passing year, creators turn growing familiarity with PS5 hardware to craft increasingly detailed depictions of worlds that edge towards photorealism. Despite danger hidden in every stairwell and creek, Arc Raiders players couldn’t help but take time to soak in the quiet, unsettling beauty of its many devastated battlegrounds. Equally Battlefield 6’s upped the franchise’s appetite for destruction, making it hard to ignore the wider spectacle even as you focused on survival. Plenty of you showed your appreciation of Death Stranding 2’s potent mix of evocative landscapes, sci-fi design and outstanding character models.
But it was Ghost of Yōtei’s jaw-dropping foliage density, stunning use of ray tracing and rich detail with every aspect of life in Ezo that saw the most support as players named it the most graphically impressive PlayStation title of 2025.
Best Art Direction
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Platinum Trophy: Ghost of Yōtei
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Gold Trophy: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Silver Trophy: Hollow Knight: Silksong Bronze Trophy: Silent Hill f
The diverse work of the Best Art Direction’s top four spoke to creators with strong visions when fashioning their respective virtual worlds. Silent Hill f wrapped the horror franchise’s hooks with the myths and culture of 1960s Japan, turning a peaceful small town into a labyrinth of terror. Team Cherry conceived an entirely new, equally captivating insect kingdom in Silksong’s oppressive Pharloom, making every corner and denizen – dangerous or otherwise – a must-see. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’s painterly look drew inspiration from multiple art styles to dazzling effect, and made a great excuse to fire up the game’s Photo Mode.
Yet it’s Ghost of Yōtei you voted on to take the top spot. Sucker Punch, building on successes of Ghost of Tsushima and an ever-growing confidence in utilizing PS5 hardware, who fashioned an evocative snapshot of the rural wilderness of 1600s Japan that demands to be explored.
Best Audio Design
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Platinum Trophy: Ghost of Yōtei
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Gold Trophy: Death Stranding 2: On the Beach Silver Trophy: Battlefield 6 Bronze Trophy: Hollow Knight: Silksong
Great audio design solidifies the world around you, combining SFX, 3D audio, music and more, making you feel relaxed, elated or fearful in an instant. Your picks for category winners are exemplary at this. The sound of a distant chant helps give you direction through an unexplored corner of Pharloom in Silksong. Picking out the stomp of approaching threats amidst a symphony of destructive explosions and crackle of gunfire in Battlefield 6. The roar of a sandstorm or the howls of BTs twisting your gut in Death Stranding 2.
And for Platinum winner Ghost of Yōtei, it’s how Sucker Punch brought the sounds of Japan to life. Not just wildlife and fauna, but the crunch of swords, or the twang of the shamisen reverberating out of the DualSense controller’s speaker, and the sound of the wind whipping around you that make the Ezo feel like a real place waiting to be explored.
Best Soundtrack
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Platinum Trophy: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
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Gold Trophy: Ghost of Yōtei Silver Trophy: Death Stranding 2: On the Beach Bronze Trophy: Hollow Knight: Silksong
Plenty of great music caught your ear in 2025, with strong contenders – and voting – in this category. Ultimately your choices landed on four distinct scores. Christopher Larkin returned to Hollow Knight’s underworld for another acclaimed atmospheric score that helped define Silksong’s sprawling areas and its cast. Similarly Ludvig Forssell, alongside a star-studded lineup of artists, returned to Death Stranding 2 to define its soundscape once more. Composer Toma Otowa kept Ghost of Yōtei’s soundtrack powerfully authentic with Japanese instrumentation (and a nod to the low-fi beats produced for the game’s Watanabe Mode in collaboration with Cowboy Bebop’s Shinichirō Watanabe).
Yet it was Lorien Testard’s work on Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 that caught most ears. Its music showcased an impressive range, from unapologetically funky character themes to stripped-back spoken word, sweeping orchestral arrangements, and Alice Duport-Percier’s soaring vocals. Expertly woven through the game, it’s a score that you decided most deserved this year’s Platinum.
Developers continued to emphasize accessibility features in 2025 in myriad ways, and your votes showed your appreciation for creators’ efforts in this area. Battlefield 6 added controls for tinnitus-like sounds, Assassin’s Creed Shadows included tone indicators for its subtitles, and Split Fiction allowed players to skip difficult combat and platforming sections.
But taking the win this year is Ghost of Yōtei, which took all the great features from Ghost of Tsushima and added in even more – from visual assists to help attacks stand out, to alternate-input options for touch and motion controls.
Best Use of DualSense
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Platinum Trophy: Ghost of Yōtei
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Gold Trophy: Death Stranding 2: On the Beach Silver Trophy: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Bronze Trophy: Battlefield 6
Developers flexed their growing familiarity with PS5’s unique hardware features in 2025. Battlefield 6’s weapons felt distinct thanks to adaptive triggers translating trigger pull and recoil to the players’ hands, while you felt the impact of explosions with the DualSense controller’s haptic feedback. Similar feedback immersed you in the rhythm of Expedition 33’s combat, while Death Stranding 2 transported you into Sam’s shoes, mimicking the trudge through snow or mud, the pull of heavy cargo, and more.
All that said, voters threw the majority of their weight behind Ghost of Yotei’s DualSense controller implementation. Be it quality-of-life shortcuts, interactive moments such as camping, or the clash of steel during combat, hats off to Sucker Punch for another title cleverly tapping into unique PlayStation features.
Best Rerelease (Remaster)
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Platinum Trophy: The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered
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Gold Trophy: Days Gone Remastered Silver Trophy: Tomb Raider IV–VI Remastered Bronze Trophy: Final Fantasy Tactics – The Ivalice Chronicles
A tight race for the coveted Platinum prize saw The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered ultimately take the crown. This enhanced version of the seminal 2006 RPG benefitted from massively upgraded visuals and polish, as did Bend Studios’ update to fan favorite Days Gone. Tomb Raider IV-VI Remastered and Final Fantasy Tactics – The Ivalice Chronicles also saw strong support in Game of the Year Awards voting.
Battlefield 6’s action-packed, large-scale multiplayer battles struck a nerve with PS5 players, earning a big Platinum trophy for Battlefield Studios. Hotshot Arc Raiders also saw strong support in the polls, with gamers appreciating its fresh take on the extraction shooter genre. Marvel Rivals and Split Fiction took the Silver and Bronze prizes, demonstrating the robust depth and breadth of multiplayer experiences released over the past year.
Best Ongoing Game recognises those games whose original launch may be years past, but who continue to delight players with huge new content packs and seasonal updates to keep gameplay fresh and fans guessing what’s next. Launched only last year, young buck Marvel Rivals has already made its mark on the multiplayer landscape, rubbing shoulders with established titan Fortnite, which continued to produce fantastic crossover events with big name IPs and expanded its gameplay offerings.
In the end, publisher MiHoYo pulled off that rarest of wins, earning two trophies in one category, thanks to your votes for two of their ongoing titles: Bronze for Honkai: Star Rail, and Platinum for Genshin Impact.
Best Expansion
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Platinum Trophy: Lies of P: Overture
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Gold Trophy: Helldivers 2: Heart of Democracy Silver Trophy: Assassin’s Creed Shadows: Claws of Awaji Bronze Trophy: Indiana Jones and the Great Circle – The Order of Giants
While many expansions continue the adventures of core characters, Platinum trophy winner Lies of P: Overture took a different approach, in the form of a sizable prequel that fills in the story prior to the events of the main game. That slimmer frame still boasted a complete package, distilling down what made the main game enticing, including a cavalcade of new challenging bosses to further sharpen your combat-honed skills on.
Your votes went to other deserving winners as well: Helldivers 2 surprised players by putting them on backfoot as they fought on (and for) the streets of Super Earth in Heart of Democracy. Indy’s adventure in Rome expanded to fold in another ancient mystery by way of The Order of the Giants expansion, while Claws of Awaji sated Assassin’s Creed Shadows players eager for more ninja and samurai action.
Best Sports Game
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Platinum Trophy: Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds
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Gold Trophy: Forza Horizon 5 Silver Trophy: EA Sports FC 26 Bronze Trophy: Rematch
The all-star cast and reality-bending courses of Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds took the checkered flag this year, with fellow racer Forza Horizon 5 not far behind. EA Sports FC and newcomer Rematch rounded out the list, with each representing different expressions of The World’s Game.
Best Independent Game
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Platinum Trophy: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
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Gold Trophy: Hollow Knight: Silksong Silver Trophy: Dispatch Bronze Trophy: Ready or Not
These smaller teams yielded big results! The majority of your votes weighed towards titles that included clever gameplay hooks or unique presentations to make for new and exciting experiences. From the vast world of Clair Obscur, to the superheroic drama of Dispatch, these imaginative indies prove the future of gaming lies in innovation and thoughtful iteration.
Best PS VR2 Game
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Platinum Trophy: Alien: Rogue Incursion
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Gold Trophy: Hitman World of Assassination Silver Trophy: The Midnight Walk Bronze Trophy: Zombie Army VR
Survios struck black goo with its virtuoso VR take on the iconic Alien series, which scored the Platinum award despite a tight race with IO Interactive’s Hitman: World of Assassination. The Midnight Walk’s moody adventure and Zombie Army VR’s red-meat combat also got recognized as being among the best of 2025’s PS VR2 offerings.
Best PS4 Game
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Platinum Trophy: Hollow Knight: Silksong
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Gold Trophy: Elden Ring Nightreign Silver Trophy: Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds Bronze Trophy: Call of Duty: Black Ops 7
Recognised with Bronze, Silver, and Gold trophies across other categories, it’s in Best PS4 Game that Hollow Knight: Silksong claims the Platinum. Team Cherry’s utterly captivating and tensely challenging 2D platformer wasn’t without staunch competition, from FromSoftware’s multiplayer take on its acclaimed Elden Ring series, the fresh spin on arcade racing dynasty in Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds, and the heavyweight of Call of Duty returning to the PS4 frontlines with Black Ops 7.
Best PS5 Game
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Platinum Trophy: Ghost of Yōtei
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Gold Trophy: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Silver Trophy: Death Stranding 2: On the Beach Bronze Trophy: Arc Raiders
In a year full of acclaimed games, it’d be tough to pick a shortlist. And that proved true for Best PS5 Game, which saw your votes nearly evenly split throughout the whole period of the polls being open. It was only in the closing hours that the winning order was solidified. Though a later release this year, Arc Raiders quickly attracted plenty of heat, spawning numerous gameplay clips and stories by players detailing narrow wins and surprise betrayals. Death Stranding 2’s suite of new and retooled mechanics made Sam Bridges’ biggest challenges a joy for players to experience, while Expedition 33 found a unique groove in its take on turn-based combat, and combined it with a story and world that has electrified many of you.
Following a tight race, in the end, the Platinum went to Ghost of Yōtei. Sucker Punch’s sophomore effort improved on every aspect of the first game, then layered on top of that new features, a new cast, and new story.
As we tally up the votes, it’s clear that several studios have left an indelible mark on 2025. Sandfall Interactive’s debut showcased their absolute confidence in their identity, while Sucker Punch and Team Cherry released hugely anticipated adventures to critical acclaim.
However, it was Kojima Productions who claimed the Platinum trophy for Studio of the Year after the release of Death Stranding 2 and a ‘round the world’ tour to showcase their work. While the game reached new and existing fans alike, the studio tapped into pop culture, connecting them with their audience on a level few studios can achieve.
Most Anticipated Game of 2026 and Beyond
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Platinum Trophy: Marvel’s Wolverine
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Gold Trophy: Resident Evil Requiem Silver Trophy: 007 First Light Bronze Trophy: LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight
In recent years, the Most Anticipated Game category has proven to be the most fiercely fought of the entire awards. This year was no different, with an extensive list of new games to look forward to, and you showing your excitement for all with votes cast far and wide, and the most write-in votes of the entire awards.
Yet the race was particularly tight between the top two placements. The final result? Resident Evil Requiem earns Gold, but it’s Marvel’s Wolverine that takes the Platinum this year.
“I wouldn’t go in there,” warns traveling storyteller Ugetsu, as Atsu approaches two large and looming wooden doors. “Because you may not return.”
It’s a caution many Ghost of Yōtei players loved to ignore. As the trigger point for revered side-quest The Spider Lily General, that ominous gate is the start of a haunting mythological adventure that lingers long in memory after its completion. Only fitting for a game that launched so close to Halloween.
I spoke to Creative Directors, Nate Fox and Jason Connell, to find out the inspiration and secrets behind The Spider Lily General, and how they felt about the optional quest’s popularity. But, similar to Ugetsu, I must warn you – there are spoilers ahead. You might want to play this mission before venturing any further…
The quest’s origins
“The Spider Lily General was actually one of the earliest missions in the game and one of the first Mythic Tales we created,” reveals Jason. “It came from one of our designers and writers, and we dissected what makes a great Mythic mission, how they’d look and feel.”
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While these particular side-quests can be inspired by historical figures, The Spider Lily General was crafted as an original tale to represent the trauma of war. The titular warrior’s battle prowess and armour turned him into a legend, but after retiring, the General accidently injures his daughter during a sparring session. Seeing his child die from a wound he inflicted poisons the General with unrelenting grief, leading to him haunting the forest. And now looters hunt for his armour, often dying by the ghost’s sword.
“We knew we wanted the story to maybe have some tragedy associated with it,” says Jason. “And at some point the writer suggested it could be a point of reflection for Atsu, who helps him heal. She’s fighting him, but understands his trauma.”
But why spider lilies? Was there some specific symbolism in their use, given the myth says they sprouted wherever the General spilled his victims’ blood?
“They’re actually toxic, and in real life they’re planted in graveyards to keep away animals,” explains Nate. “So they represent death, as well as connecting to emotional relationships. They also had a functional in-game purpose – early playable feedback suggested it was a bit hard to understand where to go and what to do in the mission because the area is so large. So the lilies made it clearer how to move through the mist.”
Developing horror
The practical use of the lilies were just one of many mechanical aspects Sucker Punch had to consider for a quest which took on such an eerie feel in contrast to much of the main game.
“We don’t have a lot of experience with that sort of horror tone,” says Nate. “So there were specific ways to make it feel like the world is not as you know it. The little maze, a music stinger, and hearing people wailing in the distance. Or reaching a bunch of enemies before a mist rolls in and you then find them all slaughtered.
“There’s also the use of negative space, like when you start the quest and go up a staircase with the mist coming down and the spider lilies going up, with old corpses present… but nothing is attacking you. That long walk is simply there to immerse you in the tone.”
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Early development concepts of the Spider Lily mission by Sucker Punch.
“We were inspired by elements from past survival horror games,” explains Jason. “The prototypes explored weird camera angles. It was really challenging, but even if we didn’t use them it set the vibe for what we were trying to achieve.
The atmosphere is one of the biggest tools we have. You paint the whole scene with mood. We made the spooky moon a little bigger and changed the lighting and colour grading to get the right black level. Sound design is a big thing, too, as well as the music, like the special track during the duel.”
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Its influence on the wider game
Similar to the impact The Spider Lily General had on players, its early inclusion to Ghost of Yōtei’s development helped set a high bar not just for the other Mythic quests, but also for the entire adventure.
“The mission paved the way to ensure that the rest of the game had that level of quality and majesty,” says Jason. “A lot of the core parts of what makes the atmosphere and visual style of a Ghost game distinct got re-pioneered in that moment – and it reminded us of how important it is to use really great visual attractions to draw the player in.”
“That’s one of my favourite things about the mission,” agrees Nate. “When you’re riding your horse in this expansive field, the player has the choice of where they want to go. But when you look at the forest, it’s got a little bit of mist on it and you see this beautiful pagoda popping up out of the top, and it really excites your curiosity. The player discovers the story under their own power. It’s a powerful experience.”
The impact of myth on players… and the studio
The work and thought gone into The Spider Lily General is reflective of the entire game, but the team is happy with how players have responded to this particular mission, especially given how invested the studio was in creating the Mythics.
“Nate and I were pretty excited about the way they came out in Ghost of Tsushima,” says Jason. “So we knew that we wanted to build them again in their own new way for Ghost of Yōtei. And it’s cool to see people really enjoy The Spider Lily General. It’s got a lot of the hallmarks of a Ghost game in its roots. So as creators it’s really joyful to see people take photos and talk about why they like that mission.”
“We set out to make a game that is an anthology of stories where the player is invited to really wander, and follow their curiosity,” says Nate. “And The Spider Lily General is a great example of the kinds of things you can discover by going out there and exploring, in its own self-contained short story.
“It has a really strong beginning, middle, and end, with characters you get to know. Everyone in the team is very proud of how it came together.”
Let me tell you how a PlayStation in a Welsh recording studio sparked a three-decade journey into the rhythm-action genre. This is the birth of our upcoming game, Aaero2: Black Razor Edition, which is available now on PS5..
As the 90s came to an end, my band had just signed our first record deal and we were living at a recording studio in Wales, recording our first EP. One evening, with my guitar parts, the bass and drums already in the bag, the drummer and I noticed a PlayStation under the TV in the lounge. There were two games; Colin McRae Rally and PaRappa the Rapper. We played a lot of Colin McRae before deciding to give the other odd-looking game a go. That’s where it all started for me and rhythm games. I’ve been obsessed with video games since I was little. The revelation that playing music and playing video games had a crossover point was huge.
Entering the games industry
After relentless hustling and following the least orthodox route imaginable (Musician > Engraver > Tattoo Artist > Architectural 3D Artist > Video Game Artist) I landed my first game job as an environment artist at Codemasters. It was at Codemasters – the home of Colin McRae Rally – that I first worked with Dan. A brilliant programmer and I’m struggling to find the right words. Let’s go with ‘enigmatic eccentric’. The PlayStation 2 was brand new and the bleeding edge of gaming. It was such an exciting time to be making games.
B-Boy, PSP, and the music/game connection
In 2002, a group of six guys broke away from Codemasters and Rare to form a new studio called FreeStyleGames. They were working on an exclusive game for PlayStation 2 and PSP called B-Boy. The connection of music and gaming was irresistible. Dan and I migrated over. In addition to art, the B-Boy project and smaller team structure allowed me to get involved in the music/audio side of things as well as game design.
Guitar Hero and the golden age of rhythm gaming
Keeping with the Hip Hop vibe, we went on to make a DJ game which caught the attention of Activision and became DJ Hero. They asked if we could help make content for Guitar Hero. Yes. Yes I can! I hired a team of absolutely incredible musicians and designers. Some musicians at the time scoffed at Guitar Hero and suggested people should play a real guitar instead of wasting time on games, but we disagreed. It was introducing people to music they otherwise may not hear and letting them appreciate it on a whole new level.
The birth of Mad Fellows and Aaero
Dan and I left FreeStyleGames in 2013 to form Mad Fellows. While people often mention Rez when describing Aaero, and it was indeed one of my favourite games, it wasn’t the biggest influence. It was actually most inspired by Gitaroo Man. The use of analog sticks to trace the music comes from my love for iNIS’ timeless classic. I still keep my PSP to hand so I can have a blast through the songs every now and then.
Meeting Wired Productions
While showing an early version of Aaero in 2015 at EGX in London, we first met the guys from Wired Productions. As a massive fan of Arcade Paradise, I had been talking to Leo (Managing Director of Wired Productions and co-founder of Black Razor Records) about how much I loved the soundtrack. The authentic 90s tracks really captured the vibe of the era, and the opportunity to bring this music into Aaero2 as the Arcade Paradise Music Pack was a dream come true. The Lania Kea Music Pack just naturally flowed on from that, and at that point we realised Aaero2 had evolved into something new.
Full circle
Aaero2: Black Razor Edition represents the culmination of many years of experience in music games from both Mad Fellows and Wired Productions. Its release on PlayStation feels like a huge milestone in a three-decade-long personal journey as a gamer and game developer.
Behind the scenes the team here at Bungie has been incredibly hard at work on Marathon, our brand-new PvPvE extraction shooter* – where the dark sci-fi world of Tau Ceti collides with tense survival FPS gameplay.
In Marathon, players scavenge the lost colony of Tau Ceti IV as a bio-cybernetic Runner while surviving against hostile UESC security forces, rival Runners, and unpredictable environments to seek their fortune.
Today’s ViDoc shares a new look at Marathon’s gameplay and immersive sci-fi setting. The team also explores updates since Alpha, like improved visual fidelity, proximity chat, solo play, and a new Runner shell: Rook.
Captured on PC
On Tau Ceti, death is the first step.
Your journey begins in the proving grounds of Perimeter, where you’ll get your cybernetic legs under you and learn the basics of how to extract alive. Then, the anomaly-scarred Dire Marsh ups the ante and takes you to the remains of the human colony that’s filled with more danger and bigger rewards. As you grow your vault and survival skills, you’ll make your way to Outpost, the UESC’s forward base of operations with patrols, locked rooms, and loot that will have you tempting fate at each turn.
But, all of that leads up to the endgame. Hanging high above Tau Ceti is the looming UESC Marathon, which houses the Cryo Archive – the first deck you’ll be able to explore aboard the derelict colony ship. Solve raid-like security measures to unseal frozen vaults and pillage the artifacts within. Every cramped corridor forces you into conflict with fully-geared enemy crews racing for the same prize. Breach the seventh vault to challenge an entity that even the UESC fears.
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Captured on PC
Unsteady truces, unforgiving worlds, and unforgettable experiences await you on Tau Ceti IV. With huge thanks to our incredible community, we’ve been able to playtest and gather feedback to ensure that we’re building Marathon with our players in mind. We’ve made several improvements, including:
Proximity chat, to make on-the-fly alliances – or break them – in the field
Rook, our solo scavenger experience
Solo Runner queue, so you can test yourself against Tau Ceti’s most challenging odds
Updates to visual fidelity across the board, to further immerse you in the world
Whether you were with us back in April for our first Alpha or you’re just joining us now, there’s a rich world full of lore and loot for you to discover when your cybernetic biosynthetic shell takes its first steps into our new world.
Captured on PC
We’ve built Marathon to shine on PlayStation 5, with the goal of delivering smooth, intense combat – whether you’re playing with your crew for a night full of runs, going it solo, or filling into teams of up to three. The PS5’s hardware is perfectly suited for us to bring this dark and gritty world to life, and we can’t wait for you to get your hands on it.
Marathon releases in March 2026 at the target price of $39.99/€39.99/£34.99, with additional regional pricing to be announced.
Keep up with the latest news from our team at Bungie by wishlisting Marathon for PlayStation right here.
If you want to join in on the discussion and chat with the dev team, make sure to head over to the Marathon Official Discord! We’d love to hear your stories, get your feedback, and share what’s coming next as we chart the path forward.
We can’t wait for you to join us on Tau Ceti soon.
*Bungie.net account and internet connection required. Paid for PlayStation Plus membership (sold separately) required on PS5.
PlayStation Plus membership subject to recurring subscription fee taken automatically until cancellation. Age restrictions apply. Full terms: play.st/psplus-usageterms.
Another year has come and gone, but we can’t help looking back at the incredible gaming memories made in 2025. The PlayStation Blog team wants to thank you for your support all year long, and wish you a happy holiday season.
And we’re not alone! We gathered season greetings from our talented friends and studios from across the industry. So grab a cup of cocoa and, and enjoy this year’s collection of holiday greetings. Cheers to 2026!
Last week, asked you to step back and take in the view, sharing zoomed out moments using #PSshare #PSBlog. Here’s this week’s highlights:
marcospnabzshares Sam at the top of a mountain peak in Death Stranding 2: On The Beach
JarrinWasHereshares Bayek sliding down a pyramid in Assassin’s Creed Origins
FrameCapturedshares Wander taking in the vast landscape of Shadow of the Colossus.
AkiraAoyama_VPshares Amicia walking through a field in A Plague Tale: Requiem
Chimychinglesshares Atsu approaching a clifftop shrine in Ghost of Yōtei
SwayamGaikwad25shares Gustave gazing out at the Paintress in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Search #PSshare #PSBlog on Twitter or Instagram to see more entries to this week’s theme, or be inspired by other great games featuring Photo Mode. Want to be featured in the next Share of the Week?
THEME: Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 SUBMIT BY: 11:59 PM PT on December 17, 2025
Next week, we’re taking to the skies. Share aerial feats using #PSshare #PSBlog for a chance to be featured.
