Valve announced the 2025 Steam Awards winners (and shockingly Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 didn't win everything)

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Valve has revealed the 2025 Steam Awards winners

Steam
(Image credit: Steam)
  • Valve has revealed the winners of the 2025 Steam Awards
  • Hollow Knight: Silksong was the only game to win more than one category
  • Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 picked up the Best Soundtrack Award - it's only award

Valve has announced the winners of the 2025 Steam Awards, and, unlike The Game Awards 2025, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 didn't sweep almost every single category.

Running annually since 2016, The Steam Awards are decided nearly entirely by users of the popular PC gaming platform Steam. Every year, Valve offers a selection of categories and gives you a few weeks to nominate picks.

You're then able to vote on a selection of the most popular choices, with the winners decided by tallying up the votes to find out which game received the most.

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This year, the categories and winners are as follows:

  • Game of the Year: Hollow Knight: Silksong
  • VR Game of the Year: The Midnight Walk
  • Labor of Love (celebrating older games that are still being updated): Baldurs Gate 3
  • Best Game on Steam Deck: Hades 2
  • Better With Friends (for the best co-op experiences): Peak
  • Outstanding Visual Style: Silent Hill f
  • Most Innovative Gameplay: Arc Raiders
  • Best Game You Suck At: Hollow Knight: Silksong
  • Best Soundtrack Award: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
  • Outstanding Story-Rich Game: Dispatch
  • Sit Back and Relax (an award for relaxing experiences): RV There Yet?

A well-rounded selection?

Hornet stands and plays her needle as a musical instrument

(Image credit: Team Cherry)

No game of the year list is going to be perfect (except TechRadar Gaming’s Game of the Year picks, of course!), but this seems like a pretty decent selection overall.

I'm personally quite surprised Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 didn't win in more than one category, given its huge popularity, but after it took home so many accolades at The Game Awards, that might not be such a bad thing.

The inclusion of some smaller games like The Midnight Walk and RV There Yet? is also great to see, and should hopefully drive some sales to their hard-working developers.

Key art of Melania from Elden Ring
The best PC games

➡️ Read our full guide to the best PC games
1. Best overall:
Elden Ring
2. Great for multiplayer:
Helldivers 2
3. A brilliant roguelike:
Hades 2
4. An old-school shooter:
Doom Eternal
5. Best for racing fans:
Forza Motorsport

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Dashiell Wood
Dashiell Wood
Gaming Editor

Dash is an experienced tech journalist who specializes in video games, electronic entertainment products, and the wider industry that surrounds them. He currently serves as the Gaming Editor at TechRadar, leading our review, preview, feature, and news coverage of the latest and greatest releases.

Before joining the team, he was Contributing Writer at PLAY (formerly Official PlayStation Magazine UK) and has written articles for many of the UK's other biggest gaming magazines including the likes of Edge, PC Gamer, and SFX.

Now, when he's not getting his greasy little mitts on the newest hardware or gaming gadget, he can be found listening to J-pop or feverishly devouring the latest Nintendo Switch otome.

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