No new games in the Top Ten as EA Sports FC 26 reclaims the top spot.
VGChartz's Evan Norris: "Unlike RPG and Action-Adventure, two genres that deliver multiple GotY candidates year after year, Racing is something of a feast or famine situation. Luckily, 2025 was a feast year, due primarily to Nintendo's latest hybrid console. All four games on the shortlist appeared on Switch 2; heck, three of them are exclusives. Shin'en, no stranger to Nintendo hardware, once again punched above its weight class with the slick futuristic racer Fast Fusion. Masahiro Sakurai reconfirmed his auteur status with Kirby Air Riders, an unexpectedly deep and content-rich racer with more than a little fighting game DNA in it. Nintendo EPD made a big splash at the launch of Switch 2 with Mario Kart World, which obliterated the spatial boundaries of the franchise. And Sonic Team raised the stakes with Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds, thanks to an inventive travel ring mechanic."
Another night of Fortnite with the boys then?
I’ve never played Fortnite GTAV or CoD BO7 but I do own GTAV for PS4/5 because I got them cheap.
What exactly are we not getting?
Did we not just have a 2025 filled with nice games like...
Silksong, Doom TDA, Expedition 33, Kingdom Come Deliverance 2, Ghost of Yotei, Dispatch, Split Fiction, Hades 2, DK Bananza, and so many more?
Agree that all you just posted are great games. Expedition 33 is one of my favorites. Spent a large chunk of time on BG3 in 2023. Another for my all-time list.
My point though not well articulated in the OG post is that we would get more of the games of the quality you mentioned if so many valuable resources were not allocated to FTP slop and/or heavy monetization schemes. Some of what used to be my favorite franchises have been ruined by them.
To sum it up, I would like to see games like 33 outperform the profits made by games like Fortnite so more resources are allocated to great games. When heavily monetized FTP games are at the top of the list, we end up being stuck with a significant chunk of games that are not good. Or worst case scenario games that spend years in development, but get cancelled due to industry trend chasing.
Popsicle, I actually think we're getting more great games because of the slop. Developers are seeing that people aren't happy and taking advantage of big AAA studios not delivering for people.
Ben reviews Kirby Air Riders, the long-awaited follow-up to the Nintendo GameCube classic.
Wait, Kirby made less revenue than Spidey2?? How many units did Spidey2 sold? or how few copies have Kirby sold? Astonishing