Hollow Knight: Silksong and Clair Obscur Locked in Game of the Year Battle

The 2025 Game of the Year contest looks unusually close, with Hollow Knight: Silksong and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 currently tied in aggregate review scores. Silksong, released on September 4 after a long wait, skipped advance review codes, meaning critics are still catching up. Despite this, enough reviews have been published to give a clear sense of its standing, and the implications are significant for The Game Awards in December.

At present, Silksong holds a 93 on Metacritic and 92 on OpenCritic, exactly matching Clair Obscur’s scores. For context, aggregate scores are among the most reliable predictors of success at The Game Awards, making this a true head-to-head competition. Still, Silksong has fewer reviews filed so far, meaning its score may shift slightly as more outlets weigh in. Initially launching with perfect scores, it quickly settled lower, though the consensus remains overwhelmingly positive.

Key international outlets, including Eurogamer, Jeuxvideo.com, GamingBolt, Screen Rant, and Multiplayer.it, have already contributed reviews, nearly all awarding top marks. Christian Donlan of Eurogamer highlighted the unique way Silksong’s difficulty defines its identity.

Read how Silksong crashed Steam on release day.

"It's a Metroidvania with rare poise and — this is crucial, even after a recent patch — a fearsome sense of conviction," Donlan wrote. "I was halfway through the slog, whining about locked benches, losing rosaries by the dozen, returning to bosses who I already knew would kill me in seconds even if the road back to them didn't kill me first, and I suddenly realised I was having fun. Why? Because this was all intentional. The cruelty was part of what the team wanted to offer players. They'd found a way to make a lot of it entertaining." — Christian Donlan

This perception of difficulty as deliberate and rewarding has become central to how critics view the game. But whether this resonates with the broader Game Awards jury is less certain. Unlike reviewers, who often embrace the challenge, many editorial staff who vote across publications may find the punishing mechanics less appealing. The general player discussion around Silksong has also revealed frustration, showing how divisive difficulty remains.

Another factor is presentation. Silksong, despite its immense anticipation and strong execution, is still a 2D indie sequel. The Game Awards has historically favored titles with larger production values, 3D visuals, and original IPs. No indie or 2D game has ever taken the GOTY crown. Silksong’s indie status and sequel identity could both weigh against it, even with glowing reviews.

Clair Obscur, meanwhile, combines some of the same indie credibility with the benefits of slick AAA-like polish. As the debut of Sandfall Interactive, it carries the story of a passionate new studio while offering cinematic visuals, a large-scale RPG structure, and originality. This makes it both familiar to juries that favor big productions and fresh enough to feel like a surprise.

The betting market reflects this distinction. Despite equal scores, Clair Obscur still leads comfortably on platforms like Kalshi. Silksong may have scored with critics, but it hasn’t shaken market confidence in Clair Obscur’s frontrunner status. The barriers facing indie games in this category are significant, and many believe Silksong will ultimately fall short of the top prize.

Even so, Silksong’s critical success has positioned it as one of the strongest indie contenders ever, continuing the momentum of titles like Celeste, Outer Wilds, and Hades. Its reception reinforces the idea that indie projects can compete directly with large-scale productions at the highest level of recognition. Whether it wins or not, the game’s presence in the conversation matters for the long-term trajectory of indie representation at The Game Awards.

As the year heads into its final stretch, the competition remains open. The difficulty debate could play a decisive role, and perceptions of accessibility, production values, and originality will shape the outcome. For now, it appears that 2025’s GOTY race has narrowed to two titles, with Silksong representing the indie torchbearer and Clair Obscur standing as the polished, cinematic challenger.

And while the year already feels set for a two-way fight, there’s still the looming release of Hades 2 in September — a game that could disrupt the current balance entirely.

Would you like me to also expand the piece with more historical context on past GOTY winners and how indie games performed, to show how Silksong fits into the bigger pattern?

Source: Polygon.