Every Award Hollow Knight: Silksong Won At The Game Awards 2025

Hollow Knight: Silksong felt like it would never come out, but it sure did. Its launch was so momentous that it effectively broke digital game marketplaces like Steam, putting them out of commission for several hours, and it would seem that the hype was warranted. Hollow Knight Silksong is one of the highest-rated games of 2025, earning an impressive 91 Top Critic Average on OpenCritic.
Silksong takes place after the events of the first Hollow Knight and follows Hornet, a character quite distinct from her mute predecessor. Her journey is defined by major differences in gameplay and storytelling, which are both ultimately more complex and multifaceted than what came before. While this added complexity (not to mention difficulty) hasn't been for everyone, a considerable number of players and critics seem to agree that Silksong is a marked improvement. That is reflected in its nominations.
Hollow Knight Silksong was one of three show-stopping indies nominated for Game of the Year 2025. Unsurprisingly, it was also nominated for Best Independent Game, alongside fellow GOTY noms Hades 2 and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.
It was also nominated for Best Action Adventure Game, where it went head-to-head with heavy hitters like Ghost of Yotei and Death Stranding 2: On the Beach. As such, it stands out as not only the sole indie game in the category, but also the only 2D one. Its Best Score and Music nomination is another unsurprising honor, as Christopher Larkin's Silksong soundtrack has been hailed as just as powerful, if not more so, than its predecessor. But this category was especially competitive, as its fellow nominees, such as Hades 2 and Clair Obscur, are widely believed to have exceptional scores. The Best Art Direction category is similarly competitive, pitting Silksong against 2025 TGA mainstays like Hades 2 and Clair Obscur once again.
It doesn't look like Hollow Knight Silksong's brutal difficulty had too severe an impact on its Game Awards performance, as it nabbed Best Action Adventure Game. In this category, it beat some of 2025's most significant AAA titles, and if nothing else, this victory drives home Silksong's airtight combat and traversal mechanics.
That said, it's a bit surprising that Hollow Knight Silksong didn't finish The Game Awards 2025 with more awards under its belt. It's a little anticlimactic, to be sure—Team Cherry's return to the industry probably would have warranted more awards in any other year. But 2025 most definitely wasn't like other years in gaming.
Indeed, while Hollow Knight Silksong is widely considered an improvement over its seminal predecessor and is arguably the best metroidvania in years, it was up against some stiff competition. And unlike the first Hollow Knight, it didn't have charming debut ambition on its side. Expedition 33 is, in some ways, the unexpected indie success story that Hollow Knight was back in 2017. It's also fundamentally more innovative and unique by virtue of being a new IP, whereas Silksong is building on what came before. The sheer novelty of Clair Obscur, paired with its myriad strengths, may help to explain why it beat Silksong in every other category the latter was nominated for.