2025 should have been the year where the maw that is Grand Theft Auto's cultural cachet consumed all. It only took five months for Rockstar to release a little oxygen into the room, the studio pushing GTA 6 into 2026 – a small act of mercy that allowed a very different conversation to shape.
How our GOTY list was decided
The GR+ team came together to determine our GOTY for 2025. Each member submitted a ballot of their pick of the 10 best games of the year in ranked order. We then took those results to help form the ranked list below. It's worth noting that remasters, expansions, and early access games were not eligible for consideration. For everything else, the eligibility window for inclusion and consideration was Dec 1, 2024–Nov 30, 2025.
