When it comes to the best sports games, they typically can be placed in one of two different characters. The restored classic Fight Night Champion and the game sitting at number one on the list below are what one might consider one-off marvels. Beyond that, there are the annual updates to storied franchises that exceed expectations in some shape or form.
There’s plenty of both to be found here as we round up the best sports games you can play right now. In fact, below you'll even see some of the best fighting games and best startegy games around too. So, keep reading to see what we've chosen to round up the best of the best!
Best sports games
10. NBA 2K25
When it comes to basketball, you'll find no better gaming experience than the NBA 2K series. And the newest entry to the franchise, NBA 2K25 is proof of how much longevity these games truly have. Nominated for best sports game during The Game Awards 2024, NBA 2K25 doesn't have many massive changes to the already established NBA formula. Still, it does have a series of tweaks that make the gameplay smoother, such as new ProPLAY animations.
NBA 2K25 is, however, one of the best beginner-friendly sports games on our list, thanks to its Learn 2K tutorial mode. With this mode, players can be guided through the basics of MyTeam and The City – which both normally seem super intimidating to fresh faces. Finally, the game also looks stunning and has a ton of customization options. Truly a top-tier sports game from 2024.
For more on this new game, check out our guide on all the NBA 2K25 locker codes.
9. Football Manager 2023
Football Manager 2024 may be out, but Football Manager 2023 still holds our hearts. Still, FM no longer receives the love of its Championship Manager pinnacle, which made Tonton Zola Moukoko and Cherno Samba famous despite modest professional achievements. However, it's still a solid purchase, tasking you with controlling every aspect of a club from anywhere in the globe – even Gibraltar came out a few years ago in a post-release update.
In 2023, we also saw the introduction of licensed European competitions, a detailed ‘supporter confidence’ system, and cleverer AI opponents. Managers are more conservative if your side is in form but extra aggressive when behind late on – meaning that you need to ponder personal adjustments rather than rely on the meta.
8. Fight Night Champion
Available on Xbox Series X, thanks to Microsoft’s backward compatibility program, Fight Night Champion is the perfect recreation of the sweet science. In one corner, EA marries its usual superb treatment of fringe sports with precision controls and graphics that still, today, are liable to stop you in your tracks. In the other, Fight Night Champion’s Champion Mode. Heralding a wave of fully-fledged narratives that punctuated sports games for the next decade, Andre Bishop’s story has never been bettered.
But Fight Night is nothing without its bell-to-bell gameplay. Happily, the bruising action still packs a punch, and rising through the ranks from punching bag to prizefighter in the game’s Legacy Mode remains compelling. Despite remaining in limbo, it’s a total package that ensures the Fight Night series is never truly out for the count.
Check out our Fight Night Champion review for more details.
7. WWE 2K24
WWE is back and better than ever. In fact, WWE 2K24 managed to overshadow WWE 2K22 - something we were all skeptical about when it first came out. Luckily, our fears proved silly as new match types, massive levels of good-old fan service, and a colossal roster came to save the day.
WWE 2K24 truly captures all the fun of WWE, as we get the ability to throw weapons, have new super finishers, 240-odd roster members, seven real refs, three different ring announcers, oh and it has Muhammad Ali, too. The gameplay is a massive improvement from WWE 2K23. However, it could still use refining, and the universe still lacks the once-beloved promos option, too. Still, WWE 2K24 is tons of fun and easily makes our list of the best sports games.
Check out our WWE 2K24 review for more information.
6. EA Sports FC 25
I mean, come on, there's no way that EA Sports FC 25 wouldn't make our list. Not only is this the latest and greatest in the new series that is a direct successor to FIFA (which has now been discontinued due to licensing agreements), but it also won "Best Sports Game" at The Game Awards 2024. What makes EA Sports FC 25 so special is all the new features and improvements added to the tried and tested EA formula.
Rush mode (which gives you faster and small-sided matches) is fun personified, the Goalkeeper AI is miles better than it previously was, and the new feature of "Player Roles" gives you more tactical involvement in your game. EA FC 25 may seem like just another FIFA game on the surface. However, it's hands down the best football game that you can play right now.
Read our EA FC 25 review for more details!
5. Art of Rally
It's a crying shame that Art of Rally didn't quite get the attention it deserved when it launched in September 2020, because it's one of the most stylistic, gorgeous racing games to date. This is an indie game that focuses on the "golden era" of rally, featuring plenty of classic cars, including a number from the infamous Group B category.
Instead of placing you behind the wheel, Art of Rally plays from a top-down view, similar to Micro Machines, but don't expect any power-ups. It's still a hard-to-master game with plenty of tricks to learn like counter-steering and the Scandinavian flick, as you explore 60 stages ranging from Norway to Japan. One of 2020's true sleeper hits.
4. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2
Nostalgia has a nasty habit of playing tricks on you. Fire up the original Tony Hawk's series on PlayStation, and your rose-tinted memories of chugging Red Bull and listening to Goldfinger on a loop are likely to fade. It's muddy, fiddly, and lacks some of the fluidity of future THPS efforts.
Vicarious Visions, then, was tasked with the impossible: recreating a classic series as your mind's eye perceived them all those years ago. It doesn't just succeed; it arguably improves on one of the most beloved sports franchises ever made. The tweaks throughout are smart, but subtle: later abilities, such as reverts, are included to help improve flow, while online multiplayer recreates the bragging rights sessions huddled over a CRT TV all those years ago. This is the essential Tony Hawk’s experience. 'Nuff said.
Read our Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 review next!
3. Out Of The Park Baseball 2023
Football Manager being shown up by a rival dugout sim? Such a prospect has always been unthinkable, but this cult-favorite bat-swinger takes the management spoils once again. To so much as try Out Of The Park Baseball is to get lost for minutes, then hours, then days. It may be old now, but it's still the best simulators out there!
Baseball seasons last 162 games, and each is a joy to strategize, with all the options of real-life faithfully included mid-match. Trades, roster moves, and contracts challenge the gray matter further, and if you don't like what's on offer from a contemporary perspective, you can instead start at any historical point from 1871 onwards. Yes. Eighteen. Seventy. One.
2. Lonely Mountains Downhill
The best sports game you've never played – get that rectified as soon as possible. Juxtaposing gruesome deaths with breathtaking scenery, you speed-run a cube-man biker through four mountains' worth of challenging, enduring courses.
Each demise is brutal, and hilarious, and informative: an individual learning experience as you constantly refine your routes, seeking to obliterate your best time rather than your kneecaps. Controls are simple yet deft, unlockables generous, nights spent having "just one more race" plentiful. It is, in every sense, bloody brilliant.
1. Rocket League
Some ideas are so beautifully simple, it's impossible to fathom a world without them. Rocket League is one such example. Bursting onto the scene (and, memorably, free with PS Plus) in 2015, Rocket League sees teams of up to four lock bumpers in what is essential 'soccer with cars.'
Rocket League's greatest strength lies in its accessibility. There's one button each to drive, jump, and boost. The rest – including the seemingly endless meta-skill ceiling involving flips, floating jumps, and seal-like precision with the ball – is up to you. The fact it's kept its staying power speaks volumes of developer Psyonix's knack for tweaking the addictive formula. New cars, celebrations, and variations on the classic format ensure this will be a game we'll likely be talking about throughout the 2020s.
Read our Rocket League review for more insights into our pick for the best sports game to play right now.
Look ahead with our list of all the upcoming games heading our way. Or, for more recommendations, read our list of the best games of 2024.
