As we head into the end of 2025, the gaming industry is doing away with the usual giants, multibillion-dollar companies like Ubisoft, EA, or Activision, in terms of year-end awards. What we see instead is the emergence of independent and mid-sized (AA) studios, taking home the awards. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a turn-based RPG that is the work of a small French team of former Ubisoft developers does very well on Metacritic with a 92 Metascore and also does very well with users who gave it a 9.6. Also, we see Blue Prince, a solo-developed puzzle-roguelike masterpiece that did a 92, which also had 8 years of very dedicated work put into redefining what intimate innovation is.

This isn’t a fluke. Indies and smaller teams have hijacked the narrative, outpacing bloated AAA titles amid an industry purge that has resulted in over 3,500 job cuts and multiple studio closures. Newzoo’s report pegs global gaming revenue at $188.8 billion—a 3.4% bump—but the money’s flowing to passion projects, not live-service grinds. Here’s how 2025 became the indie golden age.

The Solo Symphony: Blue Prince’s Eight-Year Odyssey

Tonda Ros, the one-man army behind Dogubomb Studios, poured eight years into Blue Prince—a labyrinthine estate where every “day” reshuffles 1,000+ rooms via roguelike drafting. Inspired by Christopher Manson’s surreal Maze book, players inherit Mt. Holly, chasing the elusive Room 46 amid puzzles that demand notebooks for clues scattered across runs.

Launched April 10 on PC, PS5, and Xbox (day-one Game Pass/PS+), it peaked at 19k concurrents on Steam—modest but fervent, with 10.5k reviews at 86% positive. Critics hailed its “refreshingly original” blend of calm exploration and brain-melting design (92 Metascore, 96% positive). Ros, a film vet turned recluse dev, shuns sequels: “Each project will be completely standalone.” In an era of $300M flops, his $20 indie proves vision trumps venture capital.

The Paintbrush Epic: Expedition 33’s Meteoric Ascent

Sandfall Interactive’s 20-person crew (many Ubisoft refugees) birthed Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 from Kickstarter dreams into a phenomenon. Released April 24, this Belle Époque RPG wields reactive turn-based combat, where timing parries paint the battlefield in real-time.

Steam did indeed blow up: 145k peak players (ranked 9th at launch in 2025), 1M sales within 3 days, 172k reviews, at 96% positive. Also on Metacritic, it scored 92/9.6 ( the highest user score ever at peaks), 2025’s best-reviewed non-remaster. Lorien Testard’s OST eyes Grammys; Yoshitaka Amano collab art seals cult status. Kepler-published, it’s an AA triumph—proving small teams eclipse AAA tedium.

2025’s Top 10: Indies Take the Throne

Rank	Game	Metascore	Steam Peak	Team Size	Notes
1	Hades II	95	112,947	Small (Supergiant)	Procedural god-slaying sequel.
2	Clair Obscur: Expedition 33	92	145,063	AA (Sandfall)	Sales juggernaut.
3	Blue Prince	92	19,243	Solo (Dogubomb)	Puzzle pinnacle.
4	Split Fiction	92	259,003	AA (Hazelight)	Co-op reinvention.
5	Hollow Knight: Silksong	91	587,150	Small (Team Cherry)	Decade-awaited metroidvania
6	Donkey Kong Bananza	91	N/A	AAA (Nintendo)	Rare big-pub win.
7	Death Stranding 2	89	N/A	AA/AAA (Kojima)	Strand ’em high.
8	Kingdom Come: Deliverance II	88	256,206	AA	Medieval grit.
9	ARC Raiders	87	462,488	AA	Futuristic adventure.
10	Ghost of Yotei	86	N/A	AAA (Sucker Punch)	Sequel shadow.

The AAA Reckoning: Layoffs, Bloat, and Burnout

Why the coup? AAA’s imploding. 2025 saw Crystal Dynamics’ third layoff wave (30+ jobs), Ubisoft sunsetting XDefiant (300 affected), and trackers logging 3,563+ cuts across 114 days layoff-free by late year—but the damage lingers. Studios like Volition and Arkane Austin shuttered pre-year; VC-fueled GaaS gambles flopped.

Indies thrive on risk: No committees, pure vision. Expedition 33 outpeaked AAA rivals; 40% of Steam’s top 20 peaks were indie/AA. As one X post nailed: “2025 is the year of indies and AA studios.”

Dawn of a New Era

Blue Prince and Expedition 33 aren’t outliers—they’re harbingers. With Game Awards noms looming (Expedition 33 frontrunner), 2025 cements indies as gaming’s vanguard. AAA must adapt or perish; players crave soul over spectacle. The mansion’s blueprint has changed forever.