GOTY 2025: Gamereactor's Best Sports Game

We've already ticked off a ton of different categories as part of our Game of the Year coverage for 2025, but now we're back for even more. The latest of the bunch is Sports, and for those wondering, here we are talking specifically about traditional sporting video games and not motorsports or racing. So, unlike The Game Awards for example, don't expect to see any kart racers in this bunch, as we'll be saving those for our dedicated Racing category.

As has been the case up to this point, we've selected our choices based on games that have launched in this calendar year, meaning anything that debuted since January 1, 2025 was eligible.

5. NBA 2K26

To begin with, we have Visual Concepts' latest NBA title. Arguably the consistently best sports title in video games today, NBA 2K26 continues to stand out as the finest representation of digital basketball and overall a stunning product that is perfect for all NBA and basketball fans. If it wasn't for the greedier monetisation, which is getting to the point of being too extreme, this title would likely be higher in this list, as even though it perhaps lacks the originality of some that follow, it's still such a strong sports game that it's hard to knock it.

4. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4

Anyone who has read my thoughts on Full Circle's Skate (and even witnessed me play Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4) will know that this series has never exactly been my jam. But that's more because of a gameplay feel than anything else, as when looking at it as a packaged product, there's really not much else you could want from this returning hit. Pro Skater 3 + 4 delivers excellent-feeling skateboarding action, tons of game modes and variety, great humour and references, and it all plays incredibly smoothly and fluidly at the same time. Considering the hiccups of Skate, Pro Skater 3 + 4 takes home the crown of the best skating title of 2025.

3. Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road

It has been an excellent year for digital football, as EA is back on form with a stronger EA Sports FC chapter, while the folks at Sloclap offered a thrilling and unique alternative too. Not to be forgotten is Level5 Inc.'s Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road, a long-awaited JRPG-meets-football game that presented immense depth and huge gameplay variations to serve up an experience that few could rival. You could argue that this is more of a turn-based RPG at times than a sports game, but with the action being resolved on the pitch in tight team-based gameplay, there's no question that Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road deserves its spot on this list.

2. Lonely Mountains: Snow Riders

Megagon Industries has displayed a great knack for delivering compelling and fun arcade sporting experiences, with the past being highlighted by the excellent Lonely Mountains: Downhill. At the turn of the year, the developer returned with Lonely Mountains: Snow Riders, an adventure that traded mountain bikes for skis and lined up a great and fulfilling arcade-geared gameplay premise about reaching the bottom of a trail as fast as humanely possible. Effortlessly enjoyable and delightfully simplistic, this game is one of the finest indies of the year and also a leading sports example too.

1. Rematch

Football video games have been quite similar and familiar for years, offering recognisable and traditional gameplay setups that typically use a top-down and more simulated and strategic theme. The folk over at Sloclap decided that their sleek combat suite from Sifu could be tweaked to fit a footballing environment, and thus the amazing and thrilling Rematch was born. This game had all the fun and beauty of more arcade-geared and less rigid backstreet football but served it up in a thrilling multiplayer manner where competition and victory was the ultimate motivator. Frankly, Rematch stands out as the most unique football game in some time, and deserves its spot at the top of this list.