The Best Games of 2025 — Blue Prince and the Indie Wave
• Blue Prince tops Bloomberg’s year-end list and embodies 2025’s indie dominance. • Bloomberg notes: “Almost all of them are independently developed, which speaks to the state of the games industry.” • The list (Dec. 22, 2025) is subscriber-only, but its headline—indie studios driving quality releases—reflects a broader market shift. • Raw Fury published promotional imagery for Blue Prince (photo credit: Dogubomb / Raw Fury).
Why 2025 Favored Independent Developers
The year-end roundup published Dec. 22, 2025, highlights a notable shift: the best-reviewed and most talked-about titles came from smaller teams rather than large publishers.
As the piece bluntly states, “Almost all of them are independently developed, which speaks to the state of the games industry.” That sentence captures a year in which creative risk-taking, focused design, and community-driven launches outshone a lot of big-budget output.
Blue Prince: A Clear Standout
Bloomberg singled out Blue Prince as one of the best games of 2025. The image accompanying the list carries the credit Dogubomb / Raw Fury, linking the title to Raw Fury’s growing reputation for curating strong indie projects.
Blue Prince’s recognition is emblematic: smaller teams are producing cohesive worlds, distinctive art directions, and gameplay hooks that resonate with both critics and players.
How Smaller Teams Win
Indie developers benefit from lower overhead, tighter creative leadership, and platforms that amplify discovery—digital storefront updates, curated editorial features, and social communities. Those factors helped several 2025 releases find audiences quickly.
Publishers like Raw Fury have also matured into effective partners, offering marketing muscle and distribution without demanding wholesale creative control. That model helped titles such as Blue Prince reach wider visibility.
Industry Implications
The list’s emphasis on independent work suggests the industry is diversifying: major studios still matter, but critical acclaim and cultural impact can now come from studios of any size.
For players, that means more variety and experimentation. For developers, it reinforces that tight teams with a clear vision can compete for attention and awards in the same year as larger releases.
What to Watch in 2026
Expect publishers to continue partnering with indie studios, and for platforms to refine discovery tools that reward quality over marketing spend. Blue Prince and similar 2025 standouts have set a benchmark: great games can come from modest teams—and the market is listening.
Note: The original Bloomberg list is behind a subscriber wall and was published Dec. 22, 2025.
