The Best Video Game Performances of 2025

It’s been a pugnacious fewer years for dependable actors. While it’s possibly ne'er been much evident however overmuch worth they supply to a game’s characters and communicative – the immense occurrence of Baldur’s Gate 3 and its beloved formed enactment the assemblage successful possibly the brightest spotlight it’s ever had – dependable actors and question seizure performers look a daunting menace successful artificial intelligence. That’s conscionable 1 of the reasons wherefore we wanted to grant the creation of show successful this year’s IGN Awards. Actors bring our games to life, and our integer worlds would beryllium poorer without them.

As with our different awards, we asked the IGN squad to nominate their favourite performances from crossed the past 12 months, and past we each voted for which 1 we felt was the precise champion example. These are our picks for the champion idiosyncratic performances successful video games this year:

Runner-Up – Erika Ishii (Atsu, Ghost of Yotei)

The relation of a revenge-seeking samurai is well-trodden ground, but Erika Ishii breathed refreshing caller beingness into Atsu, the protagonist of Sucker Punch’s Ghost of Yotei. Lending the quality a believable “rough astir the edges” feel, Ishii ensures that Atsu’s bloodlust has depth.

Runner-Up – Aaron Paul (Robert Robertson, Dispatch)

Unlike Hollywood, which has agelong formed animated movies utilizing personage movie stars, video games person predominantly held onto the thought that dependable acting and show seizure is simply a chiseled skill, and that hiring radical who specialize successful that is the mode to go. But portion Dispatch features manufacture titans similar Laura Bailey and Matthew Mercer, it’s surface histrion Aaron Paul who’s the standout; our reappraisal explains that he's capable to present "a nuanced show arsenic a antheral struggling to clasp onto his optimism portion reconciling with who helium is extracurricular of his elephantine mech suit."

Runner–Up – Konatsu Kato (Hinako Shimizu, Silent Hill f)

Lending some her dependable and likeness to Silent Hill f’s protagonist Hinako Shimizu, Konatsu Kato brought to beingness 1 of the series’ astir tortured heroes. While galore of america volition person relied connected subtitles to recognize her Japanese-language lines, her transportation helped instill each country with the heavy, analyzable emotions intended by the script’s nuanced tale.

Runner-Up – Ben Starr (Verso, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33)

In Verso, Ben Starr was capable to instrumentality the gruff, acheronian leader dependable helium adopted for Clive successful Final Fantasy 16 and cleanable it. The maturity of Expedition 33’s themes, peculiarly successful its last act, let for Starr to research a quality who indispensable revel successful tragedy, but who carries capable optimism and condemnation to ne'er let the acheronian to obscure the light.

Winner – Jennifer English (Maelle, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33)

Maelle is the bosom of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, and a large crushed her travel rings truthful existent is Jennifer English’s performance. Grief is simply a hard emotion to wrestle with, particularly erstwhile it’s portion of a communicative that happily leans into the melodramatic, but English keeps Maelle eternally grounded and wholly believable. Expedition 33 whitethorn beryllium a crippled with flashy combat, monstrous deities, and an service of goofy paintbrush people, but what it’s truly astir is the quality information and, much specifically, however we woody with loss. As Maelle, Jennifer English ensures that Clair Obscur’s loftier, much literate themes and ambitions are ne'er mislaid among the much video game-y, JRPG-inspired tropes.

While idiosyncratic performances are important, a beardown ensemble formed tin assistance bring a level of accordant immersion to a fictional world. When everyone successful an ensemble gives their A-game, there’s nary fracture successful your content that these video crippled characters are genuine people. Our picks for the champion video crippled ensemble formed are:

• Runner-Up – Ghost of Yotei
• Runner-Up – Hades 2
• Runner-Up – Dispatch
• Runner-Up – Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
• Winner – Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Congratulations to Jennifer English, the full formed of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, and the squad astatine Sandfall Interactive, arsenic good arsenic the casts and improvement teams of each the games we nominated. For much from the IGN Awards 2025, beryllium definite to cheque retired our implicit database of winners.

Matt Purslow is IGN's Executive Editor of Features.