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A little over a decade ago, I fell in love with PC gaming. I don't quite remember the exact specifications of my first build, a scrappy second-hand desktop bought from a local computer store, but I do remember how beautifully it could run Skyrim. Later, when its innards were juiced-up with a 1060 GPU from the same store, I swore nothing would ever look as good as the turquoise waves lapping against my ship in Assassin's Creed: Black Flag.
Beauty is deeply subjective and rarely permanent. But when I think of PC gaming, those wintry evenings spent chasing the horizon in Black Flag are the first and finest memories to come to mind. In amber, the Caribbean Sea still looks breathtaking.
In the many years since, PC gaming has continued to flourish. Publishers like Sony and Xbox have flocked to hawk their first-party games on Steam, its audience across the world has grown, and handheld efforts led by Valve's Steam Deck have revolutionized the medium far beyond the desktop. Still, 2025 has been particularly significant: a glut of phenomenal games aside, the year has been defined by the Steam Machine's unveiling, Xbox wading further into the space with the ROG Xbox Ally X, and payment processors' worrying censorship efforts – an overstep which many storefronts have rolled over to enforce
I'll get to all of that. But for me, 2025 was special because it was the year I fell back in love with PC gaming. I didn't know we'd grown apart, until I found my passion fiercely rekindled by a financially questionable Steam Deck purchase over summer.
New build, old build
GamesRadar+ presents Year in Review: The Best of 2025, our coverage of all the unforgettable games, movies, TV, hardware, and comics released during the last 12 months. Throughout December, we’re looking back at the very best of 2025, so be sure to check in across the month for new lists, interviews, features, and retrospectives as we guide you through the best the past year had to offer.
While it's a myth that crows adore shiny things, I have failed to beat the same allegations. Since picking up a Steam Deck, I've faithfully toted it from room to room, sneaking in brief minutes of playtime whenever I can grab it. The novelty of holding a PC in my hands has made the games I've played to death feel fresh again. A long-overdue replay of Fallout: New Vegas' home run DLC? Don't mind if I do. Final Fantasy 12? Go on. Persona 4? Mwah. Frankly, I should not have been trusted with portable Balatro.
The more I've dug into these comfort games, the more I've realized that PC gaming is a perpetual lasagna. A delicious layer of new games is piled on each year, but those beneath them never go anywhere – either becoming comfort picks à la my relationship with Persona 4, or patient mainstays that will forever draw new fans. The thought of someone playing Faster than Light or Hotline Miami for the first time thaws my cold, cold heart. Being glued to my Steam Deck – which is powerful but not always capable of new releases – has given me a newfound appreciation for the medium's vast back catalog, reconnecting me with the games that bound me to PC gaming in the first place.
If only it stopped there. My Steam Deck isn't going anywhere, but during November's Black Friday deals I cracked and bought a new GPU to relieve my creaking 2060. Upgrading my PC wasn't something I was looking forward to (my bank account can attest to that) but it was much-needed, and took all of three days before I was capering around Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 with all settings maxed. Still, it was only a partial update: after glancing at the price of DDR5 RAM right now I decided my jump from 16GB to 32GB would have to wait.
As we move into 2026, the price of PC gaming is something I find myself worrying about. My own upgrade is half-finished – besides RAM, I've kicked a new CPU and motherboard down the line – and frankly I don't know when I'll have the cash spare to finish it. It's hard to recommend a hobby that many people simply cannot afford right now. On the other hand, I seem to be one of few people feeling optimistic about the currently unconfirmed price of Valve's Steam Machine, which will take the Steam Deck's console-ization of PCs several magnitudes further. The Steam Machine is a staggering opportunity for Valve to lead the way in normalizing pick-up-and-play PC gaming, but it hinges on whether or not Valve takes the hit and prices it low enough to tempt more casual audiences – a steep ask, but one it's done before with the original Steam Deck.
While I'm incredibly excited to learn more about the Steam Machine, Valve's role in the censoring of adult games still leaves a sour taste in my mouth. Payment providers including Visa cracked down on "adult" games across the likes of Steam and itch.io this year, but justifications around safeguarding concerns fall short in the face of reality: the definition of an adult game is nebulous, and Valve has done little to indicate if it is doing anything to push back against corporate-mandated censorship.
"Games that feature consensual adult content, including queer, kink-positive, or romantic narratives, are easily targeted under vague or overly cautious enforcement," rightly points out the International Game Developers Association (IGDA), "often forcing developers into silence or self-censorship because platforms fear perceived risks associated with hosting legal adult content."
Protecting creatives is a moral responsibility that should come with owning the biggest gaming storefront in the world. Going forward, I hope Valve can work to improve its internal moderation systems while cracking down on legitimately illegal content, rather than cede ground to payment providers with carte blanche to enforce their own rules.
Season's beepings
On a less dour note, 2025 has brought with it a host of breakout hits that feel right at home on PC. Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 redefined developer Warhorse Studios' position in the RPG space as a leading dark horse, its continued exploration of Kingdom Come: Deliverance's semi-hardcore niche paying off by proving there's still a huge appetite for more textured RPGs.
Elsewhere, I spent most of spring and summer being chased by unicorns and sewer-dwelling in The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered, and I still can't get past how beautiful Cyrodiil now looks. My love letters to Total War have continued. What does all of this say about the state of PC gaming in 2025? Perhaps nothing; I'm telling you about these games simply because I loved playing them, and would like to share that excitement with you.
But as I've examined my own relationship with PC gaming throughout the year, I've come to reappreciate the depth and vastness of this medium which made me – and hopefully, you – fall in love with it from the beginning. There are so many new releases vying for our attention that it can often be hard to appreciate the generations of creators, the wealth of games, that have already made their mark on PC. As 2025 comes to an end, take a moment to play something for yourself – old, new, it doesn't matter – and consider where your love comes from.
Want to know which games we loved the most this year? Check out GamesRadar+ GOTY: The 25 Best Games of 2025
