Best Fighting Game at The Game Awards 2025: All Nominees

From classic reworks to new IPs, the 2025 list offers something for every type of fighter.

The nominees are:

2XKO

– Riot’s 2v2 tag fighter blends League of Legends champions with tight, assist-driven combat. Early builds impressed players with responsive controls and high team synergy potential.

Capcom Fighting Collection 2

– A polished anthology bringing back obscure classics like Cyberbots and Pocket Fighter. The rollback netcode and custom training tools make retro competition viable again.

Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves

– SNK revives its long-dormant franchise with a modern 2.5D art style and crisp strike-based mechanics. Praise centers on its aggressive pacing and clean hit feedback.

Mortal Kombat: Legacy Collection

– This remastered trilogy offers upgraded visuals and smoother mechanics for MK9, X, and 11. It’s a celebration of gore, with solid rollback and revised tutorials.

Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. World Stage

– SEGA’s latest revision sharpens VF5’s deep 3D combat while adding esports tools, spectating upgrades, and onboarding modes for new players.

With such a diverse and exciting group of nominees, this year’s Best Fighting Game category promises fierce competition. No matter your preferred style, these games are setting new standards for the genre in 2025.

Which Games were Nominated for Best Fighting Game in 2025?

The Best Fighting Game 2025 category reflects the genre’s evolution, blending tradition with innovation. This year’s nominees span legacy franchises and new experiments, each pushing competitive design, accessibility, and player engagement in unique ways.

2XKO

• Riot Games
• ’ debut in the genre,

2XKO

• , brings
• tag-team combat
• into sharp focus by pairing
• League of Legends
• champions with streamlined fighting mechanics. Designed from the ground up for 2v2 gameplay, it introduces a
• dynamic assist system

that rewards team coordination and mid-match strategy.

Pro tip

Focus on building assist synergy by practicing tag-in setups mid-combo – smart timing can completely shift control in 2v2 battles.

Unlike traditional tag fighters,

2XKO

simplifies execution while preserving depth, letting players focus on spacing, mix-ups, and partner synergy. The game has been built with the Fighting Game Community in mind, including rollback netcode, strong mod support, and accessible training tools from day one.

Early competitive showcases earned praise for its fluid animations, responsive controls, and tight stage design, with a cast of instantly recognizable characters like Ahri and Darius, the game appeals to both casual fans and competitive players.

What stands out most is

2XKO

’s ability to bridge MOBA fandom with fighting fundamentals – a combination that could reshape the genre’s audience.

Capcom Fighting Collection 2

• Blending nostalgia with competitive modern features,

Capcom Fighting Collection 2

• resurrects a range of cult classics and fan favorites in one cohesive package. This installment includes rare entries like
• Cyberbots
• ,
• Star
• Gladiator
• , and
• Pocket
• Fighter
• , now equipped with
• rollback netcode

, improved input response, and full-featured lobbies.

Pro tip

Use the custom training tools to recreate classic mix-up scenarios; each game has different block stun windows you’ll need to master separately.

While some titles lean into casual fun, others showcase serious combo depth and footsie-heavy mechanics, appealing to both old-school players and new learners. The training tools allow precise scenario setups across all games, which makes this more than just a retro celebration – it’s a viable playground for lab work and sparring.

Visual filters, custom button mapping, and move list overlays contribute to strong accessibility updates. For long-time fans of 90s Capcom fighters,

Capcom Fighting Collection 2

offers a faithful yet functional revival, made even better by how well it performs online.

Mortal Kombat: Legacy Collection

Mortal Kombat: Legacy Collection

• compiles three major modern entries –
• MK9
• ,
• MKX
• , and
• MK11
• – into a single remastered package
• with visual upgrades, unified netcode, and refined input buffering. This is a fully playable archive of over a decade of
• Mortal Kombat

evolution, highlighting changes in combo systems, defensive mechanics, and pacing across titles.

Pro tip Master the different meter systems in MK9, X, and – adapting your combo enders to the game’s era is key to staying optimal across the trilogy.

Fatalities remain brutal and cinematic, but the real depth comes from learning the rhythm of each game’s unique combat flow. The package adds new training tools, modernized tutorials, and rollback support for online matches across all top fighting games, which makes it more accessible than ever.

Character rosters are massive, with a wide range of styles (including rushdown and zoning), which gives players plenty of room to find their fit.

Mortal Kombat: Legacy Collection

is a thoughtful retrospective that respects the series’ legacy while sharpening it for today’s competitive environment.

Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. World Stage

Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. World Stage

continues SEGA’s long-standing legacy of pure 3D martial arts combat, now retooled for today’s online and esports ecosystem.

The core mechanics remain intact – frame-tight strikes, circular vs linear movement, and intricate stance dynamics – but the experience is now elevated with rollback netcode, improved matchmaking, and spectator features built for tournaments.

Pro tip

Prioritize learning each character’s sabaki and evasion properties – movement and counterplay timing are more important here than raw offense.

The game adds quality-of-life features like guided tutorials, simplified input options for new players, and detailed frame data overlays for serious competitors.

Every character’s style is grounded in real martial arts, offering a level of animation clarity and tech-driven matchups rarely seen elsewhere.

While the combat is notoriously unforgiving, it also rewards discipline and study like few others in the genre.

Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. World Stage

doesn’t reinvent the franchise – it perfects its platform, giving one of the genre’s most technical fighters a fresh lease on life.