As the year comes to an end, we look back at our favorite games, movies, TV, and more
2025: strange year! For Polygon and society at large. Familiar grounds shifted and the internet continued its chaotic transformation into becoming something else entirely. But if there’s one thing that didn’t change — and won’t — it’s Polygon’s mission: to excavate and celebrate culture through curiosity (and maybe a weeeeee bit of mischief). We’ve always been about more than reacting to the moment; we also want to know why games, movies, TV, and the spaces around them matter, even (especially?) when everything feels off-kilter.
We take enormous pride in the legacy of this publication — in the voices that built it, the risks it’s taken, and the standard it’s set for smart, human-centered criticism and reporting. That legacy belongs not just to Polygon’s past, but to anyone working under its banner now and in the future. With that spirit in mind, we present this Best of 2025 collection, a curated smattering of curation with a few hot-takes thrown in for good measure. In the moment, it’s a map for catching up. For future readers, hopefully it helps clarify what the heck happened in one very wild year in the world of culture and entertainment.
