Sliema, Malta, Jan. 06, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — GAMIVO today released their analysis of the best selling video game genres in 2025. According to the company’s data, action-adventure and role-playing games share the title of the most popular genre. Survival games came in third, proving that their prominence hasn’t been a momentary fluke. However, the golden age of simulation games may be coming to an end.
GAMIVO analyzed the best-selling video games.
GAMIVO, a digital distribution service specializing in selling cheap video games, studied its 100 bestselling titles. According to the analyses, role-playing and action-adventure were the most popular in 2025. Each of those genres had a 21% share. Survival games rounded out the podium with 18%, shooters came fourth with 15%, and strategies were fifth with 12%. The remaining spots were taken by simulations (6%), arcade sports games (5%), and pure adventure games (2%).
While the results point to some interesting trends, the company emphasizes that in many cases, the lines between genres are blurry.
“Many modern games combine features and mechanics of more than one genre. Especially, action RPG and action-adventure games are sometimes difficult to distinguish from one another because they use the same elements. However, the key to understanding gamers’ preferences is not to put labels but to observe what they seek in video games,” points out Andrzej Bazylczuk from GAMIVO.
The fact that 42 out of 100 bestselling games in 2025 belong to either the action-adventure or the RPG genre proves that gamers seek an entertaining combination of a gripping story and action, which usually consists of combat and exploration. The prominence of those mechanics can also be observed while analyzing industry awards.
“Among the titles nominated in the Game of the Year category throughout the entire history of The Game Awards, there have been hardly 20% of releases that can’t be qualified as either action-adventure or RPG,” stated Andrzej Bazylczuk.
Survival games, which placed third on the GAMIVO list, also share many similarities with action-adventure and RPG games. However, their creators put emphasis on an atmosphere of constant threat and resource management, which is essential to persevere.
“Survival games became popular a few years ago. They remain among bestsellers, clearly showing that it hasn’t been just a fad. It’s noteworthy that it’s a very diverse genre, encompassing both single-player psychological horrors with complex stories and multiplayer-oriented sandboxes with only a skeleton plot,” explains Andrzej Bazylczuk.
Shooters, which took fourth place with 15%, can also incorporate interesting plot and survival elements, but whether it’s a solo campaign or an online match, they emphasize gameplay.
“It has been a good year for shooter fans. They got numerous interesting FPS and TPS titles, including highly praised sequels in some long-running franchises that were at the top of the GAMIVO bestseller list,” commented Andrzej Bazylczuk.
The last genre with a share of above 10% is strategy games. The remaining 13% were divided between three genres: sports, simulation, and pure adventure.
“Recently, we’ve been observing a flood of simulator games. There have been simulators of everything, from gas stations to phone flippers to nightclubs. The remote position of this genre can stem from its fading popularity and the fact that there are tons of similar releases competing for the limited fanbase”, suggested GAMIVO’s representative.
According to Andrzej Bazylczuk, the fact that sports games accounted for only 5% of the most popular video games in 2025 was predictable because this category is dominated by a few giant franchises with sky-high sales numbers. However, the fact that only two adventure games made it to the top 100 can be surprising.
“It’s worth clarifying that the group encompasses solely titles without any manual challenges. As a result, there are classic point-and-click, visual novels, and so-called walking simulators, which have their fanbases, but they are nowhere near as popular as titles that mix story and puzzles with action”, said Andrzej Bazylczuk.
RPG and action-adventure were the most popular video game genres in 2025.
About GAMIVO
GAMIVO is an online platform that was created for gamers, but today, its offer extends far beyond the world of gaming. Hence, among the over 200 thousand digital products available on GAMIVO.com, you can find video games for all platforms, software, and gift cards that let you top up your wallet in your favorite online shop or streaming service. Such a diverse offer, flawless shopping process, and everlasting desire to develop have made the platform, founded in 2017, become one of the market leaders in the sector.
Press Inquiries
Marta Wawrzyniak
marta.wawrzyniak [at] gamivo.com
