Google published two different top-ten lists for its 2025 Year in Search: one for Global searches and one for the United States. Arc Raiders leads the Global list; Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 leads the U.S. list. These are rankings of games that saw a major spike in search interest—not rankings of the best-selling or most-played games.
Google’s top trending games of 2025, globally
Google’s Global list ranks the following games in order:
| # | Preview | Product | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
|
Ubisoft Video Game for Switch Just Dance 2025 Edition - EAN Brand: 3307216295716 | $27.50 | Buy on Amazon |
| 2 |
|
VGC: The 2025 Guide to Video Games: The 2025 Guide to Video Games | $14.93 | Buy on Amazon |
| 3 |
|
Level Up 2025: An AFK Book | $12.74 | Buy on Amazon |
- Arc Raiders
- Battlefield 6
- Strands
- Split Fiction
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
- Path Of Exile 2
- Grand Theft Auto 6
- Pokémon Legends: Z-A
- Minecraft
- Roblox
Google’s top trending games of 2025 in the U.S.
Google labels this separate region “United States of America.” Its list is:
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
- Battlefield 6
- Hollow Knight: Silksong
- ARC Raiders
- The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered
- Borderlands 4
- Pokémon Legends: Z-A
- Monster Hunter Wilds
- Madden NFL 26
- Clash Royale
Google renders the title as “Arc Raiders” in the Global chart and “ARC Raiders” in the U.S. chart. The lists and their displayed capitalization are available on Google’s Global Year in Search page and U.S. Year in Search page.
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What differs between the Global and U.S. rankings?
Four games appear in both top tens: Battlefield 6, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Arc Raiders, and Pokémon Legends: Z-A. Their positions are not identical across the charts. The Global list starts with Arc Raiders, while Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is first in the U.S.
The biggest contrast near the top is third place: Global has Strands, while the U.S. list has Hollow Knight: Silksong. The other six entries in each chart do not appear in the other region’s top ten. A rank in one list should therefore not be presented as a worldwide position or as a U.S. position unless the region is specified.
What does “trending” mean in Google’s list?
Google describes Year in Search as highlighting searches that “saw a major spike in interest this year.” The rankings reflect search activity, not game sales, active players, reviews, or Google’s judgment of game quality. Google Trends explains that its data is a sample of actual searches that is anonymized, categorized, aggregated, and normalized by geography and time. Its FAQ about Google Trends data cautions: “Google Trends is not a scientific poll and shouldn’t be confused with polling data. It merely reflects the search interest in particular topics.”
That distinction matters when reading a numbered ranking: a high position means a game’s search interest stood out under Google’s Year in Search methodology. It does not establish how many people played or bought it, or whether players rated it highly.
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When did Google publish the 2025 rankings?
Google published its Year in Search 2025 announcement on December 4, 2025. The post was written by Simon Rogers, Data Editor, Google Trends, and invited readers to “Check out the searches that saw a major spike in interest this year.” The announcement also cited general search trends: “Tell me about…” searches rose 70% year over year, and queries beginning “How do I…” reached an all-time high with a 25% increase from the previous year. Those figures describe search behavior overall, not searches for games. Read the Google announcement.
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