These Were The Top 20 Entertainment Franchises Of 2025

GameSpot's mothersite, Fandom, released its list of the top franchises of 2025, with Roblox ranking number 1 overall after rising from the number 10 spot in 2024. Gaming continued to take most of the top spots, as fans spent more time in interactive worlds that are constantly updated, like Minecraft and Terraria. In film and TV, long-running franchises like Star Wars and Marvel stayed near the top thanks to new releases like Andor and Thunderbolts.

The rankings were determined using Fandom's franchise factor score, which combines five things: worldbuilding, strong reviews, loyal fans, cultural impact, and consistency. It uses Fandom's large fan data to give a full picture of how popular and important a franchise is in entertainment and gaming.

Anime also had a big year in large part because of high-profile films and celebrations. Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle brought huge attention as it moved the series toward its finale, while Chainsaw Man The Movie: Reze Arc kept momentum high between seasons. There was also the relative newcomer Dan Da Dan, which saw its second theatrical adaptation with Evil Eye.

The rankings also show a shift away from single launch moments toward steady output. According to Fandom's study, Roblox's top placement reflects how fans now prefer platforms with constant updates and community-created content. Smaller Roblox games, such as Dandy’s World and Grow a Garden, ranked higher than well-established worlds like Minecraft and Disney by focusing on frequent events and active, niche communities.

The same pattern appeared elsewhere with franchises such as Dungeons and Dragons and Cookie Run Kingdom performed well by releasing content regularly, showing that consistency mattered more than occasional peaks in attention.