YouTube has published its list of the top trending topics of 2025, and once again, gaming and pop culture were popular choices for what people watched on the video-streaming website. Out of the trending topics–which aren’t ranked in any particular order–US YouTube viewers devoured any content related to the Switch 2 console, Roblox, and the RPG-strategy game Cookie Run Kingdom. Other topics of interest in the US included KPop Demon Hunters, Labubu collectible dolls, and the hit anime series Blue Lock.
Roblox user-generated experiences and the Switch 2 continued to be popular topics on YouTube worldwide, especially in countries such as Korea, Germany, Mexico, France, Japan, and the United Kingdom. YouTube says that it determined the top trends for the US and other regions through “a variety of signals,” including views, uploads, and creator activity around the topics. Only the topics that were determined to have had conspicuous popularity this year–either because they were new to 2025 or because they saw significant increases in their user-interest metrics–were eligible for the list.
YouTube Trending Pop Culture Topics in the US for 2025
- Squid Game
- User-Generated Roblox Experiences: Grow A Garden, Dandy’s World, Forsaken, Steal A Brainrot
- KPop Demon Hunters
- Brainrot
- Labubu
- Nintendo Switch 2
- Cookie Run Kingdom
- Blue Lock
- Katseye
While Roblox has seen its popularity reach new heights in 2025, that has also brought new scrutiny to the game-creation platform, following accusations that it is infested with child predators who prey on its young userbase. Recently, Roblox Corporation CEO David Baszucki unveiled an initiative to introduce a new face-scanning feature to increase child safety, but an interview with The New York Times yielded some questionable responses from him.
Meanwhile, Nintendo’s new Switch 2 era is off to a great start. The company had sold more than 10 million Switch 2 units by the end of September, and Nintendo predicts it’ll sell 19 million Switch 2 consoles by the end of its business year, up from its initial estimate of 15 million. If Nintendo reaches that number, the Switch 2 will have sold far more than the original Switch, PS4, and PS5 consoles did during their respective launch years.
As for the other YouTube trends, there aren’t any real surprises here. KPop Demon Hunters has been a runaway success since it debuted on Netflix–and its soundtrack has been inescapable–while Labubu toys have been a hot commodity, driven in part by KPop celebrity endorsements and blind box sales.
