It’s another year and another list of nominations for The Game Awards. If there’s something that could be deemed the Oscar night for games, this is it. Hosted by Geoff Keighley, the ceremony honors the best in video games for the year. It also tends to be a showcase for trailers and upcoming game announcements. There’s a lot of pomp and pageantry, and it’s one of the biggest stages for game designers to have their work recognized. Let’s take a quick look at the nominees this year.
For Game of the Year, most of the nominees are pretty expected if you’ve been following gaming news this year.
Game of the Year
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
- Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
- Donkey Kong Bananza
- Hades II
- Hollow Knight: Silksong
- Kingdom Come: Deliverance II
It’s a huge year for independent developers, possibly the biggest ever. Of the six nominees for Game of the Year, only one of them was both developed and published by a major company, the rest were all from much smaller teams, even if some of them had much larger budgets to work with.
Donkey Kong Bananza is the lone representation for a major developer, developed and published by Nintendo. It’s also one of the weaker titles in the line-up despite the fact that the game is astoundingly good. That just goes to show how strong this crop of games is.
The favorite amongst the others is by far, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. The game has been heralded as one of the best JRPG experiences in years, marrying traditional JRPG gameplay with an intensely emotional story, a rhythmic yet turn-based battle system, and impeccable voice acting. It has been critically and popularly revered to the point that it also broke the record for the most nominations in a single year for a game at 12.
Of the other nominees, they all happen to be sequels. Hades II is a roguelike whose predecessor got a lot of respect amongst critics and built up a huge following. Its popularity has been outshone a bit though by the long awaited “Hollow Knight: Silksong.” It has momentum coming into this award season thanks to its more recent release and the fact that it actually got released after years of it being memed for perpetual delays.
Then there’s Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, which can’t be counted out if only because its director, Hideo Kojima, is a favorite at The Game Awards and has shown up there on more than a few occasions. As strong of a game as Death Stranding 2 was, it didn’t have the lasting impact that something like Clair Obscure did. The same can be said for Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2.
We’re predicting Clair Obscure: Expedition 33 will take home Game of the Year, and definitely a few other awards along the way. We’d also expect Death Stranding 2 to win at least something, possibly for direction, since they do love to celebrate Kojima.
The Game Awards happen December 11th, 2025. Read on to see the full list of nominees for the other categories.
Best Game Direction
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
- Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
- Ghost of Yōtei
- Hades II
- Split Fiction
Best Narrative
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
- Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
- Ghost of Yōtei
- Kingdom Come: Deliverance II
- Silent Hill f
Best Art Direction
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
- Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
- Ghost of Yōtei
- Hades II
- Hollow Knight: Silksong
Best Score and Music
- Christopher Larkin – Hollow Knight: Silksong
- Darren Korb – Hades II
- Lorien Testard – Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
- Toma Otowa – Ghost of Yōtei
- Woodkid and Ludvig Forssell – Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
Best Audio Design
- Battlefield 6
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
- Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
- Ghost of Yōtei
- Silent Hill f
Best Performance
- Ben Starr – Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
- Charlie Cox – Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
- Erika Ishii – Ghost of Yōtei
- Jennifer English – Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
- Konatsu Kato – Silent Hill f
- Troy Baker – Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Innovation in Accessibility
- Assassin’s Creed: Shadows
- Atomfall
- Doom: The Dark Ages
- EA Sports FC 26
- South of Midnight
Games for Impact
- Consume Me
- Despelote
- Lost Records: Bloom & Rage
- South of Midnight
- Wanderstop
Best Ongoing
- Final Fantasy XIV
- Fortnite
- Helldivers 2
- Marvel Rivals
- No Man’s Sky
Best Community Support
- Baldur’s Gate 3
- Final Fantasy XIV
- Fortnite
- Helldivers 2
- No Man’s Sky
Best Independent Game
- Absolum
- Ball x Pit
- Blue Prince
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
- Hades II
- Hollow Knight: Silksong
Best Debut Indie Game
- Blue Prince
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
- Despelote
- Dispatch
- Megabonk
Best Mobile Game
- Destiny: Rising
- Persona 5: The Phantom X
- Sonic Rumble
- Umamusume: Pretty Derby
- Wuthering Waves
Best VR/AR
- Alien: Rogue Incursion
- Arken Age
- Ghost Town
- Marvel’s Deadpool VR
- The Midnight Walk
Best Action Game
- Battlefield 6
- Doom: The Dark Ages
- Hades II
- Ninja Gaiden 4
- Shinobi: Art of Vengeance
Best Action/Adventure
- Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
- Ghost of Yōtei
- Hollow Knight: Silksong
- Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
- Split Fiction
Best RPG
- Avowed
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
- Kingdom Come: Deliverance II
- Monster Hunter Wilds
- The Outer Worlds 2
Best Fighting
- 2XKO
- Capcom Fighting Collection 2
- Fatal Fury: City of Wolves
- Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection
- Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O World Stage
Best Family
- Donkey Kong Bananza
- Lego Party!
- Lego Voyagers
- Mario Kart World
- Sonic Racing: Crossworlds
- Split Fiction
Best Sim/Strategy
- Final Fantasy Tactics – The Ivalice Chronicles
- Jurassic World Evolution 3
- Sid Meier’s Civilization VII
- Tempest Rising
- The Alters
- Two Point Museum
Best Sports/Racing
- EA Sports FC 26
- F1 25
- Mario Kart World
- Rematch
- Sonic Racing: Crossworlds
Best Multiplayer
- Arc Raiders
- Battlefield 6
- Elden Ring Nightreign
- Peak
- Split Fiction
Best Adaptation
- A Minecraft Movie
- Devil May Cry
- Splinter Cell: Deathwatch
- The Last of Us: Season 2
- Until Dawn
Most Anticipated Game
- 007 First Light
- Grand Theft Auto VI
- Marvel’s Wolverine
- Resident Evil Requiem
- The Witcher IV
Content Creator of the Year
- Caedrel
- Kai Cenat
- MoistCr1TiKaL
- Sakura Miko
- The Burnt Peanut
Best Esports Game
- Counter-Strike 2
- Dota 2
- League of Legends
- Mobile Legends: Bang Bang
- Valorant
Best Esports Athlete
- brawk – Brock Somerhalder
- Chovy – Jeong Ji-Hoon
- f0rsakeN – Jason Susanto
- Kakeru – Kakeru Watanabe
- MenaRD – Saul Leonardo
- Zyw0o – Mathieu Herbaut
Best Esports Team
- Gen.G – League of Legends
- NRG – Valorant
- Team Falcons – Dota 2
- Team Liquid PH – Mobile Legends: Bang Bang
- Team Vitality: Counter-Strike 2
