The Game Awards are basically gaming’s big year-end party: part celebration, part salt mine, part “wait, they announced what during the pre-show?”
2025 has been loaded with huge releases and surprise hits, so this year’s show on December 11 at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles is shaping up to be one of the most stacked yet.
If you’re wondering what to play before the show, who might actually take home Game of the Year, or what kinds of reveals to expect, this guide has you covered.
The basics: When, where, how to watch
Date: December 11, 2025
Location: Peacock Theater, Los Angeles
Host: Geoff Keighley (back again, of course)
How to watch: The show will be streamed globally on YouTube, Twitch, X, TikTok, and more, with Amazon Prime Video carrying it for the first time. There’s even a dedicated Amazon store for merch and game deals tied to the show.
One big stat: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 leads the pack with a record-breaking 12 nominations, the most in Game Awards history.
So yeah, expectations are high.
The Game of the Year race: 6 games to revisit (or finally start)
Here are the six Game of the Year (GOTY) nominees and why they matter.
1. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Sandfall Interactive / Kepler Interactive
Turn-based RPGs aren’t usually the loudest games at awards shows, but Clair Obscur muscled its way into the spotlight with style. Its surreal Parisian setting, painterly art direction, and rhythm-infused combat made it stand out instantly. Critics and players have latched onto:
Combat that feels fresh, mixing timing-based inputs with traditional turn order.
Art direction and music that lean into dreamlike, theatrical vibes.
A story about cycles, fate, and resistance that actually sticks the landing.
With nominations across GOTY, Game Direction, Narrative, Art, Score, and even multiple Performance nods, it’s the clear frontrunner on paper.
2. Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
Kojima Productions / Sony Interactive Entertainment
The original Death Stranding was divisive, but it built a die-hard fanbase. The sequel doubles down on emotional storytelling, cinematic presentation, and that weird, lonely-but-connected feeling that only Death Stranding seems to capture.
Why it’s in the conversation:
Production values through the roof—visuals, acting, soundtrack, the whole package.
A stronger, more focused narrative than the first game, according to early critics.
The kind of “only in games” design that blends traversal, social systems, and storytelling.
If voters want something ambitious and auteur-driven, this is a big contender.
3. Donkey Kong Bananza
Nintendo EPD / Nintendo
A new Donkey Kong in 2025 already felt like an event. The fact that it landed in GOTY territory says a lot. Bananza brings back side-scrolling DK with modern level design, dense secrets, and vibrant, characterful animations.
Expect:
Co-op chaos that still works for all ages.
Levels that layer challenge after challenge if you go for 100%.
That classic Nintendo feeling: responsive controls and playful, confident design.
It’s also one of the “lighter” games in the lineup, which might help it linger in voters’ memories.
4. Hades II
Supergiant Games
“Rogue-like sequel” is a scary phrase, but Supergiant managed to evolve Hades without losing what made it special. Hades II refines the loop while adding new gods, new weapons, and a stronger meta-progression structure.
What makes it dangerous in the GOTY race:
Run-to-run variety that keeps you saying “just one more” until 3 a.m.
A writing style that turns every NPC chat into a reward, not a chore.
Slick visual and audio identity, plus a killer Darren Korb soundtrack.
It’s also one of several indie-scale titles making history this year: 2025 is the first time GOTY nominees are a 50/50 split between indie and larger studios.
5. Hollow Knight: Silksong
Team Cherry
It finally released. That alone is a headline. But Silksong didn’t just coast on hype; it delivered a fast, acrobatic take on Metroidvania design with Hornet’s more agile toolkit and a world that feels stranger and sharper than Hallownest.
Stand-out elements:
Tight, demanding combat that rewards precision.
An eerie, layered world with environmental storytelling for days.
Another gorgeous Christopher Larkin score, which is also up for awards.
If voters want to reward long-term community anticipation and quality, Silksong has a real shot.
6. Kingdom Come: Deliverance II
Warhorse Studios / Deep Silver
Kingdom Come II leans even harder into grounded, historical role-play. No dragons here—just political chaos, complex systems, and a simulation-heavy approach to quests and combat.
Why it matters:
A level of historical texture you don’t usually see in big RPGs.
Branching questlines where your reputation and choices matter.
Combat that feels weighty and punishing, which isn’t for everyone—but absolutely for some.
If the jury leans toward “deep systems and role-play over spectacle,” KCD2 could surprise people.
Our prediction board (purely for fun)
Let’s be clear: this is pure speculation based on nominations, critical reception, and vibes—not insider info.
Game of the Year
Most likely: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Leads the show with 12 nominations, spanning basically every prestige category.
Feels like the critical darling of 2025.
Dark horses: Hades II and Hollow Knight: Silksong
Both represent “smaller team, huge impact,” which lines up with the year’s narrative about indie-scale GOTY contenders.
Best Game Direction
Prediction: Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
The category often goes to the boldest, most director-driven vision, even if a different game wins GOTY. DS2 fits that trend perfectly!
Best Narrative
Prediction: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
It’s nominated across story-heavy categories and has multiple performance nods, which suggests the narrative really resonated with jurors.
Best Art Direction
Prediction: Ghost of Yōtei
Sucker Punch is already known for striking visual style, and Ghost of Yōtei’s snowy landscapes, bold contrasts, and cinematic framing are all over the marketing and nominations.
Best Score & Music
Prediction: Hades II or Hollow Knight: Silksong
Darren Korb’s work on Hades is already legendary.
Christopher Larkin’s Silksong score is getting a lot of praise for building on the original while feeling new. Both are nominated, so this one’s almost a coin flip.
(But we have some team members that swear that this is another easy win for Clair Obscur)
Best Ongoing Game
Nominees include Final Fantasy XIV, Fortnite, Helldivers II, Marvel Rivals, No Man’s Sky, and Baldur’s Gate 3 in a special ongoing/content slot.
Our prediction: Final Fantasy XIV (again) or Helldivers II
FFXIV’s Dawntrail expansion keeps it in the conversation every time it drops major content.
Helldivers II had one of the most memorable live-service launches of the year, especially around community events and coordinated missions.
Again: just guesses. Feel free to start your own prediction spreadsheet and dunk on these later.
Nominees worth playing (or replaying) before the show
If your backlog is screaming, here are some high-impact picks that are shorter, replayable, or just especially fun to sample before the big night.
Split Fiction (Best Game Direction nominee)
From the studio behind It Takes Two, Split Fiction takes co-op storytelling into wild new territory. It trades the couples-therapy angle for a broader “parallel lives and branching futures” theme, but keeps the:
Constantly shifting mechanics.
One-more-chapter pacing.
Co-op chaos that’s funny instead of frustrating.
Great choice if you want something to play with a friend before the show.
Ghost of Yōtei (Narrative / Direction / Art)
Sucker Punch’s latest is a stylish samurai-meets-supernatural tale set around a looming volcano and snow-blanketed landscapes. If you liked Ghost of Tsushima but wanted more horror and myth, this should be high on your list.
Silent Hill f (Narrative & Art Direction)
If you’re still in spooky-season mode, Silent Hill f brings psychological horror to 1960s rural Japan, blending classic SH unease with new visual motifs. It’s also up for Best Narrative and Art Direction, so it’s not just jump scares and fog.
Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail & Fortnite (Best Ongoing Game)
If you’re more into live-service games than single-player epics:
FFXIV: Dawntrail caps off a massive arc and refreshes jobs and zones, making it a great jumping-back-in point.
Fortnite continues to reinvent itself with new chapters, OG throwbacks, and crossovers—enough to keep it in the ongoing conversation year after year.
Esports, creators, and the “show within the show”
Beyond the big single-player awards, The Game Awards 2025 also highlights:
Esports teams, players, and events
Content creators and streamers
Community-driven games and “Games for Impact” titles about social themes
These categories tend to fly by during the live show, but they’re a good window into what kept people playing together in 2025—especially if you’re curious which competitive scenes are still thriving.
Expected reveals: What might show up on stage?
Officially confirmed so far:
A new trailer for Exodus, one of the bigger upcoming sci-fi RPGs, is already teased for the show.
Historically, The Game Awards has also been the place for:
First looks at new IPs from major publishers.
DLC / expansion reveals for recent hits.
Surprise ports and shadow-drop demos.
So while nothing else is guaranteed yet, it’s reasonable to expect:
Updates for some of this year’s nominees.
At least one “wait, that got announced here?” moment.
A couple of games you’ve never heard of that instantly jump onto your wishlist.
Just remember: trailers are hype, but the games you can play right now—especially the nominees above—are the ones that will actually shape this year’s awards.
How to enjoy The Game Awards 2025 without burning out
Quick tips to wrap up:
Pick 2–3 nominees to try instead of stressing over the entire list.
Watch with friends (online or in person) so you can react, rant, and cheer together.
Treat the predictions and winners as conversation starters, not objective truth. Every year has at least one “snub” and one “how did that win” moment.
However the trophies shake out, 2025 has already been an incredible year for games—from indie breakthroughs to giant sequels and live-service heavyweights. The Game Awards is just the final boss cutscene.
