It’s almost time for Geoff Keighley’s annual Kojima bootlicking session, AKA, The Game Awards. And, unlike last year’s showing — which somehow brought Elden Ring back to the conversation — the 2025 GOTY nominees are stacked. From Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 to Hollow Knight: Silksong, there’s something for everybody.
Silksong sweep at the Game Awards?
We’re glad to report that no DLC has slipped through the cracks for the big awards at this year’s show. Shadow of the Erdtree caused a bit of a stir at the 2024 edition, not being a “complete” game, and the fact that the base Elden Ring game already took home the big award in 2022. It’s all new games this year, baby, just how we like it.
Still, it’s not all about the Game of the Year. There are 29 categories to cast your votes in, from best art direction to ‘Games for Impact’, with three of the big-time nominees also leading the charge for ‘Best Independent Game’. Voting is officially open now — though you’ll have to put up with the too-slow website to get your votes in.
We won’t be surprised to see Clair Obscur sweep the entire event (it is nominated for twelve different categories, the most for any Game Award nominee ever). Still, we’ll be damned if Christopher Larkin isn’t given his flowers for his superb work on the Silksong OST. We recommend you give it a listen. Now.
Leading the pack comes Hollow Knight: Silksong (our personal pick) and 2025’s gaming sweetheart, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, made by the folks over at Sandfall Interactive. We were slightly disappointed to see Hazelight’s Split Fiction not make the final cut, no matter how much we loved Donkey Kong Bananza.
Here are the Game Awards’ official 2025 Game of the Year nominees:
- Hollow Knight: Silksong – Team Cherry
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 – Sandfall Interactive
- Kingdom Come: Deliverance II – Warhorse Studios
- Donkey Kong Bananza – Nintendo
- Hades II – Supergiant Games
- Death Stranding 2: On the Beach – Kojima Productions
The Game Awards 2025 will kick off on Thursday, 11 December, live from the Peacock Theatre in Los Angeles.
