2025 Game Awards Winners

The Game Awards just happened - thanks to those who came out to our watch party that was impacted by various technical difficulties - and we tuned in til the late night here on the east coast.

While - as one of our favorite members of the community, Bacon Dave, pointed out - I'm getting older and often times these products are not targeted towards my demographic, I will say that while this has been one of the better Game Awards recently it still feels like something is missing in terms of filling.

What I think I'm feeling is a lack of passion throughout the show. The winners show passion, love, and admiration, but during the segments, aside from Geoff Keighley, there's a lot of stagnant feeling, and not a lot of jam packed showcasing. This could be due to the nature of the internet spoiling some reveals, or the increase in games aiming for high graphics, but it just feels like there's not enough content to properly fill so we get a lot of "fluff" that doesn't feel genuine.

Ironically - I believe the Muppet song towards the end actually entertained due to the lyrics tapping into some of the vibes the gaming community shares.

But I digress, we have our list of winners! So let's take a look at what we've got, and my unwarranted opinionated two cents about them.

Best in Family Games

This category focuses on the best game that can be played by every member of the family.

• Donkey Kong Bananza
• Lego Party
• Lego Voyagers
• Mario Kart World
• Split Fiction
• Sonic Racing Crossworlds

Winner: Donkey Kong Bananza

I opted to not support Nintendo this year, so no Switch 2 for me and no hands on with the new Donkey Kong; but I will say, it looked great and following games like Mario Odyssey, I can easily see this taking the prize!

Best in Innovation in Accessibility

• Assassin's Creed Shadows
• Atomfall
• EA Sports FC26
• Doom: The Dark Ages
• South of Midnight

Winner: Doom: The Dark Ages

Not much to say; I'm not impacted for accessibility, but it's an area that I'll gladly push for having more support, and more of a commonplace standard when possible^[1].

Best in E-Sports Games

• Counter-Strike 2
• DOTA 2
• League of Legends
• Mobile Legends Bang Bang
• Valorant

Winner: Counter-Strike 2

I'm surprised that Counter-Strike beat out DOTA; Both are classics, so I've no issues with either taking the prize.

Best E-Sports Athlete

• Brawk
• Chovy
• Forsaken
• Kakeru
• Menard
• Zywoo

Winner: Chovy

I don't follow E-Sports Athletes themselves, but to Chovy, congrats! I hope your win brings you and your team even more attention!

Best E-Sports Team

• Gen.G
• NRG
• Team Falcons
• Team Liquid PH
• Team Vitality

Winner: Team Vitality

Same situation as before; I do not follow E-Sports teams, but they seem like a cool set of individuals. Keep it up!

Best in Mobile Games

• Destiny Rising
• Persona 5: The Phantom X
• Sonic Rumble
• Umamasume: Pretty Derby
• Wuthering Waves

Winner: Umamasume: Pretty Derby

Honestly this was my choice to win; while I do not play myself, hearing about the actual horse one of the protagonists is based on living out her last days in comfort with luxury grass provided by her fans, I just wanted a feel-good-win for this! And I got it!

Best in Independent Game

• Absolum
• Ball x Pit
• Blue Prince
• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
• Hades II
• Hollow Knight: Silksong

Winner: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Clair Obscur is the game I was championing throughout the entire show, truly. That being said, the other games were great Indies in their own right. They should all take some pride for being nominated.

Best in Adaptions

• A Minecraft Movie
• Devil May Cry
• Splinter Cell: Deathwatch
• The Last of Us: Season 2
• Until Dawn

Winner: The Last of Us: Season 2

I... I... The choices were all pretty crap, if I'm being honest with my opinions... I've yet to watch Splinter Cell, but it seemed the best out of the shows listed. The Last of Us Season 1 was solid... but Season 2? Not even concerning the controversy of the actual story, but the simple choices made for the show only made that worse...

Devil May Cry? Yeesh... it, again - In my opinion - ruined characters for no reason whatsoever! Look at how they massacred my girl, Lady! A legitimate awesome, badass, kick-ass, character... reduced to high levels of annoyance...

Hell, I'd of even gone with CHICKEN JOCKEY for the reward.

My apologies here but this is one of two awards that really didn't sit right with me. Big time.

Best in Action Games

• Battlefield 6
• Doom: The Dark Ages
• Hades II
• Nina Gaiden 4
• Shinobi: The Art of Vengeance

Winner: Hades II

Kind of surprised this got "Best Action Games", but that's only because that's not quite how I view the Hades series. That's a personal thing, however, and I'll back this game for almost any award nomination - well deserved.

Best in Performance

• Ben Starr - Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 - as Verso
• Charlie Cox - Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 - as Gustave
• Erika Ishii - Ghost of Yotei - as Atsu
• Jennifer English - Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 - as Maelle
• Konatsu Katu - Silent Hill: F - as Hinako Shimizu
• Troy "Motha Flippin" Baker - Indian Jones and the Great Circle - as Indy

Winner: Jennifer English

Not much input from me here but we had a community member, Sabo, state that she was one of the most memorable characters; So I'll let that stand for Ms. English taking home the win.

Games for Impact

• Consume Me
• Despelote
• Lost Records: Bloom and Rage
• Wanderstop

Winner: South of Midnight

I don't have much to say here, honestly South of Midnight was the only game on this list that I actually knew about.

Best in Ongoing Game

• Final Fantasy 14
• Fortnite
• Helldivers 2
• Marvel Rivals
• No Man's Sky

Winner: No Man's Sky

I would generally say NMS can take a backseat from being a candidate for awards at this point, but damnit... their story is still one of the most notable stories, especially in today's climate around gaming. Well deserved, but please... PLEASE... do not make the same mistakes with Light No Fire... PLEASE!

Best in Audio Design

• Battlefield 6
• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
• Death Stranding 2
• Ghost of Yotei
• Silent Hill: F

Winner: Battlefield 6

I... okay? I'm not upset about this - I'm sure the actual Audio Design for the weapons, impact, gear, etc. has a lot of quality; I just think Silent Hill: F or any other game on this list would be a better choice... Congrats, nevertheless.

Best Content Creator of the Year

• The Burnt Peanut
• Cadrel
• Kai Cenat
• MoistCr1tikal
• Sakura Miko

Winner: MoistCr1tikal

I don't watch most of Moist's content, truthfully the major notable things I've seen of him is the celebration video with his dog, the "these are mags" video, and the piggyback video of that: Meat Canyon's animated skit.

But he seems like a genuinely nice guy, and I've heard he's treated his community well - so - congrats!

Best in Fighting Games

• 2XKO
• Capcom Fighting Collection 2
• Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves
• Mortal Kombat: The Legacy Kollection
• Virtual Fighter 5

Winner: Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves

Was expecting Capcom Collection to win, but I'm not in the Fighters community, so I've no idea what's "hot and poppin'" - it is nice to see such a classic franchise that's not always gotten its flowers getting some recognition though!

Most Anticipated Game

• 007 First Light
• Grand Theft Auto 6
• Resident Evil Requiem
• Marvel's Wolverine
• The Witcher 4

Winner: Grand Theft Auto 6

Did anyone expect different? Did anyone expect different, really? I'll add, I'm personally more interested in 007 and Wolverine, but it's clearly GTA6 here. Though I've heard that there's been leaks from developers hinting that there's trouble in paradise over at Rockstar...

Best in Action Adventure Games

• Death Stranding 2
• Ghost of Yotei
• Hollow Knight: Silkson
• Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
• Split Fiction

Winner: Hollow Knight: Silksong

Yup. Just yup. Only thing I could see giving it a run is Death Stranding 2 - but that's basing my thoughts off DS 1 as I'm waiting for the sequel to come to PC.

But Silksong!? Easily one of the top contenders in general this year for many categories.

Best in Art Direction

• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
• Death Stranding 2
• Ghost of Yotei
• Hades II
• Hollow Knight: Silksong

Winner: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Ehhh - while the visuals and designs in Clair Obscur are great, I think Death Stranding could be argued. But I'm not mad, all games listed had breath taking visuals and design.

Best in Sim/Strategy Games

• The Alters
• Civilization 7
• Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles
• Jurassic World Evolution 3
• Tempest Rising
• Two Point Museum

Winner: Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles

Civ 7 broke the hearts of a lot of their fans, so I think that easily gave the win to FF Tactics... Easy pick in my opinion.

Best in Debut Independent Games

• Blue Prince
• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
• Despelote
• Dispatch

Winner: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

I cannot be upset here. I know Clair Obscur was going to win big, and I'd hope Dispatch would get some love here, as well as potentially Blue Prince - but you cannot ignore the sheer impact Clair Obscur had this year.

Best in Score and Music

• Christopher Larkin - Hollow Knight: Silksong
• Darren Korb - Hades II
• Lorien Testard - Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
• Toma Otowa - Ghost of Yotei
• Woodkid and Ludvig Forssell - Death Stranding 2

Winner: Lorien Testard

I love music, every set of musicians listed are talented and masterful in their crafts. Anyone here could have easily gotten the win.

Best in Sports/Racing Games

• EA Sports FC26
• F1 25
• Mario Kart World
• Rematch
• Sonic Racing Crossworlds

Winner: Mario Kart World

And here we are... my other big upset of the night. Mario Kart World...? Really!? The clear choice should have been Sonic Racing. I'll die on that hill!

Best Community Support

• Baldur's Gate 3
• Final Fantasy 14
• Fortnite
• Helldivers 2
• No Man's Sky

Winner: Baldur's Gate 3

My call out here, though NMS would be a close contender followed by FF14.

Best in VR/AR Games

• Alien Rogue Incursion
• Arken Age
• Deadpool VR
• Ghost Town
• The Midnight Walk

Winner: The Midnight Walk

I do not do VR games at the moment, but The Midnight Walk interested me ever since I saw the trailer for it. I now have space to potentially jimmy-rig my Oculus 3 with this, but I've not seen if my modifications have been undone by Facebook yet.

Best in Role-Playing Games

• Avowed
• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
• Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2
• Monster Hunter Wilds
• The Outer Worlds 2

Winner: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Another "yea, obviously" - but if I could, I would actually give this win to Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2. The core aspect of "role-play" is "immersion" to me. KCD2 achieves immersion the best in my opinion, making it easier to role-play various scenarios.

Player's Voice Award

• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
• Dispatch
• Genshin Impact
• Hollow Knight: Silksong
• Wuthering Waves

Winner: Wuthering Waves

Should have been Hollow Knight: Silksong - but I understand that the global amount of players have a LARGE mobile game population. So, it is what it is.

Best in Narrative

• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
• Death Stranding 2
• Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2
• Ghost of Yotei
• Silent Hill: F

Winner: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Yup. Nothing needs to said.

Best in Multiplayer

• ARC Raiders
• Battlefield 6
• Elden Ring: Nightreign
• Peak
• Split Fiction

Winner: ARC Raiders

I've yet to pickup and try ARC Raiders myself, but everyone I know who has played it, loves it. It seems that is a common opinion.

Best in Game Direction

• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
• Death Stranding 2
• Ghost of Yotei
• Hades II
• Split Fiction

Winner: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

🕺🏾

• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
• Death Stranding 2
• Donkey Kong Bananza
• Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2
• Hades II
• Hollow Knight: Silksong

Winner: Clair Obscur: Expedition33

AS IT SHOULD BE! AS! IT! SHOULD! BE!

The underdog story of passion, risk, revenge, and success behind this game and the people involved is just too alluring. Those aspects only add cherries to the top of a well balanced master craft.

But most importantly, it's a massive middle-finger to the AAA game studios that have reached a point of becoming a massive irritant and detriment to the gaming industry and the fan-base that lifted it up for so many generations.

🌹