The Game Awards 2025 nominees & how to vote

Geoff Keighely's The Game Awards have announced their nominees for the 2025 event, set to go live in mid-December.

We’re almost at the end of 2025, giving us another fantastic year of gaming. As we round into the final months of the year, there’s little left other than to talk about Game of the Year, and Geoff Keighley’s The Game Awards once again returns to stir up that conversation in December. This week, the nominees were announced, with the show committee submitting their picks for this year’s categories. Read on to see what made it in for each award and how to vote on the final winners.

Last updated on November 17, 2025 at 9:52 a.m. PT.

How to vote for The Game Awards 2025 nominees

The Game Awards nominees and voting were shared today in a special presentation. From now until The Game Awards 2025 goes live on December 11, 2025, fans can cast their vote on The Game Awards website by logging in via a variety of methods and punching in their vote. Twitch, Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter/X accounts are valid for voting. Once you’re logged in, you can move along to casting your ballot per category.

The site may be bogged down in the early hours after nominees are announced. Bear in mind, you only get to make one choice per category, per login, so make it count.

The Game Awards 2025 nominees

Below is the list of The Game Awards 2025 categories and nominees. The list is broken down alphabetically with the exception of the most-sought award, Game of the Year, at the top.

Game of the Year

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

Best Action Game

• Battlefield 6
• Doom: The Dark Ages
• Hades 2
• Ninja Gaiden 4
• Shinobi: Art of Vengeance

Best Action/Adventure Game

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

Most Anticipated Game

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

Best Adaptation

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

Best Art Direction

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

Best Audio Design

• Battlefield 6
• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
• Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
• Ghost of Yotei
• Silent Hill f

Best Community Support

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

Content Creator of the Year

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

Best Debut Indie Game

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

Best Esports Game

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

Best Esports Athlete

• Brock "brawk" Somerhalder (NRG)
• Jeong "Chovy" Ji-hoon (Gen.G)
• Jason "f0rsakeN" Susanto (Paper Rex)
• Kakeru Watanabe (Zeta Division)
• Saul Leonardo "MenaRD" Mena II (Red Bull Esports)
• Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut (Team Vitality)

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)

Best Family Game

• Donkey Kong Bananza
• LEGO Party
• LEGO Voyagers
• Mario Kart World
• Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds
• Split Fiction

Best Fighting Game

• 2XKO
• Capcom Fighting Collection 2
• Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves
• Mortal Kombat Legacy Kollection
• Virtua Fighter 5 REVO World Stage

Best Game Direction

• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
• Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
• Ghost of Yotei
• Hades 2
• Split Fiction

Games for Impact

• Consume Me
• Despelote
• Lost Records: Bloom & Rage
• South of Midnight
• Wanderstop

Best Indie Game

• Absolum
• Ball x Pit
• Blue Prince
• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
• Hades 2
• Hollow Knight: Silksong

Innovation in Accessibility

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

Best Mobile Game

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

Best Multiplayer Game

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

Best Narrative

• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
• Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
• Ghost of Yotei
• Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2
• Silent Hill f

Best Ongoing Game

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

Best Performance

• Ben Starr as Verso (Clair Obscur: Expedition 33)
• Charlie Cox as Gustave (Clair Obscur: Expedition 33)
• Erika Ishii as Atsu (Ghost of Yotei)
• Jennifer English as Maelle (Clair Obscur: Expedition 33)
• Konatsu Kato as Shimizu Hinako (Silent Hill f)
• Troy Baker as Indiana Jones (Indiana Jones and the Great Circle)

Best Role-Playing Game

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

Best Score and Music

• Christopher Larkin (Hollow Knight: Silksong)
• Darren Korb (Hades 2)
• Lorien Testard (Clair Obscur: Expedition 33)
• Toma Otowa (Ghost of Yotei)
• Woodkid & Ludvig Forssell (Death Stranding 2: On the Beach)

Best Sports/Racing Game

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

Best Strategy/Sim Game

• The Alters
• Final Fantasy Tactics - The Ivalice Chronicles
• Jurassic World Evolution 3
• Sid Meier's Civilization 7
• Tempest Rising
• Two Point Museum

Best VR/AR Game

• Alien: Rogue Incursion
• Arken Age
• Ghost Town
• Marvel's Deadpool VR
• The Midnight Walk

There you have it. That’s The Game Awards nominees for the 2025 event. If you want to see who won and what happened last year, be sure to check out our Game Awards 2024 recap and stay tuned to the 2025 topic for updates on this year’s event and winners.