Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 leads Game Awards 2025 nominations

The nominees for The Game Awards 2025 have been revealed, with Sandfall Interactive’s Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 sweeping ten categories including Game of the Year.

Overall, the turn-based RPG was nominated for 12 awards, including three in the performance category for Ben Starr, Charlie Cox, and Jennifer English.

Clair Obscur was also nominated for Best Game Direction, Best Narrative, Best Art Direction, Best Score and Music, Best Audio Design, Best Independent Game, Best Indie Debut, and Best RPG.

Death Stranding 2: On the Beach and Ghost of Yōtei both received eight nominations, with Death Stranding 2 also appearing in the Game of the Year category.

Both titles were nominated in the Best Game Direction, Best Narrative, Best Art Direction, Best Score and Music, Best Audio Design, and Best Action/Adventure Game categories.

Ghost of Yōtei’s Erika Ishii also received a nomination for her portrayal of Atsu in the Best Performance category.

Indie hits Hades 2 and Hollow Knight: Silksong were nominated for six and five awards respectively, both appearing in the Game of the Year category.

Looking at publishers, Sony Interactive Entertainment had the most nominations at 18, followed by Kepler Interactive at 14 nominations. Sega received seven nominations, while Nintendo had four nominations.

The Game Awards 2025 will take place on Thursday, December 11 at the Peacock Theatre in Los Angeles. It will be broadcast from 5pm PT/8pm ET on Amazon Prime and Twitch.

At last year’s ceremony, Team Asobi’s Astro Bot won four awards including Game of the Year.

Studio Zen’s Metaphor: ReFantazio and LocalThunk’s Balatro both won across three categories, with Balatro winning Best Independent Game, Best Debut Indie Game, and Best Mobile Game.

Here’s the full list of nominees for the Game Awards 2025:

Game of the Year

• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (Sandfall Interactive/Kepler Interactive)
• Death Stranding 2: On the Beach (Kojima Productions/Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Donkey Kong Bananza (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
• Hades 2 (Supergiant Games)
• Hollow Knight: Silksong (Team Cherry)
• Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 (Warhorse Studios/Deep Silver)

Best Game Direction

• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
• Death Stranding 2: On The Beach
• Ghost of Yōtei (Sucker Punch Productions/Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Hades 2
• Split Fiction (Hazelight Studios/EA)

Best Narrative

• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
• Death Stranding 2: On The Beach
• Ghost of Yōtei
• Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2
• Silent Hill F (NeoBards Entertainment/Konami)

Best Art Direction

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

Best Score and Music

• Hollow Knight: Silksong – Composer Christopher Larkin
• Hades 2 – Composer Darren Korb
• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 – Composer Lorien Testard
• Ghost of Yōtei – Composer Toma Otowa
• Death Stranding 2: On the Beach – Composers Woodkid and Ludvig Forssell

Best Audio Design

• Battlefield 6 (Battlefield Studios/EA)
• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
• Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
• Ghost of Yōtei
• Silent Hill F

Best Performance

• Ben Starr – Verso, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
• Charlie Cox – Gustave, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
• Erika Ishii – Atsu, Ghost of Yōtei
• Jennifer English – Maelle, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
• Konatsu Kato – Hinako Shimizu, Silent Hill F
• Troy Baker – Indiana Jones, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle

Innovation in Accessibility

• Assassin’s Creed Shadows (Ubisoft)
• Atomfall (Rebellion)
• Doom: The Dark Ages (id Software/Bethesda Softworks)
• EA Sports FC 26 (EA Canada/EA Romania/EA)
• South of Midnight (Compulsion Games/Xbox Game Studios)

Games for Impact

• Consume Me (Jenny Jiao Hsia/AP Thomson/Hexacutable)
• Despelote (Julián Cordero/Sebastián Valbuena/Panic)
• Lost Records: Bloom & Rage (Don’t Nod Montreal/Don’t Nod)
• South of Midnight
• Wanderstop (Ivy Road/Annapurna Interactive)

Best Ongoing Game

• Final Fantasy 14 (Square Enix)
• Fortnite (Epic Games)
• Helldivers 2 (Arrowhead Game Studios/Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Marvel Rivals (NetEase Games)
• No Man’s Sky (Hello Games)

Best Community Support

• Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
• Final Fantasy 14
• Fortnite
• Helldivers 2
• No Man’s Sky

Best Independent Game

• Absolum (Guard Crush Games/Supamonks/Dotemu)
• Ball x Pit (Kenny Sun/Devolver Digital)
• Blue Prince (Dogubomb/Raw Fury)
• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
• Hades 2
• Hollow Knight: Silksong

Best Debut Indie Game

• Blue Prince
• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
• Despelote
• Dispatch (AdHoc Studio)
• Megabonk (Vedinad)

Best Mobile Game

• Destiny: Rising
• Persona 5: The Phantom X (Black Wings Game Studio/Sega)
• Sonic Rumble (Rovio Entertainment/Sega)
• Umamusume: Pretty Derby (Cygames Inc.)
• Wuthering Waves (Kuro Games)

Best VR/AR

• Alien: Rogue Incursion (Survios)
• Arken Age (VitruviusVR)
• Ghost Town (Fireproof Games)
• Marvel’s Deadpool VR (Twisted Pixel Games/Oculus Studios)
• The Midnight Walk (MoonHood/Fast Travel Games)

Best Action Game

• Battlefield 6
• Doom: The Dark Ages
• Hades 2
• Ninja Gaiden 4 (Platinum Games/Team Ninja/Xbox Game Studios)
• Shinobi: Art of Vengeance (Lizardcube/Sega)

Best Action/Adventure Game

• Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
• Ghost of Yōtei
• Indiana Jones and the Great Circle (MachineGames/Bethesda Softworks)
• Hollow Knight: Silksong
• Split Fiction

Best RPG

• Avowed (Obsidian Entertainment/Xbox Game Studios)
• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
• Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2
• The Outer Worlds 2 (Obsidian Entertainment/Xbox Game Studios)
• Monster Hunter Wilds (Capcom)

Best Fighting

• 2XKO (Riot Games)
• Capcom Fighting Collection 2 (Capcom)
• Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves (SNK Corporation)
• Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection (Digital Eclipse/Atari)
• Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. World Stage (Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio/Sega)

Best Family Game

• Donkey Kong Bananza
• Lego Party (SMG Studio/Fictions)
• Lego Voyagers (Light Brick Studios/Annapurna Interactive)
• Mario Kart World (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
• Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds (Sonic Team/Sega)
• Split Fiction

Best Sim/Strategy

• The Alters (11 Bit Studios)
• Final Fantasy Tactics – The Ivalice Chronicles (Square Enix)
• Jurassic World Evolution 3 (Frontier Developments)
• Sid Meier’s Civilization 7(Firaxis Games/2K)
• Tempest Rising (Slipgate Ironworks/3D Realms)
• Two Point Museum (Two Point Studios/Sega)

Best Sports/Racing

• EA Sports FC 26
• F1 25 (Codemasters/EA)
• Mario Kart World
• Rematch (Sloclap/Kepler Interactive)
• Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds

Best Multiplayer

• Arc Raiders (Embark Studios)
• Battlefield 6 (Electronic Arts)
• Elden Ring: Nightreign (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco Entertainment)
• Peak (Aggro Crab/Landfall)
• Split Fiction

Best Adaptation

• A Minecraft Movie (Legendary Pictures/Mojang/Warner Bros)
• Devil May Cry (Studio Mir/Capcom/Netflix)
• The Last of Us: Season 2 (HBO/PlayStation Productions)
• Splinter Cell: Deathwatch (Fost Studio/Ubisoft/Netflix)
• Until Dawn (Screen Gems/PlayStation Productions)

Most Anticipated Game

• 007 First Light (IO Interactive)
• Grand Theft Auto 6 (Rockstar Games)
• Marvel’s Wolverine (Insomniac Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Resident Evil Requiem (Capcom)
• The Witcher 4 (CD Projekt Red)

Content Creator of the Year

• Marc Robert “Caedrel” Lamont
• Kai Cenat
• Charles “MoistCr1TiKaL” White Jr.
• Sakura Miko (VTuber, Hololive Production)
• The Burnt Peanut

Best Esports Game

• Counter-Strike 2 (Valve)
• DOTA 2 (Valve)
• League of Legends (Riot)
• Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (Moonton)
• Valorant (Riot)

Best Esports Athlete

• Brock “brawk” Somerhalder (Valorant)
• Jeong “Chovy” Ji-hoon (League of Legends)
• Jason “f0rsakeN” Susanto (Valorant)
• Kakeru “Kakeru” Watanabe (Street Fighter)
• Saul “MenaRD” Leonardo (Street Fighter)
• Mathieu “Zyw0o” Herbaut (Counter-Strike 2)

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)