The Game Awards 2025: All Nominations and Our Picks & Predictions

It’s that time of year again — Geoff Keighley’s annual The Game Awards broadcast is set to air next week on December 11, 2025, and we have a whole host of categories and their nominees to vote on ahead of time. In a totally unsurprising move to anyone who’s had the chance to play it, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 made The Game Awards history this year by being the game with the most nominations in the event’s history, up for top honors in several of the ceremony’s most prestigious categories. Right behind it, though, are some of the year’s biggest and best, like Hades II, Hollow Knight: Silksong, and Death Stranding 2, each of which also has multiple nominations across several high-profile awards.

Of course, the awards themselves are just one part of the show’s appeal, with the other main draw being the slew of debut trailers and gameplay reveals for some of the most anticipated titles set to launch in 2026 and beyond. Ahead of the actual broadcast next week and our regular coverage of all the reveals, we thought it might be pertinent to look at the nominees in each category, highlighting the games we think are most likely to take home statues on December 11, and outlining our own personal picks for the games most deserving of a win in each award category.

The Game Awards 2025 Nominees

Game of the Year

Recognizing a game that delivers the absolute best experience across all creative and technical fields.

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

Prediction

As packed as the Game of the Year category is this year, there’s one clear front-runner, and it’s Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Expedition 33 is practically universally loved by both critics and players alike, which gives it a strong lead in terms of voting, and it’s also just one of the most focused and well-executed games we’ve seen in quite some time, irrespective of genre. Surprisingly, Split Fiction isn’t included in the Game of the Year category, which feels like a snub, and it would’ve likely been the strongest competition against Clair Obscur, giving Sandfall Interactive’s brilliant RPG a definitive lead.

Our Pick

This is one of the rare years where we’ve spent some time with each of the Game of the Year nominees, and even beaten a handful. With that insight in tow, we’re still picking Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 as the most deserving winner for Game of the Year. Clair Obscur delivers on every facet of game design — narrative, gameplay, art direction, music, atmosphere — and is one of the best RPGs ever made, one of the few to stand side-by-side with the “gold standard” classics like Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy VI from the modern era.

Best Game Direction

Awarded for outstanding creative vision and innovation in game direction and design.

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

Prediction

This one is tough to call. While conventional wisdom might suggest that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has just about every category it was nominated for in the bag, there were some other games from this year that may have eked out a slight lead over it in certain areas, one of them being the incredible Split Fiction. Given Josef Fares’ incredible vision and uniqueness among modern game directors, there’s a strong chance that he might end up winning Best Game Direction for Split Fiction, and it would be well-deserved.

Our Pick

Equally as tough as predicting a winner from The Game Awards’ voting committee is nailing down a personal pick for the game we feel is the most deserving of Best Game Direction. It’s ultimately a three-way tie between Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Death Stranding 2, and Split Fiction. Each game is very deserving of a win in this category, thanks to how cohesive and unified each game’s vision and direction feels in the moment-to-moment gameplay and in how its story plays out. But if we had to choose just one, Kojima and Death Stranding 2 feel like a very solid pick.

Best Narrative

For outstanding storytelling and narrative development in a game.

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

Prediction

Here again, we’re predicting Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 to win. Few other games from this year can match the emotional depth and metaphorical poignance of Expedition 33‘s moving story about grief and how we process it, which makes it an easy frontrunner for taking home the year’s narrative-based awards.

Our Pick

As much as we loved Clair Obscur: Expedition 33‘s story and found it to be a strong motivator to push through some of the game’s more challenging content, our personal pick for the year’s best narrative is Silent Hill f. You might not go into a survival horror game thinking that its story will floor you with its depth and maturity, but that’s precisely what Silent Hill f pulls off, delivering an emotional tale rife with metaphor that also has some surprising connections to the series’ overarching lore.

Best Art Direction

For outstanding creative and/or technical achievement in artistic design and animation.

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

Prediction

As much as Clair Obscur: Expedition 33‘s stunning art direction and visuals are truly one-of-a-kind, the same could be said about the absolutely impeccable world that Team Cherry has crafted for Hollow Knight: Silksong. Silksong might not take home Game of the Year honors, but there’s a very strong chance that it clinches a win for Best Art Direction.

Our Pick

This is yet another tough category to pick just one winner for, as each of these games has impeccable art direction and visual design. When it comes right down to it, though, no other RPG has environmental and monster designs that are anything quite like what Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 brings to the table. And considering how central art and artistic movements are to the game’s story, themes, and visual design, it only feels right for Clair Obscur to win an award for Art Direction.

Best Score and Music

For outstanding music, inclusive of score, original song, and/or licensed soundtrack.

• 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: On the Beach

Prediction

Players rightfully lost their minds as soon as they heard the music in Hollow Knight: Silksong, which somehow outdid the already excellent and iconic score to the original Hollow Knight in just about every area. The other most likely prediction for a winner would be Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, but you don’t hear people still talking as much about the game’s score as you do for Hollow Knight: Silksong, which could be a sign that it ekes out a win in the Best Score & Music category.

Our Pick

As close as the race is in this category this year, it’s got to be Hollow Knight: Silksong. Few other games (whether nominees or otherwise) consistently and regularly feature such breathtaking and haunting music as Silksong, to where most of the game’s different tunes will readily get stuck in your head even when you’re not playing the game.

Best Audio Design

Recognizing the best in-game audio and sound design.

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

Prediction

Clair Obscur‘s score and music are one thing (and admittedly excellent), but its audio design is on a whole other level. Sound during fights is critical to learn and react accordingly with parries or dodges, and the quality of the voice acting and how it’s mixed in the game’s audio are central to drawing you into the game’s incredible story. Given how essential the game’s audio design is to the core gameplay and narrative, together with its place as the clear frontrunner for Game of the Year, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is almost guaranteed to win for Best Audio Design as well.

Our Pick

If it’s not going to be Clair Obscur that takes home the honors for Best Audio Design, then it should ultimately fall to Silent Hill f. The Silent Hill games have always been exemplars of how essential great audio design is to a horror gaming experience, and Silent Hill f is one of the best of the bunch in that regard. Playing Silent Hill f using headphones and getting lost in the ambient noise and unsettling music is an experience unlike any other from this year that definitely deserves recognition.

Best Performance

Awarded to an individual for voice-over acting, motion, and/or performance capture.

• Ben Starr, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
• Charlie Cox, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
• Erika Ishi, Ghost of Yotei
• Jennifer English, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
• Konatsu Kato, Silent Hill f
• Troy Baker, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle

Prediction

We’ve got not one, but three separate performers from Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 nominated for Best Performance, meaning it’s almost assuredly a lock that at least one of the game’s actors will take home the award this year. But, among them, the most likely winner has got to be Jennifer English, who absolutely knocked it out of the park as Maelle. It would honestly be a shock to see anyone else win Best Performance this year.

Our Pick

As stated above, Jennifer English as Maelle in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is the obvious choice for the year’s Best Performance, but we’d also like to tip our cap to Ben Starr’s turn as Verso. Plus, since he didn’t win for Clive from Final Fantasy XVI in 2023, it just feels right to give one of the best up-and-coming voice talents a much-deserved award.

Innovation In Accessibility

Recognizing software and/or hardware that is pushing the medium forward by adding features, technology, and content to help games be played and enjoyed by an even wider audience.

• Assassin’s Creed Shadows
• Atomfall
• Doom: The Dark Ages
• EA Sports FC 26
• South of Midnight

Prediction

Ubisoft has continually been a leading studio when it comes to implementing accessibility options in its titles, and Assassin’s Creed Shadows not only continues that trend but elevates it to new heights, making it the clear frontrunner among the voting committee.

Our Pick

While Assassin’s Creed Shadows might be the most likely game to take home the award for Innovation in Accessibility, our own personal pick is for a game that many players seem to have forgotten about: Atomfall. Not only is Atomfall an incredible and unique game from 2025, it also has an impressive array of accessibility options available that make it enjoyable for just about anyone, regardless of gaming ability or physical impairment.

Games For Impact

For a thought-provoking game with a pro-social meaning or message.

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

Prediction

Since it was released earlier this year, Despelote has shown up time and again as one of the more poignant and impactful games of 2025, which makes it feel like a natural fit to win the Games For Impact category. Plus, it’s hard not to root for a small indie game that communicates a positive message about the cultural impact of sports and how they help foster community.

Our Pick

While Despelote might be the frontrunner among the voting committee, our own personal pick for the Games For Impact award this year is South of Midnight. Not only does South of Midnight shine a light on aspects of life in the south that are rarely talked about in games (generation poverty, tradition and folklore, etc.), it does so with a level of respect and care that refuses to paint the south as a mere cariacature of itself — something all too rare in depictions of the American south in media.

Best Ongoing

Awarded to a game for outstanding development of ongoing content that evolves the player experience over time.

• Final Fantasy XIV
• Fortnite
• Helldivers II
• Marvel Rivals
• No Man’s Sky

Prediction

With as many times as both Final Fantasy XIV and No Man’s Sky have taken home the Best Ongoing Game award (twice and once, respectively), it feels like it’s time to award it to something different, and Helldivers II won it last year. Knowing that, it could very well be Fortnite that wins this year, and it would be justified considering how much stellar content the game has rolled out in 2025 — all for free.

Our Pick

If Fortnite is the most obvious pick to win the award from the perspective of the voting committee, then our own personal pick for the game most deserving is No Man’s Sky. Somehow, No Man’s Sky only continues to improve year after year (even with Hello Games hard at work on Light No Fire), and the title’s Switch 2 version is nothing short of impressive (and maybe the best way to play it).

Recognizing a game for outstanding community support, transparency, and responsiveness, inclusive of social media activity and game updates/patches.

• Baldur’s Gate 3
• Final Fantasy XIV
• Fortnite
• Helldivers II
• No Man’s Sky

Prediction

The Community Support category normally brings one thing to mind, and that’s mods. When it comes to this year’s nominees, no other game stands out as much as Baldur’s Gate 3, which has continued to enjoy a long tail of success thanks to strong mod support between Larian Studios and the game’s modding community. There’s a reason many players are nearing 500 hours or more of total playtime in BG3, and it can be traced back to Larian’s excellent community support.

Our Pick

If Baldur’s Gate 3 doesn’t happen to win as the most obvious choice for the Best Community Support award, then our personal pick for top honors goes to Helldivers II. Helldivers II practically lives and dies based on the feedback from the game’s community, and the ways that Arrowhead Studios regularly listen and respond to player feedback show that it cares deeply about how the game’s audience feels.

Best Independent Game

For outstanding creative and technical achievement in a game made outside the traditional publisher system.

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

Prediction

There’s already been plenty of controversy surrounding The Game Awards’ choice to nominate Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 in the Best Independent Game category, and for good reason. As fantastic as Clair Obscur is, the myth that it was made by a small studio of around 30 people has mostly been debunked (there were hundreds of staff members contracted out to help bring the game to life), and the fact that the game was published by Kepler Interactive basically rules it out for being eligible. So in its place, the next most likely game to take home this coveted award is obviously Hollow Knight: Silksong.

Our Pick

Hollow Knight: Silksong might be the obvious frontrunner to win Best Independent Game this year, but our personal pick goes to Absolum. Both one of the best beat ’em ups and one of the best action roguelikes, Absolum is a game that’s absolutely bursting with quality and hasn’t gotten nearly enough attention proportional to how great of an experience it is. A high-profile win at The Game Awards could bring some new eyes to it.

Best Debut Indie Game

For the best debut game made by a new independent studio.

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

Prediction

Once again, we’re going to go ahead and rule out Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 as a likely candidate thanks to the controversy surrounding its nomination in this category, which leaves two clear frontrunners: Blue Prince and Dispatch. Given that Blue Prince was one of the first titles this year to kick off the Game of the Year conversations, it feels like a natural choice for the Best Debut Indie Game category.

Our Pick

The choice between Blue Prince and Dispatch feels like a natural one for this category, but while Blue Prince might get the official win, our personal pick is for Dispatch. Dispatch is very obviously a game made by former top talent from Telltale Studios and exhibits all of the trademark strong writing, character development, and impactful choices that you’d want from an adventure game. Plus, no game has made us laugh harder this year than Dispatch.

Best Mobile Game

For the best game playable on a mobile device.

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

Prediction

The Best Mobile Game category at The Game Awards is full of some picks that might be a little too obvious, failing to highlight some of the more original and envelope-pushing mobile titles that launched this year in favor of mobile adaptations of existing properties. That said, Wuthering Waves has had a strong year as one of the best ongoing Gacha action RPGs, which makes it feel like a safe bet for a winner.

Our Pick

The fact that a game as great as Crashlands 2 isn’t included in the list of nominees for Best Mobile Game feels almost criminal. Were it here in the list, it would be an easy pick for the year’s winner, but it’s not, which means we’re going to default to Sonic Rumble (which is, admittedly, a ton of fun and not too heavy on the monetization aspect).

Best VR/AR

For the best game experience playable in virtual or augmented reality, irrespective of platform.

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

Prediction

The glowing reviews and positive player reception to Marvel’s Deadpool VR help to make it an obvious choice for the winner of the Best VR/AR category this year, plus it lines up with this category’s tendency to give the award to superhero tie-ins (Batman: Arkham VR, anyone?).

Our Pick

This is one of the few categories where limited knowledge of the offerings is going to affect our ability to make an educated pick, but the reviews for both Deadpool VR and Alien: Rogue Incursion make both seem like obvious choices for the most deserving winners.

Best Action Game

For the best game in the action genre focused primarily on combat.

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

Prediction

Given the verbiage of the award category, Best Action Game should go to a title where the combat is the true star of the show, and no game places as much of a premium on combat while also shining in other areas quite like Hades II. With Hades II falling just short of winning most of the other categories it’s been nominated for, a win for Best Action Game feels likely.

Our Pick

Hades II is great, but for our money, no other game had as strong a combat system this year as Ninja Gaiden 4. Ninja Gaiden 4 is an incredible step forward for the series that shows how adept PlatinumGames still is as an action game developer, and it’s a great deal more accessible than the previous 3D Ninja Gaiden games, giving it broader appeal.

Best Action/Adventure

For the best action/adventure game, combining combat with traversal and puzzle solving.

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

Prediction

This year’s list of Best Action/Adventure Game nominees is an absolutely stacked ticket, which makes narrowing down the most likely winner somewhat difficult. That said, Split Fiction‘s snub from the Game of the Year category makes its appearance here feel like it’s already been decided as the winner of this particular award. And honestly, it would be fully deserving of it.

Our Pick

Both Split Fiction and Hollow Knight: Silksong are two obvious frontrunners for this category that would be 100% deserving of a win, but our personal pick has to go to Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. Indiana‘s release late last year after the cutoff prevented it from being considered during the 2024 ceremony, and it’s an absolutely incredible action-adventure game that makes great use of its license and tells a fantastic story featuring one of the most iconic action heroes of all time.

Best RPG

For the best game designed with rich player character customization and progression, including massively multiplayer experiences.

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

Prediction

It’s going to be Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, and it’s not even close. If, for some reason, Clair Obscur doesn’t take home top honors at The Game Awards, fully expect it to at least win Best RPG.

Our Pick

Our personal pick for the year’s Best RPG is also Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, though it’s a bit of a tougher call to make than what we’re predicting from the voters. Right behind it is Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, which is perhaps the best first-person RPG we’ve seen since Skyrim and features one of the most incredible and immersive open-world sandboxes.

Best Fighting

For the best game designed primarily around head-to-head combat.

• 2XKO
• Capcom Fighting Collection 2
• Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves
• Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection
• Virtual Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. World Stage

Prediction

Fighting games have had quite the year, which makes narrowing down a clear winner in the Best Fighting Game category tougher than it’s been in quite some time. Given the series’ historic importance and the excellent work that Digital Eclipse put into the compilation, though, it feels like Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection has this one locked down.

Our Pick

While the Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection is a very cool and comprehensive interactive museum of one of gaming’s most important fighting game franchises, our personal choice for the year’s Best Fighting Game is Capcom Fighting Collection 2. Not only are all the games included stellar ones in the company’s back catalog, many of them are finally available on modern hardware for the first time in over two decades.

Best Family

For the best game appropriate for family play, irrespective of genre or platform.

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

Prediction

Nintendo almost always dominates this category in any year where it has a nominee, which makes it an easy toss-up between either Mario Kart World or Donkey Kong Bananza. But considering that Donkey Kong Bananza is primarily a single-player experience and Mario Kart World can be enjoyed by an entire literal family, Mario Kart World seems like the most likely winner for this award.

Our Pick

Our own personal pick for the year’s best family game is also Mario Kart World, primarily because we’ve had plenty of fun this year playing it with family and friends in both local and online multiplayer. Few games can bring both gamers and non-gamers together like Mario Kart World, which makes it feel like a shoo-in for winning Best Family Game.

Best Sim/Strategy

Best game focused on real-time or turn-based simulation or strategy gameplay, irrespective of platform.

• Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles
• Jurassic World Evolution 3
• Sid Meier’s Civilization VII
• Tempest Rising
• The Alters
• Two Point Museum

Prediction

11 bit studios’ The Alters was a genre-pushing critical darling that earned an almost instantaneous cult-classic status following its release. That alone positions it for a win in the one category it’s been nominated in. But there are also some incredible titles in the simulation and strategy genre that have been released this year, including…

Our Pick

…our personal pick for the year’s best strategy (or really, tactics) game, Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles. The care that was put into remastering Final Fantasy Tactics is evident throughout each moment of The Ivalice Chronicles‘ campaign, and that you can still access the original, unaltered version of the title on modern hardware is a nice touch that we don’t see too often in a remaster package.

Best Sports/Racing

For the best traditional and non-traditional sports and racing game.

• EA Sports FC 26
• F1 25
• Mario Kart World
• Rematch
• Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds

Prediction

Along with winning Best Family Game, Mario Kart World seems poised to take home the award for Best Sports/Racing as well, primarily because almost none of the other titles in the category have the same commercial and critical success. The one exception would be Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds, but that one (as great as it is) has failed to catch on in the way that Nintendo’s first-party kart racer has.

Our Pick

This one is a tough toss-up between both Mario Kart World and Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds, both of which are incredible racing games that each offer something unique. Mario Kart World is a subtle but necessary evolution of the series’ peak in Mario Kart 8, while CrossWorlds is the best Sonic racing game to date and the first to legitimately compete with Mario for the genre crown. Still, Mario Kart World is probably going to have the edge here.

Best Multiplayer

For outstanding online multiplayer gameplay and design, including co-op and massively multiplayer experiences, irrespective of game genre or platform.

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

Prediction

The campaign to have ARC Raiders nominated for multiple categories, only to have it only receive one nomination, makes it seem as if it’s destined to win that award, and it would honestly deserve it. If, for whatever reason, it’s not Embark Studios’ excellent extraction shooter that takes home Best Multiplayer, we’d expect the honor to go to Split Fiction.

Our Pick

Our personal pick for the year’s Best Multiplayer category is Elden Ring Nightreign by a country mile, and that’s primarily from the experiences we had playing it with a dedicated group of friends in the weeks following its launch. It’s an amazing blend of FromSoftware game design with multiplayer structure and a roguelike bend that, from our time with it, left the strongest and most lasting multiplayer memories of the year.

Best Adaptation

Recognizing outstanding creative work that faithfully and authentically adapts a video game to another entertainment medium.

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

Prediction

Unlike last year, where The Last of Us‘ first season was an obvious winner, this year’s Best Adaptation category isn’t as clear-cut. Fans are pretty split on the second season of The Last of Us, to the point of the show’s future being in question, and some insanely popular anime and film adaptations may take top billing instead. Given the movie’s success, it feels like A Minecraft Movie is the obvious winner of this particular award.

Our Pick

The Minecraft movie was fun and fine for what it was, but the best video game adaptation from this year is easily the Devil May Cry anime from Netflix. Netflix’s anime adaptations of video game properties have all been stellar (Castlevania, especially), and Devil May Cry continues that tradition with an action-packed season worthy of winning Best Adaptation.

Most Anticipated Game

Recognizing an announced game that has demonstrably illustrated potential to push the gaming medium forward.

• 007 First Light
• Grand Theft Auto VI
• Marvel’s Wolverine
• Resident Evil Requiem
• The Witcher IV

Prediction

This is yet another category where the obvious choice is clear, and it’s Grand Theft Auto VI. Easily one of the most anticipated games of all time, that we know GTA VI‘s release date (and that it could be delayed yet again) positions it as the most-watched and awaited game on 2026’s release calendar.

Our Pick

When it comes to the game we’re personally anticipating the most, though, that honor goes to Marvel’s Wolverine. The debut trailer for the game that premiered earlier this year underscored how different a superhero game it was shaping up to be in comparison to Insomniac’s work on Spider-Man, and we can’t wait to go hands-on with a comic-accurate, violent take on one of the most iconic superheroes.

Content Creator of the Year

For a streamer or content creator who has made an important and positive impact on the community in 2025.

• Caedrel
• Kai Cenat
• Moistcr1tikal
• Sakura Miko
• The Burnt Peanut

Prediction

The Content Creator of the Year award traditionally goes to creators who use their platform to bring attention to a hidden gem game or bring together their audiences to participate in charity events (or something similar), which makes Kai Cenat a clear frontrunner here.

Our Pick

Our personal pick for this category also happens to be Kai Cenat, if for no other reason than his 10th anniversary Bloodborne playthrough bringing plenty of attention to how viable a candidate the game is for a remaster or sequel. C’mon, Sony…

Best Esports Game

For the game that has delivered the best overall esports experience to players (inclusive of tournaments, community support, and content updates), irrespective of genre or platform.

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

Prediction

The continuing popularity of League of Legends, combined with its massive viewership and commercial viability as an Esports title, makes it the obvious winner for The Game Awards’ Best Esports Game category. The only other title that could conceivably come close to dethroning it is Counter-Strike 2.

Our Pick

Our personal picks for Best Esports Game are a toss-up between Counter-Strike 2 and League of Legends, both of which have plenty of high-profile events and some incredible gameplay moments to sift through from throughout the year.

Best Esports Athlete

The esports athlete judged to be the most outstanding for performance and conduct in 2025, irrespective of game.

• Brawk – Brock Somerhalder, Valorant
• Chovy – Jeong Ji-Hoon, League of Legends
• Forsaken – Jason Susanto, Valorant
• Kakeru – Kakeru Watanabe, Street Fighter
• Menard – Saul Leonardo, Street Fighter
• Zywoo – Mathieu Herbaut, Counter-Strike 2

Prediction

Mathieu Herbaut, aka “ZywOo”, has already won plenty of awards from other outlets for his performance in Counter-Strike 2 this year, which makes him an obvious pick for winning Best Esports Athlete at The Game Awards 2025.

Our Pick

We’d also pick ZywOo as the most deserving winner out of the nominees, though Chovy is a close runner-up whose stellar performance in League this year makes him a viable candidate.

Best Esports Team

Recognizing a specific esports team (not the full organization) judged the most outstanding for performance and conduct in 2025.

• Gen.G, League of Legends
• NRG, Valorant
• Team Falcons, DOTA 2
• Team Liquid PH, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang
• Team Vitality, Counter-Strike 2

Prediction

As one of the world’s leading teams for one of the most popular Esports games, League of Legends players Gen. G feel like the most likely pick for winning Best Esports Team at The Game Awards. And since T1 won it last year, it could very well be Gen. G’s chance in 2025.

Our Pick

We’re also choosing to go with Gen. G, if for no other reason than to see the team pick up an award from The Game Awards after two nominations with no statues to take home.

The image featured at the top of this post is ©The Game Awards 2025 official banner image / Original