You probably expected the usual suspects to dominate. We all did. But the 2025 ceremony turned into something else entirely. It wasn't just a big night for games; it was a total reconfiguration of the industry’s pecking order. If you haven't been keeping up with the French indie scene, you likely missed the meteor that just hit the Peacock Theater.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 basically walked into the room and took everything that wasn't nailed down.
Honestly, I can't remember the last time a debut title from a relatively unknown studio—Sandfall Interactive—swept the board like this. They didn't just win; they broke records. Nine wins. That's more than Baldur’s Gate 3 or The Last of Us Part II managed in their respective years. It was wild to watch.
Who Won The Game Awards for Game of the Year?
The big one. The heavy hitter. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is officially your 2025 Game of the Year.
It beat out some massive titans. We’re talking about Hideo Kojima’s Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, the long-awaited Hollow Knight: Silksong, and Hades II. Usually, an indie studio winning GOTY is a "David vs. Goliath" story, but this felt more like David showed up with a rocket launcher. The game’s mix of painterly surrealism and that unique turn-based-but-real-time combat clearly resonated with the jury in a way we haven't seen in years.
Jennifer English also took home Best Performance for her role as Maelle. You might recognize her as Shadowheart from Baldur’s Gate 3, and she’s now officially one of the most decorated voice actors in the business. Seeing her on stage again felt like a passing of the torch from 2023’s dominant winner to 2025’s.
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The Full List of Major Winners
If you just want the quick rundown of who snagged the trophies, here’s how the chips fell:
- Game of the Year: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
- Best Game Direction: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
- Best Narrative: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
- Best Art Direction: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
- Best Score and Music: Lorien Testard (Clair Obscur: Expedition 33)
- Best Action Game: Hades II
- Best Action/Adventure Game: Hollow Knight: Silksong
- Best RPG: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
- Best Ongoing Game: No Man's Sky (Hello Games)
- Best Multiplayer: ARC Raiders
- Most Anticipated Game: Grand Theft Auto VI
It’s kinda hilarious that No Man's Sky is still winning "Best Ongoing" in 2025. Sean Murray and the team at Hello Games are basically the poster children for "never giving up." It’s their second time winning this specific award, and they beat out Helldivers 2 and Fortnite to do it.
The Silksong "Curse" is Finally Over
Can we talk about Hollow Knight: Silksong for a second? The meme is dead. The game is real. It’s out. And it actually won.
Team Cherry took home Best Action/Adventure, which is basically the universe apologizing for making fans wait so long. It was a tight race against Ghost of Yōtei, but the precision of Silksong’s platforming and that haunting Christopher Larkin score (who was also nominated) gave it the edge.
Meanwhile, Hades II proved that Supergiant Games doesn't miss. Winning Best Action Game is no small feat when you're up against DOOM: The Dark Ages. There's just something about the way Supergiant handles rogue-likes that makes everything else feel a bit clunky by comparison.
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Surprises and Snubs
The biggest shock? Death Stranding 2: On the Beach went home empty-handed.
Kojima is usually a TGA darling. The game had eight nominations, including Game of the Year and Best Direction. Watching it lose every single one was... uncomfortable? It just goes to show how much the "Clair Obscur" wave dominated the craft categories like Art Direction and Narrative.
On the technical side, Battlefield 6 managed to steal Best Audio Design from the Expedition 33 sweep. It's probably the most "traditional" AAA win of the night. If you've played it with a decent headset, you know why. The soundscape is absolutely terrifying.
The Player's Voice and the Community
The fans didn't let the critics have all the fun. The Player’s Voice award—the only one 100% voted on by the public—went to Wuthering Waves.
This actually sparked a bit of a debate on social media. People were torn between the high-polish indies and the massive gacha-style communities. But Kuro Games has a dedicated player base that showed up in droves. It’s a reminder that the "industry" and the "players" don't always look at games through the same lens.
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Baldur’s Gate 3 also popped back up to win Best Community Support. Even two years after its release, Larian Studios is still the gold standard for how to treat a player base.
What about the announcements?
You didn't just watch for the awards. You watched for the "World Premieres."
The highlight was definitely Casey Hudson (formerly of BioWare) revealing Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic. The crowd went nuts. It’s a single-player RPG set centuries before the movies, and honestly, it’s exactly what the fans have been begging for since the KOTOR days.
We also got a look at Control Resonant, the sequel to Remedy’s 2019 hit. It looks even weirder than the first one, which is saying a lot.
Actionable Takeaways for Gamers
If your backlog wasn't already a disaster, it is now. Here is what you should actually do based on these results:
- Play Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 immediately. It is on Game Pass and PS5. If you like Final Fantasy or Bloodborne, the "Reactive Turn-Based" system will blow your mind.
- Keep an eye on Sandfall Interactive. They are the new Larian. Anything they touch from now on is a must-watch.
- Don't sleep on the "Games for Impact" winner. South of Midnight won this year, and it’s a beautiful exploration of Deep South folklore that gets overlooked because it’s not a "shooter."
- Prepare for 2026. With GTA VI winning Most Anticipated (again), the industry is clearly bracing for a massive shift next year.
The 2025 Game Awards proved that the "AA" and Indie space is no longer just a sideshow. They are the main event. Whether you’re a fan of high-octane shooters like Battlefield or deep, emotional RPGs, the bar has been raised significantly.
Go check out the winners you missed. Most of them are likely sitting on a subscription service you already pay for.