Game Awards 2025 Predictions

Predicting the winners and some reveals

It’s here, the 2025 Game Awards. Now, I know this show is very polarizing among the video games community. Still, as I’ve said before, until there is another, this is the closest thing we have to the biggest award show in terms of production value and spectacle. I do hope we either get an evolution of this show to actually become awards or someone comes along to deliver a better alternative in the near future. That all said, I’m here to make the final predictions on the morning of the show, along with some predictions for reveals. Let’s start with some quick predictions on most of the awards.

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And the Winner Is…

I could not predict due to various factors, such as personal ignorance or it just not being my field: Best Esports Team, Best Esports Game, Best Esports Athlete.

Content Creator of the Year - Charles Christopher White Jr. (AKA - MoistCr1TiKaL)

Most Anticipated Game - Grand Theft Auto VI

Player’s Voice - Dispatch

Innovation in Accessibility - South of Midnight

Best Adaptation - The Last of Us: Season 2

Best Sports / Racing Game - Rematch

Best Multiplayer Game - ARC Raiders

Best Sim / Strategy Game - Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles

Best Fighting Game - 2XKO

Best Action / Adventure Game - Hollow Knight: Silksong

Best Action Game - Hades II

Best Mobile Game - Wuthering Waves

Best VR/AR Game - The Midnight Walk

Best Community Support - Helldivers II

Best Ongoing Game - Marvel Rivals

Best Debut Indie Game - Dispatch

Games for Impact - South of Midnight

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Best Family Game - Donkey Kong Bananaza

I think Split Fiction has a chance to take this one as well, but I’m sticking with the big Ape. Quite frankly, I would be personally a bit disappointed if Split Fiction won this because I don’t know if that deserves a “Best Family Game” moniker, it’s more in the category, not my personal cringe at Josef Fares’ public persona. It would be unfortunate if DK didn’t walk away with anything, but this is one of those years when a lot of great games are going to miss out on awards.

Best Performance - Jennifer English as Maelle in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Jennifer is already winning awards for her performance as Maelle. I think it’s greatly deserved (safe to say she’s favored to win Best Leading Female Performance for the 1UP Vault Awards), and I think she’s going to win this and give one of the more memorable speeches, considering what’s going on in this country with marginalized people. She’s emerging as a solid performance artist, so it’s only the beginning.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 - Best RPG, Best Independent Game, Best Audio Design, Best Score and Music, Best Narrative, Best Art Direction, Best Game Direction, GAME OF THE YEAR

“Dread it. Run from it. Destiny arrives all the same. And now, it’s here. Or should I say, I am.” - Thanos

There’s a chance that one or two of these categories get an upset win (except GOTY), but this will be a Return of the King moment in nearly every category Expedition 33 is in. Look, I don’t necessarily agree with it winning some of these; I’m more critical of the story than others, and it’s not my favorite game of the year. It’s also, unfortunately, not its fault, and it has developed a toxic element in its fanbase. I understand why some people want to see it lose, because we always gravitate toward an underdog. What I will say is, focus on the development story if this game wasn’t your bag or your pick as the top dog. The small team of former Ubisoft employees, the composer from Soundcloud, the writer with a story to tell, there is a lot to cheer here in an industry that’s struggling. Expedition 33 is a credit to the power of art and the artists who sacrifice to make their stories. It’s going to dominate the awards for that very reason.

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World Premiere

Finally, and somewhat unfortunately, we are probably going to get more reveals than awards presentations, but let’s act like we don’t care about those either. While I still want a focus on the awards over the reveals, I can’t lie that the reveals aren’t exciting. Last year, the show did great with reveals, and I think we are going to see a similar, if not then close, this year. The one thing that’s gotten a lot of attention has been the “thick statue” that Geoff set the internet ablaze with. Everything points to it being Larian’s next game: Divinity: Original Sin 3, which, in my personal opinion, would be a bit of a let-down. The way this has been hyped makes it sound like a megaton reveal, and my bar for that is pretty darn high. I get it, Larian deserves attention after Baldur’s Gate 3, but it just isn’t reaching that bar for me. However, if it is from Larian, I do want to give them big props for a brilliant marketing scheme, given all the eyeballs they got from it.

We also have confirmed reveals for the next Tomb Raider game, which I’m excited to see, and we’ll get updates on Saros. I think we'll see more PlayStation stuff, like the rumored 2.5D God of War Metroidvania game, and maybe a surprise we’re not thinking about. Sega has something big planned; it could be an already-revealed game or another surprise IP return. I think Capcom could have a reveal here, they’re already hinting at bringing back old IP, and I continue to hope for something Dino Crisis related (a man can dream). Lastly, I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that From Software will show something here. It could be a new IP or a Duskbloods update, but they will show something.

Outside of that, that’s all I have to predict, and while the show will continue to polarize people, the reveals and what the award winners gain will be what to look for. Whether you decide to catch up on highlights or watch the show, enjoy.

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