Top Contenders for GOTY 2025

Patrick.Yu

The Game Awards is the gaming industry's biggest annual celebration. Founded in 2014 by journalist and producer Geoff Keighley, it began as a successor to the Spike Video Game Awards and has since grown into a global event. Each year, the show honors the top achievements in video games while also serving as a platform for major reveals and announcements.

The 2025 ceremony will take place on December 11, 2025, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, where it has been held since 2023. With millions of viewers expected to tune in worldwide, the show will once again combine live performances, developer speeches, surprise trailers, and celebrity appearances.

Across more than 30 categories, the awards highlight excellence in areas such as direction, performance, accessibility, esports, and storytelling. The most anticipated category each year is Game of the Year (GOTY), which stands as the highest recognition in the industry.

What is Game of the Year?

The Game of the Year award goes to the title that delivers the most outstanding experience across gameplay, narrative, visual design, audio, and emotional impact. It represents not just technical excellence but also cultural relevance and artistic ambition. Winning GOTY can elevate a game into the canon of all-time greats and shape how a year is remembered in gaming history.

While the official nominees will not be announced until late November, that has not stopped fans and critics from speculating. 2025 has already delivered several strong contenders across a variety of genres, including RPGs, immersive sims, narrative adventures, and breakout indie hits.

The following list highlights our top predictions for which titles are most likely to be nominated for Game of the Year at this year’s ceremony. These picks are based on critical reception, innovation, and overall impact so far. With GTA 6 officially postponed to 2026, the 2025 GOTY race is shaping up to be one of the closest in recent memory. In the absence of a clear dominant favorite, several indie studios have stepped up with standout releases. Games like Hollow Knight: Silksong, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, and Hades 2 have all made strong cases for themselves, raising the bar across gameplay, art direction, and narrative design.

At the same time, big-budget publishers are not backing down. Triple-A studios have brought their own heavy hitters to the table this year, including Ghost of Yōtei, Donkey Kong Bananza, Split Fiction, and Death Stranding 2. With such a strong and varied field, the competition for Game of the Year has never felt more unpredictable.

1. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (released April 24, 2025) is not only my personal favorite of the year but also the game I believe will win GOTY 2025. Developed by Sandfall Interactive, a new French studio formed by former Ubisoft developers, it represents a shift from the formulaic, monetization-driven projects their old employer is known for. Instead of chasing profit-first design, Sandfall embraced artistic freedom, creating a role-playing experience that feels both distinctly French and universally powerful.

The world of Lumière sets the tone with its Belle Époque elegance and tragic theatre-like atmosphere. Each year, the godlike Paintress marks a number on her tower, dictating the age at which people vanish from existence. You lead the doomed 33rd expedition to end this curse. The story channels classic tragedy while also offering small, heartfelt moments of levity that humanize the cast. Excellent performances and naturalistic dialogue ensure the heavy themes of grief, mortality, and sacrifice resonate.

Combat is where Clair Obscur shines brightest. Its stylish turn-based battles infuse real-time inputs for dodges, parries, and spell boosts, making every encounter feel tense and rhythmic, almost like a dance. Each party member has unique mechanics, and the Picto system allows deep customization that rewards experimentation. Boss fights are especially unforgettable, demanding precision and improvisation while backed by a sweeping score that blends opera, symphonic rock, and Parisian flair.

Even with some rough edges in exploration and menus, the overall package is breathtaking. The art direction, evocative soundtrack, and smartly scoped narrative recall the clarity of vision often missing from today’s bloated AAA releases. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a triumph of creative independence, proving that when developers are free to build with passion, the result can rival and even surpass the giants of the industry.

2. Donkey Kong Bananza

Donkey Kong Bananza, released on July 17, 2025, is Nintendo’s boldest platformer in years and the first true 3D showpiece for the Switch 2. Built by the same team that crafted Super Mario Odyssey, this game reinvents DK as the star of his own console-defining adventure. The result is a masterpiece of platform design, brimming with charm, technical ambition, and endless ideas.

At its core, Bananza revolves around a brilliant concept: fully destructible environments. Every wall, floor, and boulder can be smashed, ripped, or hurled by DK, and that simple mechanic fuels the game’s creativity. Levels, called “layers,” are sprawling playgrounds where breaking terrain is both satisfying and strategic. Sometimes you’re clearing a path to uncover secrets, other times you’re chaining combos by ripping up a stone, tossing it at an enemy, and vaulting off it to reach a hidden platform. The possibilities feel limitless, and Nintendo’s polish ensures it never grows old.

Alongside DK is Pauline, whose singing ability helps reveal collectibles and marks objectives. Their story is lighthearted, with DK seeking more bananas and Pauline searching for a way home, but the adventure grows into something grander as they descend toward the mysterious Planet Core. The journey is consistently inventive, introducing fresh twists like elemental puzzles and wild “Bananza transformations” that grant DK temporary powers such as gliding, super speed, or pulverizing indestructible terrain.

Visually, the game sparkles with Nintendo’s signature artistry, while its physics-driven destruction adds a weight and dynamism rarely seen in the genre. The soundtrack mixes reimagined Donkey Kong Country classics with new tracks that perfectly match the chaos of DK’s rampages.

With over 20 hours of story content and near-endless secrets to discover, Donkey Kong Bananza is more than a return for one of Nintendo’s oldest icons. It is a groundbreaking platformer that cements DK as a headliner and a top contender for GOTY 2025.

3. Split Fiction

Hazelight Studios, the team behind It Takes Two (GOTY 2021), has done it again with Split Fiction. Released on March 6, 2025, the game pushes the boundaries of cooperative play while doubling as a love letter to storytelling and human connection.

At its heart, Split Fiction follows Mio and Zoe, two aspiring writers trapped inside a simulation that fuses their wildly different imaginations. Over the course of the adventure, they navigate more than 20 distinct worlds that blend fantasy and sci-fi, each filled with unique mechanics and playful nods to gaming history. One moment you might be wall-running through a cyberpunk city wielding gravity blades, the next you’re skating through a Tony Hawk-inspired arena or solving puzzles in a Metroid-like dungeon. Nearly every mechanic introduced could serve as the foundation of its own game, yet here they are all packed into one seamless journey.

As in It Takes Two, the cooperative focus is essential. Progress relies on constant collaboration, whether you are coordinating weapon abilities, executing precision platforming, or solving puzzles that require perfect timing. The result is a game that constantly surprises while never losing sight of its emotional core.

What makes Split Fiction truly remarkable is how its story complements its gameplay. Mio and Zoe begin as polar opposites—the grumpy realist and the cheerful dreamer—but gradually form a bond that feels authentic and moving. Their relationship, explored through laughter, conflict, and heartfelt dialogue, gives weight to every fantastical detour. The game also delivers sharp commentary on creativity in an age of generative AI, with its villain Rader serving as a cautionary caricature of idea theft.

Funny, inventive, and deeply human, Split Fiction stands as both a brilliant co-op experience and one of the most original contenders for Game of the Year 2025.

4. Hollow Knight: Silksong

Hollow Knight: Silksong finally emerged on September 4, 2025, after seven years of speculation and mounting hype. The long-awaited sequel from Team Cherry builds on its predecessor’s Metroidvania foundation while dramatically raising the stakes. Set in the kingdom of Pharloom, the game inverts the original’s descent into Hallownest. Hornet, captured at the start, must climb upward through a vast series of interconnected biomes toward the Citadel, unraveling a mystery tied to her own silk.

Hornet’s moveset reshapes how exploration and combat unfold. She can vault diagonally with a dive attack, chain parries into ripostes, float mid-air with her cloak, and later grapple across arenas with needle hooks. These tools make her faster and more vertical than the Knight, but the added mobility is balanced by higher difficulty. Even common enemies deal two masks of damage, healing restores three masks at once but can be interrupted, and bosses have expanded health pools. With over forty major encounters spread across the game, Silksong consistently demands precision.

Progression is handled through multiple layered systems. Crests define Hornet’s combat style and act as sockets for Tools, which provide offensive, defensive, or utility effects. Picto perks stack into Lumina bonuses after extended use, letting players refine loadouts beyond simple skill trees. Two currencies further shape the journey: Rosaries for shops and services, and Shell Shards to repair or recharge Tools. Exploration is dense, with side quests called Wishes offering additional challenges ranging from delivery runs to high-level boss hunts.

Pharloom’s design emphasizes verticality, with towering zones like the Sands of Karak, the Choral Chambers, and the Bone Bottom hub town. Its art direction surpasses even the original, and Christopher Larkin’s sweeping score reinforces the emotional highs of exploration and combat alike. While critics have noted frustration with lengthy boss runbacks and resource scarcity, the overall consensus is that Silksong elevates the Metroidvania genre through sheer ambition and craftsmanship.

Despite its brilliance, Silksong may struggle to capture GOTY 2025 due to its punishing difficulty and niche appeal. However, it is almost certain to be the frontrunner for Best Indie Game. In what is shaping up to be a two-way race with Hades 2, Silksong’s enormous hype and cultural footprint may be enough to secure the win.

5. Hades 2

Supergiant Games followed up its 2020 masterpiece with Hades 2, officially released on September 25, 2025, after an early access period that began in May 2024. The result is a roguelite that refines nearly every aspect of the original while introducing bold new systems, ensuring it stands as one of the year’s most celebrated titles.

This time, players control Melinoë, daughter of Hades and Persephone, on a mission to defeat Chronos, the Titan of Time. Her witchcraft-infused combat emphasizes traps, ranged control, and mana management, setting her apart from Zagreus’ straightforward brawling. Weapons like twirling twin torches or a colossal axe radically change each run, while elemental affinity systems and Selene’s powerful Hex abilities allow for wildly different builds.

Progression feels richer without excess. Permanent upgrades flow from Hecate’s cauldron, Chaos offers high-risk challenges, and animal familiars and farming add gentle diversions. The biggest leap is structural: after unlocking the option, players can choose between two paths on each attempt, descending into Tartarus or ascending Olympus. Each contains four regions with unique bosses and branching layouts, doubling variety and keeping the roguelite loop endlessly fresh.

Supergiant’s artistry is once again unmistakable. Characters like Nemesis and Hecate are written with nuance and humor, while the Olympians brim with new layers. Darren Korb’s soundtrack, supported by Ashley Barrett’s vocals, pushes beyond the original with soaring rock ballads, haunting mythic chants, and playful tracks like the Scylla and the Sirens boss fight anthem.

Hades 2 is a masterclass in sequel design: familiar enough to feel like home, yet brimming with new ideas that make each run exciting. While Silksong may narrowly claim Indie Game of the Year thanks to its towering hype, Hades 2 is every bit its equal in craft, and a clear frontrunner for multiple awards at The Game Awards 2025.

6. Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2

Released on February 4, 2025, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is a rare historical RPG that puts story, place, and consequence first. Warhorse returns to 1400 Bohemia with Henry’s continuing saga, and the result is a world that feels lived in rather than staged. The main plot moves with real momentum, yet the side content is equally memorable. One minute you are unmasking a killer in Kuttenberg, the next you are spelunking through a “haunted” mine or engineering a cheeky brothel subplot. A full run easily lands between 80 and 120 hours.

Progression is use based and immediately readable. Fight, sneak, craft, and converse, and the related skills rise. Quests often support multiple solutions with failure states that stick, so a sloppy burglary or a hot-headed duel can change how towns react. The crime system is fully simulated, with theft, bribery, and bounties that make you plan your nights as carefully as your days. Immersion systems ask you to actually smith, mend gear, or lug sacks across a yard. That commitment to authenticity sells the fantasy of being a medieval commoner who is clawing his way up, even if a few chores drift into busywork.

Combat remains the weak link. Master strikes and simple pressure can outperform the intended combo game, and hitboxes still wobble. The saving grace is that the RPG pillars are strong. Voice acting carries long dialogue scenes, the orchestral score lands big emotional beats, and performance on capable hardware is solid, with only occasional quest hiccups that a reload fixes.

Post-launch support has been busy. Brushes With Death delivers a roughly 12-hour story centered on the eccentric painter Voyta and adds shield painting for extra flavor. Legacy of the Forge lets you restore Henry’s family forge, join the blacksmiths’ guild, and build out a highly customizable home tied to prestige and commissions. Mysteria Ecclesiae is planned to open the Sedletz Monastery later this year with medicine and alchemy themes. DLC does not change awards eligibility in a strict sense, yet it does keep the conversation going.

Personal note. This game sent me down a Czech history rabbit hole and even got me to visit the country. The countryside, towns, and material culture feel studied and loved, and the writing makes that scholarship sing.

Will it win GOTY in a stacked 2025. Probably not. As a pure role-playing experience, though, it is exceptional and belongs on any shortlist for Best RPG of the year.

7. Death Stranding 2: On the Beach

From the legendary Hideo Kojima, Death Stranding 2: On the Beach (released June 26, 2025) takes the experimental framework of the original and molds it into something far more confident, cinematic, and playable. Norman Reedus returns as Sam Porter Bridges, this time tasked with connecting Australia to the Chiral Network. It is a 35-hour trek across deserts, rivers, and quake-ridden terrain where Mother Nature herself seems to push back against human ambition. As with the first game, success still depends on preparation: ladders, ropes, and blood grenades are just as essential as firearms, but the flow is sharper and the storytelling more focused.

Kojima’s love of film saturates the experience, from Interstellar style landscapes to Mad Max inspired desert chaos with George Miller even appearing in-game. Yet this is not indulgence for its own sake. The cinematic lens informs an action forward design that makes the moment to moment play far more dynamic than the original. Stealth and combat have been overhauled. Sam now commands drones, tranquilizer rifles, off-roaders, and a wide arsenal that lets you approach encounters creatively. Battles can spiral into chaos or resolve with surgical precision, both equally satisfying. Bosses are unmissable highlights: towering monstrosities that channel the eccentric, operatic side of Kojima’s design philosophy.

Progression has also been expanded. A plug-in perk system lets you shape Sam’s playstyle, from stealthy tracker to explosive powerhouse, echoing Nier Automata’s chip customizations. Gadgets and weapons arrive at a steady rhythm, including the surreal: coffin hoverboards, blood boomerangs, and missile firing mechanical dogs. This creativity turns what could have been a slog into a sandbox of strange delights. Online features return as well, letting other players’ constructions ease your journey in a shared world tapestry of mutual aid.

Bizarre, haunting, and occasionally hilarious, with platypus semen and talking puppets making appearances, Death Stranding 2 proves Kojima remains unmatched in marrying eccentricity with blockbuster design. It might not convert those who bounced off the original, but for everyone else, it is one of 2025’s most unforgettable adventures.

8. Ghost of Yotei

Ghost of Yotei (released September 25, 2025) builds on the foundation of Ghost of Tsushima while carving out its own identity through its new protagonist, Atsu. Unlike Jin Sakai, Atsu is no samurai. She is a wandering mercenary whose family was massacred by the Yotei Six, a ruthless gang now ruling Japan’s northern island of Ezo. Consumed by revenge, she adopts the mantle of the onryo, a vengeful spirit from Japanese folklore, becoming a feared symbol of retribution.

The setting is as much a character as Atsu herself. Ezo, modern-day Hokkaido, is rendered with breathtaking contrast: lush cherry blossoms in the south, icy plains in the north, and duels staged against waterfalls, ancient forests, and snowfields drenched in blood. Exploration feels organic thanks to the returning Guiding Wind, now paired with a spyglass system that encourages discovery rather than reliance on UI markers.

Atsu’s quest against the Yotei Six unfolds with cinematic flair reminiscent of Lady Snowblood and classic samurai cinema. Each target has distinct methods, from the Oni’s scorched-earth cruelty to the Kitsune’s shinobi assassinations, creating a mix of duels, infiltration, and puzzle-driven missions. Side activities tie closely to Atsu’s past: painting sumi-e with her father’s lessons, playing the shamisen passed down from her mother, and reliving childhood memories at family sites. These moments make her vengeance deeply personal.

Combat has been refined to reflect Atsu’s pragmatism. Instead of rigid stances, she masters five distinct weapons, each with situational strengths, and augments them with ranged options like rifles and pistols. Stealth is faster and more brutal, with kusarigama assassinations standing out. While camera quirks occasionally frustrate, the overall system delivers a thrilling blend of precision and brutality.

Ghost of Yotei may share DNA with Tsushima, but Atsu’s story of loss, artistry, and revenge ensures it stands tall as one of 2025’s defining action epics.

Conclusion

2025 has already delivered an incredible lineup of games, from ambitious blockbusters like Death Stranding 2: On the Beach and Ghost of Yotei, to indie darlings like Hollow Knight: Silksong and Hades 2. The variety is staggering, with studios large and small pushing the boundaries of storytelling, gameplay, and artistry.

As strong as 2025 has already been for gaming, the year isn’t finished yet. Several heavy hitters are still on the horizon, and they could reshape the conversation around Game of the Year once they land. Upcoming titles include:

• October 9, 2025 — Little Nightmares 3
• October 10, 2025 — Battlefield 6
• October 21, 2025 — Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2
• October 29, 2025 — The Outer Worlds 2
• December 4, 2025 — Metroid Prime 4: Beyond

Each of these games carries the potential to surprise and even blow away the competition. And if any of them — or even a dark horse release — prove themselves worthy, I’ll update this list to give them a deserved place among the year’s best. For now, 2025 is already shaping up to be one of the most stacked years in recent memory, and the best may still be yet to come.

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