The Daily Populous Tuesday November 18th, 2025 morning edition
Authored by variety.com and submitted by Gorotheninja

The Game Awards 2025 nominations were announced Monday with “Clair Obscur: Expedition 33” leading the way with 12 nods. That total makes the Sandfall Interactive-developed game the most-nominated game in the 11-year history of the awards.

Among its accolades, “Clair Obscur: Expedition 33” is up for Game of Year alongside “Death Stranding 2: On The Beach” (Kojima Productions/Sony Interactive Entertainment), “Donkey Kong Bananza” (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo), “Hades II” (Supergiant Games), “Hollow Knight: Silksong” (Team Cherry), “Kingdom Come: Deliverance II” (Warhorse Studios/Deep Silver).

Though its top 2025 title, “Ghost of Yōtei,” did not make the cut for Game of the Year, Sony Interactive Entertainment is still the most nominated publisher this year with 19 nominations. Kepler Interactive came in second with 13 nominations, and Electronic Arts and Microsoft tied for third place with 10 nods apiece.

This year’s best adaptation category (for a TV show or movie based on a video game title) includes “A Minecraft Movie,” “Devil May Cry,” “The Last of Us” Season 2, “Splinter Cell: Deathwatch” and “Until Dawn.”

The Game Awards nominated titles are selected by a global jury of over 150 media publications and creator outlets from around the world, including Variety. From now until Dec. 10 at 6 p.m. PT, fans can vote on the winners in all categories via authenticated online voting on www.thegameawards.com. In China, fans can vote for on a variety of platforms, including Bilibili. Fan votes will count toward the overall outcome alongside the jury’s final selections.

Hosted by Geoff Keighley, the 2025 Game Awards will be held at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on Dec. 11 from 5-8 p.m. PT/8-11 p.m. ET.

The show will feature world premieres, major new game announcements, and musical performances, alongside awards honoring the year’s best games and creators. Per TGA, stars from Amazon’s “Fallout” TV series, which debuts its second season next month, will also present during the event.

Since it launched back in 2014, The Game Awards have streamed annually across free platforms including YouTube, Twitch, X, TikTok and some platforms in China, with the 2024 edition reaching more than 154 million livestreams overall. This year, the show will also stream on Amazon’s Prime Video as part of a new partnership with the ecommerce giant.

The Game Awards is executive produced by Keighley and Kimmie Kim. Richard Preuss is the director, LeRoy Bennett is the creative director, and Michael E. Peter is co-executive producer.

See the full list of 2025 Game Awards nominees below.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (Sandfall Interactive/Kepler Interactive)

Death Stranding 2: On The Beach (Kojima Productions/Sony Interactive Entertainment)

Kingdom Come: Deliverance II (Warhorse Studios/Deep Silver)

Ghost of Yōtei (Sucker Punch Productions/Sony Interactive Entertainment)

BEST SCORE AND MUSIC, LEVELED UP BY SPOTIFY

Lorien Testard, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Woodkid and Ludvig Forssell, Death Stranding 2: On The Beach

Death Stranding 2: On the Beach (Kojima Productions/Sony Interactive Entertainment)

Ben Starr, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Charlie Cox, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Jennifer English, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Troy Baker, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle

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)

Consume Me (Jenny Jiao Hsia/AP Thomson/Hexacutable)

Lost Records: Bloom & Rage (Don’t Nod Montreal/Don’t Nod)

Helldivers 2 (Arrowhead Game Studios/Sony Interactive Entertainment)

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (Sandfall Interactive)

Persona 5: The Phantom X (Black Wings Game Studio/Sega)

Marvel’s Deadpool VR (Twisted Pixel Games/Oculus Studios)

The Midnight Walk (MoonHood/Fast Travel Games)

Ninja Gaiden 4 (Platinum Games/Team Ninja/Xbox Game Studios)

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle (MachineGames/Bethesda Softworks)

The Outer Worlds 2 (Obsidian Entertainment/Xbox Game Studios)

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)

LEGO Voyagers (Light Brick Studios/Annapurna Interactive)

FINAL FANTASY TACTICS – The Ivalice Chronicles (Square Enix)

Sid Meier’s Civilization VII (Firaxis Games/2K)

Two Point Museum (Two Point Studios/Sega)

Elden Ring Nightreign (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco Entertainment)

The Last of Us: Season 2 (HBO/PlayStation Productions)

Grand Theft Auto VI (Rockstar Games)

Marvel’s Wolverine (Insomniac Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment)

The Witcher IV (CD Projekt Red)

Chovy – Jeong Ji-hoon (League of Legends)

Team Liquid PH – Mobile Legends: Bang Bang

Editor’s note: Variety voted on nominations for The Game Awards 2025.

Ixisoupsixi on November 17th, 2025 at 18:06 UTC »

I would say, even if you don’t like turn based, the story is phenomenal. Like the whole gauntlet of emotions. The music was just fantastic. The characters were all so well fleshed out. Even the combat was more than just the press this to execute the attack- like there were plenty of times when I accidentally nuked Lune because I missed one of her button prompts. I’ll also add that there aren’t many games that can add items and attacks throughout a play through that continuously make you rebalance a character while still keeping it enjoyable.

Ekhoes- on November 17th, 2025 at 17:37 UTC »

It’s well deserved. Incredible game.

Inefficacy on November 17th, 2025 at 17:35 UTC »

Good.