all the video game Oscar winners

Written by Jason Miller

Gaming
all the video game Oscar winners

The Game Awards, the Oscars of video games, ended a few hours ago. The 2025 edition saw triumph Clair Obscur: Expedition 33a French production by the young Sandfall Interactive that talks about death and mourning through the structure of the Japanese role-playing game. To Final Fantasy so to speak. A title loved by critics and the public, which even received the applause of Emmanuel Macron upon launch. At the last Game Awards it won a lot of prizes. Nine to be precise. It is the first time that a title has achieved a similar number of statuettes, including that of the best game of the year.

What’s even more surprising is that Clair Obscur isn’t an exception among 2025 releases, but it was accompanied by high-caliber titles. Starting from Death Stranding 2, Hideo Kojima’s game with Norman Reedus, Guillermo del Toro and Luca Marinelli, up to the surprise launch, after six years of silence, of Hollow Knight: Silksong, the indie metroidvania set in the world of Team Cherry’s insects.

That’s not all: the year that is about to end has brought one of the main exclusives of Nintendo Switch 2, Donkey Kong Bananzaas well as one of the most appreciated role-playing games for its historical fidelity which is Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 by Warhorse Studios. And how can we forget Split Fiction, the adventure to be experienced strictly as a couple by Josef Farez and his Hazelight, and Hades 2the roguelike that modernizes Greek mythology. Yet Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 defeated everyone and everything, achieving a collective acclaim rarely seen for a video game.

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The news announced on the stage of the Game Awards 2025: which games will return

The main difference between Geoff Keighley’s Game Awards and the Academy Oscars is that, in the second case, performers and films of the year are celebrated; in the first, however, the awards are the backdrop to a series of announcements on upcoming releases. A necessary clarification, which makes us understand the difference between cinema, perceived as a cultural expression by its industry of reference, and video games, which remain relegated to the concept of a product to be consumed by its own creators and users. This explains the constant flow of trailers and announcement videos between awards shows.

GAME AWARDS 2025 | The presenter and organizer of the Game Awards, Canadian journalist Geoff Keighley.

Among the news that emerged tonight that are worth mentioning, there is the return of Lara Croftthe heroine of the nineties who raised generations of players. Now the archaeologist british most famous in the world is ready to experience old and new adventures: in 2026 Tomb Raider Legacy of Atlantis will arrive, a remake of the first chapter of 1996, and Tomb Raider Catalyst, a new adventure scheduled for launch in 2027.

Larian Studio, the Belgian studio that created the acclaimed Baldur’s Gate 3, is also back in the spotlight and released a trailer for a new game on the occasion of the Game Awards. Divinity. A raw and disturbing video, made so by the truly high quality graphic detail. Among the other returns, it is necessary to mention a Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republicthe new game set in George Lucas’ universe. Behind the development is Casey Hudson. An important name in the game industry, because he founded BioWare, the studio that gave birth to the space epic Mass Effect and, even before that, to Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, a popular title published in 2003.

The awards ceremony also proved to be a stage for the first game of Day 4 Nightthe Italian development studio founded by ex-Ubisoft players such as Cristina Nava and Davide Soliani and ex-Rockstars such as Christian Cantamessa. The game in question is called Bradley the Badger and puts us in the shoes of a badger who can exploit settings and powers to be able to continue within complex and colorful worlds. Among the other details that emerged, the numerous references to important video games such as The Last of Us and Cyberpunk 2077.

But what is surprising is the conclusion, which breaks the ironic and friendly tone of the first part of the trailer, with scenes with real actors and a much darker and more disturbing tone. But Made in Italy at the Game Awards doesn’t stop here: there’s also room for Screamera racing game from Milestone, one of the largest gaming companies in the country.

All the games that won the Game Awards 2025

Below are all the nominations with their winners divided by categories. Scrolling through, titles emerge that reaffirm the quality of this 2025 video game, despite the many problems gripping the sector, including layoffs, cancellations of projects and unclear working conditions.

Best Family Game

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

Best in Accessibility

  • Assassin’s Creed Shadows
  • Atomfall
  • Doom: The Dark Ages
  • EA FC26
  • South of Midnight

Best eSports Game

  • Counter Strike 2
  • Dota 2
  • League of Legends
  • Mobile Legends Bang Bang
  • Valorant

Best eSports Athlete

  • Brawk
  • Chovy
  • F0rsaken
  • Kakeru
  • Menard
  • Zywoo

Best eSports Team

  • Gen.G
  • NRG
  • Team Falcons
  • Team Liquid Ph
  • Team Vitality

Best Mobile Game

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

Best Independent Game

  • Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
  • Absolum
  • Blue Prince
  • Ball x Pit
  • Hollow Knight: Silksong
  • Hades 2

Best Adaptation

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

Best Action Game

  • Ninja Gaiden 4
  • Hades 2
  • Shinobi: Art of Vengeance
  • Battlefield 6
  • Doom: The Dark Ages

Best Performance

  • Erika Ishii (Atsu – Ghost of Yotei)
  • Charlie Cox (Gustave – Clair Obscur: Expedition 33)
  • Jennifer English (Maelle – Clair Obscur: Expedition 33)
  • Troy Baker (Indiana Jones – Indiana Jones and the Great Circle)
  • Kotatsu Kato (Hinako – Silent Hill f)
  • Ben Starr (Verso – Clair Obscur: Expedition 33)

Best Ongoing Game

  • No Man’s Sky
  • Fortnite
  • Marvel Rivals
  • Final Fantasy XIV
  • Helldivers 2

Games for Impact

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

Best Fighting Game

  • Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves
  • Capcom Fighting Collection 2
  • 2XKO
  • Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection
  • Virtua Fighter 5 REVO World Stage

Most Anticipated Game

  • 007: First Light
  • Grand Theft Auto VI
  • Resident Evil: Requiem
  • The Witcher 4
  • Marvel’s Wolverine

Content Creator of the Year

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

Game Changer Award

Best Action/Adventure Game

  • Ghost of Yotei
  • Hollow Knight: Silksong
  • Split Fiction
  • Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
  • Death Stranding 2: On The BeachBest Art Direction
  • Ghost of Yotei
  • Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
  • Death Stranding 2: On The Beach
  • Hades 2
  • Hollow Knight: Silksong

Best Simulation/Strategy Game

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

Best Debut Indie Game

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

Best Score/Music

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

Best Community Support

  • Baldur’s Gate 3
  • Final Fantasy XIV
  • No Man’s Sky
  • Helldivers 2
  • Fortnite

Best Audio Design

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

Best VR/AR Game

  • The Midnight Walk
  • Marvel Deadpool VR
  • Alien: Rogue Invasion
  • Arken Age
  • Ghost Town

Best Role-Playing Game

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

Best Sports/Racing Game

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

Player’s Voice

  • Dispatch
  • Genshin Impact
  • Hollow Knight: Silksong
  • Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
  • Wuthering Waves

Best Narrative

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

Best Multiplayer Game

  • Elden Ring: Nightreign
  • Battlefield 6
  • PEAK
  • ARC Raiders
  • Split Fiction

Best Game Direction

  • Supergiant Games – Hades 2
  • Hazelight Studios – Split Fiction
  • Kojima Productions & PlayStation – Death Stranding 2: On The Beach
  • Sandfall Interactive – Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
  • Sucker Punch Productions – Ghost of Yotei

Game of the Year

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

Jason Miller

I'm Jason Miller, and I've been passionate about technology and storytelling for over a decade. As a lead writer at Herald Editorials, I strive to bring clarity and creativity to complex tech topics. When I'm not writing, you'll find me exploring the latest gadgets or hiking in the great outdoors.