The Game Awards 2025’s narrow perspective makes its nominees a mixed bag

The nominees for each year’s Game Awards often highlight fault lines in the industry, and this year’s crop is no exception. Amid a slew of generation-defining titles, we break down the limited highlights and the conspicuous lowlights from this year’s nominations. 

There are issues, but if this were a test, this year’s nominations would receive a passing grade. The categories each contain at least one indisputably credible nomination. On the whole, the potential winners should be a decent representation of what left an impression this year in gaming. However, beyond this initial veneer of positivity, there are cracks beneath the facade. 

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• While the nominations are always a mix of hits and misses, there is a sense that many noteworthy games still go underappreciated due to limited recognition slots.
• Clair Obscur Expedition 33 received a record number of nominations, including multiple Best Performance spots, which, while deserved, crowded out other strong contenders like Dispatch, raising concerns about balance and representation.
• Expedition 33’s inclusion in indie-focused categories feels questionable, reflecting broader concerns about how the awards define “indie,” fairness in recognition, and the lack of space for smaller but impactful titles.
• The Game Awards reflects industry biases, highlighting limited community input, unclear voting processes, and a lack of true representation.

The good, but mainly the bad and ugly

The innovation in the Innovation in Accessibility category continues to feel too aimless. A good example is EA Sports FC 26, which surprised me by making the list. At a glance, the new accessibility features look good, yet it feels like many of these are the bare minimum. 

This is not to say EA’s inclusion of these accessibility features is bad. However, the state of the category must be called into question when a game can be nominated for a high-contrast mode and text-to-speech features.

This ties into a broader issue reflected in The Game Awards announcements, which sometimes highlight features that feel more performative than impactful.

There is also the Games for Impact category, which has good nominations and is a positive inclusion. However, like many of the categories, the exact idea we are celebrating in these nominations is unclear. The Game Awards says it’s about “thought-provoking games with a pro-social meaning or message”. 

This would feel apparent from games like Consume Me or Despelote. Both use their gameplay to great effect, employing mechanics to engender empathy in the player regarding issues such as eating disorders and poverty. 

However, one category is not enough to do this side of video games justice. There is no shortage of indie games with unique messages or meanings, all from a very personal place, yet the little they are celebrated buries the motivation for developers big and small to lean into gameplay’s artistic potential. 

More than monoliths

It is essential to note that the wide array of nominations received by Clair Obscur Expedition 33 is proportionate to the game’s quality. It should be the game of the year, win for best score and music, and be strongly represented at The Game Awards. 

However, the danger of Clair Obscur Expedition 33’s breakout success is that it will, like a raging fire, consume all the oxygen in the room, asphyxiating other titles. A particular egregious category is Best Performance, where Clair Obscur Expedition 33 received three nominations. 

This is not to undercut Benn Starr’s, Charlie Cox’s, or Jennifer English’s outstanding performances. They’re emotional, tear-inducing spectacles that fully deserve attention and praise.  

However, by occupying a sizable plurality of the bracket, Clair Obscur Expedition 33 is overshadowing other performances this year that deserve recognition. 

Dispatched

There is a Dispatch-shaped elephant in the room. While it is not mine or many others’ game of the year, it is still a standout success on the same level as Silksong or Clair Obscur Expedition 33. This makes its singular nomination for Best Independent Game all the more confusing. 

The most likely narrative is that Dispatch was released too late for the authorities at The Game Awards for it to be eligible for other awards. However, it is hard not to view this as a failing of The Game Awards in a more systemic sense.

Dispatch is packed to the brim with talented actors giving their all to make those characters memorable. Aaron Paul’s soulful, witty, and heartfelt performance as protagonist Robert Robertson and Laura Bailey’s portrayal of acerbic, cynical yet captivating Invisigal are conspicuous by their absence.  

The title’s nomination for Best Independent Game almost feels comical; the gap in quality between Clair Obscur Expedition 33 and every other game on the list is staggering. Expedition 33 was certainly no AAA game, but it certainly had much more gas in the development tank than the likes of fellow nominees such as captivating puzzler Blue Prince or frantic beat ‘em up Absolam. 

This is a symptom of how nebulous we define terms like “indie” when approaching video games, and is symptomatic of an unwillingness on the part of The Game Awards to draw concrete boundaries. Any game that can get the actor who plays Marvel’s Daredevil feels at least somewhat non-indie, or, at least, less indie than some would say. 

Judge and Jury

In theory, the jury that selects the nominees is a collection of reputable publications that bypasses this bias. Yet, the Jury is either ineffective in suppressing bias or poorly informed. 

This is especially acute in the face of controversies, such as nominating Megabonk for Best Debut Indie Game when it was in fact not that studio’s debut indie game (via TheGamer). The reality is that this jury is a poor attempt to capture the opinions of players, and something needs to change. 

A feeling I have struggled to shake is how little the nominees reflect the actual highlights of my year in gaming. This is not to say the nominations I would choose would be any better, but the lack of a wider community involvement in this show is pitiful. 

The audience has little power over the nomination process, and even our votes feel quickly undercut by the jury.

A pure community vote might be just as vulnerable to a Clair Obscur Expedition 33 sweep or choosing Astro Bot for game of the year; however, at least the game’s kudos would feel earned and democratically legitimate rather than a dictatorial edict from the industry’s self-appointed great and good.

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