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The Game Awards 2025 By the Numbers: How Many Nominations Each Game Earned

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has made history at The Game Awards 2025, leading the pack with 12 nominations, the most ever for a single game.


Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Leads The Game Awards 2025 With Record 12 Nominations. The image shows an Expedition 33 screenshot and the TGA 2025 trophy.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Breaks Record With 12 Nominations at The Game Awards 2025 | Image via TGA

The Game Awards is always a highlight at the end of the year, celebrating the best titles across nearly 30 categories. This year’s Game of the Year race is stacked, featuring 6 games: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, Donkey Kong Bananza, Hades II, Hollow Knight: Silksong, and Kingdom Come: Deliverance II.


But it’s Expedition 33 that has stolen the spotlight, not just for being nominated, but for breaking records. Geoff Keighley himself confirmed on X that the game’s 12 nominations set a new all‑time high for the show.


The nominations cover a wide range of categories:

  1. Game of the Year

  2. Best Game Direction

  3. Best Narrative

  4. Best Art Direction

  5. Best Score & Music

  6. Best Audio Design

  7. Best Performance (Ben Starr)

  8. Best Performance (Charlie Cox)

  9. Best Performance (Jennifer English)

  10. Best Independent Game

  11. Best Debut Indie Game

  12. Best Role-Playing Game (RPG)


That’s a massive achievement for Sandfall Interactive, and it shows how much the game resonated with critics and players alike.


For context, last year’s leaders like Astro Bot and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth had seven nominations each, while in 2022, God of War Ragnarök topped the list with ten. Seeing Expedition 33 surpass all of them underscores just how dominant it has been in 2025.


Other titles also earned strong recognition. Death Stranding 2 and Ghost of Yōtei each picked up seven nominations, Hades II secured six, and Hollow Knight: Silksong landed five. 


Here is the detailed breakdown of nominations for the runners-up:

Death Stranding 2: On the Beach (7 Nominations)

  • Game of the Year

  • Best Game Direction

  • Best Narrative

  • Best Art Direction

  • Best Score and Music (Woodkid & Ludvig Forssell)

  • Best Audio Design

  • Best Action/Adventure Game


Ghost of Yōtei (7 Nominations)

  • Best Game Direction

  • Best Narrative

  • Best Art Direction

  • Best Score and Music (Toma Otowa)

  • Best Audio Design

  • Best Performance (Erika Ishii)

  • Best Action/Adventure Game


Hades II (6 Nominations)

  • Game of the Year

  • Best Game Direction

  • Best Art Direction

  • Best Score and Music (Darren Korb)

  • Best Independent Game

  • Best Action Game


Hollow Knight: Silksong (5 Nominations)

  • Game of the Year

  • Best Art Direction

  • Best Score & Music

  • Best Independent Game

  • Best Action/Adventure


Split Fiction (4 Nominations) 

  • Best Game Direction

  • Best Action/Adventure

  • Best Family Game

  • Best Multiplayer


Silent Hill f (3 Nominations)

  • Best Narrative

  • Best Audio Design

  • Best Performance (Konatsu Kato)


Battlefield 6 (3 Nominations)

  • Best Audio Design

  • Best Action Game

  • Best Multiplayer Game


Kingdom Come: Deliverance II (3 Nominations)

  • Game of the Year

  • Best Narrative

  • Best Role-Playing Game


2 Nominations

  • Blue Prince (Indie, Debut Indie)

  • Despelote (Impact, Debut Indie)

  • Donkey Kong Bananza (GOTY, Family)

  • Doom: The Dark Ages (Action, Accessibility)

  • EA Sports FC 26 (Sports, Accessibility)

  • Final Fantasy XIV (Ongoing, Community)

  • Fortnite (Ongoing, Community)

  • Helldivers II (Ongoing, Community)

  • Indiana Jones and the Great Circle (Performance, Action/Adventure)

  • Mario Kart World (Family, Sports/Racing)

  • No Man’s Sky (Ongoing, Community)

  • Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds (Family, Sports/Racing)

  • South of Midnight (Impact, Accessibility)


Voting for The Game Awards 2025 is now open, giving fans worldwide the chance to support their favorite titles across 29 categories. If you’re new, we have a step-by-step guide on how to vote. The voting line will remain active until December 10.


The ceremony will be held the next day, on December 11, at 5 PM PT/8 PM ET at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles and stream across platforms like Twitch and YouTube. As usual, fans can expect more than just awards: trailers, announcements, musical performances, and maybe even a few surprises.


Another interesting angle is Xbox Game Pass. Two of the six Game of the Year nominees, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and Hollow Knight: Silksong, are available through the service. This is a big win for Microsoft, especially after recent price hikes, since it highlights the value of Game Pass by giving subscribers access to some of the year’s most acclaimed titles. Other nominees like Avowed, The Outer Worlds 2, and DOOM: The Dark Ages also bolster the lineup.

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