The World's Most Anticipated Gaming Ceremony

The Game Awards 2025 will be broadcast live worldwide at 2:00 AM KST on December 12th. Held at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, this event is the gaming industry's biggest awards ceremony and a major platform for new game announcements, featuring awards presentations alongside major game reveals and live performances.

This year's event will be available on Amazon Prime Video for the first time. With existing streaming on YouTube and Twitch, accessibility has greatly expanded. Game Awards founder and CEO Geoff Keighley explained, "This is a natural partnership ahead of Prime Video's Fallout Season 2 release, at a time when game adaptations are expanding."

Game of the Year: Indies vs. AAA Titles

The most anticipated Game of the Year category features six nominees:

• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (Sandfall Interactive/Kepler Interactive): A newcomer RPG that garnered attention throughout 2025
• Death Stranding 2: On The Beach (Kojima Productions/Sony Interactive): Hideo Kojima's cinematic sequel
• Donkey Kong Bananza (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo): Nintendo's blockbuster platformer
• Hades II (Supergiant Games): An indie sequel building on its predecessor's success
• Hollow Knight: Silksong (Team Cherry): The long-awaited indie game sequel
• Kingdom Come: Deliverance II (Warhorse Studios/Deep Silver): A historically realistic medieval open-world RPG

Notably, indie game sequels (Hades II, Hollow Knight: Silksong) stand alongside major franchises. Hollow Knight: Silksong, arriving seven years after its predecessor, has generated particularly high fan expectations.

Judging Process and Performance Lineup

Game Awards nominees are selected by an international jury comprising over 100 media outlets and influencer platforms worldwide. Each outlet selects five games per category without ranking, and the most frequently mentioned titles become final nominees. E-sports, accessibility, and adaptation categories are evaluated by specialized juries.

Final winners are determined by combining 90% jury votes and 10% public voting.

This year's event will feature rock band Evanescence performing "Afterlife," a song featured in the Netflix anime "Devil May Cry." Vocalist Amy Lee recently teased on social media that there will be "exciting news about Devil May Cry Season 2."

Last year's ceremony featured music from the Netflix series "Arcane," with hip-hop artist Snoop Dogg taking the stage. Twenty One Pilots delivered a well-received performance of "The Line."

2024 Winners and Viewing Information

The 2024 Game of the Year was awarded to PlayStation's Astro Bot, which also won Best Game Direction and Best Family Game.

The 2025 Game Awards will be broadcast live at 2:00 AM KST on December 12th via YouTube, Twitch, and Amazon Prime Video, with on-demand viewing available after the broadcast. The complete list of nominees can be found on the official Game Awards website.