The Game Awards 2025 revealed its nominees for its suite of categories, from the most anticipated game of 2026 to the best esports team of the year. But while plenty of attention will be paid to each of those categories, the main focus, as it always is, will be on Game of the Year.
It’s a diverse GOTY selection for 2025 and, to be honest, every game nominated feels worth the award. There is an obvious frontrunner in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, but all 5 games garnered enough praise to justify a win. But even as we talk about positive trends and records within those categories, there is an unfortunate streak that has once again continued for 2025.
Xbox Game Studios Has Never Been Nominated for Game of the Year
Since The Game Awards inception in 2014, Xbox has yet to have a first-party title nominated for Game of the Year. Not Starfield, not Gears 5, not Forza Horizon. It’s surprising that in the 10+ years of the show’s existence that Xbox has yet to be recognized, let alone with a Game of the Year award.
Although there have been plenty of Xbox titles that could have earned a nomination, this year it felt like there was a pretty good chance that the streak might be broken. That is, before the juggernaut caravan of indies rolled in and garnered all the attention.
In a lighter year, I could see games like The Outer Worlds 2 or Avowed snagging a Game of the Year nomination, but 2025 was stacked. Hollow Knight: Silksong, Hades 2, Death Stranding 2, Expedition 33, and Kingdom Come Deliverance II are a strong slate of nominees, and there were plenty of alternates that would have felt deserving as well.
Xbox Has Some Game of the Year Wins, But They Carry an Asterisk
Coincidentally, Xbox has two nominations and two Game of the Year wins at The Game Awards, but for games that it added to its library after the fact through acquisition. Overwatch won Game of the Year in 2016, but that was seven years before Microsoft acquired Activision Blizzard King. And Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, another Activision-published title, won in 2019.
The Outer Worlds 1 was nominated for Game of the Year in 2019, but that first title, despite being released after Microsoft acquired developer Obsidian Entertainment in 2018, was published by Private Division. That’s arguably the closest Microsoft and Xbox have come to a nomination/win, and in some circles, it might count because they did technically own Obsidian at the time it won. Other technicalities include Doom being nominated for Game of the Year in 2016, Doom Eternal in 2020, and Deathloop in 2021.
Both Sony and Nintendo Have Tons of Nominations, and Each Has Won
For comparison’s sake, Xbox’s two main rivals, Nintendo and Sony, have been nominated in nearly every year since 2014. Nintendo missed out on a Game of the Year nomination in 2016, 2018, and last year. Meanwhile, Sony has only missed out on a GOTY nod in 2016.
Both studios have at least one win as well. Sony has three Game of the Year Awards, for God of War (2018), The Last of Us Part 2, and Astro Bot last year. Nintendo has one GOTY win for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
Xbox Has Been Recognized at The Game Awards
All that being said, Microsoft and Xbox have not been completely shut out when it comes to nominations or wins at The Game Awards. This year, Microsoft has the third most nominations with 10 (tied with Electronic Arts), and it has been recognized at previous iterations of The Game Awards.
Microsoft’s Wins at The Game Awards
For 2025, Microsoft and Xbox Game Studios have a few shots at taking home an award. South of Midnight could win Games for Impact or Innovation in Accessibility, but there is strong competition in both categories. It has two nominated games in Avowed and The Outer Worlds 2 for Best RPG, but the expectation is Clair Obscur is going to take that category. Troy Baker could win for his portrayal of Indiana Jones but, again, Clair Obscur stands in the way with three separate nominees. With a record 13 nominations, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is going to be stiff competition for everybody, not just Xbox.
What Could Get Xbox a Game of the Year Nomination in 2026
I know that there will be discussions about biases and favoritism when it comes to Xbox’s current streak, but that feels like conspiracy theory nonsense more than anything else. It is surprising, though, that Xbox doesn’t even have a nomination.
As far as breaking the streak, however, Microsoft and Xbox Game Studios will have to wait until next year for its next chance at a Game of the Year nod. 2026 has both Fable and Gears of War E-Day slated for release, and either of those could be strong candidates for nominations, if not TGA hardware. We will have to wait and see if they can help Microsoft break its streak.
