Another Game Awards showcase has come and gone. What did you think? Did you stay up and watch or just skim the highlights on social media? Did the right games win in the right categories? Did any of the “world premier” trailer reveals make you feel like Geoff Keighley’s event earned its nearly four-hour runtime? Consider this an open thread to chat, joke, and share your thoughts.
I’ll start. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 won more awards than any game in TGA history. Personally, while I love the game and think it warrants the hype, that seems a bit overblown. Will it stand the test of time like formative winners including The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Elden Ring, and Baldur’s Gate 3? I suspect not, but maybe not reinventing the wheel shouldn’t be held against it. It’s the game of the moment and this is the awards show for 2025.
At the very least, it shouldn’t have won best indie game. I blame the TGA jury for that one. If one of the goals of the show is to highlight as many of the year’s best games as possible, maybe one game shouldn’t be able to win “best game” across multiple categories. If you picked Clair Obscur for GOTY, it can’t also win “best RPG” or “best debut indie game.” It would prevent sweeps like this, which, even if deserved, end up being kind of boring and leave so many other amazing games underrepresented on the big stage.
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— The Game Awards (@thegameawards) December 12, 2025
And what about the reveals? Keighley tried to pull another Okami 2-style rabbit out of his hat with Mega Man Dual Overdrive (aka Mega Man 12). As someone who grew up on games in the NES-era, Mega Man 3 gave me a daily ass-kicking for years, it sort of worked. That game isn’t coming until 2027 though, and didn’t look nearly as solid or revelatory in the gameplay and art than I’d expect for the Blue Bomber’s prodigal return. Insiders promise Capcom is cooking but they have their work cut out for them.
The show also seemed light on some of those known quantities that bring a special X factor to a showcase like this. No Nintendo wasn’t surprising. Sony showed showed more Saros but that doesn’t quite pop has much as more Wolverine or a new God of War would have. Microsoft, Square Enix, Ubisoft, and the rest of the big publishers were absent too. The big show stoppers, a new Divinity RPG from Larian Studios and a new Star Wars: The Old Republic spin-off from ex-BioWare director Casey Hudson, are games I can’t wait to play but whose reveals were muted a bit by brief cinematic teasers that shared a vibe but not a story.
In many ways, this might have been the smoothest and most slickly produced Game Awards yet. It also, for some reason, felt like one of the least memorable. Will see if that gut assessment holds up a couple years from now. What did you think?