Gaming's Biggest Night (tm), The Video Game Awards, took place on December 11, 2025, in the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, Calif., hosted by video game journalist and presenter Geoff Keighley. The first took place in 2014 with Dragon Age: Inquisition taking Game of the Year.

You'd hardly know it coming from a three-and-a-half-hour ceremony. But the first 30 minutes of The Keighleys takes place on a side stage. It speeds through seven of the 31 awards, and is pre-show hosted by Sydnee Goodman, freelance content creator and host of The Daily Fix. 

If you read through this list and don't feel robbed in at least one of the 31 categories, then I envy you and the life you live. Here's a prerequisite congratulations to all of the winners, and a hearty salute to all of the nominees walking away empty-handed.

Best Family Game

• WINNER Donkey Kong Bananza (Gaming Nexus 10/10)
• LEGO Party!
• LEGO Voyagers (GN 7/10)
• Mario Kart World
• Sonic Racing: Crossworlds
• Split Fiction (GN 10/10)

Innovation in Accessibility

• WINNER DOOM: The Dark Ages (GN 9.5/10)
• Assassin's Creed Shadows (GN 9/10)
• Atomfall (GN 8/10)
• EA Sports FC 26
• South of Midnight (GN 8/10)

Best Esports Game

• WINNER Counter-Strike 2 
• DOTA 2
• League of Legends (GN 8/10)
• Mobile Legends: Bang Bang
• Valorant

Best Esports Athlete

• WINNER Chovy
• Brawk
• Forsaken
• Kakeru
• Menard
• Zywoo

Best Esports Team

• WINNER Team Vitality
• Gen.G
• NRG
• Team Falcons
• Team Liquid PH

Best Mobile Game

• WINNER Umamusume: Pretty Derby
• Destiny: Rising
• Persona 5: The Phantom X
• Sonic Rumble
• Wuthering Waves

Best Independent Game

• WINNER Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (GN 8.5/10)
• Absolum (GN 9/10)
• Ball X Pit (GN 9.5/10)
• Blue Prince
• Hades II (GN 10/10)
• Hollow Knight: Silksong

Best Adaptation

• WINNER The Last of Us: Season 2
• A Minecraft Movie
• Devil May Cry
• Splinter Cell: Deathwatch
• Until Dawn

Best Action Game

• WINNER Hades II (GN 10/10)
• Battlefield 6 (GN 8/10)
• DOOM: The Dark Ages (GN 9.5/10) 
• Ninja Gaiden 4 (GN 8/10)
• Shinobi: Art of Vengeance

Best Performance

• WINNER Jennifer English (Clair Obscure: Expedition 33)
• Ben Starr (Clair Obscure: Expedition 33)
• Charlie Cox (Clair Obscure: Expedition 33)
• Erika Ishii (Ghost of Yotei)
• Konatsu Kato (Silent Hill f)
• Troy Baker (Indiana Jones and the Great Circle)

Games for Impact

• WINNER South of Midnight (GN 8/10)
• Consume Me
• Despelote
• Lost Records: Bloom & Rage (GN 6.5/10 and 7.5/10)
• Wanderstop

Best Ongoing Game

• WINNER No Man's Sky (GN 7/10)
• Final Fantasy XIV (GN 8.5/10)
• Fortnite
• Helldivers 2 (GN 8/10)
• Marvel Rivals

Best Audio Design

• WINNER Battlefield 6 (GN 8/10)
• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (GN 8/10)
• Death Stranding 2: On the Beach (GN 10/10)
• Ghost of Yotei (GN 9/10)
• Silent Hill f

Content Creator of the Year

• WINNER MoistCr1TiKaL
• Caedrel
• Kai Cenat
• Sakura Miko
• The Burnt Peanut

Best Fighting Game

• WINNER Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves
• 2XKO
• Capcom Fighting Collection 2 (GN 8/10)
• Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection (9.5/10)
• Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. World Stage

Most Anticipated Game

• WINNER Grand Theft Auto VI
• 007 First Light
• Marvel's Wolverine
• Resident Evil Requiem
• The Witcher IV

Game Changer

• WINNER Girls Make Games

Best Action/Adventure Game

• WINNER Hollow Knight: Silksong
• Death Stranding 2: On the Beach (GN 10/10)
• Ghost of Yotei (GN 9/10)
• Indiana Jones and the Great Circle (GN 8.5/10)
• Split Fiction (GN 10/10)

Best Art Direction

• WINNER Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (GN 8.5/10)
• Death Stranding 2: On the Beach (GN 10/10)
• Ghost of Yotei (GN 9/10)
• Hades II (GN 10/10)
• Hollow Knight: Silksong

Best Sim/Strategy Game

• WINNER Final Fantasy Tactics - The Ivalice Chronicles
• Jurassic World Evolution 3
• Sid Meier's Civilization VII (GN 7/10)
• Tempest Rising
• The Alters
• Two Point Museum

Best Debut Indie Game

• WINNER Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (GN 8.5/10)
• Blue Prince
• Despelote
• Dispatch (GN 9/10)

Best Score & Music

• WINNER Lorien Testard (Clair Obscur: Expedition 33)
• Christopher Larkin (Hollow Knight: Silksong)
• Darren Korb (Hades II)
• Toma Otowa (Ghost of Yotei)
• Woodkid and Ludvig Forssell (Death Stranding 2: On the Beach)

Best Sports/Racing Game

• WINNER Mario Kart World
• EA Sports FC 26
• F1 25
• Rematch
• Sonic Racing: Crossworlds

Best Community Support

• WINNER Baldur's Gate 3 (GN 9.5/10)
• Final Fantasy XIV (GN 8.5/10)
• Fortnite
• Helldivers 2 (GN 8/10)
• No Man's Sky (GN 7/10)

Best VR/AR Game

• WINNER The Midnight Walk
• Alien: Rogue Incursion (GN 7/10)
• Arken Age
• Ghost Town
• Marvel's Deadpool VR (GN 8.5/10)

Best RPG

• WINNER Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (GN 8.5/10)
• Avowed (GN 8/10)
• Kingdom Come: Deliverance II (GN 9/10)
• Monster Hunter Wilds (GN 8.5/10)
• The Outer Worlds 2 (GN 9/10)

Players' Voice

• WINNER Wuthering Waves
• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (GN 8.5/10)
• Dispatch (GN 9/10)
• Genshin Impact
• Hollow Knight: Silksong

Best Narrative

• WINNER Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (GN 8.5/10)
• Death Stranding 2: On the Beach (GN 10/10)
• Ghost of Yotei (GN 9/10)
• Kingdom Come: Deliverance II (GN 9/10)
• Silent Hill f

Best Multiplayer Game

• WINNER ARC Raiders
• Battlefield 6 (GN 8/10)
• Elden Ring Nightreign
• Peak
• Split Fiction (GN 10/10)

Best Game Direction

• WINNER Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (GN 8.5/10)
• Death Stranding 2: On the Beach (GN 10/10)
• Ghost of Yotei (GN 9/10)
• Hades II (GN 10/10)
• Split Fiction (GN 10/10)

Game of the Year

• WINNER Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (GN 8.5/10)
• Death Stranding 2: On the Beach (GN 10/10)
• Donkey Kong Bananza (GN 10/10)
• Hades II (GN 10/10)
• Hollow Knight: Silksong
• Kingdom Come: Deliverance II (GN 9/10)

As can be seen, these were the Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Awards hosted by Everybody Else. If Expedition 33 was nominated, Expedition 33 won. Except in Best Sound Design which was Battlefield 6's one win for the night.

Congratulations to all the winners. Can't wait to see 2026's The Game Awards.

The “one more thing” reveal (and my personal game of show) at The Game Awards last night was a free-to-play PvP raid shooter called Highguard. It is the debut game from developer Wildlight Entertainment, though the people who work there are no strangers to making first-person shooters. Comprised of folks who worked on Apex Legends, Call of Duty, and Titanfall, Wildlight promises something a little different with Highguard. Riding a bear into battle while hip firing your assault rifle is certainly different.

In Highguard, you play as Wardens, who are arcane gunfighters fighting for control of a mythical continent. Teams of rival Wardens compete for control of a siege weapon called the Shieldbreaker, which is then used to bust down the walls of the enemy base and destroy it to achieve victory.

For me, Highguard was an incredible grand finale reveal to cap off The Game Awards, and I can’t wait to get my hands on it. Perhaps the best part of the entire announcement is that we have less than two months to wait, as Highguard launches January 26^th for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S, with cross-play and cross-progression support.

Neon Giant, the developers of isometric shooter The Ascent, have announced NO LAW, an open-world first-person shooter RPG set in the cyberpunk city of Port Desire, and it looks incredible. In fact, I’m surprised I haven’t seen more conversation about it online, considering the massive Cyberpunk 2077 vibes on display here.

In NO LAW, you play as Grey Harker (great cyberpunk name), a military veteran who must revert to his black ops ways after his world is violently rocked. Port Desire may be the real main character, though, with its colorful characters, and a world that is promised to feel alive and reactive to your personal choices.

Developed on Unreal Engine 5, NO LAW looks stunning right now, and brutal as hell. Neon Giant has definitely nailed the cyberpunk aesthetic, and it appears that rotating the camera down and moving to first-person is a natural evolution for them coming from The Ascent.

NO LAW is currently in development for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S, but no release date was announced.

Man, the first quarter of 2026 is looking STACKED, and joining the list of games releasing early next year is John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando. The 80s-inspired action horror co-op shooter will hit PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S on March 12^th, 2026.

The release date was announced last night at the TGAs alongside a brand-new gameplay trailer, and things are looking bloody good. Playing with up to four-players in online co-op, including crossplay support, you and your ragtag group of raunchy mercenaries shoot, blast, and drive through hordes of mutants as you work as a team to send the Sludge God back to Hell.

Toxic Commando can be pre-ordered now and comes in two editions: the Standard Edition for $39.99, and the Bloody Edition for $49.99, which includes access to two post-launch DLCs.

Alpha Channel and publisher Kepler Interactive revealed TankRat during The Game Awards, and it’s coming relatively soon – releasing for PC and PlayStation 5 in the Spring. Additionally, all early supporters of the game on Epic Games Store will receive TankRat as a free day-one upgrade.

So, what is TankRat? It’s a vehicular combat looter survival game where you build your tank and fight through what is known as the Event Containment Area. Standing (or driving) between you and the city of Highpoint are massive machines that will test your skills as a tank pilot. Each enemy is also a loot farm where you can tear off the remains and use them to improve or modify your own tank build.

Check out TankRats in action in the new trailer from the TGAs below.

The very first game announced during last night’s The Game Awards was The Free Shepherd, an adventure game where you play as a lone border collie trying to save flocks of lost sheep in a gorgeously stylized world.

Developer Frame Interactive is creating a world inspired by Iceland that combines cinematic exploration with subtle emotional storytelling, and a bit of the fantastical thrown in as well. As players explore the mysterious island setting, they will come to face a calamity that only this lovely (and lonely) border collie can prevent.

Though The Free Shepherd was the first game we saw at the TGAs, it was one of my favorite announcements of the entire show. I’ve got a border collie-heeler mix at home who looks just like this loyal protagonist, so I hope the game doesn’t tear me to pieces. It’s going to tear me to pieces, isn’t it?

When Clair Obscure: Expedition 33 launched earlier this year everyone was already saying this game was going to clean up at the Game Awards and we a lock for winning game of the year. That couldn't have been more true as Clair Obscure: Expedition 33 absolutely cleaned house at the Game Awards winning a whopping nine awards out of the twelve it was nominated for including Game of the Year. 

But that's not all, as the team was giving their acceptance speech they just casually announced that a new update for Clair Obscure: Expedition 33 is available right now. Called the "Thank You Update" the update includes new costumes, a new area to explore, a new late game boss, photo mode and more. 

Clair Obscure: Expedition 33 was not just my personal game of the year for 2025, it may very well be my game of the decade so far. I honestly can't remember the last time I played a game where I was invested in the story, the world, the gameplay, the characters right from the get go. I absolutely adore this game and hope we see more from this series in the future. 

Much like Tomb Raider making its triumphant return with announcements of a new game at the Game Awards, another long running series announces a new game in the long running series tonight with Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve being announced tonight and it looks amazing.

Ace Combat 8 launches in 2026 for PS5, Series X and PC.

Invincible Vs. got a new trailer at the Game Awards and we finally have a release date for the game and it's in only a few months.

We also got the reveal of Ella Mental, a brand new character to the Invincible universe created by the writers of the show and creator of the comic Robert Kirkman.

Invincible Vs. launches on April 30th 2026.

After years of waiting, Lara Croft has finally returned in not one but two games revealed at the Game Awards.

Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis will be a remake/reimagining of the original Tomb Raider released back in 1996 while Tomb Raider: Catalyst will be the next mainline entry into the series. 

Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis will release in 2026 while Tomb Raider: Catalyst will release in 2027.