Clair Obscure Leads The Game Awards 2025 Nominations - PlayStation Scores 19

The Game Awards 2025 nominations are out, and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has done what few games manage—own the board. It’s up for 12 awards, the most in the show’s history. PlayStation also has reasons to smile: Sony leads the publisher table. Here’s the useful stuff—who’s up for what, what it means, and when people in the UAE can vote and watch.

Record-setting lead for Clair Obscur

A French RPG topping the list isn’t what many had on their bingo cards, but here we are. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 picked up a record 12 nominations across major categories.

• Categories include Game of the Year, Best Game Direction, Best Narrative, Best Art Direction, and Best Score & Music.
• Cast nods include Ben Starr, Charlie Cox, and Jennifer English.
• Composer Lorien Testard is up for Best Score & Music.

This follows months of buzz around the game’s world-building and presentation. If you’re catching up on what’s next for the series, we covered Sandfall’s plans here: Expedition 33 Isn’t the End — Sandfall Confirms More “Clair Obscur” Games Are Coming.

GOTY shortlist: a mix of prestige and crowd-pleasers

Game of the Year has six nominees. It’s a tidy blend of big-budget swagger and beloved indies.

• GOTY nominees:
  Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Death Stranding 2: On The Beach, Donkey Kong Bananza, Hades II, Hollow Knight: Silksong, Kingdom Come: Deliverance II.

There are no left-field surprises here—each game has a strong case. Hades II and Silksong bring the indie heat. Death Stranding 2 doubles down on auteur energy. Nintendo’s Donkey Kong Bananza keeps family-friendly muscle in the mix. And Kingdom Come II represents the “systems-first” crowd.

If Ghost of Yōtei caught your eye this year, we’ve been tracking it since launch: see our capsule in New Games for PS5, Xbox, Switch & PC.

PlayStation’s big publisher haul

Sony tops the publisher leaderboard with 19 nominations. A chunk of that comes from Death Stranding 2 and Ghost of Yōtei.

• Most-nominated publishers:
  Sony Interactive Entertainment (19), Kepler Interactive (13), Microsoft and Electronic Arts (10 each).
• Death Stranding 2 and Ghost of Yōtei are the biggest PlayStation drivers.
• Hades II and Clair Obscur keep Kepler and Supergiant in the headlines.

Sony’s slate has stayed noisy all year. For a flavour of how much Death Stranding has crossed into pop culture, we covered the real-world exoskeleton tie-in and the upcoming Disney+ series:

• Kojima is Making a Real Death Stranding Exoskeleton
• Death Stranding Isolations is coming to Disney+ in 2027

Standout categories worth watching

Beyond GOTY, a few categories will likely trend on social feeds and group chats.

• Best Performance: Ben Starr, Charlie Cox, Jennifer English (Clair Obscur), Erika Ishii (Ghost of Yōtei), Konatsu Kato (Silent Hill f), Troy Baker (Indiana Jones).
• Best Score & Music: Christopher Larkin (Silksong), Darren Korb (Hades II), Lorien Testard (Clair Obscur), Toma Otowa (Ghost of Yōtei), Woodkid & Ludvig Forssell (Death Stranding 2).
• Best Art Direction: Clair Obscur, Death Stranding 2, Ghost of Yōtei, Hades II, Hollow Knight: Silksong.

Expect close calls in Performance and Score—there’s star power and fan-favourite composers across the board. If you’re catching up on Kojima’s broader slate, we’ve got context here: Kojima Has Written Death Stranding 3 Concept, But Won’t Direct and OD: Knock — Kojima’s Return to Horror.

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