The nominees for the 2025 Video Game Awards will be announced later today, and as is typical for any major internet event, there’s a lot of anticipation surrounding them. Barring any last-minute rule changes, host and producer Geoff Keighley will announce the six games competing for the coveted Game Awards of the Year award on December 11th.
This year has been awe-inspiring for video games, so choosing only six finalists seems almost impossible. While our team at The Punished Backlog has been internally debating which games will be recognised (or overlooked), I have my own theory that, while largely frivolous, I’m eager to put to the test in three hours.
Want to know which games will make the 2025 Game of the Year shortlist? Keep an eye on the Video Game Awards broadcast.
Update 11/17: Five out of six, not bad! As expected, Split Fiction turned out to be the weak link, making way for Kingdom Come: Deliverance II. Still, I’m happy with my picks. And I apologise to KCDII: I wasn’t familiar with your Game Awards.
Blame It on the Boogie
The 2025 release calendar looked like a year-long boxing match. At the beginning of the year, I was sure I’d already played the main Game of the Year contender, Hazelight’s Split Fiction, but then another challenger emerged. First, there was the cerebral Blue Prince. Then came Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, and later, Donkey Kong Bananza. The list of impressive games goes on.
Even the lesser-known releases were impressive. From Kingdom Come: Deliverance II to Monster Train 2, Mario Kart World, and perhaps my favourite Game of 2025, Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo, it was a busy year for both AAA and indie titles. Add to that games releasing too late to make the list, like Metroid Prime 4 and Kirby Air Riders, and it’s clear it was a great time to be a gamer.
However, as promising as 2025 looked in terms of releases, the good is almost entirely overshadowed by the bad. Between layoffs, studio closures, and the constant threat of AI, it’s difficult to appreciate the contributions of video game developers when those same developers are constantly under threat. Yes, Hollow Knight: Silksong finally came out, but when voice actors fear being out of a job in six months, it’s hard to be optimistic.
It’s difficult to appreciate the contributions of video game developers when they’re constantly under pressure.
Despite how bleak the industry looks—and it indeed does—this year, I found solace in at least one aspect. Call it reckless escapism, call it naïveté in the face of artificial intelligence. Still, there’s one area of the video game industry that I trust will always find a way through any difficulty: music.
Play That Funky Music
My partner and I love video games Awards. Like many couples, we’re obsessed with Overcooked and have been exchanging tips since the release of DK Bananza. However, there’s one thing they do every time they turn on their Nintendo Switch that really irritates me: they mute the sound.
Their reasoning is understandable. They usually play sprawling open-world games like LEGO Star Wars or small, intimate games like Unpacking. These games have little plot, and the voice acting is minimal or nonexistent. So they turn down the volume and put on their favourite celebrity gossip podcast.
To me, this is sacrilege. I grew up with the music of Nobuo Uematsu, Yoko Shimomura, and Austin Wintory. My “Work Music” playlist on Spotify has 2,884 songs and is still growing—an ever-expanding soundscape representing some of the best video games and movies of all time. To miss out on a game’s soundtrack is to miss out on its essence. And believe me, there were a lot of emotionally resonant games in 2025.
Missing out on a game’s soundtrack is missing out on its very essence.
In Clair Obscur, the emotive musical component elevated an already-solid RPG into the pantheon of true masterpieces. Particularly noteworthy is the central theme, “Alicia,” composed by Lorien Testard and performed by Alice Duport-Persier, which foreshadowed the events unfolding in medieval Occitania. The composition “Gustave” also became an anthem, perfectly complementing the character’s now-famous line: “For those who come after.”
Death Stranding 2, meanwhile, features a wealth of memorable melodies from Ludvig Forssell, a long-time collaborator of Kojima. The “BB’s Theme” from the original Game is present, while compositions like “Should We Have Connected?” and “A Bridge Too Far” lend weight to the thought-provoking story.
In Hollow Knight: Silksong, an already impressive game shines even brighter in its second act. “Choral Chambers,” the melody that plays as Hornet explores the Citadel at the heart of Pharlum, is a moving tribute to those who perished during their pilgrimage and a spark of hope for those who remain. Other standout pieces include “Greymoor,” inspired by The Shawshank Redemption, with its soaring strings, and the understated “Shellwood,” with its magnificent oboe section.
While music will never be the sole factor in a game’s success, it’s telling that most of the best games of 2025 evoke emotions not only through gameplay but also through their melodies. Even Donkey Kong: Bananza had its own grand, Disney princess-style ballad, “Heart of Gold,” performed by Pauline during the end credits.
Most of the best games of 2025 evoke emotions not only through gameplay but also through their melodies.
My Predictions for the 2025 Game Awards
So let’s get back to my main point: the central theme of The Game Awards this year won’t be platforming mastery or thrilling action, but the power of music. If a contender has a soundtrack worthy of a performance by the renowned Game Awards Orchestra, I’m confident it will make the shortlist for Game of the Year.
Judging by my previous comments, you can probably already guess some of my favourites. Without further ado, here is my complete list, along with the songs I hope to hear performed live in December:
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (“Gustave”)
- Death Stranding 2: On the Beach (“One Last Fight Pt. 2”)
- Donkey Kong Bananza (“Heart of Gold”)
- Hades II (“Death to Chronos”)
- Hollow Knight: Silksong (“Coral Chambers”)
Split Fiction (“Split Fiction Main Theme”)
Is my theory sound? We’ll soon find out. Of my six predictions, the one I’m least confident about is Split Fiction, not because it doesn’t deserve it (it certainly does), but because it seems to have lost all the momentum that propelled it during the first few months of 2025. Don’t be surprised if Ghost of Yōtei, Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, or even the dark horse Absolum, turn out to be the surprise winner.
A game I don’t think will make it to the finals? Blue Prince, the indie sensation from April, received numerous perfect scores from critics. While I thought Blue Prince was fantastic, I consider it an outlier because of its minimalist soundtrack and long stretches of silence. Music contributes enormously to the gaming experience, and I worry that the lack of catchy melodies may have affected its memorability. Whether the voters felt the same remains to be seen.