8 December 2025

How The Game of the Year 2025 Nominees Compare to Past Winners

By newsgame

For over a decade, The Game Awards’ Game of the Year category has shaped the conversation around what defines excellence in modern gaming. Each winner, from expansive RPGs to refined platformers, has set a benchmark in worldbuilding, narrative ambition, and mechanical polish, significantly influencing the industry. This year’s nominees uphold that tradition, featuring a mix of prestigious sequels, surprising revivals, and bold artistic innovations.

As The Game Awards enters its second decade, its GOTY list has become a broad snapshot of where the medium has been—and where it’s headed. The 2025 nominees continue that arc, spanning genres, structures, and creative philosophies, but each also carries DNA from winners that came before. Understanding how this slate stacks up requires looking both backward and forward.

Past Game of the Year Winners (2014–2024)

2014 – Dragon Age: Inquisition: Celebrated for its extensive worldbuilding and innovative player agency, which propelled its flagship franchise into exciting new directions.
2015 – The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt: Celebrated for being a game with masterful quest writing, character-driven storytelling, and immersive open-world design.
2016 – Overwatch: Recognized for revitalizing team shooters with accessible, hero-driven gameplay.
2017 – The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild: Awarded for redefining open-world exploration with satisfying loops of discovery.
2018 – God of War: Honored for its reinvention of narrative action-adventure with emotional weight.
2019 – Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice: Won for precision combat, inspired artistry, and uncompromising design.
2020 – The Last of Us Part 2: Awarded for narrative ambition and impressive technical achievement.
2021 – It Takes Two: Celebrated for inventive co-op gameplay experiences and constant mechanical reinvention.
2022 – Elden Ring: Recognized for its masterful open-world structure and emergent lore.
2023 – Baldur’s Gate 3: Honored for unmatched reactivity, narrative scale, role-playing freedom, and for setting an unprecedented standard for the modern RPG.
2024 – Astro Bot: Awarded for pure craft, joyful design, and platforming polish that charmed players universally.

GOTY Nominee Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 vs. 2014–2024

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is this year’s unexpected gem and the talk of the industry. It blends turn-based strategy with painterly surrealism, standing out as this year’s most artistically daring nominee. Its worldbuilding and atmospheric ambition bear the closest comparison to Sekiro, God of War, and The Witcher 3, standing out even among these with its more stylized, dreamlike approach. While it may not reach the systemic sprawl of Elden Ring or Baldur’s Gate 3, its singular vision and tone mark it as the year’s most distinct creative achievement. Moreover, Expedition 33 is the game with the most nominations in Game Award history.

How Expedition 33 Ranks Among These Other GOTYs

E33 has top-tier artistic direction like God of War, Sekiro
E33 has strong worldbuilding, becoming peers with Witcher 3, Elden Ring
E33 falls behind on sheer systemic scale compared to BG3, DA:I

GOTY Nominee Death Stranding 2: On the Beach vs. 2014–2024

Death Stranding 2 continues Kojima’s meditative approach to traversal, storytelling, and cinematic atmosphere. Its comparison points are unique; no GOTY contender has matched Kojima’s tone directly. However, Death Stranding 2: On the Beach perhaps finds a peer in the structural ambition of The Last of Us Part 2 and the thematic depth of God of War. While its pacing and experimental design may polarize some voters, its originality places it among the most inventive nominees in recent memory.

How Death Stranding 2: On the Beach Ranks Among These Other GOTYs

DS2 has a comparable narrative ambition to The Last of Us Part 2, God of War
It has a comparable experimental spirit to It Takes Two (though obviously a different tone)
DS2 falls below in broad player appeal compared to Overwatch, Zelda: BOTW

GOTY Nominee Donkey Kong Bananza vs. 2014–2024

Donkey Kong Bananza‘s nomination marks another win for platformers. Its charm that leans into tight level design, bold colors, and expressive character work makes it a must-have game for the Nintendo Switch 2. Compared to past GOTYs, it fits closest with Astro Bot and It Takes Two as winners celebrated for delight, momentum, and mechanical creativity. While Bananza lacks the narrative scale of titles like The Last of Us Part 2 or Baldur’s Gate 3, its polish and joyful rhythm still position it as a strong contender in years when pure craft is rightfully rewarded.

How Donkey Kong Bananza Ranks Among These Other GOTYs

It has top-tier craftsmanship like Astro Bot, It Takes Two
It is comparable in charm to Overwatch
It falls below narrative and worldbuilding giants like Witcher 3, God of War, Elden Ring, Baldur’s Gate 3

game of the year 2025 three indie games silksong hades 2 clair obscur

2025’s Game of the Year Discussion Differs From All The Others in a Big Way

Every Game of the Year sees stiff competition from the hottest titles of the year, but 2025’s lineup will seemingly differ in a substantial manner.

GOTY Nominee Hades 2 vs. 2014–2024

Hades 2 represents Supergiant’s most ambitious project yet. After Hades landed a 2020 Game of the Year nomination, this long-awaited sequel expands on the original’s mythology, combat, and narrative loops. It fits cleanly among winners such as Sekiro (for precision combat), It Takes Two (for constant reinvention), and Baldur’s Gate 3 (for memorable character design and writing). Its strongest point of comparison is God of War, thanks to its emotional core wrapped in high-intensity action. If this year’s accolades favor refinement and progression from an already acclaimed formula, Hades 2 stands near the top.

How Hades 2 Ranks Among These Other GOTYs

It has top-tier combat peers in Sekiro and God of War
It fits alongside its strong character-driven peers like BG3 and Dragon Age: Inquisition
It falls below in final narrative execution, compared to titles like The Last of Us 2.

GOTY Nominee Hollow Knight: Silksong vs. 2014–2024

Hollow Knight: Silksong is one of the most anticipated sequels of the generation, refining the Metroidvania structure with sharper movement, expanded combat options, and a denser world. Compared to past GOTY winners, Silksong aligns most closely with titles like Sekiro (for skill-forward precision), God of War (for challenging combat and emotional tone), and It Takes Two (for mechanical fluidity). Its handcrafted level design and technical finesse position it as the most meticulously engineered nominee of the year.

How Hollow Knight: Silksong Ranks Among These Other GOTYs

It has strong precision-gameplay peers in Sekiro, God of War
It is comparable in crafted level design and polish to It Takes Two
It falls behind only in the narrative sprawl of games like BG3, BOTW

GOTY Nominee Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 vs. 2014–2024

Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 doubles down on historical immersion and grounded realism. Compared to GOTY history, it evokes the detail and narrative commitment of The Witcher 3 while offering the uncompromising challenge of Sekiro, though in a different genre. Its simulation-heavy systems and period-accurate world set it apart from more fantastical recent winners, making it a standout for players who value authenticity over spectacle.

Ranking Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 Among These Other GOTYs

It has strong realism peers with The Witcher 3 (in tone), Sekiro (in difficulty)
Its Immersion stands toe-to-toe with games like Elden Ring, Baldur’s Gate 3 (different direction, similar depth)
It falls below in universal accessibility/appeal to games like Overwatch, Astro Bot, It Takes Two