LogInThe tech giant won't be involved in the selection of award nominees or winners.
With more than a month until its arrival, scheduled to take place on December 11, The Game Awards 2025 is already making headlines, this time thanks to the surprising addition of Apple to the event's Advisory Board.
As part of the board, the tech giant will help "guide and advance the mission of The Game Awards," which, according to TGA's website, is to "celebrate and advance gaming's position as the most immersive, challenging, and inspiring form of entertainment." To answer a question that's probably already crossed your mind: the Advisory Board is not the same as TGA's jury, so no, Apple won't be involved in selecting award nominees or winners – or at least, that's what TGA's About page states.
Alongside Apple, The Game Awards 2025's Advisory Board also includes Epic Games, Rockstar, Valve (Half-Life 3 announcement coming?), and Sony Interactive Entertainment, as well as some notable individuals like Hideo Kojima, Activision President Rob Kostich, EA President Laura Miele, Phil Spencer, Doug Bowser, and Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot.
While it's unclear why Apple – of all companies – was chosen as an official advisor for the biggest gaming event of the year, the move may be linked to the company's 2025 push into gaming, highlighted by its first-ever acquisition of a video game studio, RAC7, and the launch of a dedicated gaming app, Apple Games.
Last year, The Game Awards ceremony also made headlines well in advance when the community discovered that the process for selecting the Game of the Year winner gave 90% of the voting power to a selected jury and only 10% to public voting, leaving the audience with minimal influence over the final outcome.
The catch was that the jury consisted almost entirely of representatives from mainstream media, including numerous publications that had nothing to do with the gaming world, such as the LA Times, The New York Times, NPR, Variety, Pride.com, The Atlantic, Discussing Film, The Guardian, The Mirror, and CBC – a fact many criticized because the media's views on games and gaming often differ from those of everyday gamers.
At the time of writing, the link to TGA's voting jury redirects to the website's main page, leaving the identities of this year's judges unknown. Presumably, the list will be revealed closer to the ceremony – in 2024, it was published on November 18, roughly three weeks before the event.
Find more info about TGA 2025 here and don't forget to subscribe to our Newsletter, join our 80 Level Talent platform and our new Discord server, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Telegram, TikTok, and Threads, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.