Like in 2024, the decisions will be shaped by magazines centered on economics, politics, film, celebrities, and just about everything else except video games.
Repeating the path of its 2024 edition, The Game Awards 2025 enters the pre-event period with several controversies, the two main ones – again, just like last year – being the selection of nominees and the way the winners are ultimately selected, and even more importantly, by whom.
To refresh your memory, last year's installment of what has undeniably become the biggest event in the video game industry caught a lot of flak for including numerous non-gaming media outlets in its jury – meaning publications focused on general news, economics, politics, film, TV, celebrities, music, and a host of other topics that have nothing to do with video games had a say in choosing the year's best video game.
Adding to the frustration, winners are determined through a blended system in which the jury controls 90% of the outcome, while public fan voting accounts for only 10%.
Sadly, this status quo remains for this year's TGA, with the 90/10 split still in place and over 20% of the jury once again made up of corporate news magazines and websites, raising the question of what qualifies them to judge the best video game.
The list of such publications includes The New York Times, NPR, The Atlantic, Rolling Stone, Pride.com, Entertainment Weekly, Esquire, Metro, The Mirror, Wired, Variety, The Times, Het Nieuwsblad, Folha De S.Paulo, Le Devoir, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, ETC, La Repubblica, Corriere della Sera, Die Zeit, and BFM TV – a mix of outlets both mainstream and obscure that share one common trait: video games are not their primary focus.
Feel free to check out the full list of 2025's TGA jurors over on the event's official website.
The second debacle revolves around the same issue TGA is criticized for every year: the nominees.
While there are many points of contention regarding the selections – like Schedule I being completely snubbed, Oblivion Remastered absent from the Best RPG contenders, or Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 competing for Best Indie despite its AA budget – the main controversy seems to be the latest talk of the town ARC Raiders not being nominated for Game of the Year.
Spearheading the criticism is streamer Shroud, who lambasted the ceremony for its selection of GOTY nominees and for snubbing ARC Raiders, calling the inclusion of Death Stranding 2: On the Beach and Donkey Kong Bananza "bias" and "paid off by Nintendo" and expressing belief that Embark's shooter was only featured in a single category because The Game Awards is afraid of possible backlash over nominating a game that features some TTS-generated voice lines.
And what do you think about The Game Awards 2025's judges and nominees? Do you agree with the picks? What's your personal Game of the Year? Let us know down in the comments!
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