Cliff Notes – You’ll never guess what won Game of the Year at the Golden Joystick Awards 2025
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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Dominates: The game secured seven awards, including Ultimate Game of the Year, tying it with Baldur’s Gate 3 for the most wins in the event’s history.
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Strong Competition: Expedition 33 faced a diverse range of nominees, including notable titles like Death Stranding 2 and Hades 2, highlighting its standout performance in a competitive field.
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Notable Individual Awards: Jennifer English and Ben Starr were recognised for their performances, while Sandfall Interactive was named Studio of the Year, underscoring the game’s overall excellence.
You’ll never guess what won Game of the Year at the Golden Joystick Awards 2025
You know who won (Credits: Richard Butcher)
The 43rd annual Golden Joysticks have taken place in London, and the biggest game of the night has picked up seven different awards in total.
Not only is Christmas upon us but so too is awards season, with the UK’s Golden Joystick Awards being the first of the big ones. It also happens to be the longest-running video games award event in the world, although unusually it’s voted for primarily by the general public – not a panel judges.
That may mean its winners aren’t necessarily an indication of which games will go on to win further success in the months to come but considering what won Ultimate Game of the Year it probably is.
We are, of course, talking about Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, which romped home with seven individual awards and is heavily tipped to repeat the trick at The Game Awards next month.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was up against an unusually wide field of fellow nominees, including Blue Prince, Death Stranding 2, Donkey Kong Bananza, Ghost Of Yōtei, Hades 2, Hollow Knight: Silksong, Indiana Jones And The Great Circle, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, Peak, Silent Hill f, and Split Fiction.
Expedition 33 also won for Best Soundtrack, Best Storytelling, and Best Visual Design, while Jennifer English (Maelle) won Best Lead Performer and Ben Starr (Verso) won Best Supporting Performer; developer Sandfall Interactive also won Studio of the Year.
Those seven wins ties the game with Baldur’s Gate 3 from 2023, as the greatest number of wins in the event’s history – and remember, it’s being going on for 43 years now.
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You can see the full list of winners below but there were only a few games that picked up more than one award, with Ghost Of Yōtei wining Best Audio Design and Console Game of the Year, while Hollow Knight: Silksong won PC Game of the Year and Best Indie Game – Self-Published.
Peak won Best Multiplayer Game and Streamers’ Choice, while GTA 6 won two awards a year before it’s even out, with Best Game Trailer and Most Wanted Game.
Oddly, Blue Prince won Best Indie Game, despite the fact most would regard Expedition 33 as an indie game, while the Critics’ Choice award went to Donkey Kong Bananza.
Golden Joystick Awards 2025 list of winners
Best Audio Design – Ghost Of Yōtei
Best Early Access Game – R.E.P.O.
Best Game Adaptation – Arcane Season 2
Best Game Expansion – Lies Of P: Overture
Best Game Trailer – GTA 6 Trailer 2
Best Gaming Hardware – AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D
Best Indie Game – Blue Prince
Best Indie Game – Self-Published – Hollow Knight: Silksong
Best Lead Performer – Jennifer English
Best Multiplayer Game – Peak
Best Remake/Remaster – The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered
Best Soundtrack – Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Best Storytelling – Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Best Supporting Performer – Ben Starr
Best Visual Design – Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Breakthrough Award – Schedule 1
Console Game of the Year – Ghost Of Yōtei
Critics’ Choice – Donkey Kong Bananza
Most Wanted Game – GTA 6
PC Game of the Year – Hollow Knight: Silksong
Still Playing – Mobile – Pokémon Go
Still Playing – PC & Console – Minecraft
Streamers’ Choice – Peak
Studio of the Year – Sandfall Interactive
Ultimate Game of the Year – Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Did you vote this year? (Credits: Richard Butcher)
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