Sandfall Interactive’s game has been nominated in numerous categories, and the public will decide which awards it will ultimately win.

Nominations for the 2025 Golden Joystick Awards are now available. Players can vote in 21 categories, and while some years see a tight race among the most impactful games of the year, this time Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 stands as the clear favorite. Sandfall Interactive’s debut title has received six nominations in total, including Best Studio. Interestingly, Clair Obscur was left out of some major categories (such as Console Game of the Year), but it has been nominated for Best Storytelling, Best Visual Design, Best Soundtrack, Best Lead Actor (Jennifer English as Maelle), and Best Supporting Actor (Ben Starr as Verso).

Hollow Knight: Silksong, Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, and Ghost of Yotei also received multiple nominations. Except for the Hollow Knight sequel, the other games are tied for second place behind Clair Obscur with four nominations each. The Game of the Year category is still to come, so it’s possible that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and several others will earn additional nominations. However, we’ll have to wait until November 3 for the final list to be revealed. As is tradition, the nominees for the Golden Joystick Awards 2025 are selected by a jury, but the winners are chosen entirely by public vote, reflecting what players truly consider to be the best games of the year. Last year, Black Myth: Wukong took home the Game of the Year award.

Best Storytelling:

• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
• Silent Hill f
• Blue Prince
• Mafia: The Old Country
• Lost Records: Bloom & Rage
• The Hundred Line – Last Defense Academy

Best Multiplayer Game:

• Battlefield 6
• Peak
• Elden Ring Nightreign
• Split Fiction
• Mario Kart World
• Rematch

Best Visual Design:

• Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
• The Midnight Walk
• Ghost of Yōtei
• Sword of the Sea
• Assassin’s Creed Shadows

Best Indie Game:

• Blue Prince
• Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector
• Wanderstop
• Skin Deep
• Despelote
• Herdling
• Abiotic Factor
• Baby Steps
• Caves of Qud
• Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor

Best Self-Published Indie Game:

• Hollow Knight: Silksong
• Hades II
• Sword of the Sea
• Peak
• Keep Driving
• Spilled!
• Lonely Mountains: Snow Riders
• Deltarune
• Promise Mascot Agency
• Consume Me

Still Playing Award (PC & Console):

• Minecraft
• Dead by Daylight
• Helldivers 2
• Naraka: Bladepoint
• Satisfactory
• Call of Duty: Warzone
• Marvel Rivals
• Fortnite
• Apex Legends
• Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege X
• GTA Online
• Warframe

Still Playing Award (Mobile):

• Call of Duty: Mobile
• Pokémon GO
• Subway Surfers
• Clash Royale
• Honkai: Star Rail
• Genshin Impact
• Zenless Zone Zero
• Roblox
• Free Fire
• PUBG Mobile

Best Remake / Remaster:

• Metal Gear Solid Δ: Snake Eater
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered
• Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter
• The Talos Principle: Reawakened
• Gears of War: Reloaded
• Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4

Studio of the Year:

• Team Cherry
• Sandfall Interactive
• Aggro Crab and Landfall
• Bloober Team
• Sloclap
• Rebellion

Best Expansion / DLC:

• Indiana Jones and the Great Circle: The Order of Giants
• Lies of P: Overture
• No Man’s Sky: Voyagers
• Atomfall Story Expansion Pack: The Red Strain
• Assassin’s Creed Shadows – Claws of Awaji
• Still Wakes the Deep: Siren’s Rest

Best Audio Design:

• Ghost of Yōtei
• Battlefield 6
• Donkey Kong Bananza
• Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
• Two Point Museum
• Cronos: The New Dawn

Best Soundtrack:

• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
• South of Midnight
• Silent Hill f
• Eriksholm: The Stolen Dream
• Deltarune
• Sword of the Sea

Best Lead Performer:

• Jennifer English – Maelle, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
• Troy Baker – Indiana Jones, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
• Tom McKay – Henry, Kingdom Come: Deliverance II
• Alex Jordan – Jan Dolski, The Alters
• Erika Ishii – Atsu, Ghost of Yōtei
• Adriyan Rae – Hazel, South of Midnight

Best Supporting Performer:

• Troy Baker – Higgs Monaghan, Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
• Jim High – Erik, Kingdom Come: Deliverance II
• Ben Starr – Verso, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
• Lucy Griffiths – Alva, Eriksholm: The Stolen Dream
• Logan Cunningham – Hades II
• Marios Gavrilis – Emmerich Voss, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle

PC Game of the Year:

• Hollow Knight: Silksong
• The Alters
• Kingdom Come: Deliverance II
• Peak
• Abiotic Factor
• Dune: Awakening

Best Early Access Game:

• Grounded 2
• Schedule I
• 9 Kings
• R.E.P.O.
• Skate.
• White Knuckle

Best Gaming Hardware:

• Nintendo Switch 2
• Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller
• WD_Black SN8100 NVMe SSD
• Elgato Facecam 4K
• Razer Blade 16
• AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D

Best Game Adaptation:

• Devil May Cry (Netflix)
• Arcane Season 2 (Netflix)
• The Last of Us Season 2 (HBO)
• A Minecraft Movie (Warner Bros. Pictures)
• Secret Level (Prime Video)
• Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (Paramount Pictures)

Best Trailer:

• Grand Theft Auto VI Trailer 2
• Battlefield 6: Official Launch Live Action Trailer
• Rhythm Doctor – Official Release Date Trailer
• The Expanse: Osiris Reborn – Announcement Trailer
• Romeo Is A Dead Man – Announcement Trailer
• Kingdom Come: Deliverance II Official CGI Trailer – Live a Life Medieval

Most Wanted Game:

• Grand Theft Auto VI
• Resident Evil Requiem
• The Witcher 4
• Black Myth: Zhong Kui
• LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Night
• 007 First Light
• Exodus
• Subnautica 2
• Light No Fire
• The Expanse: Osiris Reborn
• Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet
• Saros
• The Blood of Dawnwalker
• Crimson Desert
• Kingdom Hearts IV
• Marvel’s Wolverine
• Hell Let Loose: Vietnam
• OD – Knock
• Onimusha: Way of the Sword
• Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy

Source: WCCFTech, Gamesradar