2025 has been a pretty solid year for gaming. Usually, AAA games dominate the industry, but this year was completely different. Indie games absolutely dominated 2025. It is worth noting that they did not just dominate the year in terms of success. Indie games also managed to secure half of the Game of the Year nominations at The Game Awards 2025.
Not only that, many indie games had a strong presence at the Golden Joystick Awards, with Expedition 33 doing a clean sweep. The same is expected at The Game Awards 2025, and the hype is currently at an all-time high.
Expedition 33, Silksong, and Hades 2 Nominated For Game Of The Year
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Hades 2, and Hollow Knight Silksong are three of the most played and successful games of 2025. Also, these games have high ratings on Metacritic, with Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 being the best user-rated game ever.
As a matter of fact, the top five best-rated games of 2025 are indie titles. The Game Awards has considered Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 an indie game, and it has been nominated in a whopping 12 categories. However, the most surprising part is that indie titles have dominated The Game Awards as well. Many expect indies to win most of the categories.
The following are the nominations for Game of the Year:
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
- Death Stranding 2: On The Beach
- Donkey Kong Banaza
- Hades 2
- Hollow Knight Silksong
- Kingdom Come Deliverance 2
Among these nominees, the fandom is expecting Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 to take the award home, but time will tell. It is worth noting that there are 29 total categories, and the game has been nominated in 12. There are many categories in which it simply cannot be nominated, so this achievement is actually impressive.
For example, there are categories like Best Ongoing, Best Community Support, Best Mobile Game, Best AR/VR, Best Action Game, Best Action Adventure, Best Fighting, Best Family, and many more. The point is that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 cannot be nominated in a large number of categories, which makes the fact that it received 12 nominations extremely special.
Is An Indie Game Winning The GOTY?
The fandom thinks that an indie title will take GOTY home, and that seems most likely. However, we can never be too sure, so it is better to wait and see for yourself when the event goes live.
The Game Awards 2025 will be held on Thursday, December 11, 2025, at 7:30 p.m. EST / 4:30 p.m. PST.
More Indie Games
For more interesting news and features, please check out the links below:
Hollow Knight Silksong Nominated For Best Self Published Indie Game At Golden Joystick Awards
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Battlefield 6 Vs. Black Ops 7: Why Battlefield May Have The Edge This Year
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Obaid Ur Rehman is a lifelong gaming enthusiast with a deep passion for writing about video games. While he enjoys all genres, he specializes in RPGs and Soulslike titles. After tackling some of the toughest bosses, he often unwinds with a cozy game to relax. Outside of gaming, Obaid enjoys watching anime, bingeing TV series, or staying active at the gym.
