The Game Awards is an annual ceremony in December that recognises the highs of the past year in gaming. Broadcast live from the Peacock Theatre in Los Angeles, it is a night full of celebration, world premieres, musical performances, celebrity cameos and instant viral moments.
Often dubbed 'the Oscars of gaming', it has become one of the most-watched events on the entertainment calendar. Hosted by journalist and presenter Geoff Keighley, last year’s ceremony reportedly reached over 154 million livestreams.
For Irish fans, the ceremony kicks off at 12.30 am on Friday, December 12th, and can be watched live on YouTube, Twitch, and Amazon Prime, as well as on social media platforms like X, Facebook, and TikTok. Chances are that if you’re near a screen, you can tune in to the magic as and when it happens.
If past years are any indication, the awards should last about 3-4 hours, blending in a great mix of traditional award-giving and thank-you speeches, unexpected announcements, trailers, music, and plenty of surprises.
But for now, what can we expect to happen?
Who will be the winners of the night? The front-runners that are making a splash
Like any awards ceremony, the nominee list brings equal parts joy and controversy each year. The gaming industry is enormous, after all, so whittling down entries for public voting is always going to vex certain fan bases.
There are over 30 categories to be covered on the night, celebrating everything creative about making games, including best narrative, art direction, and music. There are also many technical areas, like innovation in accessibility and community support to be handed out on the night.
Among all the nominees, who are the ones to look out for?
Clair Obsur Expedition 33 leads the pack with a record-breaking 12 nominations, and several rival studios have already admitted it will most likely sweep every category, including the coveted Game of the Year award.
Perhaps Clair's best competition is itself, as many will be glued to the Best Performance category where the game’s three lead performers, Ben Starr, Charlie Cox and Jennifer English, will all duke it out against one another for the win. It's situations like these that make a brand-new ‘Best Cast’ category an essential consideration for next year.
PlayStation exclusives Ghost of Yotei and Death Strand 2: On the Beach follow up with seven nominations apiece, proving once again Sony Entertainment’s creative dominance in the industry. Goliaths Hades II and Hollow Knight Silksong are also in the mix, with six and five nominations, respectively. If either of these cultural phenomena leaves empty-handed, you can expect riots.
Rounding out the most nominated games is Hazelight Studios’ Split Fiction, which, despite missing out on a Game of the Year nom, should do well throughout the night in its respective categories, including Multiplayer and Best Family Game. It certainly deserves the acclaim.
And that is the crux of this year’s awards - given the widespread success that Clair Obscur has enjoyed this year, we can expect very deserving games to come up short throughout the night. This really is a year where it’s an honour just to be nominated.
Fleshing out the night are categories for esports, content creation, best adaptation for TV and film, and of course, the all-important Players’ Voice award to consider.
100% fan-voted, the Players' Voice award pits 30 games against each other across three rounds, with five nominees announced shortly before the ceremony. Not only can this help settle claims of award bias, but it can also be entirely unpredictable. Get the popcorn ready for that.
Lights, camera, action: the stars of entertainment will shine bright
Despite Clair’s success being an almost guaranteed thing, there are still plenty of surprises to look forward to on the night. This event is anything but predictable.
Given the enormous success of Fallout, The Last of Us, The Super Mario Bros. Movie and more, we can expect a wealth of A-listers from the world of film and television to dazzle the red carpet and promote whatever series are up-and-coming. Musical delights come in the form of Grammy award-winning band Evanescence, who are set to perform ‘Afterlife’ from the Netflix series Devil May Cry, live on stage. We can expect a whole host of other performances to enjoy throughout, too.
Don't miss it when @evanescence takes the stage live at #TheGameAwards to perform AFTERLIFE live next Thursday, December 11. pic.twitter.com/AUtGKvwhjQ
— The Game Awards (@thegameawards) December 3, 2025
From Grand Theft Auto to ‘the statute’ - the games of 2026 and beyond
And finally, it wouldn’t be the Game Awards without the wall-to-wall trailers of upcoming games set to entertain us into 2026 and beyond.
Everything from the upcoming 007 First Light, Wolverine and Resident Evil Requiem games will no doubt make an appearance to update fans on progress and release dates. We can also expect the perpetually delayed Grand Theft Auto VI to feature in some form, too.
But perhaps the most anticipated announcement of the night will be the answer to ‘that’ cryptic statute the Game Awards placed in the Mojave Desert earlier in the week. Yes, a random, mysterious statute of devilish proportions appeared in the middle of nowhere, with no real explanation, and soon put the rumour mill into overdrive.
A mysterious statue has been discovered in the Mojave Desert after players decoded a set of coordinates from The Game Awards host Geoff Keighley
— Dexerto (@Dexerto) November 30, 2025
Fans traveled to the site and found a towering structure that lights up at night pic.twitter.com/TApBSLPpN1
Early claims of it symbolising a new God of War, Diablo or Elder Scrolls game have all been debunked by their respective studios. Is it even promoting a game? Or perhaps a brand new TV series or film is about to drop? Who's to know? We’ll just have to wait until the night for answers.
There will also be a host of games you’ve never heard of before, making their global debuts throughout. The latter parts of the night usually promise the heavy-hitting viral trailers, so try to stay up till the very end to ensure you've seen it all.
But if you can’t stay up for the live event on Friday, don’t worry. The entire awards ceremony will be available to watch afterwards online at your leisure, and there’ll be a recap of events going on RTÉ Culture.
For reviews of all the nominees at this year’s Game Awards, remember to check out RTÉ’s game section, including our list of Best Games of 2025.
And finally - remember to vote! Fans can support their favourite games by visiting the Game Awards website here!
