
The Game Awards is so close, we can practically hear Geoff Keighley's platitudes about the current state of the industry already.
It's always a wild ride, watching the show as we do every year, despite things kicking off at half past midnight UK time. By the show's end, we're sleep-deprived, delirious, and questioning why we let Geoff talk us into this every December.
But the truth is that it's fun to watch along live, see which dev teams get their flowers, and learn in real-time what new game announcements are going to keep everyone riled up over the next six to 12 months.
Having watched so many iterations of The Game Awards, we reckon we might be able to make some predictions as to how things will go down. If any of the following comes to pass, you personally owe us a custard cream.

Geoff Keighley Humblebrags About Playing Something Early At Least Twice
Geoff Keighley is one of the most well-connected people in the business, and he's not shy about pointing it out. At basically every show he's hosted, he'll introduce a new game, but will make sure everyone knows he's already played it. He can't help himself, and he'll do it at least twice, we reckon. Little boast. Just to remind everyone who's in charge.

Geoff's Shoes Will Be Predominantly Blue
If we're talking about a Geoff show, we have to make a prediction on his shoes. The man always wheels out in some big ol' kicks, presumably so he can roundhouse any stage invaders and make sure he leaves a mark. It's tough to nail down what colour he'll go with, but we've gone for blue, and we're sticking with it.

The Muppets Return, and This Time It's Rowlf
The Muppets have made some sort of cameo appearance at The Game Awards for several years running, and as a man who you can easily imagine is a marionette come to life, Geoff clearly has an adoration for those fuzzy things.
This year, we're placing our bets on Rowlf the dog; he'll be stationed at a piano in the corner of the stage, and every so often throughout the show, we'll cut to him, and he'll perform some kind of comedic, musical interlude. Even if it doesn't happen, we reckon it's a great idea.

Someone Will Make a 'Wrap It Up' Joke Even Though That Was Two Years Ago
The Game Awards is certainly not without fault, but one of its most infamous missteps was the notice to guests and speakers to "wrap it up" if their speeches went on too long. We can lay some blame with Christopher Judge who, the year prior, literally broke a world record for the longest acceptance speech of all time. However, Geoff didn't get away unscathed, and we reckon the jabs about wrapping it up are set to continue this year.

That Whole Statue Thing Will Be a Big Disappointment
Geoff teased us all with a mysterious statue in the Mojave desert, leaving fans to drive themselves mad attempting to work out what exactly it could be about. Guesses have included things like God of War, The Elder Scrolls, and even the much-rumoured Half-Life 3, but many of the more exciting theories have already been dashed.
If you ask us, we think this is either teeing up a totally new IP, or it's an elaborate teaser for something quite underwhelming, like an Elder Scrolls Online expansion. It's not every day you see a PR stunt like this, and sometimes it's overcompensation for something that, on balance, is terribly uninteresting.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Will Win Several Awards, Including GOTY, and the Support Studios That Helped Make It Won't Get a Mention
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is the clear favourite at this year's Game Awards, and the story of Sandfall Interactive and the game's runaway success is perfect fodder. The studio comprises only 30 people, and Geoff will revel in the idea that this relatively small team made something different from the norm, and that it resonated so strongly with critics and players.
We think this underdog tale is so irresistible and so baked into the game's identity that we won't hear a word about the hundreds of external developers who helped make Expedition 33. The game credits numerous contractors and teams with support in vital areas like animation, quality assurance, porting, localisation, and plenty more. The game is fantastic, and it and the people behind it deserve recognition, but we have a feeling that many of the folks who helped get it to The Game Awards won't get a nod.

Tarantino, Thurman, or Both
Geoff loves A-list celebrities almost as much as he loves the Muppets, so The Game Awards has always been packed with them. We've seen Al Pacino, Matthew McConaughey, Snoop Dogg, Timothée Chalamet, and many more shuffle onto the stage to utter something emotionless about games, and that trend will continue this year, without question.
The stars have already sort of aligned, with Quentin Tarantino and Uma Thurman having brought an all-new Kill Bill chapter to Fortnite. It's already happened, of course, but what's the harm in bringing one or both of them on to present an award and promote the Lost Chapter (and the new Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair) one more time? And you just know Geoff will be beaming as he introduces them. What little light is left in his soul will appear in his eyes, just for a moment.

An Actual Prediction About Actual Games
Sorry, this feature's predictions haven't really been much about games, have they? That feels a little off. Let's fix that.
Here are some off-the-cuff predictions about some already-announced games that could show up during Geoff's cavalcade of trailers:
- Nioh 3
- Onimusha: Way of the Sword
- Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls
- Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds DLC
- Jurassic Park: Survival
- Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora - From the Ashes
- Code Vein 2
- 007 First Light
- Light No Fire
- Splitgate: Arena Reloaded

A Prediction About Imaginary Games
Alright, it's time to think about some games that don't yet officially exist, but might. Stuff we want to see. Things that'll make our eyes open slightly wider. And, hey, maybe they'll make their debut at this year's Game Awards. If we nail any of these, you personally owe us a second custard cream.
- New Burnout
- New Ridge Racer
- New Ace Combat
- New Uncharted
- New Bloodborne
- New God of War
- New WipEout
- New FromSoft that isn't Duskbloods
- New Shenmue
- New MotorStorm
- New SSX
- New Dead Space
- New Silent Bomber
Are we doing this right? The answer is no, but if any of these do come true, you know who to thank.
Are you excited for The Game Awards 2025? What do you think will happen during Geoff's show this year? Discuss in the comments section below.





Comments 67
These articles are great when the whole bullpen give 3 predictions. The Game Awards aren't super exciting TBF so I can see why you don't go with that idea. Nothing too exciting in the predictions here
Yeah unfortunately Expedition 33 will win GotY. It’s good, but not that good. Considerably overhyped. Several other titles should be in line ahead of it but will miss out, like Skyrim somehow inexplicably beating out Dark Souls in 2011.
I definitely agree with that whole statue saga just ending up being a huge disappointment. I feel it'll just be an eyeroller.
Anyways, Death Stranding 2 getting a PC rating a few weeks ago makes me excited it'll get a release date there. I'm really hoping for a potential shadow drop but it'll likely be in Q1 of 2026.
Of course I'm always hoping for Bloodborne Remaster and Demon Souls Remake on PC, along with Half-Life 3, but these are just hopium at this point lol.
That statue thing might be a new trailer for Crimson Desert. Like we need another trailer for that game, cause the 200 they've made so far during development and between all the delays hasn't been enough.
@Deadlyblack I’d pay good money for a Bloodborne remake in the vain of what Bluepoint did with Demons!! But make it a PS6 release game
How about the new 3D Sonic game.
@GamingGod it would be really cool to see, but I just want regular ol Bloodborne on pc natively lol.
I love The Muppets.
A new SSX (or even a Tricky remaster) and will do a blackflip.
Overhyped Expedition 33 will win several prizes. Trails in the Sky is not even nominated and is an overall better game😩 RPG fandom is weird.
I also wish Bayonetta’s 15th anniversary resulted in something more than merchandising, so finger crossed for any kind of announcement
@get2sammyb Are we going to get a pre-show quiz for The Game Awards this year? It's always fun to get a high score and remind myself that I pay way too much attention to these shows.
This is a hope, not a prediction but I really hope Tomb Raider Legend/Anniversary/Underworld and Sonic Unleashed remasters get announced here.
Pushsquare just loves to throw shade at Geoff.
Where's the FFIX remake prediction...? 😅
I'll buy you a second and third custard cream if something Bloodborne related is announced.
@BIG3 they prefer to throw Doritos at Geoff.
A game where an interesting long storyline unlocks just by speaking with some random who is not even marked on the map like other side quests - KCD2 - wish it gets GOTY. I love Clairrr with its uniqueness, art and music, but feel KCD2 should get it for all that content and depth, 224hrs with no end in sight.
I'll try and watch the game announcements afterwards, so I can skip Geoff and his stupid awards.
EXCELLENT taste in Muppets as I’m also holding out for Rowlf as the next furry little guest. My unrealistic prediction (well, more of a wish, really) would be a smidgen of Kingdom Hearts 4, but I sure won’t be placing any bets on that.
Heck, throw the two together and give us a Muppet world in the next Kingdom Hearts! (A guy can dream, right?)
I have a feeling that FF7 part 3 will get a title card drop
I hope Bananza wins the big gong this year. The online fallout of E33 losing to it would be better than the actual show.
Co33 overhyped? Maybe. But I did love it and it is my game of the year. However….. I haven’t played ds2 or yotai yet.
@Oram77 I hope so. I’m waiting to play rebirth until 3 is officially announced
You forgot remake of remaster of remaked of remastered The Last Of Us Remake that is inevitable Sony.
„New Bloodborne“?
If I‘ll ever need a quote for unrealistic wishful thinking in video games journalism, I know which citation I will use.
@somnambulance
DK Bananza is the most risky AAA game Nintendo has made in a long time, and it succeeded artistically and probably financially in the long run. Also a great political statement that for big publishers, there is not only the path of ever-evolving sequels to minimise risks.
@Max_the_German I loved Bananza. If Astro Bot was Sony telling Nintendo that it can make an attempt to match Mario Odyssey (which I prefer Odyssey, but I’d say both games are a 10), then Bananza is them clapping back big time. My personal GotY is Death Stranding 2, followed by Silksong, but DKB is my #3 (like 2024, it was a year of mostly 6/10 and 7/10 games with 3 big 10/10s to smoothen out the year overall) but I’m rooting for Bananza because I think it does deserve it. It’s a very unique game and a game that literally anyone can play and have a unique experience.
@somnambulance Anyone can play it and has a unique experience, the best description for this game I‘ve heard so far. Despite having a highly linear game progression, you can often choose the gameplay mechanic to approach a certain section, and it often becomes chaotic, in a positive way.
It is, like all 2025 GOTY contenders, a piece of love for the medium.
I’m hoping we see the mystery game that media molecule has been working on
1. Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 will be winning the categories in which it is nominated.
2. 2 or more PlayStation first party games will be shown off. If it goes really crazy, one of them hasn't been shown before.
3. The statue is revealed to be several games, one of them Diablo 4 as was already revealed.
4. XBOX announces a couple of ports to PS.
5. People in general will say the show was overall bad. They'll proudly parade their viewpoint around in the coming discourse.
I hope Mr. Caffeine is there.
@Max_the_German Yeah, I agree. I noticed how differently everyone plays the game after I completed it and watched my family play. My daughter’s 4 and she can enjoy it, which isn’t always the case with even simple games. I’ve showed it off to a lot of people and everyone loves it once they get to that first big open level, and they all seem to get through it in a different approach. The way I see it: if I see that type of enjoyment in so many different people of different ages and backgrounds, casual and dedicated gamers, to me, that’s a game that deserves something, even if it’s not my personal pick.
Y’know, given the holidays, I’ve had the opportunity to talk to more people about games outside my internet bubble and talking about GotY has been fascinating, especially with E33, as none of my family, friends or acquaintances (all of whom spend far less time reading gaming news coverage than any of us on here) thought the game was GotY or was trending towards it. If anything, Silksong was the one that kept coming up. I thought it was sort of refreshing to hear so many voices say Kingdom Come Deliverance 2, Hades 2, or Silksong were obviously going to win (and honestly it was sort of refreshing to get some more critical takes of Yotei, Silent Hill, and E33 too… though it’s so weird how divisive Nintendo feels right now).
@somnambulance Does a huge portion of the fascination for E33 stem from the departure of Final Fantasy from turn-based interaction? If FF16 had been a huge success as a classical turn-based RPG, would people have cared less about E33? Or is the success of the latter independent of the recent development in AAA JRPGs?
@EfYI The basic principle of this show only allows it to be bad. Hours of trailers and trailers and trailers of free-to-play MMOs from China, which look all the same, soulslikes, which look all the same, rougelite character action-games, which look all the same. The few exceptions of unique trailers are mostly big names of already announced games, like RE9.
Like they say: The new stuff was not interesting, and the interesting stuff was not new.
I don't have any prediction but it would be really funny if someone sneaking on the stage like that kid "reformed Orthodox Rabbi Bill Clinton" did back in 2022 😂
I wish KCD2 won something, at least RPG of the year. But ye otherwise it will be a clean sweep for E33.
Prediction: Christopher Judge will be in 90% of the recap videos
@BrownOwl The Game Awards is just like any other E3-style show only with the awards scattered throughout. The awards are an afterthought to showing off game trailers. It's please buy this game adverts with look how great games are sprinkled in between.
Would love a new burnout. Hoping to see a the rumored god of war 2d game, I think it will launch either before Saros. I think that statue is Darksiders 4 or something from Sony since they live to do these real life displays.
Who cares these awards are just a big business AAA industry insider controlled event, big industry figures patting themselves on the back and rewarding their own cliquishness.
@Max_the_German In my personal opinion, everything successful about E33 is a reaction against something else established in another franchise and I think that’s why the game may be somewhat more divisive than its internet portrayal. Its turn based nature is certainly a reaction against Final Fantasy. The map design is a reaction against Ubisoft games. The game’s pricing was a reaction against AAA pricing. The game’s length as reported by the team prior to launch was a reaction against other RPGs that boast length as a selling point. And yet it could be argued that the game is a reaction against indie games having funding as well if you want to be cynical. Etc, etc. I suspect this is why some people are enamored with the game whereas others see the game as average and there’s few that outright don’t like the game at all. It’s an interesting game as a meta commentary for trends in the current gaming landscape and what happens when you give a specific subset of gamers precisely what they want.
@orvisbean101 I believe @ShogunRok is plotting a quiz, yes.
That statue is for a Lord of the Rings soulslike.
I just hope Josef Fares shows up, he's a RIOT LMFAO
@somnambulance
That's a very interesting take on E33's success which I hadn't considered but, now seems quite obvious.
Nice!
My prediction is that following recent trends Microsoft will announce something kinda cool, like a Fable PS5 collection or a stylish new indie game at the show…then announce some awful news just after (like Game Pass now costs £45 a month, or your Xbox consoles now piss on the carpets if you don’t subscribe). The kinda cool thing also won’t happen after two years of waiting.
In terms of games it’s tough to know! Nintendo don’t usually show up with much and we know what Capcom has in the works. I’d love a surprise from Sony, but most studios are working on announced stuff that is a while away. New Media molecule game maybe? Bluepoint are probably beavering away on Bloodborne Remake for PS6 launch.
"And the Support Studios That Helped Make It Won't Get a Mention" you can say that about pretty much every game odd thing to single out E33 for it
@BrownOwl i dont think anyone watches the show for the pointless awards its the trailers for new games or games they want to see more of
Jeff will be utterly rizzless and remind us that for some reason, he was anointed the voice of gaming despite having absolutely zero charisma
Legend of Dragoon wil be released in Februari just so you know .
@MichaelNau I’ve spent a lot of time considering why this game was so successful, but personally felt it was so average. Most people have told me, “People just have different taste. You can’t like everything that’s a critical hit,” which is true, but, for some reason, I had to rationalize why I might feel that way because, on paper, it should be everything I’d want out of a game and, besides, I already understand what I didn’t like in previous winners. It felt like a game where many people I knew disliked something about the game too where they almost felt bad about being critical and saying something until they were “safe to do so,” as for some reason people are shyer about being critical of this game than certain other games. I mean, even the underdog messaging this game has seems manufactured, as it was heavily marketed by Xbox, almost as if it was a first party game, and was receiving heavy media coverage since it was announced.
I think it’s quite an interesting game for things like that and it’s had a hype train unlike anything I’d seen. The marketing team behind the game is rather brilliant, honestly.
The predictions about imaginary games is my kind of hopium, but the low to zero chance of seeing these makes me sad. I'll buy you a whole pack of custard creams if any of these happen. Yeah, it's THAT serious.
@somnambulance
I love the idea of trying to understand why something supposedly checking all your boxes didn't stick somehow.
Happened to me too with games, movies, books, perhaps even food.
Also, I wonder if it's a proof you can catter to a niche market and thrive if you get everyone from the said niche.
Do I actually think there will be a Bloodborne sequel announced? No. Am I still gonna be hoping for it like I do every single year? You betcha!
Damn can sound like any more of a whiny B I T C H about Expedition 33?
@MichaelNau I think E33 continues on with a proof started with Baldur’s Gate 3 that you can get a very niche game very successful if it caters to that niche very much so. I remember being extremely impressed with how well BG3 sold in spite of being an incredibly niche offering. I believe that, in catering to a niche, you will be able to generate strong word of mouth, which creates free marketing for these types of games. E33 potentially did this even more than BG3 did too, as I just remember such a saturation about E33 earlier in the year.
@somnambulance
BG33's success could be compared, I guess, market wise.
However, without taking away all it's qualities, it also benefited, IMHO, from a combination of favorable éléments, a.k.a, the stars aligned somehow.
A beloved franchise name, devs with street cred on growing indien games among the same community of players, hasbro's money... xD
Matches made in heaven.
Like you said though, both games, to a degree, revolved on mechanics people regretted not experiencing anymore, or altered to a degree they somehow disliked.
So, somehow, I guess, those games made them feel like they had been heared among the mainstream's voices supposedly only caring for real time action and si on...
Sorry typing from my mobile set in French Xb
The one and only thing I am looking for at the game awards is Little Devil Inside. I have been waiting YEARS, and the last update made the game look better than ever. PLEASE GIVE ME THAT GAME!!!
There is a rumor a new wave of Helldivers 2 content will be unveiled at the Game Awards this year (last show saw the start of the squid invasion of SuperEarth).
I am hoping Media Molecule’s next game gets unveiled. Littlebigplanet 1&2, Tearaway and Dreams are all great fun though Dreams didn’t catch on the way the LBPs did.
I am not expecting Sony to announce anything new at the show, but Xbox and Nintendo could have some surprises up their sleeves with more varied 2026 games in the pipeline.
I really have no idea what that point about Expedition 33's team size is supposed to highlight. All those external studios and their staff are mentioned in the credits of the game, so I don't see the issue here. Do you need to have all of them mentioned at the awards show or something? That's not an expectation we've ever placed on other games, so why now?
This comes across as looking for problems where there are none.
@Ainu20 Because there was a fair bit of clamour online about how this was a game "made by 30 people" when it turns out that couldn't have been less true. Still a great game though, just seems like a bit of good natured cynicism by Stephen, nothing to worry about.
Anyways, this article was miles more entertaining than the actual show, so bravo. I won't watch it but will skip through the highlights the next day for any interesting trailers. Hoping for some Marvel Tokon roster additions, personally.
@SegaBlueSky I've seen this "gotcha" about Expedition 33 before, but saying that it was made by a team of around 30 people is no less accurate than saying, for example, The Witcher 3 was made by a team of around 250 people. The size of the core development team has always been the main way to report on development team size, even though in that same example of The Witcher 3, over 1500 people worked on that game.
I find it bizarre that Expedition 33 attracts such discourse, when it was never a talking point before, not even for indies like Hollow Knight, which is generally said to be made by three people despite having a credits list of over 100 contributors.
I really wish people would stop saying e33 was made with just 30 people , over 300 where Involved , all as important as the other , and besides there's only one true goty and thats kcd2 , obliterates e33 in every conceivable way.
@Ainu20 I agree that Expedition 33 isn't the only one that's pulled that before. Pretty sure I've seen the same discourse around Hollow Knight too, though. And it's only natural that a game dominating awards season is viewed under a finer microscope than its peers, so that's why we're even having this conversation in the first place.
And IMO, there is potentially a huge difference between a core group of 30 devs vs a core group of 250 devs - the scope of work covered by those two different groups is likely massively different (ie. which elements of development are carried out in-house vs outsourced). I guess we could closely examine both team compositions, but that is something I have neither the time or interest to do, tbh.
I think you're on the money with the statue prediction.
Hope not but it will be probably be something stupid.
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