Players’ Voice Voting Opens for The Game Awards 2025 with One of the Strongest Line-ups Yet

The Game Awards has always operated differently from public-vote ceremonies like the Golden Joystick Awards. While tens of millions tune in each December, most categories are ultimately decided by more than 100 global media outlets.

Fan votes do count, but typically only tip the scales in unusually close races. To ensure the community still has a stage that belongs solely to them at The Game Awards 2025, the show maintains one fully independent category: Players’ Voice.

A Category Powered Entirely by Fans

Players’ Voice is unique because it is determined 100% by user voting, with no jury oversight. It unfolds across three elimination rounds, allowing early favourites to rise, surprise contenders to emerge, and passionate fanbases to rally behind their chosen titles. The approach ensures that the award reflects genuine player sentiment rather than industry trends.

The Game Awards 2025 has now opened voting and revealed an unusually stacked longlist of nominees. This year’s selection features blockbuster sequels, high-profile indies, ambitious live-service titles and several critical darlings that have defined the 2025 release calendar.

The Full List of Players’ Voice Nominees

The nominees for this year’s fan-driven category at The Game Awards 2025 include:

• Arc Raiders
• Battlefield 6
• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
• Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
• Delta Force
• Dispatch
• Donkey Kong Bananza
• Doom: The Dark Ages
• Elden Ring Nightreign
• Final Fantasy XIV
• Fortnite
• Genshin Impact
• Ghost of Yotei
• Hades II
• Helldivers 2
• Hollow Knight: Silksong
• Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
• Kingdom Come: Deliverance II
• Mario Kart World
• Marvel Rivals
• Megabonk
• Ninja Gaiden 4
• No Man’s Sky
• PEAK
• R.E.P.O
• Silent Hill f
• Sonic Racing: Crossworlds
• Split Fiction
• Warframe
• Wuthering Waves

Voters may cast up to ten votes and distribute them however they choose, whether favouring a single favourite or spreading support across multiple standout experiences.

Early Teasing Sparks Speculation Ahead of the Show

As voting opens, host Geoff Keighley has added fuel to the fire by sharing a cryptic teaser featuring an elaborate sculpture of intertwined skulls, located in California. The image has already ignited a wave of speculation across social media, with theories ranging from a Diablo IV expansion to an Egyptian-themed God of War entry, The Elder Scrolls VI or new DOOM content.

With Players’ Voice now underway and The Game Awards 2025 approaching, the community has begun rallying behind their favourites. As always, the results will reflect the unpredictable and often passionate nature of fan-driven enthusiasm.