The Game Awards 2025
I watched the Game Awards this week. Miss Piggy rocked it and I fell asleep with about 30 minutes to go but I had a few thoughts on the night in general.
Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic
I'll eat my hat if this game ever comes out. I love the Old Republic (both the MMO and the original Xbox games) as much as the next guy but I've been baited before. This offshoot of the main Star Wars entries has not been handled well for years. KOTOR remake lost in the mist, KOTOR II restored content promised for Switch and quietly cancelled, SWTOR dying for a console release and getting switched around to a different team.
Casey Hudson directed KOTOR and the Mass Effect trilogy. Can't get much more pedigree than that. However, Casey left Bioware years ago - returned to Bioware - left again - started a studio - closed that studio and now started another studio. I don't think Fate of the Old Republic is going to have Drew Karpyshyn, Sam Hulick, Sam Wall or most of the team that helped Casey bring Mass Effect to life. Casey doesn't have a great recent track record as much as I respect the man.
This new studio was only founded this year. This game doesn't exist. It's 5+ years away. The Game Awards shouldn't be your spot to try to attract talent to fill your studio. Maybe use a press release or go to GDC? Seriously, don't let this game occupy a single thought in your head until 2030.
Divinity
It's wonderful that the Larian logo can cause a crowd to erupt with excitement in the same way that FromSoft or CD Projekt Red do. These guys are rockstars now and I'm so confident that this will be something special. Baldur's Gate 3 wasn't a once off - this is a studio that has been releasing increasingly more beloved games for the past 20+ years. Original Sin 1 and 2 were big successes for this time. BG3 was a monumental success and now Divinity, their own IP, is likely going to do huge numbers. Great to see a studio with an Irish branch do so well. Excited to see more!
Resident Evil: Requiem
"I think I'll get a second opinion"
It wasn't really a well kept secret that Leon is coming back but it was still exciting to hear it from the official source and to get a short glimpse of the RE4 style segments of Requiem. Everything Capcom have done with Resident Evil in recent years has been great. I do prefer the more action focused approach of RE2/3/4 REmakes than the scarier 1st person style of RE7/8 but I still really enjoyed Village. I think if they can stick the landing of balancing these 2 styles this could be something really special. It's also really nice that we got the announcement this year and RE9 releases in February.
Tomb Raider
Lots of Tomb Raider. Crystal Dynamics have been busy. I'm really interested in the remake in particular and thought it looked really exciting. Definitely one I'll be picking up in 2026.
I also saw a comment about how Lara Croft looks like "a Karen" now and that Crystal Dynamics have "gone woke". I normally don't take much heed of these comments but I just found it so confusing. Were we watching the same trailer? The one with the girl in the tank top doing unnecessary handstands when climbing up a cliff edge? I'm just...lost.
Order of the Sinking Star
I was a big fan of the Witness at the time. I wasn't really smart enough to fully complete the game but I was really drawn in by the feel of the game and the mystery surrounding the whole thing. I liked the way the puzzles were presented and just wandering around. I suppose, in some ways, it was one of the first cozy games that pulled me in. This one definitely has my attention, even if I had absolutely no idea what was going on in the trailer.
Bradley the Badger
We got badgerborne before GTA VI. Davide Soliani always seemed like such a genuine dude. I hope this one does well.
Awards
It was wonderful to see Jennifer English get recognised. I met her and her partner last year and thought she was so warm and welcoming. She is a fantastic actor and I'm so excited to see more of her in the future. Ben Starr being the ultimate hype-man as well was heart-warming. Huge congratulations to Jennifer and the whole E33 team for taking home almost every award.
Overall
It was almost a shame that E33 was so dominant as I would have loved to have seen some of the other games released this year do well. Death Stranding 2 has such a wonderful soundtrack - both original and licensed music - and I would have loved to have seen it win for that. It was especially poignant given Low Roar had such an impact on Death Stranding and Ryan Karazija passed in between releases. I'm still working through Dispatch but I am so immersed in that world right now, I think it would have done very well in another year.
It does drive home the feeling that I've had in recent years that I just don't have my finger on the pulse anymore. I was very happy playing a bunch of classics in between the occasional new release this year. E33, Dispatch and Death Stranding 2 are all on my to play or to finish list and we're nearing 2026 already. I had a great time with rom-hacks, GTA IV, Batman Arkham City and a bunch of other older games this year and I'm happy doing things at my own pace.
The Game Awards is always a show I walk away from thinking "maybe I should have gone to bed at a normal time instead of staying up for this" but I do think the show is infinitely better than the days of Spike TV and Joel McHale. There has been a much bigger focus on giving time to the Awards themselves and, perhaps reluctantly on the part of the producers, it has been great to hear longer speeches from the winners each year. In a world where we don't really have an E3 anymore I think the Game Awards has a place and I'm sure I'll tune in again next year.
