I watched all three and a half hours of 2025 last night. Game rewardstracking all winners and take into account all the announcements of new games that piqued my interest. But when voice actress Jennifer English took the stage to accept the Best Actress award for her role in Chiaroscuro: Expedition 33I was shocked. There were no signs flashing telling her, “PLEASE FINISH THIS.” No music was blaring in an attempt to “bring her off the stage.” By then Chiaroscuro developers from Sandfall Interactive took the stage to accept their Game of the Year Award a few hours later, I no longer felt like I was watching The Game Awards. I felt like I was watching a real awards show.
The TGA has had its dark moments over the past few years. In 2022, Kratos actor Christopher Judd gave rambling eight minute speech after winning the Best Performance category. Later that night, an uninvited guest mysteriously managed to appear on stage with the creators Elden Ring, made a strange statement about Bill Clinton and the team received the Game of the Year award. The whole ordeal made the show feel like amateur hour and raised questions about the lack of security at the event.
The following year, I watched with anticipation as voice actor Neil Newbon won the Game Award for Best Actor. Astarion V Baldur's Gate 3. It was clear that the actor was touched not only by the victory, but also by the fans' reaction to his character. As he tearfully delivered a heartfelt acceptance speech, a sign at the back of the theater lit up that read, “PLEASE END THIS.” After a few seconds, the show's producers played music, which Newbon had to shout to end a speech. It was clear that he had something to say, and watching him rush through his acceptance speech was truly unpleasant.
It was clear that Game Awards creator Geoff Keighley wanted to avoid another Judd-style rambling monologue. But his decision—to avoid overly long opening speeches and give winners just a minute to speak—may have been worse than the problem it was intended to solve. For the 2024 show, Keighley announced the winners in several categories as quickly as possible, preventing many of them from taking the stage. The entire show resembled a three-hour commercial, punctuated by occasional one-minute awards breaks.
But the 2025 show seemed truly magical. “PLEASE WRAP IT UP” signs were nowhere to be seen and the winners were given ample time to accept their earned rewards. The show was well choreographed, with several stunt performances preceding the game announcements, including a group of actors dressed as peasants being lifted into the air on wires in front of a disturbing spectacle. debut trailer for the upcoming Larian Studios film Divinity. The TGA 2025 half-time show equivalent featured a nostalgia-inducing performance from none other than Evanescent promoting Season 2 Netflix Devil May Cry anime. Nobody crashed the stage. Geoff Keighley wore Louboutins instead of sneakers. Miss Piggy performed not once, but twice.
But what really made the 2025 show “legit” wasn't the Muppet cameo, the stage stunt work, or Jeff's fancy shoes. It was a focus on games (and those who make them) combined with some heartfelt exciting adsincluding a look at Leon's role in Resident Evil: Requiemunexpected revelation a new shooter created by former Respawn developerslook at incredible choice of actors for Street fighter movieand announcement about new game Megamanand these are just a few of them. Sure, there were celebrity cameos, but they weren't given any more time to speak than the actual award winners.
I'm not saying the show was perfect. Keighley once again quickly announced winners in several categories with the speed and passion of an auctioneer, and important categories such as Best Indie Game were inexplicably relegated to a 30-minute pre-show rather than being part of the main event. But overall, this year's Game Awards finally lived up to its moniker as the Oscars of gaming, and the show actually became the love letter to video games that it should have been.
Yes, it was a three and a half hour commercial. But it was good commercial is three and a half hours long, and Keighley seems to have finally realized that the formula for a great gaming awards show has nothing to do with how many Hollywood celebrities you can get on stage and everything to do with showing genuine appreciation for incredible games and the incredible people who bring them to life.
