The Video Game Award nominees are live! What can we expect from the show and who is nominated?

On the 11th December, this year's Game Awards will be hosted by the Peacock Theatre in Los Angeles, and reveal to the world the winners of their 29 categories. From Best VR / AR to Best Family Game, popular vote will decide which titles receive those coveted successes, and will even decide on a definitive Game of the Year for 2025. So, for those who, like me, are chomping at the bit to find out those results, what can be expected from the show itself?

Well, despite the Game Awards officially taking place on the 11th, it will actually be 12:30am on the 12th December that it airs in this country, and thankfully for all those of us who haven't booked plane tickets to LA, the awards will be free to watch live across all platforms. That is, if you manage to keep from falling asleep! 

The event runs for approximately three and a half to four hours, with the first thirty minutes or so being an opening act that will contain new game announcements, showcases and more. It will be hosted by Geoff Keighley, creator of the awards, alongside members of the cast of Fallout (2024) and will feature a performance by the Game Awards Orchestra conducted by Lorne Balfe. However, for those who care only for the main event, they won't have too long to wait before the category revelations begin, with nominees and winners being read off one by one until they finally get to that ever-elusive Game of the Year. 

Speaking of the nominees, there's plenty of huge games appearing on the roster - Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, Battlefield Six, Split Fiction, Silent Hill F and Ghosts of Yōtei. Most of these even have more than one nomination, proving their worth in multiple areas with ease. But while games in some more specific categories - such as Best Ongoing that features titles such as Fortnite and Helldivers - and these few games are fighting for their place, the GOTY nominees are for the most part utterly dominating the majority of the available categories. 

These games, considered this year's cream of the crop, are as follows: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, Donkey Kong Bananza, Hades II, Hollow Knight: Silksong and Kingdom Come: Deliverance II. All have been met with incredible critical and commercial success, with Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 even being nominated a whopping 12 times, the most any game has been in the show's history.

But this doesn't mean that it's definitely won, nor does it decide what will happen in the other 28 categories. To find that out, you'll have to tune into the Game Awards yourselves - I know I will!