This evening, the winners of the 2025 Game Developers Choice Awards (GDCA) and the 2025 Independent Games Festival (IGF) Awards were announced, with Balatro taking home Game of the Year at GDCA, beating out Astro Bot, Black Myth: Wukong, Helldivers 2, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, and Metaphor: ReFantazio. Balatro also took home wins in the Best Debut, Best Design, and Innovation Award categories. As for indies—even though Balatro also falls under that category—Consume Me took home the Seumas McNally Grand Prize. Consume Me also won the Nuovo Award and Wings Award. A special congratulations to our friends at Freehold Games for winning Excellence in Narrative for Caves of Qud.
See the full list of winners and nominees for both awards ceremonies below.
2025 Game Developers Choice Awards (GDCA) Winners
Game of the Year
- Winner: Balatro (LocalThunk / Playstack)
- Astro Bot (Team ASOBI / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
- Black Myth: Wukong (Game Science)
- Helldivers 2 (Arrowhead Game Studios / PlayStation Publishing LLC)
- Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (Square Enix)
- Metaphor: ReFantazio (ATLUS / SEGA / Studio Zero)
- Honorable Mentions: Animal Well (Billy Basso / Bigmode), Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth (Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio / SEGA), Satisfactory (Coffee Stain Studios / Coffee Stain Publishing), UFO 50 (Mossmouth)
Best Audio
- Winner: Astro Bot (Team ASOBI / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
- Animal Well (Billy Basso / Bigmode)
- Black Myth: Wukong (Game Science)
- Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth (Square Enix)
- Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 (Ninja Theory / Xbox Game Studios)
- Honorable Mentions: Balatro (LocalThunk / Playstack), Lorelei and the Laser Eyes (Simogo / Annapurna Interactive), Metaphor: ReFantazio (ATLUS / SEGA / Studio Zero), Neva (Nomada Studio / Devolver Digital), Silent Hill 2 (Bloober Teams SA / KONAMI)
Best Debut
- Winner: Balatro (LocalThunk / Playstack)
- 1000xRESIST (Sunset Visitor / Fellow Traveller)
- Animal Well (Billy Basso / Bigmode)
- Pacific Drive (Ironwood Studios / Kepler Interactive)
- Tiny Glade (Pounce Light)
- Honorable Mentions: Manor Lords (Slavic Magic / Hooded Horse), Mullet Madjack (HAMMER95 / Epopeia Games), The Plucky Squire (All Possible Futures / Devolver Digital), Tiny Glade (Pounce Light)
Best Design
- Winner: Balatro (LocalThunk / Playstack)
- Animal Well (Billy Basso / Bigmode)
- Astro Bot (Team ASOBI / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
- Black Myth: Wukong (Game Science)
- Lorelai and the Laser Eyes (Simogo / Annapurna Interactive)
- Honorable Mentions: Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (Square Enix), Helldivers 2 (Arrowhead Game Studios / PlayStation Publishing LLC), Satisfactory (Coffee Stain Studios / Coffee Stain Publishing), The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom (Grezzo, Nintendo Entertainment Planning & Development / Nintendo), UFO 50 (Mossmouth)
Innovation Award
- Winner: Balatro (LocalThunk / Playstack)
- Animal Well (Billy Basso / Bigmode)
- Astro Bot (Team ASOBI / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
- Black Myth: Wukong (Game Science)
- UFO 50 (Mossmouth)
- Honorable Mentions: Helldivers 2 (Arrowhead Game Studios / PlayStation Publishing LLC), Lorelei and the Laser Eyes (Simogo / Annapurna Interactive), Thank Goodness You’re Here! (Coal Supper /Panic), The Plucky Squire (All Possible Futures / Devolver Digital), Tiny Glade (Pounce Light)
Best Narrative
- Winner: Metaphor: ReFantazio (ATLUS / SEGA / Studio Zero)
- 1000xRESIST (Sunset Visitor / Fellow Traveller)
- Black Myth: Wukong (Game Science)
- Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth (Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio / SEGA)
- Mouthwashing (Wrong Organ / Critical Reflex)
- Honorable Mentions: Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (Square Enix), Frostpunk 2 (11 bit studios), Life is Strange: Double Exposure (Deck Nine Games / Square Enix), Neva (Nomada Studio / Devolver Digital), Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II (Ninja Theory / Xbox Game Studios)
Best Technology
- Winner: Astro Bot (Team ASOBI / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
- Black Myth: Wukong (Game Science)
- Helldivers 2 (Arrowhead Game Studios / PlayStation Publishing LLC)
- Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II (Ninja Theory / Xbox Game Studios)
- Tiny Glade (Pounce Light)
- Honorable Mentions: Animal Well (Billy Basso/ Bigmode), Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 (Threyarch, Raven Software, Beenox, High Moon Studios, Activision Shanghai, Sledgehammer Games, Infinity Ward, Demonware /Activision), Dragon Age: The Veilguard (BioWare / Electronic Arts), Satisfactory (Coffee Stain Studios / Coffee Stain Publishing), Tekken 8 (Bandai Namco Studios Inc / Bandai Namco Entertainment)
Best Visual Art
- Winner: Black Myth: Wukong (Game Science)
- Animal Well (Billy Basso / Bigmode)
- Astro Bot (Team ASOBI / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
- Metaphor: ReFantazio (ATLUS / SEGA / Studio Zero)
- Neva (Nomada Studio / Devolver Digital)
- Honorable Mentions: Balatro (LocalThunk / Playstack), Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree (FromSoftware Inc. / Bandai Namco Entertainment), Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II (Ninja Theory / Xbox Game Studios), Tiny Glade (Pounce Light), Ultros (Hadoque / Kepler Interactive)
Social Impact
- Winner: Life is Strange: Double Exposure (Deck Nine Games / Square Enix)
- 1000xRESIST (Sunset Visitor / Fellow Traveller)
- Astro Bot (Team ASOBI / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
- Frostpunk 2 (11 bit studios)
- Neva (Nomada Studio / Devolver Digital)
- Honorable Mentions: Closer the Distance (Osmotic Studios / Skybound Games), Distant Bloom (Ember Trail / Kina Brave), Dragon Age: The Veilguard (BioWare / Electronic Arts), Tales of Kenzera: Zau (Surgent Studios / Electronic Arts)
2025 Independent Games Festival (IGF) Awards Winners
Excellence In Audio
- Winner: despelote (Julián Cordero, Sebastian Valbuena / Panic)
- Anger Foot (Free Lives / Devolver Digital)
- INDIKA (Odd Meter / 11 bit studios)
- ODDADA (Sven Ahlgrimm, Mathilde Hoffmann, Bastian Clausdorff)
- Thank Goodness You’re Here! (Coal Supper / Panic)
- Utopia Must Fall (Datasette/Pixeljam / Pixeljam)
- Honorable Mentions: Animal Well (Billy Basso / Bigmode), Mouthwashing (Wrong Organ / CRITICAL REFLEX), Pacific Drive (Ironwood Studios / Kepler Interactive), The Rise of the Golden Idol (Color Gray Games / Playstack), UFO 50 (Mossmouth)
Excellence In Design
- Winner: Tactical Breach Wizards (Suspicious Developments)
- Balatro (LocalThunk / Playstack)
- Blue Prince (Dogubomb / Raw Fury)
- Caves of Qud (Freehold Games / Kitfox Games)
- Consume Me (Jenny Jiao Hsia, AP Thomson, Jie En Lee, Violet W-P, Ken “coda” Snyder)
- Pacific Drive (Ironwood Studios / Kepler Interactive)
- Honorable Mentions: Animal Well (Billy Basso / Bigmode), No Case Should Remain Unsolved (Somi), UFO 50 (Mossmouth), LOK Digital (Letibus Design, Icedrop Games / Draknek and Friends), Eigengrau (Martin Mauersics), The Rise of the Golden Idol (Color Gray Games / Playstack)
Excellence In Narrative
- Winner: Caves of Qud (Freehold Games / Kitfox Games)
- Closer the Distance (Osmotic Studios / Skybound Games)
- Consume Me (Jenny Jiao Hsia, AP Thomson, Jie En Lee, Violet W-P, Ken “coda” Snyder)
- despelote (Julián Cordero, Sebastian Valbuena / Panic)
- INDIKA (Odd Meter / 11 bit studios)
- No Case Should Remain Unsolved (Somi)
- Honorable Mentions: Blue Prince (Dogubomb / Raw Fury), Miniatures (Other Tales Interactive), Mouthwashing (Wrong Organ / CRITICAL REFLEX), Tactical Breach Wizards (Suspicious Developments), Thank Goodness You’re Here! (Coal Supper / Panic), The Thaumaturge (Fool’s Theory / 11 bit studios)
Excellence In Visual Art
- Winner: Hauntii (Moonloop Games / Firestoke)
- Children of the Sun (René Rother / Devolver Digital)
- Consume Me (Jenny Jiao Hsia, AP Thomson, Jie En Lee, Violet W-P, Ken “coda” Snyder)
- Judero (Talha & Jack Co.)
- Nine Sols (RedCandleGames)
- Thank Goodness You’re Here! (Coal Supper / Panic)
- Honorable Mentions: Crow Country (SFB Games), Death of the Reprobate (Joe Richardson), Miniatures (Other Tales Interactive), Tiny Glade (Pounce Light), Ultros (Hadoque / Kepler Interactive)
Nuovo Award
- Winner: Consume Me (Jenny Jiao Hsia, AP Thomson, Jie En Lee, Violet W-P, Ken “coda” Snyder)
- despelote (Julián Cordero, Sebastian Valbuena / Panic)
- Extreme Evolution: Drive to Divinity (Sam Atlas)
- Ginger (Kevin Du)
- individualism in the dead-internet age: an anti-big tech asset flip shovelware manifesto (alienmelon)
- Starship Home (Creature)
- tapeçaria (tapestry) (mut / moochi)
- The Exit 8 (KOTAKE CREATE / PLAYISM)
- Honorable Mentions: Arctic Eggs (The Water Museum, cockydoody, abmarnie, Cameron Ginex / CRITICAL REFLEX), Judero (Talha & Jack Co.), Onto Maizilind Unto Infinity (Kas Ghobadi, Julián Palacios Gechtman / Kasrah Ghobadi), Price of Flight (WATERBOX), Project_Y: Working Title (Project_Y Production Committee), Refind Self: The Personality Test Game (Lizardry / PLAYISM)
Seumas McNally Grand Prize
- Winner: Consume Me (Jenny Jiao Hsia, AP Thomson, Jie En Lee, Violet W-P, Ken “coda” Snyder)
- Caves of Qud (Freehold Games / Kitfox Games)
- despelote (Julián Cordero, Sebastian Valbuena / Panic)
- INDIKA (Odd Meter / 11 bit studios)
- Thank Goodness You’re Here! (Coal Supper / Panic)
- UFO 50 (Mossmouth)
- Honorable Mentions: Animal Well (Billy Basso / Bigmode), Balatro (LocalThunk / Playstack), Blue Prince (Dogubomb / Raw Fury), Mouthwashing (Wrong Organ / CRITICAL REFLEX), Nine Sols (RedCandleGames), Tactical Breach Wizards (Suspicious Developments)
Wings Award
- Winner: Consume Me (Jenny Jiao Hsia, AP Thomson, Jie En Lee, Violet W-P, Ken “coda” Snyder)
- Caravan Sandwitch (Plane Toast / Dear Villagers)
- Tavern Talk (Gentle Troll Entertainment)
- The Crush House (Nerial / Devolver Digital)
- Urban Myth Dissolution Center (Hakababunko / SHUEISHA GAMES)
Best Student Game
- Winner: Slot Waste (Vinny Roca)
- A Dual Ascent (Mountain Toad Entertainment / Rubika Supinfogame)
- DisplaceMen (Eversea Club)
- Growth Spurt: A Meandering Intermission into the Afterhours of a Miscalculation (Games for my Computer)
- The WereCleaner (The WereCleaner Team / USC Games)
- Year Unknown (Julian Heuser)
- Honorable Mentions: Cards of Heart (GoodMind Games), Duck Paradox (Magic Games / Midwest Games), Lost Garden (Ori Shany, Yoni Pushett, Ramon Zerem), Perfect World (Michael Overton Brown), Timeworks (Starworks Studios)
