Peep The Nominees For The 15th Annual New York Game Awards

NYVGCC / New York Game Awards

Geoff Keighly’s Game Awards have come and gone, but there are still plenty of trophies to be handed out.

The New York Game Awards now serves as the official end-of-year for gaming, and salutes the bangers that captured our attention and took up most of our time in 2025. 

Monday, Star Wars actor and voice actor Ahmed Best, and former NYVGCC intern and assistant producer at Lucasfilm, Kimari Rennis, announced the nominees for this year’s awards show during a livestream on the official NYVGCC YouTube channel. 

Just like previous events, the Awards Show will go down at the SVA Theater in NYC, will be hosted by industry icon Reggie Fils-Aimé and NYVGCC Founder and New York Times Games Critic Harold Goldberg, and will honor a trailblazer in the gaming industry with its Michael Yoon award. 

This year’s recipient of the honor will be The Pokémon Company. Past recipients of the award include Remedy Entertainment’s creative director, Sam Lake, and Naughty Dog’s creative director, Neil Druckmann.

This year will see something new: the introduction of the Excelsior Award for Best New York Game, which recognizes video games made by studios based in New York City. 

“This year had so many amazing games that we felt it was necessary to introduce the new Excelsior Award to shine an extra spotlight on the games coming out of New York,” said Harold Goldberg, president and founder of NYVGCC. “This year’s awards highlight 66 of the best games made by game studios and individuals across the world. Our dedicated team of journalists, interns, and volunteers are counting down the days until we can celebrate their accomplishments at our 15th annual New York Game Awards on Sunday, January 18. Tickets for the show and GG Fest on January 17 are selling fast, so don’t miss your chance to be a part of something special in 2026!” 

And The Nominees For The 15th Annual Game Awards Are:

A-Train Award for Best Mobile Game

• Skate City: New York
• What The Clash?
• Umamusume: Pretty Derby 
• Is This Seat Taken?
• Spooky Express
• Chaos Zero Nightmare

Central Park Children’s Zoo Award for Best Kids Game

• Sunderfolk
• Koira
• Donkey Kong Bananza
• Lego Party!
• Pokémon Legends: Z-A
• Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds

High Line Award for Best Remake

• The Talos Principle: Reawakened
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered
• Story Of Seasons: Grand Bazaar
• Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter
• Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake
• Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection

Statue of Liberty Award for Best World

• Split Fiction
• Hollow Knight: Silksong
• Hades II
• Baby Steps
• Metroid Prime 4: Beyond
• Keeper

Off Broadway Award for Best Indie Game

• Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist
• Blue Prince
• Despelote 
• Deltarune Chapters 3+4
• Consume Me
• No, I’m not a Human
• Tiny Bookshop
• Hollow Knight: Silksong

Herman Melville Award for Best Writing in a Game

• Lost Records: Bloom & Rage
• Avowed
• The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy-
• Mafia: The Old Country
• Ghost of Yōtei 
• Blippo+ 

Excelsior Award for Best New York Game

• Despelote 
• Baby Steps
• Consume Me
• Old Skies
• Ball x Pit
• Skate Story

Coney Island Dreamland Award for Best AR/VR Game

• Ghost Town
• V-Racer Hoverbike
• The Midnight Walk
• Lumines Arise
• Marvel’s Deadpool VR
• Arken Age

Great White Way Award for Best Acting in a Game

• Adriyan Rae as Hazel in South of Midnight
• Jennifer English as Maelle in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
• Amelia Sargisson as Nora in Lost Records: Bloom & Rage
• Alex Jordan as Jan Dolski in The Alters
• Judy Alice Lee as Melinoë in Hades II
• Erika Ishii as Atsu in Ghost of Yōtei

Tin Pan Alley Award for Best Music in a Game

• Lumines Arise
• South of Midnight
• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
• Mario Kart World
• Deltarune Chapters 3+4
• Sword of the Sea
• Hades II
• Ghost of Yōtei 

Chumley’s Speakeasy Award for Best Hidden Gem

• Keep Driving
• Nubby’s Number Factory
• News Tower
• Many Nights a Whisper
• Xenotilt: Hostile Pinball Action
• and Roger
• Look Outside
• Shujinkou 

NYC GWB Award for Best DLC

• Sea of Stars: Throes of the Watchmaker
• Lies of P: Overture
• Kirby and the Forgotten Land: Star-Crossed World
• The Sims 4 Adventure Awaits
• Star Wars Outlaws: A Pirate’s Fortune
• Hello Kitty Island Adventure – Wheatflour Wonderland

Knickerbocker Award for Best Games Journalism

• Duncan Fyfe
• Felipe Pepe
• Jackson Tyler
• Joseph Earl Thomas
• Lewis Gordon
• Nicanor Gordon
• People Make Games

Big Apple Award for Best Game of the Year

• Blue Prince
• Split Fiction
• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
• Despelote 
• Sword of the Sea
• Silent Hill f
• Hades II
• Ghost of Yōtei 

If you live in the Tri-State area and want to attend the 15th Annual New York Game Awards taking place Sunday, January 18, you can head here to purchase either an $80 ticket or a $140 bundle ticket that will grant you preferred seating.

You can also watch it go down live on the NYVGCC YouTube and Twitch, as well as on the GameSpot YouTube channel.

Congrats to all the nominees.