Despite being nominated seven times, Ghost of Yotei got the worst snub at The Game Awards 2025

Every year, the nominations and winners at The Game Awards are guaranteed to be the cause of discourse online. Trying to judge the best games of the year with so many opinions being thrown around is a monumental task in of itself, let alone deciding which game represents the best aspects of the entire industry. And the 2025 show is no exception, with a highly competitive group of nominees for every category. But one game was left out of the coveted Game of the Year category, despite being nominated many times for multiple awards.

Sucker Punch Productions' sequel Ghost of Yotei was nominated a total of seven times at The Game Awards for 2025, including Best Game Direction and Best Performance. But despite the game receiving recognition for multiple categories that other Game of the Year nominees are included in, the PlayStation 5 was excluded from the biggest category at the show. Here's why, despite being nominated a total of seven times, Ghost of Yotei got the worst snub at The Game Awards 2025.

A question of accolades

More nominations than others

Each of the seven nominations that Ghost of Yotei received for the 2025 show include other candidates for the Game of the Year category. This occasionally happens at the show when certain games receive a ton of praise from fans and critics for various parts of their experiences. You'll often see the same titles announced for nominations across multiple categories for this very reason, which justifies the argument for them being considered as one of the best games of the year. For Ghost of Yotei, the nominations include Best Direction, Best Narrative, Best Art Direction, Best Audio Design, Best Score and Music, Best Action/Adventure Game, and Best Performance.

The number of nominations the game received was the same as another Game of the Year candidate for 2025, Death Stranding 2: On The Beach. The only game to eclipse both titles in the number of nominations for the show was Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, which has the record for the most nominations in the history of The Game Awards. But despite this, Ghost of Yotei was left out of the final category in favor of other games with fewer nominations. Games like Kingdom Come: Deliverance II and Donkey Kong Bananza have the least amount of nominations outside the Game of the Year category, but are somehow considered to be more likely candidates for the biggest award of the night.

Overlooking what Yotei does

A step above its predecessor

The number of nominations at the show are enough to question why Ghost of Yotei was left out of the Game of the Year category. But what the game does and how it goes even further with the foundation laid by the previous Ghost title is what makes this all the more disappointing. In every aspect of its gameplay, presentation, and immersion, Ghost of Yotei is a big improvement from Ghost of Tsushima. Many quality-of-life changes to the exploration, tweaks to the combat, and the expansion of customization options and unlockables are even better than what Ghost of Tsushima had to offer players on the PlayStation 4. The map of Ezo for Ghost of Yotei is filled with even more things to interact with than what was on the Island of Tsushima, with varying activities and conflicts to be part of.

At The Game Awards 2020, Ghost of Tsushima was nominated for Game of the Year alongside other big hits. The competition for the category at the time included games like The Last of Us Part 2, Final Fantasy VII Remake, Hades, Doom Eternal, and Animal Crossing: New Horizons. And while Ghost of Tsushima did not win that year, it was still included within the category for Game of the Year, along with six other nominations that year, for a total of seven.

This is why it's hard not to look at Ghost of Yotei as a legit contender for Game of the Year at The Game Awards. If everything about it is a step up from its predecessor, and it excels in so many other categories, why not include it in the mix? Even if it does not win at the show, mostly because of the hype behind Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, it feels like a massive misstep to not recognize the phenomenal work that the team at Sucker Punch Productions had done with their sequel.

Discourse on the awards

The debates are always ongoing

It's the same thing every year whenever the nominees are announced and The Game Awards take place. The majority of people are not going to be happy with the winners, and questions about which games deserve more recognition will always linger. But when a game is exceptional enough in many ways, but still not considered a Game of the Year candidate, it makes those same lingering questions all the more uncomfortable. Is Ghost of Yotei less of a candidate for Game of the Year despite all of its nominations compared to other nominees in 2025? Or was this year filled with enough legit competition, despite some of the nominees not even being considered for most of the other categories?

For years, gamers who tune into The Game Awards have always debated online when certain games are overshadowed or praised more than others. A lot of the animosity is towards the judges and outlets that vote on the nominees and decide the winners, which more often than not doesn't always line up with the opinions of the masses. Whether it's because of a lack of time to play everything equally, or trying to get a personal favorite the most attention, there's always something that people feel is at play when the nominees and winners are decided. In the end, it causes people to argue and debate about the outcome of the show and how some games were shortchanged by the awards.

A ghost of a hit at the show

Regardless of what the final results are at The Game Awards 2025, Ghost of Yotei was still one of the best games to release during the year. Even if the show itself doesn't recognize it in the Game of the Year category, those who have played through it know well how much it improves upon its predecessor and provides a fantastic experience overall. The game still has seven total nominations at The Game Awards for many of the high points that Sucker Punch Productions achieved, but it's a big snub to not see it included within the Game of the Year category at the show. It more than deserves to be there alongside other nominees.