PlayStation arrived at The Game Awards 2025 with the kind of confidence only Sony can carry — not loud, not overhyped, just quietly loaded with nominations. Death Stranding 2 and Ghost of Yōtei have a combined 14 nominations and not a single word of apology. The message was simple: prestige gaming is still Sony’s turf, and if anyone forgot that, Kojima and company just reminded them (Game Awards 2025 indie takeover).
PlayStation didn’t dominate the list — Game Awards 2025 indie takeover
A decade into the awards, there’s still something cinematic about seeing Kojima’s work appear on a nominee list. It doesn’t matter if you’re wearing a PlayStation hoodie or a series-x tattoo: a new Kojima project is cultural architecture.
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach landed seven nominations, including Best Narrative and Game of the Year. Ghost of Yōtei matched seven, but more importantly, brought Sony back to the samurai narrative space everyone has been begging for since Ghost of Tsushima.
Neither game has launched yet, but both are already shaping the award discussion — and in 2025, that might be the actual win.
Sony’s nomination impact at a glance (Game Awards 2025 indie takeover)
PlayStation doesn’t need volume. It needs headlines.
And this year, it got them.
Ghost of Yōtei: The return to PlayStation’s identity – Game Awards 2025 indie takeover
Ghost of Yōtei is everything Sony used to be known for: prestige, filmic storytelling, atmospheric worldbuilding and immaculate vibes.
Instead of open-world fatigue, it embraces character tension and mythic stakes.
Instead of chasing the “live service” trend, it doubled down on narrative.
A lot of studios talk about “respecting single-player.”
Sony — at least this year — finally acted like it again.
Kojima, still the show within the show :Game Awards 2025 indie takeover
Even without Norman Reedus appearing on stage (yet), Death Stranding 2 remains the most culturally magnetic game of the lineup.
The original divided players.
The sequel now feels like an event.
In a year dominated by indie innovation, Kojima is the one AAA creator who still feels experimental, still feels like he’s chasing ideas rather than chasing algorithms.
There’s also a deeper emotional edge to this one — grief, trauma, connection — and critics are already calling it his most grounded story yet.
The plot twist: Sony didn’t need to “win” anything
Even if Clair Obscur or Hades 2 take Game of the Year, Sony still walks out looking strong.
Two exclusives. Fourteen nominations.
Prestige restored. Narrative reclaimed.
And a very simple message delivered to the industry:
“We’re not done yet.”
Why this matters to Australian gamers
Australia has long had one foot in indie culture and one in the PlayStation ecosystem — we’re a huge PS5 region, but we also create global indie hits.
This year’s nomination list finally feels like a landscape where both can coexist.
You can love Hollow Knight and still respect Kojima.
You can want more Blue Prince and still want Ghost of Yōtei to set your TV on fire.
That balance is healthy — and for once, the awards reflect that.
The Game Awards 2025 isn’t just about trophies — it’s about momentum, identity and cultural positioning. And Sony did exactly what Sony does best: take its time, move silently, then drop two of the most discussed nominations of the entire show.
Whether they win or not almost doesn’t matter.
PlayStation just reminded the industry that prestige gaming still has a home — and its name is printed on the controller.
