2025 Canadian Game Awards Nominees Announced!

The 2025 Canadian Game Awards nominees highlight the incredible talent and creativity of the Canadian gaming industry. The awards ceremony, produced by Carl-Edwin Michel, will take place on February 15th at the TIFF Lightbox. Here's the full breakdown of nominees across all categories:

Major Categories

Best Art Direction

• Dragon Age: The Veilguard (BioWare Edmonton/EA) — Edmonton, Alberta
• Été (Impossible) — Montreal, Quebec
• Lil’ Guardsman (Hilltop Studios/Versus Evil/tinyBuild) — Toronto, Ontario
• 1000xResist (Sunset Visitor/Fellow Traveller) — Vancouver, B.C.
• Venture to the Vile (Cut to Bits/Aniplex) — Montreal, Quebec

Best Game Design

• Balatro (LocalThunk/Playstack)
• Beastieball (Wishes Ultd/Klei Publishing) — Vancouver, B.C.
• Dragon Age: The Veilguard (BioWare Edmonton/EA)
• Été (Impossible)
• The Outlast Trials (Red Barrels — Montreal, Quebec)

Best Score

• Dragon Age: The Veilguard (Hans Zimmer, Lorne Balfe)
• Été (Impossible)
• Lil’ Guardsman (Hilltop Studios)
• 1000xResist (Sunset Visitor)
• Spirit City: Lofi Sessions (Mooncube Games) — Montreal, Quebec

Best Narrative

• Dragon Age: The Veilguard (BioWare Edmonton)
• Lil’ Guardsman (Hilltop Studios)
• 1000xResist (Sunset Visitor)
• Times & Galaxy (Copychaser Games/Fellow Traveller) — Edmonton, Alberta

Best Performance

• Nhi Do as Watcher, Blue (1000xResist) — Vancouver, B.C.
• Humberly González as Kay Vess (Star Wars: Outlaws) — Toronto, Ontario
• Gordon Little as the main character (Moving Houses) — St. John’s, Newfoundland
• Matthew Mercer as Manfred (Dragon Age: The Veilguard)

Best Audio Design

• Balatro (LocalThunk/Playstack)
• Dragon Age: The Veilguard (BioWare Edmonton/EA)
• Été (Impossible)
• Lil’ Guardsman (Hilltop Studios)
• 1000xResist (Sunset Visitor)

Best Technology/Innovation

• Balatro (LocalThunk/Playstack)
• Dragon Age: The Veilguard (BioWare Edmonton/EA)
• Homeworld 3 (Blackbird Interactive/Gearbox Publishing) — Vancouver, B.C.
• Moving Houses (Gordon Little) — St. John’s, Newfoundland
• Times & Galaxy (Copychaser Games/Fellow Traveller)

Best Debut Indie Game

• Balatro (LocalThunk/Playstack)
• Été (Impossible)
• 1000xResist (Sunset Visitor/Fellow Traveller)
• Nightingale (Inflexion Games) — Edmonton, Alberta
• Spiral (Folklore Games/SpaceJazz) — Montreal, Quebec

Additional Categories

Best Debut Studio

• Folklore Games (Spiral)
• Impossible (Été)
• Inflexion Games (Nightingale)
• LocalThunk (Balatro)
• Sunset Visitor (1000xResist)

Best Studio

• BioWare (Dragon Age: The Veilguard)
• Folklore Games (Spiral)
• Lucid Dreams Studio (Biomorph)
• Red Barrels (The Outlast Trials)

Esports Player

• Arteezy — Vancouver, B.C.
• Sarah_frags — Ontario
• Scarlett — Kingston, Ontario
• Twistzz — Kelowna, B.C. (now in Malta)
• TenZ — Nanaimo, B.C. (now in Los Angeles)

Esports Organization

• Lazarus Esports — Kitchener, Ontario
• Luminosity Gaming — Toronto, Ontario
• Shopify Rebellion — Toronto, Ontario
• Toronto Defiant — Toronto, Ontario
• Toronto Ultra — Toronto, Ontario

Esports Event

• Bell Esports Challenge
• Blast R6 Major Montreal 2024
• Call of Duty League: Stage 3 Major
• Electric Clash Tekken World Tour Challenger Event
• Toronto Ultra Major III Tournament 2024

Content Creator

• Aiekillu — Montreal, Quebec
• AshleyRoboto — Southern Ontario
• Ghost Cece — Toronto, Ontario
• NickEh30 — Halifax, Nova Scotia
• Pokimane — Raised in St. Catharines, Ontario (now in Los Angeles)

Game of the Year

• Balatro (LocalThunk/Playstack)
• Biomorph (Lucid Dreams Studio)
• Dragon Age: The Veilguard (BioWare Edmonton/EA)
• Été (Impossible)
• Lil’ Guardsman (Hilltop Studios)
• 1000xResist (Sunset Visitor/Fellow Traveller)

Stay tuned for more updates on the Canadian Game Awards, including ticket availability and further announcements!