It was a good night for Counter-Strike 2 at last night’s Game Awards 2025, as Valve’s FPS and French esports organisation Team Vitality walked away with victories.
Counter-Strike 2 claimed the Best Esports Game award, while Team Vitality’s CS2 roster was named Best Esports Team.
Counter-Strike 2’s Impressive 2025
Counter-Strike 2 beat out some of esports’ most recognisable games, which included Dota 2, League of Legends, VALORANT and Mobile Legends: Bang Bang. The CS2 esports ecosystem in 2025, which is still ongoing with the Budapest Major, has hosted tier-1 events all across the world.
According to Esports Charts, a total of seven events have recorded a peak viewership of more than 1m. Moreover, across these events, three different winners have been crowned — Team Vitality (IEM Katowice, IEM Melbourne, BLAST Rivals Spring, BLAST.tv Austin Major), Team Spirit (IEM Cologne), and FURIA (BLAST Rivals Fall).
In fact, Team Vitality’s CS2 roster has won a total of seven Tier 1 trophies this year, with the team still in contention for an eighth at the Budapest Major. Similar to CS2’s award, Team Vitality was part of an impressive nomination list for Best Esports Team.
VALORANT Champions 2025 winners NRG, MLBB Mid-Season Cup champions Team Liquid PH and Dota 2’s The International victors Team Falons were all nominated for the award. Moreover, despite not winning the League of Legends World Championship, Gen.G Esports’ (Gen.G) dominance, both domestically and internationally, was recognised with a nomination.
Gen.G’s success was also showcased at the Game Awards 2025 as the team’s mid laner, Jeong Ji ‘Chovy’ Hoon, was named Best Esports Athlete of the year.
Which Games Won at the Game Awards 2025?
Outside of the Game Awards’ dedicated esports categories, many other notable titles across the industry were celebrated. RPG Clair Obscure: Expedition 33 claimed a total of nine awards, including the coverarted Game of the Year trophy.
Arc Raiders won Best Multiplayer, beating out the likes of Battlefield 6, which recently delayed its REDSEC esports plans to 2026. Moreover, Marvel Rivals and Fortnite lost out to No Man’s Sky for Best Ongoing Game.
Best Fighting Game, which interestingly featured 2XKO in the nomination list despite being in beta, was won by Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves. Meanwhile, in the Best Sports/Racing Game category, Mario Kart World defeated the likes of EA Sports FC 26 and F1 25.
Finally, Best Content Creator was won by Charles ‘MoistCr1TiKaL’ White Jr, who is a co-owner of esports organisation Shopify Rebellion. Also on the nominations list was League of Legends personality Marc Robert ‘Caedrel‘ Lamont.
