‘Balatro’ Performs Winning Hand at GDCA 2025, Receiving Sport of the 365 days

No pranks here! Indie roguelike card-building title Balatro from solo creator LocalThunk has emerged victoriously at the twenty-fifth annual Game Developers Choice Awards on Wednesday—scooping up four accolades throughout the evening, including Best Debut and Game of the Year.

LocalThunk and Playstack’s Balatro is a clear spin on poker, requiring players to build bizarre decks with various specific cards to earn points and overcome “blinds” within the roguelike mechanics. The game was initially launched on PC and consoles in February 2024, and has since been made available on MacOS, iOS, and Android.

In addition to the highly coveted Game of the Year accolade, the title also claimed awards for Best Debut, Best Performance, and the Innovation Award.

Astro Bot, developed by PlayStation Studios Team ASOBI and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment, received two honors for Best Audio and Best Experience. This 3D platforming adventure is a love letter to the myriad iconic figures and realms from PlayStation’s extensive collection of franchises, and has been widely praised for its imaginative and vibrant level design, outstanding soundtrack, seamless incorporation with the PlayStation 5’s hardware, and captivating visuals.

Additional winners of the evening included Shadowy Story: Wukong (Game Science), which won Best Visual Art, Metaphor: ReFantazio (Studio Zero / ATLUS) which took home Best Narrative, Lifestyles is Routine: Double Exposure (Deck Nine Games / Square Enix) which was awarded the Social Impact Award, and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (Square Enix) which received the Audience Award.

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This year, the Game Developers Choice Awards honored writer and director Sam Lake with the Lifetime Achievement Award. Lake is renowned for his complex, nuanced storytelling and ability to blend various mediums to create distinctive interactive experiences. Recently, he served as co-director and lead writer of Alan Wake 2, which has garnered over 200 industry awards—including Best Game Direction and Best Narrative at The Game Awards, in addition to Best Visual Art at the 2024 Game Developers Choice Awards.

Lucas Pope, well known as the creator of Papers, Please and Return of the Obra Dinn, was a well-deserved recipient of the Pioneer Award. Pope is an independent game developer exploring the interplay of mechanics, narrative, and art. Papers, Please was highly acclaimed, winning the Seumas McNally Grand Prize at the Independent Games Festival and numerous other accolades at the Game Developers Choice Awards in 2014, including a BAFTA Games Award for Best Story and Simulation Game. Return of the Obra Dinn also received critical acclaim, again earning Pope the Seumas McNally Grand Prize at the IGF Awards, as well as multiple trophies from the Game Developers Choice Awards, Peabody Awards, D.I.C.E. Awards, and BAFTA Games Awards.

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The twenty-fifth Annual Game Developers Choice Awards winners are: