Game Awards: Chovy crowned Esports Athlete of the Year, Vitality’s CS team named Esports Team of the Year

On the evening of December 11, 2025, one of the most important gaming ceremonies was held: the 12th edition of The Game Awards. GenG's midlaner, Jeong "Chovy" Ji-hoon, was nominated in the Best Esports Athlete category, which is handed to "the esports athlete judged to be the most outstanding for performance and conduct in 2025, irrespective of game", according to The Game Awards' website.

The other nominees hailed from different genres: Brock "Brawk" Somerhalder and Jason "F0rsaken" Susanto from VALORANT, Mathieu "Zyw0o" Herbaut from Counter Strike 2, "Kakeru" Watanabe and Saul Leonardo "MenaRD" Mena II from Street Fighter. Third time proved to be the charm for the Korean-he was nominated in 2022 and 2024, where he was beaten by VALORANT pro Jaccob "yay" Whitaker and T1's Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok, respectively-before being crowned the winner in 2025.

Whenever a pro player has snagged this award, it's always been by a Korean midlaner. Adding to his 2024 victory, Faker also won the 2017 and 2023 editions. Meanwhile, Heo "Showmaker" Su won it in 2020, the same year he won the World Championship with Damwon Gaming.

The outcome is surprisingly striking within the context of the ceremony, especially as it came right after the show had revealed Counter-Strike 2 as its Esports Game of 2025 and Team Vitality CS2 as Esports Team of the Year, results that in both cases came ahead of League of Legends and Gen.G Esports LoL. It is also worth noting that, despite the presence of Kakeru and MenaRD, no fighting game appeared among the nominees for Esports Game of the Year, a category that instead featured VALORANT, Dota 2 and Mobile Legends.

Fresh off their victory at VALORANT Champions Paris 2025, NRG Esports were naturally in the running for Esports Team of the Year, alongside Team Liquid’s MLBB roster, which claimed the Mid-Season Cup 2025 title as well as the Philippine league. The final nominee in this category was Team Falcons in Dota 2, who lifted the Aegis at The International 2025 and firmly cemented their place at the top of the scene. In the wider esports field, one should still highlight the win of Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves, which is part of the Esports World Cup lineup and took home the Best Fighting Game award ahead of 2XKO, Riot Games’ upcoming title.

As for the rest of the ceremony, it was with little real surprise that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 walked away with the Game of the Year title, even if its nine trophies overall, a record haul for The Game Awards, caught the community off guard. Criticism quickly emerged around both the nomination and subsequent victory of the French title in the Best Independent Game category. Many observers point in particular to its prohibitively expensive production costs compared with those of its competitors in the indie space.