It was a night of both familiar and unfamiliar wins for Nintendo at the 2025 edition of The Game Awards, as Donkey Kong Bananza and Mario Kart World took home awards in separate categories.
In the very first award announced on the night, Donkey Kong put Nintendo back on top for Best Family Game. Retiring President and COO at Nintendo of America Doug Bowser received the award for the company. This now marks the eighth time in twelve years that Nintendo has won Best Family Game, returning to top spot after being bested by Astrobot in 2024. Bananza was also one of the six nominees for Game of The Year, and Jenny Kidd, Pauline’s voice actress, even took to the stage to sing “Breaking Through” (Heart of Gold) during The Game Awards Orchestra’s performance. While Bananza didn’t win GOTY (that went to Clair Obscur: Expedition 33), it’s sure to win plenty more awards after tonight. In addition to The Game Awards’ Best Family Game, it was already awarded the Critics’ Choice Award from the Golden Joysticks.
Nintendo’s second win of the show came in a category where they haven’t had very many nominees over the years. Mario Kart World claimed the top honor for Best Sports/Racing game, making it the first time since 2014 that Nintendo won in the category. It was a bit of a full circle moment, as Nintendo’s lone win prior to tonight was at the inaugural Game Awards in 2014 with Mario Kart 8 on the Wii U. At over 10 million copies sold and with regular updates being added, Mario Kart World is poised to remain a fixture of the Nintendo Switch 2’s library.
Aside from the pair of awards they walked away with, Nintendo had a couple other surprises in store for Switch 2 owners. Perhaps the biggest stunner was learning that PRAGMATA, the upcoming scif-fi action blockbuster from Capcom, will be releasing on Switch 2 the same day as all other consoles (April 24th, 2026). An amiibo of the youthful android Diana from the game is also coming in the near future.
It’s another example of Capcom going all-in on Switch 2 support, which will include Resident Evil Requiem in February of next year, and Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection the following month. A new trailer for Resident Evil Requiem was shown off at The Game Awards, this time focusing on longtime hero Leon Kennedy, who makes his return in the upcoming entry. As expected, then, the world premier for a new Mega Man game, Mega Man: Dual Override, revealed that it will release on the original Switch and Switch 2 when it launches in 2027.
Not so expected was the debut of a very intriguing game titled Orbitals — a co-op space-faring adventure that features an art direction reminiscent of retro anime from the 1970s and 1980s. Developed by the Tokyo-based Shapefarm and published by Kepler Interactive (who published Clair Obscur: Expedition 33), Orbitals will release exclusively on the Switch 2 in 2026.
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie made a brief appearance at the show, as well. It may have only been a 30-second teaser, but seeing Luigi land a killer flying knee that would make Kenny Omega proud was enough to keep Nintendo fans eagerly anticipating the movie’s April 2026 theatrical release.
