GMTK Digest (December 2025)
Bye bye for now!
Hello Substack readers!
It’s time for the final Digest of the year. It’s a tad shorter - partly because there’s not a lot a new games releasing in December, and partly because I’m writing this on the 19th so I can stop for Christmas!
But one big thing did happen - the Game Awards, aka The Keighleys. And while I’m loathe to treat these as the defacto Oscar-like winners, they are at least a good indication of what people liked playing in 2025. So I’ve picked some articles and videos about the development of some of the winning games to get more info on how they were made.
This is my last Digest for a while as I’ll be on paternity leave for the first few months of 2026 (I’ll pause billing on Substack during that time). But I’ll likely be watching YouTube at 3AM, covered in baby sick, and so will have a big batch of stuff to recommend when I get back!
Game of the Year
Read - Ask the Developer Vol. 19, Donkey Kong Bananza - Nintendo’s designers explain the design of this year’s “Best Family” game.
Read - Interview with Team Cherry for Hollow Knight Silksong - In an interview at the Australia media museum, Team Cherry discusses the making of this year’s “Best action/adventure” game.
Watch (17 mins) - How Hades 2 Was Made and Why Zagreus Had to be Replaced - ThisGuyGlen breaks down the development of the “Best action game”.
Read - How the Creators of Xbox’s ‘South of Midnight’ Made a Southern Gothic Fantasy - Rolling Stone interviews the devs behind this year’s “Games for impact” winner.
Read - More Games Need Doom: The Dark Ages’ Accessibility Settings - More details on the winner of “Innovation in accessibility”.
