The 2025 Game Awards aired yesterday, and it was largely a snooze fest. There were some decent reveals, for sure — Remedy’s Control: Resonant, Larian’s latest Divinity game, and Casey Hudson’s Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic got the folks in L.A. (and our writers in Discord) hyped. But at over three and a half hours long, the show had serious bloat. (Did we really need a Miss Peggy musical number?)
It didn’t help that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, though well deserving of all of its accolades, essentially swept the awards, leaving other (also terrific!) games from 2025 to scrounge for scraps. Hades II, for instance, won Best Action Game — a category in which Clair Obscur was notably absent due to being a turn-based game — but lost out on all five of its other nominations to Sandfall Interactive’s smash hit. For those looking to be surprised and delighted, it wasn’t a great night.
But there was a bright spot! Right before Clair Obscur took home top honors, we were graced with a medley of tunes from the Game Awards Orchestra in what has become a welcome yearly tradition. Listening to some of this year’s greatest gaming tracks was a delight (made even better by Pauline voice actor Jenny Kidd taking the stage for “Heart of Gold”).
As always, though, the main attraction was Pedro Eustache — better known in gaming communities as “Flute Guy.”
Every Instrument Flute Guy Played at the 2025 Game Awards
For those not in the know, Pedro Eustache is a renowned musician who plays the flute, saxophone, bass clarinet, and pretty much every other woodwind instrument known to humankind. He’s played with composers Hans Zimmer and Ramin Djawadi, performed or recorded with countless orchestras, and toured around the world.
Around these parts, though, he’s most famous for absolutely tearing it up on the Game Awards stage.
Part of Eustache’s appeal is his charisma. He performs with intensity and seems to genuinely love performing, no matter the venue. He’s playing music from games he’s likely never heard of, much less played, but that doesn’t stop him from enjoying the subject matter or connecting with his audience. Only adding to the aura: He swaps between instruments like he’s running out of time, as Lin-Manuel might put it.
Exactly how many different instruments did Flute Guy play this year? Let’s take a look:
Instrument #1: A woodwind, played during Kingdom Come Deliverance II
Instrument #2: A flute, played during Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
Instrument #3: A… pipe(?), played during Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Instrument #4: A different flute, played during Hollow Knight: Silksong
Instrument #5: Yet another, bigger flute, played during Hades II
Instrument #6: A… I have no clue what this is. A whistle? Whatever it is, it was dope (played during Donkey Kong Bananza)
Instrument #7: To cap it off, an even bigger flute! What can’t this man play??
So yeah, Flute Guy killed it this year, as he always does. I still can’t believe I watched this thing for nearly four hours, but for about four minutes, the Game Awards 2025 was absolute cinema.
What’d you think of the Game Awards Orchestra? Favorite Flute Guy instrument? Let us know in the comments!
David is the founder of The Punished Backlog. He has a problem finishing games he starts.
Just beat: Hollow Knight: Silksong.
Working on: Yakuza 0, Iconoclasts, Metroid Prime 4: Beyond.
Can't wait for: Demon Tides.
Follow David on Twitter at @David_Silbert to keep up to date with all things The Punished Backlog.
