The annual showing of The Game Awards aired last night and it sure was something else. Sadly, this isn't the news post you were looking for if you wanted to get the details on new game reveals, Milf Hunter, and an InfoWars kid. No, this is a news post talking only about last night's big winners!
God of War: Ragnarök took home several wins last night, including winning for the longest acceptance speech at an awards show. That wasn't even a category, but Geoff Keighley had enough time to add it, get it approved, and voted on by a committee in the time it took to finish the speech. Joking aside, I love Christopher Judge but it was a really long speech.
Elden Ring managed to defy the God of War: Ragnarök love affair and take home the big Game of the Year award.
The full list of winners and other nominees can be found below.
Game of the Year
Recognizing a game that delivers the absolute best experience across all creative and technical fields.
Best Game Direction
Awarded for outstanding creative vision and innovation in game direction and design.
Best Narrative
For outstanding storytelling and narrative development in a game.
Best Art Direction
For outstanding creative and/or technical achievement in artistic design and animation.
Best Score/Music
For outstanding music, inclusive of score, original song and/or licensed soundtrack.
Best Audio Design
Recognizing the best in-game audio and sound design.
Best Performance
Awarded to an individual for voice-over acting, motion and/or performance capture.
Games for Impact
For a thought-provoking game with a pro-social meaning or message.
Best Ongoing Game
Awarded to a game for outstanding development of ongoing content that evolves the player experience over time.
Best Indie Game
For outstanding creative and technical achievement in a game made outside the traditional publisher system.
Best Debut Indie Game
For the best debut game created by a new independent studio.
Best Mobile Game
For the best game playable on a mobile device.
Best Community Support
Recognizing a game for outstanding community support, transparency and responsiveness, inclusive of social media activity and game updates/patches.
Best VR/AR Game
For the best game experience playable in virtual or augmented reality, irrespective of platform.
Innovation in Accessibility
Recognizing software and/or hardware that is pushing the medium forward by adding features, technology and content to help games be played and enjoyed by an even wider audience.
Best Action Game
For the best game in the action genre focused primarily on combat.
Best Action/Adventure Game
For the best action/adventure game, combining combat with traversal and puzzle solving.
Best RPG
For the best game designed with rich player character customization and progression, including massively multiplayer experiences.
Best Fighting Game
For the best game designed primarily around head-to-head combat.
Best Family Game
For the best game appropriate for family play, irrespective of genre or platform.
Best Sports/Racing Game
For the best traditional and non-traditional sports and racing game.
Best SIM/Strategy Game
Best game focused on real time or turn-based simulation or strategy gameplay, irrespective of platform.
Best Multiplayer Game
For outstanding online multiplayer gameplay and design, including co-op and massively multiplayer experiences, irrespective of game genre or platform.
Content Creator of the Year
For a streamer or content creator who has made an important and positive impact on the community in 2021.
Best Esports Athlete
The esports athlete judged to be the most outstanding for performance and conduct in 2021, irrespective of game.
Best Esports Coach
The Esports coach judged to be the most outstanding for performance and conduct in 2021.
Best Esports Event
Recognizing an event (across single or multiple days) that delivered a best-of-class experience for participants and the broadcast audience.
Best Esports Game
For the game that has delivered the best overall esports experience to players (inclusive of tournaments, community support and content updates), irrespective of genre or platform.
Best Esports Team
Recognizing a specific esports team (not the full organization) judged the most outstanding for performance and conduct in 2021.
Most Anticipated Game
Recognizing an announced game that has demonstrably illustrated potential to push the gaming medium forward.
Best Adaptation
Celebrating game-inspired projects across entertainment including TV, movies, comics, and more.
Player's Voice
A 100% fan voted category spanning multiple rounds of voting. Here are the finalists.
Recognizing a game that delivers the absolute best experience across all creative and technical fields.
- A Plague Tale: Requiem
- Elden Ring - WINNER
- God of War Ragnarok
- Horizon Forbidden West
- Stray
- Xenoblade Chronicles 3
Best Game Direction
Awarded for outstanding creative vision and innovation in game direction and design.
- Elden Ring - WINNER
- God of War Ragnarok
- Horizon Forbidden West
- Immortality
- Stray
Best Narrative
For outstanding storytelling and narrative development in a game.
- A Plague Tale: Requiem
- Elden Ring
- God of War Ragnarok - WINNER
- Horizon Forbidden West
- Immortality
Best Art Direction
For outstanding creative and/or technical achievement in artistic design and animation.
- Elden Ring - WINNER
- God of War: Ragnarok
- Horizon: Forbidden West
- Scorn
- Stray
Best Score/Music
For outstanding music, inclusive of score, original song and/or licensed soundtrack.
- Olivier Deriviere - A Plague Tale: Requiem
- Tsukasa Saitoh - Elden Ring
- Bear McCreary - God of War: Ragnarok - WINNER
- Two Feathers - Metal Hellsinger
- Yasunori Mitsuda
Best Audio Design
Recognizing the best in-game audio and sound design.
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
- Elden Ring
- God of War: Ragnarok - WINNER
- Gran Turismo 7
- Horizon Forbidden West
Best Performance
Awarded to an individual for voice-over acting, motion and/or performance capture.
- Ashly Birch - Horizon: Forbidden West
- Charlotte McBurney - A Plague Tale: Requiem
- Christopher Judge - God of War: Ragnarok - WINNER
- Manon Gage - Immortality
- Sunny Suljic - God of War: Ragnarok
Games for Impact
For a thought-provoking game with a pro-social meaning or message.
- A Memoir Blue
- As Dusk Falls - WINNER
- Citizen Sleeper
- Endling - Extinction is Forever
- Hindsight
- I Was a Teenage Exocolonist
Best Ongoing Game
Awarded to a game for outstanding development of ongoing content that evolves the player experience over time.
- Apex Legends
- Destiny 2
- Final Fantasy 14 Online - WINNER
- Fortnite
- Genshin Impact
Best Indie Game
For outstanding creative and technical achievement in a game made outside the traditional publisher system.
- Cult of the Lamb
- Neon White
- Sifu
- Stray - WINNER
- TUNIC
Best Debut Indie Game
For the best debut game created by a new independent studio.
- Neon White
- NORCO
- Stray - WINNER
- TUNIC
- Vampire Survivors
Best Mobile Game
For the best game playable on a mobile device.
- Apex Legends Mobile
- Diablo Immortal
- Genshin Impact
- Marvel Snap - WINNER
- Tower of Fantasy
Best Community Support
Recognizing a game for outstanding community support, transparency and responsiveness, inclusive of social media activity and game updates/patches.
- Apex Legends
- Destiny 2
- Final Fantasy 14 Online - WINNER
- Fortnite
- No Man’s Sky
Best VR/AR Game
For the best game experience playable in virtual or augmented reality, irrespective of platform.
- After the Fall
- Among Us VR
- BONELAB
- Moss: Book II - WINNER
- Red Matter 2
Innovation in Accessibility
Recognizing software and/or hardware that is pushing the medium forward by adding features, technology and content to help games be played and enjoyed by an even wider audience.
- As Dusk Falls
- God of War: Ragnarok - WINNER
- Returnal
- Return to Monkey Island
- The Last of Us Part 1
- The Quarry
Best Action Game
For the best game in the action genre focused primarily on combat.
- Bayonetta 3 - WINNER
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II
- Neon White
- Sifu
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge
Best Action/Adventure Game
For the best action/adventure game, combining combat with traversal and puzzle solving.
- A Plague Tale: Requiem
- God of War: Ragnarok - WINNER
- Horizon Forbidden West
- Stray
- TUNIC
Best RPG
For the best game designed with rich player character customization and progression, including massively multiplayer experiences.
- Elden Ring - WINNER
- Live a Live
- Pokémon Legends: Arceus
- Triangle Strategy
- Xenoblade Chronicles 3
Best Fighting Game
For the best game designed primarily around head-to-head combat.
- DNF Duel
- JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle R
- The King of Fighters 15
- MultiVersus - WINNER
- Sifu
Best Family Game
For the best game appropriate for family play, irrespective of genre or platform.
- Kirby and the Forgotten Land - WINNER
- LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga
- Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope
- Nintendo Switch Sports
- Splatoon 3
Best Sports/Racing Game
For the best traditional and non-traditional sports and racing game.
- F1 22
- FIFA 23
- NBA 2K23
- Gran Turismo 7 - WINNER
- OlliOlli World
Best SIM/Strategy Game
Best game focused on real time or turn-based simulation or strategy gameplay, irrespective of platform.
- Dune: Spice Wars
- Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope - WINNER
- Total War: WARHAMMER 3
- Two Point Campus
- Victoria 3
Best Multiplayer Game
For outstanding online multiplayer gameplay and design, including co-op and massively multiplayer experiences, irrespective of game genre or platform.
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
- Multiversus
- Overwatch 2
- Splatoon 3 - WINNER
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge
Content Creator of the Year
For a streamer or content creator who has made an important and positive impact on the community in 2021.
- Karl Jacobs
- Ludwig - WINNER
- Nibellion
- Nobru
- QTCinderella
Best Esports Athlete
The esports athlete judged to be the most outstanding for performance and conduct in 2021, irrespective of game.
- Jeong "Chovy" Ji-hoon (Gen.G, LOL)
- Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok (T1, LOL)
- Finn "karrigan" Andersen ( (FaZe Clan - CS:GO)
- Oleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev (Natus Vincere, CS:GO)
- Jacob “Yay†Whiteaker (Cloud9, Valorant) - WINNER
Best Esports Coach
The Esports coach judged to be the most outstanding for performance and conduct in 2021.
- Andrii "B1ad3" Horodenskyi (Natus Vincere, CS:GO)
- Matheus “bzkA†Tarasconi (LOUD, VALORANT) - WINNER
- Erik “d00mbr0s†Sandgren (FPX, VALORANT)
- Robert "RobbaN" Dahlström (FaZe Clan, CS:GO)
- Go "Score" Dong-bin (Gen.G, LOL)
Best Esports Event
Recognizing an event (across single or multiple days) that delivered a best-of-class experience for participants and the broadcast audience.
- EVO 2022
- 2022 League of Legends World Championship - WINNER
- PGL Major Antwerp 2022
- The 2022 Mid-Season Invitational
- VALORANT Champions 2022
Best Esports Game
For the game that has delivered the best overall esports experience to players (inclusive of tournaments, community support and content updates), irrespective of genre or platform.
- Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
- DOTA 2
- League of Legends
- Rocket League
- VALORANT - WINNER
Best Esports Team
Recognizing a specific esports team (not the full organization) judged the most outstanding for performance and conduct in 2021.
- DarkZero Esports (Apex Legends)
- FaZe Clan (CS:GO)
- Gen.G (League of Legends)
- LA Thieves (Call of Duty)
- LOUD (Valorant) - WINNER
Most Anticipated Game
Recognizing an announced game that has demonstrably illustrated potential to push the gaming medium forward.
- Final Fantasy 16
- Hogwarts Legacy
- Resident Evil 4
- Starfield
- The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom - WINNER
Best Adaptation
Celebrating game-inspired projects across entertainment including TV, movies, comics, and more.
- Arcane: League of Legends - WINNER
- Cyberpunk: Edgerunners
- The Cuphead Show!
- Sonic the Hedgehog 2
- Uncharted​
Player's Voice
A 100% fan voted category spanning multiple rounds of voting. Here are the finalists.
- Genshin Impact - WINNER
- Sonic Frontiers
- Elden Ring
- God of War: Ragnarok
- Stray
