Another year, another round of Geoff Keighley’s The Game Awards down. Despite the challenges presented by the pandemic, the event did come together as a slickly produced (if a bit overstuffed) show, one packed with a handful of smaller reveals and some eye-popping teases. From Vin Diesel with dinosaurs to a derelict Mass Relay , almost everybody watching had something to freak out about on Twitter.
As for the award winners themselves, well, it doesn’t seem unfair to say this year’s results are a little more to-be-expected than 2019’s Sekiro upset and the string of Disco Elysium wins. This year’s big winner was The Last of Us Part 2, which despite delays , reports of extreme crunch , and a fraught period marked by abuse and Twitter spats upon its release , managed to stand out in the eye of enough critics and influencers to take home the show’s Game of the Year award and several others.
Still, smaller games and a couple other blockbusters did alright for themselves this year. Innersloth, creators of Among Us , won the awards for Best Mobile and Best Multiplayer while also stealing viewers’ hearts with exuberant, teary-eyed acceptance speeches; Supergiant’s Hades walked away with the Best Indie award while also clinching Best Action over juggernauts like Half-Life: Alyx and Doom Eternal; Final Fantasy 7 Remake picked up Best Role Playing and Best Score/Music for its reimagining of the 1997 classic. You can find the full list of nominees and winners (bolded at the top of each category) below.
Also, don’t forget that The Game Awards Festival is happening until Dec. 14 , providing a number of free demos for new and upcoming games via Steam, Xbox, and GeForce NOW.
Game of the Year WIN: The Last of Us Part 2 (Naughty Dog/SIE) Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Nintendo) Doom Eternal (id Software/Bethesda) Final Fantasy 7 Remake (Square Enix) Ghost of Tsushima (Sucker Punch/SIE) Hades (Supergiant Games) Best Game Direction WIN: The Last of Us Part 2 (Naughty Dog/SIE) Final Fantasy 7 Remake (Square Enix) Ghost of Tsushima (Sucker Punch/SIE) Hades (Supergiant Games) Half-Life: Alyx (Valve) Best Narrative WIN: The Last of Us Part 2 (Neil Druckmann, Halley Gross) 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim (George Kamitani) Final Fantasy 7 Remake (Kazushige Nojima, Motomu Toriyama, Hiroki Iwaki, Sachie Hirano) Ghost of Tsushima (Ian Ryan, Liz Albl, Patrick Downs, Jordan Lemos) Hades (Greg Kasavin) Best Art Direction WIN: Ghost of Tsushima (Sucker Punch/SIE) Final Fantasy 7 Remake (Square Enix) Hades (Supergiant Games) Ori and the Will of the Wisps (Moon Studios/Xbox Game Studios) The Last of Us Part 2 (Naughty Dog/SIE) Best Score and Music WIN: Final Fantasy 7 Remake (Nobuo Uematsu, Masahi Hamauzu, Mitsuto Suzuki) Doom Eternal (Mick Gordon) Hades (Darren Korb) Ori and the Will of the Wisps (Gareth Coker) The Last of Us Part 2 (Gustavo Santaolala, Mac Quale) Best Audio Design WIN: The Last of Us Part 2 (Naughty Dog/SIE) Doom Eternal (id Software/Bethesda) Half-Life: Alyx (Valve) Ghost of Tsushima (Sucker Punch/SIE) Resident Evil 3 (Capcom) Best Performance WIN: Laura Bailey as Abby, The Last of Us Part 2 Ashley Johnson as Ellie, The Last of Us Part 2 Daisuke Tsuji as Jin Sakai, Ghost of Tsushima Logan Cunningham as Hades, Hades Nadji Jeter as Miles Morales, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales Games for Impact WIN: Tell Me Why (Dontnod Entertainment/Xbox Game Studios) If Found… (DREAMFEEL/Annapurna Interactive) Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition (Cardboard Computer/Annapurna Interactive) Spiritfarer (Thunder Lotus Games) Through the Darkest of Times (Paintbucket Games) Best Ongoing WIN: No Man’s Sky (Hello Games) Apex Legends (Respawn/EA) Destiny 2 (Bungie) Call of Duty Warzone (Infinity Ward/Activision) Fortnite (Epic Games) Best Indie WIN: Hades (Supergiant Games) Carrion (Phobia Game Studio) Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout (Mediatonic/Devolver) Spelunky 2 (Mossmouth) Spiritfarer (Thunder Lotus Games) Best Mobile WIN: Among Us (InnerSloth) Call of Duty Mobile (TiMi Studios/Activision) Genshin Impact (miHoYo) Legends of Runeterra (Riot Games) Pokemon Cafe Mix (Genius Sonority) Best Community Support WIN: Fall Guys (Mediatonic/Devolver) Apex Legends (Respawn/EA) Destiny 2 (Bungie) Fortnite (Epic Games) No Man’s Sky (Hello Games) Valorant (Riot Games) Innovation in Accessibility WIN: The Last of Us Part 2 (Naughty Dog/SIE) Assassin’s Creed Valhalla (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft) Grounded (Obsidian/Xbox Game Studios) HyperDot (Tribe Games) Watch Dogs Legion (Ubisoft Toronto/Ubisoft) Best VR/AR WIN: Half-Life: Alyx (Valve) Dreams (Media Molecule/SIE) Marvel’s Iron Man VR (Camoflaj/SIE) Star Wars: Squadrons (Motive Studios/EA) The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners (Skydance Interactive) Best Action WIN: Hades (Supergiant Games) Doom Eternal (id Software/Bethesda) Half-Life: Alyx (Valve) Nioh 2 (Team Ninja) Streets of Rage 4 (DotEmu) Best Action/Adventure WIN: The Last of Us Part 2 (Naughty Dog/SIE) Assassin’s Creed Valhalla (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft) Ghost of Tsushima (Sucker Punch/SIE) Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales (Insomniac Games/SIE) Ori and the Will of the Wisps (Moon Studios/Xbox Game Studios) Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (Respawn/EA) Best Role Playing WIN: Final Fantasy 7 Remake (Square Enix) Genshin Impact (miHoYo) Persona 5 Royal (Atlus, P Studios) Wasteland 3 (inXile Entertainment/Koch) Yakuza: Like a Dragon (Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio/Sega) Best Fighting WIN: Mortal Kombat 11/Ultimate (NetherRealm Studios/WB Games) Granblue Fantasy: Versus (Arc System Works/Cygames) Street Fighter V: Champion Edition (Dimps/Capcom) One Punch Man: A Hero Nobody Knows (Spike Chunsoft/Bandai-Namco) Under Night In-Birth Exe: Late[cl-r] (French Bread/Arc System Works) Best Family WIN: Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Nintendo) Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time (Toys for Bob/Activision) Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout (Mediatonic/Devolver) Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit (Velan Studios/Nintendo) Minecraft Dungeons (Mojang/Double Eleven/Xbox Game Studios) Paper Mario: The Origami King (Intelligent Systems/Nintendo) Best Sim/Strategy WIN: Microsoft Flight Simulator (Asobo/Xbox Game Studios) Crusader Kings 3 (Paradox Development Studio/Paradox) Desperados 3 (Mimimi Games/THQN) Gears Tactics (Splash Damage/The Coalition/Xbox Game Studios) XCOM: Chimera Squad (Firaxis/2K) Best Sports/Racing WIN: Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 (Vicarious Visions/Activision) Dirt 5 (Codemasters Cheshire/Codemasters) F1 2020 (Codemasters Birmingham /Codemasters) FIFA 21 (EA Vancouver/EA Sports) NBA 2K21 (Visual Concepts/2K) Best Multiplayer WIN: Among Us (InnerSloth) Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Nintendo) Call of Duty: Warzone (Infinity Ward/Raven/Activision) Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout (Mediatonic/Devolver) Valorant (Riot Games) Best Debut Game WIN: Phasmophobia (Kinetic Games) Carrion (Phobia Game Studio/Devolver) Mortal Shell (Cold Symmetry/Playstack) Raji: An Ancient Epic (Nodding Heads Games) Röki (Polygon Treehouse/CI Games) Content Creator of the Year WIN: Valkyrae Alanah Pearce NickMercs TimtheTatman Jay Ann Lopez Best Esports Game WIN: League of Legends (Riot Games) Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (Infinity Ward/Raven/Activision) Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (Valve) Fortnite (Epic Games) Valorant (Riot Games) Best Esports Athlete WIN: Heo “Showmaker” Su / League of Legends Ian “Crimsix” Porter / Call of Duty Kim “Canyon” Geon-bu / League of Legends Anthony “Shotzzy” Cuevas-Castro / Call of Duty Matthieu “ZywOo” Herbaut / CS:GO Best Esports Team WIN: G2 Esports / League of Legends DAMWON Gaming / League of Legends Dallas Empire / Call of Duty San Francisco Shock / Overwatch League Team Secret / DOTA2 Best Esports Event WIN: League of Legends World Championship 2020 BLAST Premier: Spring E2020 European Finals (CS:GO) Call of Duty League Championship 2020 IEM Katowice 2020 (CS:GO) Overwatch League Grand Finals 2020 Best Esports Host WIN: Eefje “Sjokz” Depoortere Alex “Machine” Richardson Alex “Goldenboy” Mendez James “Dash” Patterson Jorien “Sheever” van der Heijden Best Esports Coach WIN: Danny “Zonic” Sørensen Dae-Hee “Crusty” Park Fabian “Grabbz” Lohmann Lee “Zefa” Jae-Min Raymond “Rambo” Lussier