Hideo Kojima! Norman Reedus! Andy Serkis! Video Games! Here’s what you missed at this year’s Game Awards.
There were a bunch of celebrity guests, trailers, and announcements, but of course everyone’s here to see what took out the most trophies. The main takeaways: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild took out Game of the Year (surprising absolutely no one), NieR Automata deservedly got best soundtrack, and Melina Juergens earned best performance for her role as Senua in Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice. Zelda ended up taking home three awards, as did Cuphead and Hellblade, and Overwatch even took home a couple despite not being released in 2017. Surprisingly, Horizon: Zero Dawn went home empty handed.
Of course, this isn’t just an awards night. There were tonnes of new trailers and world firsts, not to mention a new extended look at Death Stranding. The Game Awards Orchestra was beautiful – especially the opening medley. There’s a World War Z game on the way, Vacation Simulator VR (from the same crew that brought up Job Simulator) is coming next year, and Accountant+ is coming to VR, too.
Campo Santo have announced a new game – In The Valley of the Gods – for 2019, and as of the end of the conference there’s new The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild DLC – The Champions’ Ballad – available. Carol Shaw earned a standing ovation during her induction as an Industry Icon: “There are a lot of opportunities today – it’s amazing what’s happened in the last 35 years.”
Bayonetta 1 & 2 were announced for the Switch in February, and a third game is confirmed to be in development. Sea of Thieves got a March 20 release date (finally!), and Australia’s own Level Squared from Swinburne University won the inaugural Student Game award.
The people that brought you Payday have a new game on the way – GTFO – and it looks terrifying; 4-player co-op in the dark, and we also got a new trailer for Metro: Exodus, based on the Metro 2035 novel. There were a lot of world firsts at this year’s show, but a highlight was indisputably the orchestra.
Anyway, the full list of winners is below:
Game of the Year
WINNER: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – Nintendo EPD / Nintendo
Horizon Zero Dawn – Guerrilla Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment
Persona 5 – Atlus
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds – PUBG Corp.
Super Mario Odyssey – Nintendo EPD / Nintendo
Best Game Direction
WINNER: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – Nintendo EPD
Horizon Zero Dawn – Guerrilla Games
Resident Evil 7: Biohazard – Capcom
Super Mario Odyssey – Nintendo EPD
Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus – MachineGames / Bethesda
Best Narrative
WINNER: What Remains of Edith Finch – Ian Dallas / Giant Sparrow
Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice – Tameem Antoniades, Elizabeth Ashman-Rowe / Ninja Theory
Horizon Zero Dawn – John Gonzalez / Ninja Theory
NieR: Automata – Yoko Taro, Hana Kikuchi, Yoshiho Akabane / Platinum Games
Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus – Jens Matthies, Tommy Tordsson Bjork / MachineGames
Best Art Direction
WINNER: Cuphead – Studio MDHR Entertainment
Destiny 2 – Bungie / Activision
Horizon Zero Dawn – Guerrilla Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment
Persona 5 – Atlus
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – Nintendo EPD / Nintendo
Best Score / Music
WINNER: NieR: Automata – Keiichi Okabe, Keigo Hoashi
Cuphead – Kristofer Maddigan
Destiny 2 – Mike Salvatori, Skye Lewin, C Paul Johnson
Persona 5 – Shoji Meguro
Super Mario Odyssey – Naoto Kubo, Shiho Fujii, Koji Kondo
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – Manaka Kataoka, Yasuaki Iwata
Best Audio Design
WINNER: Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice – Ninja Theory
Destiny 2 – Bungie
Resident Evil 7: Biohazard – Capcom
Super Mario Odyssey – Nintendo EPD / Nintendo
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – Nintendo EPD / Nintendo
Best Performance
WINNER: Melina Juergens, Hellblade – as Senua
Ashly Burch, Horizon: Zero Dawn – As Aloy
Brian Bloom, Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus – as BJ Blazkowicz
Claudia Black, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy – as Chloe Frazer
Laura Bailey, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy – as Nadine Ross
Games for Impact
WINNER: Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice – Ninja Theory
Bury Me, My Love – The Pixel Hunt / Figs / ARTE / Playdius
Life is Strange: Before the Storm – Deck Nine / Square Enix
Night in the Woods – Infinite Fall
Please Knock on My Door – Levall Games AB
What Remains of Edith Finch – Giant Sparrow / Annapurna Interactive
Best Ongoing Game
WINNER: Overwatch – Blizzard
Destiny 2 – Bungie / Activision
Grand Theft Auto Online – Rockstar Games
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds – PUBG. Corp
Rainbow Six: Siege – Ubisoft Montreal / Ubisoft
Warframe – Digital Extremes
Best Independent Game
WINNER: Cuphead – Studio MDHR Entertainment
Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice – Ninja Theory
Night in the Woods – Infinite Fall
Pyre – Supergiant Games
What Remains of Edith Finch – Giant Sparrow / Annapurna Interactive
Best Handheld Game
WINNER: Metroid: Samus Returns – MercurySteam / Nintendo
Ever Oasis – Grezzo / Nintendo
Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia – Intelligent Systems / Nintendo
Monster Hunter Stories – Marvelous / Capcom / Nintendo
Poochy and Yoshi’s Woolly World – Good-Feel / Nintendo
Best VR/AR Game
WINNER: Resident Evil 7: Biohazard – Capcom
Farpoint – Impulse Gear / Sony Interactive Entertainment
Lone Echo – Ready at Dawn / Oculus Studios
Star Trek: Bridge Crew – Red Storm Entertainment / Ubisoft
SUPERHOT VR – SUPERHOT Team
Best Action Game
WINNER: Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus – MachineGames / Bethesda
Cuphead – Studio MDHR Entertainment
Destiny 2 – Bungie / Activision
Nioh – Team Ninja / Sony Interactive Entertainment
Prey – Arkane Studios / Bethesda
Best Action/Adventure Game
WINNER: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – Nintendo EPD / Nintendo
Assassin’s Creed: Origins – Ubisoft Montreal / Ubisoft
Horizon Zero Dawn – Guerrilla Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment
Super Mario Odyssey – Nintendo EPD / Nintendo
Uncharted: The Lost Legacy – Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment
Best Role-Playing Game
WINNER: Persona 5 – Atlus
Divinity: Original Sin II – Larian Studios
Final Fantasy XV – Square Enix Business Division 2 / Square Enix
NieR: Automata – Platinum Games / Square Enix
South Park: The Fractured But Whole – Ubisoft San Francisco / Ubisoft
Best Fighting Game
WINNER: Injustice 2 – NetherRealm Studios / Warner Bros. Interactive Ent
ARMS – Nintendo EPD / Nintendo
Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite – Capcom
Nidhogg 2 – Messhof Games
Tekken 7 – Bandai Namco Studios / Bandai Namco Entertainment
Best Family Game
WINNER: Super Mario Odyssey – Nintendo EAD / Nintendo
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – Nintendo EAD / Nintendo
Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle – Ubisoft Paris + Milan / Ubisoft
Sonic Mania – PagodaWest Games, Headcannon / Sega
Splatoon 2 – Nintendo EPD / Nintendo
Best Strategy Game
WINNER: Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle – Ubisoft Paris + Milan / Ubisoft
Halo Wars 2 – Creative Assembly, 343 Industries / Microsoft Studios
Total War: Warhammer II – Creative Assembly / Sega
Tooth and Tail – Pocketwatch Games
XCOM 2: War of the Chosen – Firaxis Games / 2K
Best Sports/Racing Game
WINNER: Forza Motorsport 7 – Turn 10 Studios / Microsoft Studios
FIFA 18 – EA Vancouver / EA
Gran Turismo Sport – Polyphony Digital / Sony Interactive Entertainment
NBA 2K18 – Visual Concepts / 2K Sports
Pro Evolution Soccer 2018 – PES Productions / Konami
Project Cars 2 – Slightly Mad Studios / Bandai Namco Entertainment
Best Multiplayer
WINNER: PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds – PUBG Corp.
Call of Duty: WWII – Sledgehammer Games / Activision
Destiny 2 – Bungie / Activision
Fortnite – Epic Games
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – Nintendo EAD / Nintendo
Splatoon 2 – Nintendo EPD / Nintendo
Most Anticipated Game
WINNER: The Last of Us Part II – Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment
God of War – Santa Monica Studio / Sony Interactive Entertainment
Marvel’s Spider-Man – Insomniac Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment
Monster Hunter World – Capcom
Red Dead Redemption II – Rockstar Games
Trending Gamer
WINNER: Guy Beahm – “Dr. Disrespect”
Andrea Rene – What’s Good Games
Clint Lexa – “Halfcoordinated”
Mike Grzesiek – “Shroud”
Steven Spohn – AbleGamers
Best eSports Game
WINNER: Overwatch – Blizzard
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive – Valve
DOTA2 – Valve
League of Legends – Riot
Rocket League – Psyonix
Best eSports Player
WINNER: Lee Sang-hyeok “Faker” – SK Telecom 1, League of Legends
Marcelo “coldzera” David – SK Gaming, Counter-Strike: GO
Nikola ‘NiKo’ Kovac – FaZe Clan, Counter-Strike: GO
Je-hong “ryujehong” Ryu – Seoul Dynasty, Overwatch
Kuro “KuroKy” Salehi Takhasomi – Team Liquid, DOTA 2
Best eSports Team
WINNER: Cloud 9
FaZe Clan
Lunatic-Hai
SK Telecom T1
Team Liquid
Student Game Award
WINNER: Level Squared (Kip Brennan, Stephen Scoglio, Dane Perry Svendsen / Swinburne University
Falling Sky – Jonathan Nielssen, Nikolay Savoy, Mohsen Shah / National Film & TV School
From Light – Alejandro Grossman, Steven Li, Sherveen Uduwana / USC
Hollowed – Erin Marek, Jerrick Flores, Charley Choucard / University of Central Florida
Impulsion – Hugo Verger, Remi Bertrand, Maxime Lupinski / IIM)
Meaning – Hariz Yet / DigiPen Institute of Technology Singapore
Best Debut Indie Game
WINNER: Cuphead – Studio MDHR Entertainment
Golf Story – Sidebar Games
Hollow Knight – Team Cherry
Mr. Shifty – Team Shifty
Slime Rancher – Monomi Park
Feeling reminiscent? Watch the whole event here:
