The seventh annual Game Awards were held Thursday night in a multi-platform digital livestream, recognizing the best achievements in studio and independent video games from the past year.
Christopher Nolan awarded game of the year to The Last of Us Part II, which beat out Hades, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, DOOM Eternal, Final Fantasy VII Remake and Ghost of Tshushima.
The Last of Us Part II also swept other categories, winning best game direction, narrative and action/adventure game. Brie Larson presented the award for best performance to Laura Bailey, who played Abby, the hardened, physically intimidating — but also deeply vulnerable — member of the Fireflies militia group. Accepting the honor, Bailey shared that her goal in portraying the character was to honor the impact that the original 2013 game had on her.
Curated and hosted by Geoff Keighley, the show aired live in 4K from studio locations in Los Angeles, Tokyo and London, with world premieres and appearances from the industry’s most familiar figures such as former Nintendo president Reggie Fils-Aimé. He presented the innovation in accessibility award — a new honor added this year to recognize games that include features, technology and content that enable them to be played by a wider audience — to The Last of Us Part II.
Among the other awards announced were Final Fantasy VII Remake for best role-playing game and best score and music, social deduction game Among Us for best multiplayer and best mobile, rogue-like dungeon crawler Hades for best action game and best indie. Meanwhile, best ongoing game was awarded to the exploration survival game No Man’s Sky. Best family game went to Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
Announcements included Studio Wildcard’s reveal of Ark 2 starring Vin Diesel, along with an animated series that will feature David Tennant, Elliot Page, Kurt Russell, Russell Crowe, Malcolm McDowell and more. From developer Fullbright (known for Gone Home) and publisher Annapurna Interactive (What Remains of Edith Finch), the new game Open Roads will star Keri Russell and Booksmart star Kaitlyn Dever.
Wonder Woman star Gal Gadot presented the award for Games for Impact, which recognizes a socially progressive game that has the potential to inspire change in the world, to Dontnod’s narrative adventure Tell Me Why. The game features a playable protagonist who is trans, though instead of being a “coming out” story, the narrative follows the character after he has already transitioned and offers a window into life as he reconnects with his twin sister.
In the area of competitive gaming, Heo “Showmaker” Su won best esports athlete, while League of Legends won best esports game and its world championship won best event.
A world premiere trailer for Cornelia Geppert’s directors cut of Sea of Solitude dropped early in the pre-show, while later on a trailer for the emotional indie platformer Shady Part of Me, available now on consoles, was shown as well as a reveal of gameplay for Back 4 Blood, dropping in June next year. Bioware’s Dragon Age was teased in another world premiere, along with a trailer for a free content update for season one of Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War.
Among the performances, the London Philharmonic Orchestra performed the theme song to Super Mario from Abbey Road Studios, and Pearl Jam frontman performed his song from The Last of Us Part II.
Additional presenters include Uncharted (the movie) and Spider-Man star Tom Holland and Uncharted (the game) actor Nolan North, along with Cyberpunk 2077 star Keanu Reeves, John David Washington, The Last of Us voice actor Troy Baker and streamers such as Jacksepticeye.
Disclosure: The Hollywood Reporter is among the media voting members of the jury determining the honors for the Game Awards.
The complete winners list is below.
Game of the Year
Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Nintendo)
DOOM Eternal (id Software/Bethesda)
Final Fantasy VII Remake (Square Enix)
Ghost of Tsushima (Sucker Punch/SIE)
Hades (Supergiant Games)
The Last of Us Part II (Naughty Dog/SIE) (WINNER)
Best Game Direction
Final Fantasy VII Remake (Square Enix)
Ghost of Tsushima (Sucker Punch/SIE)
Hades (Supergiant Games)
Half-Life: Alyx (Valve)
The Last of Us Part II (Naughty Dog/SIE) (WINNER)
Best Narrative
13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim (George Kamitani)
Final Fantasy VII Remake (Kazushige Nojima, Motomu Toriyama, Hiroki Iwaki, Sachie Hirano)
Ghost of Tsushima (Ian Ryan, Liz Albl, Patrick Downs, Jordan Lemos)
Hades (Greg Kasavin)
The Last of Us Part II (Neil Druckmann, Halley Gross) (WINNER)
Best Art Direction
Final Fantasy VII Remake (Square Enix)
Ghost of Tsushima (Sucker Punch/SIE) (WINNER)
Hades (Supergiant Games)
Ori and the Will of the Wisps (Moon Studios/Xbox Game Studios)
The Last of Us Part II (Naughty Dog/SIE)
Best Score and Music
DOOM Eternal (Mick Gordon)
Final Fantasy VII Remake (Nobuo Uematsu, Masahi Hamauzu, Mitsuto Suzuki) (WINNER)
Hades (Darren Korb)
Ori and the Will of the Wisps (Gareth Coker)
The Last of Us Part II (Gustavo Santaolala, Mac Quale)
Best Audio Design
DOOM Eternal (id Software/Bethesda)
Half-Life: Alyx (Valve)
Ghost of Tsushima (Sucker Punch/SIE)
Resident Evil 3 (Capcom)
The Last of Us Part 2 (Naughty Dog/SIE) (WINNER)
Best Performance
Ashley Johnson as Ellie, The Last of Us Part II
Laura Bailey as Abby, The Last of Us Part II (WINNER)
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
If Found … (DREAMFEEL/Annapurna Interactive)
Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition (Cardboard Computer/Annapurna Interactive)
Spiritfarer (Thunder Lotus Games)
Tell Me Why (Dontnod Entertainment/Xbox Game Studios) (WINNER)
Through the Darkest of Times (Paintbucket Games)
Best Ongoing
Apex Legends (Respawn/EA)
Destiny 2 (Bungie)
Call of Duty Warzone (Infinity Ward/Activision)
Fortnite (Epic Games)
No Man’s Sky (Hello Games) (WINNER)
Best Indie
Carrion (Phobia Game Studio)
Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout (Mediatonic/Devolver)
Hades (Supergiant Games) (WINNER)
Spelunky 2 (Mossmouth)
Spiritfarer (Thunder Lotus Games)
Best Mobile
Among Us (InnerSloth) (WINNER)
Call of Duty Mobile (TiMi Studios/Activision)
Genshin Impact (miHoYo)
Legends of Runeterra (Riot Games)
Pokémon Café Mix (Genius Sonority)
Best Community Support
Apex Legends (Respawn/EA)
Destiny 2 (Bungie)
Fall Guys (Mediatonic/Devolver) (WINNER)
Fortnite (Epic Games)
No Man’s Sky (Hello Games)
Valorant (Riot Games)
Innovation in Accessibility
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft)
Grounded (Obsidian/Xbox Game Studios)
HyperDot (Tribe Games)
The Last of Us Part II (Naughty Dog/SIE) (WINNER)
Watch Dogs Legion (Ubisoft Toronto/Ubisoft)
Best VR/AR
Dreams (Media Molecule/SIE)
Half-Life: Alyx (Valve) (WINNER)
MARVEL’s Iron Man VR (Camoflaj/SIE)
STAR WARS: Squadrons (Motive Studios/EA)
The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners (Skydance Interactive)
Best Action
DOOM Eternal (id Software/Bethesda)
Hades (Supergiant Games) (WINNER)
Half-Life: Alyx (Valve)
Nioh 2 (Team Ninja)
Streets of Rage 4 (DotEmu)
Best Action/Adventure
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)
The Last of Us Part II (Naughty Dog/SIE) (WINNER)
Best Role-Playing
Final Fantasy VII Remake (Square Enix) (WINNER)
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
Granblue Fantasy: Versus (Arc System Works/Cygames)
Mortal Kombat 11/Ultimate (NetherRealm Studios/WB Games) (WINNER)
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
Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Nintendo) (WINNER)
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
Crusader Kings III (Paradox Development Studio/Paradox)
Desperados III (Mimimi Games/THQN)
Gears Tactics (Splash Damage/The Coalition/Xbox Game Studios)
Microsoft Flight Simulator (Asobo/Xbox Game Studios) (WINNER)
XCOM: Chimera Squad (Firaxis/2K)
Best Sports/Racing
Dirt 5 (Codemasters Cheshire/Codemasters)
F1 2020 (Codemasters Birmingham /Codemasters)
FIFA 21 (EA Vancouver/EA Sports)
NBA 2K21 (Visual Concepts/2K)
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 (Vicarious Visions/Activision) (WINNER)
Best Multiplayer
Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Nintendo)
Among Us (InnerSloth) (WINNER)
Call of Duty: Warzone (Infinity Ward/Raven/Activision)
Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout (Mediatonic/Devolver)
Valorant (Riot Games)
Best Debut Game
Carrion (Phobia Game Studio/Devolver)
Mortal Shell (Cold Symmetry/Playstack)
Raji: An Ancient Epic (Nodding Heads Games)
Röki (Polygon Treehouse/CI Games)
Phasmophobia (Kinetic Games) (WINNER)
Best Content Creator of the Year
Alanah Pearce
NickMercs
TimtheTatman
Jay Ann Lopez
Valkyrae (WINNER)
Best Esports Game
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (Infinity Ward/Raven/Activision)
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (Valve)
Fortnite (Epic Games)
League of Legends (Riot Games) (WINNER)
Valorant (Riot Games)
Best Esports Athlete
Ian “Crimsix” Porter / Call of Duty
Heo “Showmaker” Su / League of Legends (WINNER)
Kim “Canyon” Geon-bu / League of Legends
Anthony “Shotzzy” Cuevas-Castro / Call of Duty
Matthieu “ZywOo” Herbaut / CS:GO
Best Esports Team
DAMWON Gaming / League of Legends
Dallas Empire / Call of Duty
San Francisco Shock / Overwatch League
G2 Esports / League of Legends (WINNER)
Team Secret / DOTA2
Best Esports Event
BLAST Premier: Spring E2020 European Finals (CS:GO)
Call of Duty League Championship 2020
IEM Katowice 2020 (CS:GO)
League of Legends World Championship 2020 (WINNER)
Overwatch League Grand Finals 2020
Best Esports Coach
Danny “Zonic” Sorensen (WINNER)
Dae-Hee “Crusty” Park
Fabian “Grabbz” Lohmann
Lee “Zefa” Jae-Min
Raymond “Rambo” Lussier
Best Esports Host
Eefje “Sjokz” Depoortere (WINNER)
Alex “Machine” Richardson
Alex “Goldenboy” Mendez
James “Dash” Patterson
Jorien “Sheever” van der Heijden
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