This is a draft page for The Game Awards. Feel free to edit the page to include additional entries, fix typos, etc.
The Game Awards is an annual awards ceremony produced and hosted by Geoff Keighley in December celebrating the video game industry itself that is held every December. It is the successor to the Spike Video Game Awards (the VGX in its final year), which Keighley also hosted.
With two exceptions, the awards ceremonies are held at the Peacock Theaternote in Los Angeles. The two exceptions are the inaugural ceremony in 2014, which was held at The AXIS (today Zappos Theater) in Las Vegas, and 2020, which was held virtually due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.
open/close all folders
"In general", "happens every year" or "happens multiple years":
- Awesome Music — "Best Score and Music" gives an award related to this
- The Muppets have shown up in-character to present awards, except in the 2021 show.
Awards and ceremonies by year:
Dates in parentheses denote when that year's ceremony was held.2014 (December 5; Bakkt Theaternote , Las Vegas, NV)
Nominations and awards
- Game of the Year
- Developer of the Year
- Best Narrative
- Best Score and Music
- Michael Salvatori, C. Paul Johnson, Martin O'Donnell and Paul McCartney for Destiny
- Byron Bullock, Sam Cooper, Jeff van Dyck, Christian Henson, Joe Henson, Haydn Payne, and Alexis Smith for Alien: Isolation
- Darren Korb for Transistor
- Béatrice Martin for Child of Light
- Boris Salchow for Sunset Overdrive
- Michael Salvatori, C. Paul Johnson, Martin O'Donnell and Paul McCartney for Destiny
- Best Performance
- Trey Parker for South Park: The Stick of Truth as Various Voices
- Troy Baker for Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor as Talion
- Adam Harrington for The Wolf Among Us as Bigby Wolf
- Melissa Hutchison for The Walking Dead: Season Two as Clementine
- Kevin Spacey for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare as Jonathan Irons
- Trey Parker for South Park: The Stick of Truth as Various Voices
- Games For Change
- Best Independent Game
- Best Mobile/Handheld Game
- Best Shooter
- Best Action/Adventure
- Best Role Playing Game
- Best Fighting
- Best Family
- Best Sports/Racing
- Best Online Experience
- Most Anticipated Game
Trailers and presentations
Other notable details
- Koji Kondo and Imagine Dragons teamed up to play music from The Legendof Zelda soundtracks and Imagine Dragons' discography. See this clip for more info.
2015 (December 3)
Nominations and Awards
- Game of the Year
- Developer of the Year
- Best Narrative
- Best Art Direction
- Best Score/Soundtrack
- Best Performance
- Viva Seifert for Her Story as Hannah Smith and Eve
- Games For Impact
- Best Independent Game
- Best Mobile/Handheld Game
- Best Shooter
- Best Action/Adventure
- Best Role Playing Game
- Best Fighting
- Best Family
- Best Sports/Racing
- Best Multiplayer
- Most Anticipated Game
Trailers and Presentations
Other Notable details
2016 (December 1)
Nominations and Awards
- Game of the Year
- Best Game Direction
- Best Narrative
- Best Art Direction
- Best Music/Sound Design
- Best Performance
- Nolan North for Uncharted 4: A Thief's End as Nathan Drake
- Troy Baker for Uncharted 4: A Thief's End as Samuel "Sam" Drake
- Alex Hernandez for Mafia III as Lincoln Clay
- Cissy Jones for Firewatch as Delilah
- Emily Rose for Uncharted 4: A Thief's End as Elena Fisher
- Rich Sommer for Firewatch as Henry
- Nolan North for Uncharted 4: A Thief's End as Nathan Drake
- Games For Impact
- Best Independent Game
- Best Mobile/Handheld Game
- Best VR Game
- Best Action Game
- Best Action/Adventure
- Best Role Playing Game
- Best Fighting
- Best Family
- Best Sports/Racing
- Best Strategy
- Best Multiplayer
- Most Anticipated Game
Trailers and Presentations
Other Notable details
2017 (December 7)
Nominations and Awards
- Game of the Year
- Best Game Direction
- Best Narrative
- Best Art Direction
- Best Score and Music
- Best Audio Design
- Best Performance
- Melina Juergens for Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice as Senua
- Laura Bailey for Uncharted: The Lost Legacy as Nadine Ross
- Claudia Black for Uncharted: The Lost Legacy as Chloe Frazer
- Brian Bloom for Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus as William Joseph "B.J." Blazkowicz
- Ashly Burch for Horizon Zero Dawn as Aloy and Elisabet Sobeck
- Melina Juergens for Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice as Senua
- Games For Impact
- Best Ongoing
- Best Independent Game
- Best Mobile Game
- Best Handheld Game
- Best VR/AR
- Best Action Game
- Best Action/Adventure
- Best Role Playing Game
- Best Fighting
- Best Family
- Best Sports/Racing
- Best Strategy
- Best Multiplayer
- Best Debut Indie Game
Trailers and Presentations
Other Notable details
2018 (December 6)
Nominations and Awards
- Game of the Year
- Best Game Direction
- SIE Santa Monica Studio for Death Stranding
- Insomniac Games for Marvel's Spider-Man
- Hazelight Studios for A Way Out
- Quantic Dream for Detroit: Become Human
- Rockstar Games for Red Dead Redemption 2
- SIE Santa Monica Studio for Death Stranding
- Best Narrative
- Best Art Direction
- Best Score and Music
- Woody Jackson for Red Dead Redemption 2
- Joe Hisaishi for Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom
- Bear McCreary for God of War (PS4)
- Yasunori Nishiki for Octopath Traveler
- John Paesano for Marvel's Spider-Man
- Lena Raine for Celeste
- Woody Jackson for Red Dead Redemption 2
- Best Audio Design
- Best Performance
- Roger Clark for Red Dead Redemption 2 as Arthur Morgan
- Bryan Dechart for Detroit: Become Human as Connor
- Christopher Judge for God of War (PS4) as Kratos
- Yuri Lowenthal for Marvel's Spider-Man as Peter Parker/Spider-Man I
- Melissanthi Mahut for Assassin's Creed: Odyssey as Kassandra
- Roger Clark for Red Dead Redemption 2 as Arthur Morgan
- Games For Impact
- Best Ongoing
- Best Independent Game
- Best Mobile Game
- Best Community Support
- Best VR/AR
- Video Game/Astro Bot Rescue Mission
- Best Action Game
- Best Action/Adventure
- Best RPG
- Best Fighting
- Best Family
- Best Sports/Racing
- Best Strategy
- Best Multiplayer
- Best Debut Indie Game
Trailers and Presentations
Other Notable details
2019 (December 12)
Nominations and Awards
- Game of the Year
- Best Game Direction
- Kojima Productions for Death Stranding
- Capcom for Resident Evil 2 (Remake)
- FromSoftware for Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
- Mobius Digital for Outer Wilds
- Remedy Entertainment for Control
- Kojima Productions for Death Stranding
- Best Narrative
- Best Art Direction
- Best Score and Music
- Best Audio Design
- Best Performance
- Mads Mikkelsen for Death Stranding as Clifford "Cliff" Unger
- Laura Bailey for Gears 5 as Kait Diaz
- Ashly Burch for The Outer Worlds as Parvati Holcomb
- Courtney Hope for Control as Jesse Faden
- Matthew Porretta for Control as Dr. Casper Darling
- Norman Reedus for Death Stranding as Sam Porter Bridges
- Mads Mikkelsen for Death Stranding as Clifford "Cliff" Unger
- Games For Impact
- Best Ongoing
- Best Independent Game
- Best Mobile Game
- Best Community Support
- Best VR/AR
- Best Action Game
- Best Action/Adventure
- Best RPG
- Best Fighting
- Best Family
- Best Sports/Racing
- Best Strategy
- Best Multiplayer
- Fresh Indie Game
- Players' Voicenote
Trailers and Presentations
Other Notable details
2020 (December 10; Los Angelesnote )
Nominations and Awards
- Game of the Year
- Best Game Direction
- Best Narrative
- Neil Druckmann and Halley Gross for The Last of Us Part II
- George Kamitani for 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim
- Greg Kasavin for Hades
- Kazushige Nojima, Motomu Toriyama, Hiroaki Iwaki, and Sachie Hirano for Final Fantasy VII Remake
- Ian Ryan, Liz Albl, Patrick Downs, and Jordan Lemos for Ghost of Tsushima
- Neil Druckmann and Halley Gross for The Last of Us Part II
- Best Art Direction
- Best Score and Music
- Nobuo Uematsu, Masashi Hamauzu, and Mitsuto Suzuki for Final Fantasy VII Remake
- Gareth Coker for Ori and the Will of the Wisps
- Mick Gordon for Doom Eternal
- Darren Korb for Hades
- Gustavo Santaolalla and Mac Quayle for The Last of Us Part II
- Nobuo Uematsu, Masashi Hamauzu, and Mitsuto Suzuki for Final Fantasy VII Remake
- Best Audio Design
- Best Performance
- Laura Bailey for The Last of Us Part II as Abigail "Abby" Anderson
- Logan Cunningham for Hades as Hades
- Nadji Jeter for Spider-Man: Miles Morales as Miles Morales/Spider-Man II
- Ashley Johnson for The Last of Us Part II as Ellie Williams
- Daisuke Tsuji for Ghost of Tsushima as Jin Sakai
- Laura Bailey for The Last of Us Part II as Abigail "Abby" Anderson
- Games For Impact
- Best Ongoing
- Best Independent Game
- Best Mobile Game
- Best Community Support
- Mediatonic for Fall Guys
- Bungie for Destiny 2
- Epic Games for Fortnite
- Hello Games for No Man's Sky
- Respawn Entertainment for Apex Legends
- Riot Games for Valorant
- Mediatonic for Fall Guys
- Best VR/AR
- Innovation in Accessibility
- Best Action Game
- Best Action/Adventure
- Best RPG
- Best Fighting
- Best Family
- Best Sports/Racing
- Best Sim/Strategy
- Best Multiplayer
- Best Debut Game
- Most Anticipated Game
- Players' Voice
Trailers and Presentations
Other Notable details
2021 (December 9)
Nominations and Awards
- Game of the Year
- Best Game Direction
- Arkane Studios for Deathloop
- Double Fine for Psychonauts 2
- Hazelight Studios for It Takes Two
- Housemarque for Returnal
- Insomniac Games for Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
- Arkane Studios for Deathloop
- Best Narrative
- Best Art Direction
- Best Score and Music
- Keiichi Okabe for Nier Replicant ver.1.22474487139...
- Johnny Galvatron and Josh Abrahams for The Artful Escape
- Richard Jacques for Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy
- Marcin Przybylowicz and Piotr T. Adamczyk for Cyberpunk 2077
- Tom Salta for Deathloop
- Keiichi Okabe for Nier Replicant ver.1.22474487139...
- Best Audio Design
- Best Performance
- Maggie Robertson for Resident Evil Village as Lady Alcina Dimitrescu
- Ozioma Akagha for Deathloop as Juliana Blake
- Giancarlo Esposito for Far Cry 6 as Anton Castillo
- Jason E. Kelley for Deathloop as Colt Vahn
- Erika Mori for Life Is Strange: True Colors as Alexandra "Alex" Chen
- Maggie Robertson for Resident Evil Village as Lady Alcina Dimitrescu
- Games For Impact
- Best Ongoing
- Best Independent Game
- Best Mobile Game
- Genshin Impact
- Fantasian
- League of Legends: Wild Rift
- Marvel Future Revolution
- Pokémon Unite
- Genshin Impact
- Best Community Support
- Best VR/AR
- Innovation in Accessibility
- Best Action Game
- Best Action/Adventure
- Best RPG
- Best Fighting
- Best Family
- Best Sports/Racing
- Best Sim/Strategy
- Best Multiplayer
- Best Debut Indie Game
- Most Anticipated Game
- Players' Voice
Trailers and Presentations
Other Notable details
2022 (December 8)
Nominations and Awards
- Game of the Year
- Best Game Direction
- FromSoftware for Elden Ring
- BlueTwelve Studio for Stray (2022)
- Guerrilla Games for Horizon Forbidden West
- Half Mermaid Productions for IMMORTALITY (2022)
- SIE Santa Monica Studio for God of War Ragnarök
- FromSoftware for Elden Ring
- Best Narrative
- Best Art Direction
- Best Score and Music
- Bear McCreary for God of War Ragnarök
- Olivier Deriviere for A Plague Tale: Requiem
- Yasunori Mitsuda for Xenoblade Chronicles 3
- Tsukasa Saitoh for Elden Ring
- Two Feathers for Metal: Hellsinger
- Bear McCreary for God of War Ragnarök
- Best Audio Design
- Best Performance
- Christopher Judge for God of War Ragnarök as Kratos
- Ashly Burch for Horizon Forbidden West as Aloy, Elisabet Sobeck, and Beta
- Manon Gage for IMMORTALITY (2022) as Marissa Marcel
- Charlotte McBurney for A Plague Tale: Requiem as Amicia de Rune
- Sunny Suljic for God of War Ragnarök as Atreus
- Christopher Judge for God of War Ragnarök as Kratos
- Games For Impact
- Best Ongoing
- Best Independent Game
- Best Mobile Game
- Best Community Support
- Best VR/AR
- Innovation in Accessibility
- Best Action Game
- Best Action/Adventure
- Best RPG
- Best Fighting
- Best Family
- Best Sports/Racing
- Best Sim/Strategy
- Best Multiplayer
- Best Debut Indie Game
- Most Anticipated Game
- Best Adaptation
- Arcane (based on League of Legends)
- Cyberpunk: Edgerunners (based on Cyberpunk 2077)
- The Cuphead Show! (based on Cuphead)
- Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022) (based on Sonic the Hedgehog)
- Uncharted (2022) (based on Uncharted)
- Arcane (based on League of Legends)
- Players' Voice
- Best Esports Athlete
- Jaccob "yay" Whiteaker (OpTic Gaming, Valorant)
- Jeong "Chovy" Ji-hoon (Gen.G, League of Legends)
- Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok (T1, League of Legends)
- Finn "karrigan" Andersen (FaZe Clan, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive)
- Oleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev (Natus Vincere, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive)
- Jaccob "yay" Whiteaker (OpTic Gaming, Valorant)
- Best Esports Team
- LOUD (Valorant)
- DarkZero Esports (Apex Legends)
- FaZe Clan (Counter-Strike: Global Offensive)
- Gen.G (League of Legends)
- Los Angelas Thieves (Call of Duty)
- LOUD (Valorant)
- Best Esports Coach
- Matheus "bzkA" Tarasconi (LOUD, Valorant)
- Andrii "B1ad3" Horodenskyi (Natus Vincere, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive)
- Erik "d00mbr0s" Sandgren (FunPlus Phoenix, Valorant)
- Robert "RobbaN" Dahlström (FaZe Clan, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive)
- Go "Score" Dong-bin (Gen.G, League of Legends)
- Matheus "bzkA" Tarasconi (LOUD, Valorant)
- Best Esports Event
- 2022 League of Legends World Championship
- Evo 2022
- PGL Major Antwerp 2022
- 2022 Mid-Season Invitational
- 2022 Valorant Champions
- 2022 League of Legends World Championship
- Content Creator of the Year
- Ludwig Ahgren
- Karl Jacobs
- Nibellion
- Nobru
- QTCinderella
- Ludwig Ahgren
Trailers and presentations
- Scenes from The Super Mario Bros. Movie were shown
- Crash Team Rumble was announced by Crash crashing the award show.
- Among Us
- Baldur's Gate III
- Blood Bowl 3
- Blue Protocol
- Callof Duty Modern Warfare II
- Colossal Cave 3 D Adventure
- Company Of Heroes 3
- Cyberpunk 2077
- Dead Cells
- Destiny 2 Lightfall
- Diablo IV
- Dune Awakening
- Final Fantasy XVI
- Fire Emblem Engage
- Forspoken
- Genshin Impact
- Horizon: Call of the Mountain
- Horizon Forbidden West
- Meet Your Maker
- Nightingale
- Party Animals
- Replaced
- Returnal
- Rocket League
- Sky: Children of the Light
- Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
- Street Fighter 6
- Suicide Squad Killthe Justice League
- Tekken 8
- The Last of Us
- The Lords Of The Fallen
- Vampire Survivors
- Viewfinder
- Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine II
- Wild Hearts
New games announced included:
- After Us
- Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon
- Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden
- Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon
- Behemoth VR
- Crash Team Rumble
- Crime Boss: Rockay City
- Death Stranding 2
- Earthblade
- Hades II
- Hellboy Web of Wyrd
- Immortals Of Aveum
- Judas
- Post Trauma
- Remnant 2
- Transformers Reactivate
- Valiant Hearts Coming Home
- Wayfinder
Other notable details
- Prior to the ceremony, Kotaku's Alyssa Mercante called out the poor fashion that attendees wore at previous ceremonies. Her article led to several attendees start taking their looks seriously, improving the show's fashion sense in the process.
- Christopher Judge gave an emotional eight-minute long speech for his Best Performance win, which was the first award given on-stage that night.
- Musician Pedro Eustache's very enthusiastic musical performance during the Game of the Year medley, which saw him play multiple wind instruments throughout, became memetic, with online viewers nicknaming him "Flute Guy".
- The end of the ceremony became infamous when a 15-year-old prankster named Matan Even snuck onto the stage with the FromSoftware crew when they won the Game of the Year award, then after Elden Ring director Hidetaka Miyazaki gave his speech and the walk-off music began playing, Even made a brief yet bizarre speech saying, "I want to thank everybody and say I think I want to nominate this award to my Reformed Orthodox rabbi Bill Clinton."note Although it happened at the end of the ceremony and Even was escorted by security, the interruption overshadowed the show itself.
2023 (December 7)
Nominations and Awards
- Game of the Year
- Best Game Direction
- Best Narrative
- Best Art Direction
- Best Score and Music
- Masayoshi Soken for Final Fantasy XVI
- Petri Alanko for Alan Wake II
- Shuichi Kobori for Hi-Fi RUSH
- Nintendo Sound Team for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
- Borislav Slavov for Baldur's Gate III
- Masayoshi Soken for Final Fantasy XVI
- Best Audio Design
- Best Performance
- Neil Newbon for Baldur's Gate III as Astarion Ancunín
- Idris Elba for Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty as Solomon Reed
- Melanie Liburd for Alan Wake II as Agent Saga Anderson
- Yuri Lowenthal for Marvel's Spider-Man 2 as Peter Parker/Spider-Man I
- Cameron Monaghan for Star Wars Jedi: Survivor as Cal Kestis
- Ben Starr for Final Fantasy XVI as Clive Rosfield
- Neil Newbon for Baldur's Gate III as Astarion Ancunín
- Innovation in Accessibility
- Games For Impact
- Best Ongoing
- Best Community Support
- Best Independent Game
- Best Debut Indie Game
- Best Mobile Game
- Best VR/AR
- Best Action Game
- Best Action/Adventure
- Best RPG
- Best Fighting
- Best Family
- Best Sim/Strategy
- Best Sports/Racing
- Best Multiplayer
- Best Adaptation
- The Last of Us (2023) (based on The Last of Us)
- Castlevania: Nocturne (based on Castlevania)
- Gran Turismo (2023) (based on Gran Turismo)
- The Super Mario Bros. Movie (based on Super Mario Bros.)
- Twisted Metal (2023) (based on Twisted Metal)
- The Last of Us (2023) (based on The Last of Us)
- Most Anticipated Game
- Content Creator of the Year
- Player's Voice
- Best Esports Game
Trailers and presentations
- Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons remake
- Pony Island 2 Panda Circus
- The Rise Of The Golden Idol
- Usual June
- Harmonium The Musical
- Windblown
- Thrasher
- DREDGE DLC for Dave the Diver
- World Of Goo 2
- Metaphor Refantazio
- Exodus
- God of War Ragnarök DLC Valhalla
- Big Walk
- Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
- Senuas Saga Hellblade II
- Kemuri
- No Rest For The Wicked
- New Jet Set Radio, Shinobi, Golden Axe, Streets of Rage and Crazy Taxi games
- Dragon Ball Sparking Zero
- The Casting of Frank Stone
- Visions of Mana
- Rise of the Rōnin
- OD
- Jurassic Park: Survival
- Black Myth: Wukong
- Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League
- Warframe update Whispers in the Walls
- Tales Of Kenzera Zau
- Lost Records Bloom And Rage
- The First Berserker: Khazan
- Final Fantasy VII Rebirth theme song reveal
- Apex Legends and Final Fantasy crossover
- Honkai: Star Rail update
- Skull & Bones
- Marvels Blade
- Twisted Metal (2023) Season 2 announcement
- Last Sentinel
- The First Descendant release window announcement
- Zenless Zone Zero
- Den Of Wolves
- Exoborne
- Fallout (2024)
- Light No Fire
- Stormgate
- Guilty Gear -STRIVE- new character reveal
- Final Fantasy XVI DLC Echoes of the Fallen
- The Finals
- Monster Hunter Wilds
- Baldur's Gate III launch announcement for Xbox Series X|S
Other notable details
- This year's ceremony quickly ended up being one of the most roundly criticized ceremonies in the show's history, particularly towards its rushing of award winners' speeches (after Christopher Judge's eight-minute long speech the previous year) with "wrap-it-up" music playing after just 30 seconds and too much time dedicated towards announcements and celebrities. One particularly criticized instance regarding this was Hideo Kojima and Jordan Peele being given at least six minutes to discuss their newly-announced and very early into production game OD, whereas according to The Escapist's Liam Nolan, the total amount of time overall that the award winners gave their speeches was less than 11 minutes. For his part, Keighley posted on Twitter / X the following the day that he agreed with this criticism, saying that he did try to tell the production crew to ease up on the strict enforcing of the time limit and said that he will address this at future ceremonies.
- Speaking of Judge, several Call of Duty developers criticized his joke where he claims that his 2022 speech was longer than Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III's single-player campaign.
- The ceremony was also criticized for what it did not do, namely acknowledging the massive amount of developer layoffs that occurred throughout the industry during 2023 as profits plateaued after the sales boost resulting from the COVID-19 Pandemic worn off and the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza, despite the Game Awards' Future Class recipients past and present sending an open letter to Geoff Keighley to acknowledge the latter.
- The few positives the ceremony did receive was the musical performances. European folk music group Heilung performed "Seidh" from the upcoming Senuas Saga Hellblade II, American singer Loren Allred performed "No Promises to Keep" from the upcoming Final Fantasy VII Rebirth with the Game Awards Orchestra (again conducted by Lorne Balfe), and Finnish rock band Poets of the Fall performed "Herald of Darkness" from Alan Wake II under the guise of their Fake Band the Old Gods of Asgard and were joined by David Harewood (who portrayed Mr. Door in the game), Matthew Porretta (Alan Wake's voice), Ilkka Villi (Wake's model), and even the game's director Sam Lake. And of course, "Flute Guy" Pedro Eustache was brought back to join the Game Awards Orchestra and was again energetically performing and switching between different flutes during the Game of the Year Medley, even using a big double contrabass flute at the end.