Alan Wake 2, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, Resident Evil 4, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Baldur’s Gate 3, and Super Mario Bros. Wonder were up for The Game Awards’ top prize of Game of the Year. Though all six games were worthy of the title, Baldur’s Gate 3 took home the award.
Both Baldur’s Gate 3 and Alan Wake 2 led the pack with eight nominations across all categories, followed by Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 with seven, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Super Mario Bros. Wonder at five, and Resident Evil 4 with three. As for the big winners, Baldur’s Gate 3 took home six awards including the top spot, while Alan Wake 2 won three.
It was big year for Nintendo, with 15 nominations total. PlayStation followed with 13; Xbox with 10; Epic Games with nine; Capcom, Larian, and Square Enix all with eight; Electronic Arts with six; and CD Projekt Red and Riot Games with four nominations. Notably absent from most categories, however, is Bethesda Softworks’ Starfield, which received just one nomination in the best role-playing game category.
The Game Awards was broadcast live on Dec. 7 from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. Alongside the awards, Keighley also debuted loads of video game trailers. Though 2023 has had an undeniably great slate of video game releases, it’s also been a tough year for the industry and its workers; more than 6,000 people were laid off from video game industry jobs this year.
Here are all the nominees and winners:
Image: Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing
Game of the Year
Alan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing)
Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games/SIE)
Resident Evil 4 (Capcom)
Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
Best Game Direction
Alan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing)
Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2(Insomniac Games/SIE)
Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
Best Adaptation
Castlevania: Nocturne (Powerhouse Animation/Netflix)
Gran Turismo (PlayStation Productions/Sony Pictures)
The Last of Us (PlayStation Productions/HBO)
The Super Mario Bros. Movie (Illumination/Nintendo/Universal Pictures)
Twisted Metal (PlayStation Productions/Peacock)
Image: Larian Studios via Polygon
Best Narrative
Alan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing)
Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty (CD Projekt Red)
Final Fantasy XVI (Square Enix)
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games/SIE)
Best Art Direction
Alan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing)
Hi-Fi Rush (Tango Gameworks/Bethesda Softworks)
Lies of P (Round8 Studio/Neowiz Games)
Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
Best Score and Music
Alan Wake 2, Composer Petri Alanko (Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing)
Baldur’s Gate 3, Composer Borislav Slavov (Larian Studios)
Final Fantasy XVI, Composer Masayoshi Soken (Square Enix)
Hi-Fi Rush, Audio Director Shuichi Kobori (Tango Gameworks/Bethesda Softworks)
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Composed by Nintendo Sound Team (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
Best Audio Design
Alan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing)
Dead Space (Motive Studio/EA)
Hi-Fi Rush (Tango Gameworks/Bethesda Softworks)
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games/SIE)
Resident Evil 4 (Capcom)
Image: CD Projekt Red
Best Performance
Ben Starr, Final Fantasy XVI
Cameron Monaghan, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
Idris Elba, Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty
Melanie Liburd, Alan Wake 2
Neil Newbon, Baldur’s Gate 3
Yuri Lowenthal, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
Innovation in Accessibility
Diablo IV (Blizzard Entertainment)
Forza Motorsport (Turn 10 Studios/Xbox Game Studios)
Hi-Fi Rush (Tango Gameworks/Bethesda Softworks)
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games/SIE)
Mortal Kombat 1 (NetherRealm Studios/WB Games)
Street Fighter 6 (Capcom)
Games for Impact
A Space for the Unbound (Mojiken Studio/Toge Productions/Chorus)
Chants of Sennaar (Rundisc/Focus Entertainment)
Goodbye Volcano High (KO_OP)
Tchia (Awaceb/Kepler Interactive)
Terra Nil (Free Lives/Devolver Digital/Netflix)
Venba (Visai Games)
Best Ongoing Game
Apex Legends (Respawn Entertainment/EA)
Cyberpunk 2077 (CD Projekt Red)
Final Fantasy XIV (Square Enix)
Fortnite (Epic Games)
Genshin Impact (HoYoverse)
Image: Hoyoverse
Best Community Support
Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
Cyberpunk 2077 (CD Projekt Red)
Destiny 2 (Bungie)
Final Fantasy XIV (Square Enix)
No Man’s Sky (Hello Games)
Best Independent Game
Cocoon (Geometric Interactive/Annapurna Interactive)
Dave the Diver (MINTROCKET)
Dredge (Black Salt Games/Team 17)
Sea of Stars (Sabotage Studio)
Viewfinder (Sad Owl Studios/Thunderful Publishing)
Best Debut Indie Game
Cocoon (Geometric Interactive/Annapurna Interactive)
Dredge (Black Salt Games/Team 17)
Pizza Tower (Tour de Pizza)
Venba (Visai Games)
Viewfinder (Sad Owl Studios/Thunderful Publishing)
Best Mobile Game
Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis (Applibot/Square Enix)
Honkai: Star Rail (HoYoverse)
Hello Kitty Island Adventure (Sunblink Entertainment)
Monster Hunter Now (Niantic/Capcom)
Terra Nil (Free Lives/Devolver/Netflix)
Best VR/AR Game
Gran Turismo 7 (Polyphony Digital/SIE)
Humanity (tha LTD/Enhance Games)
Horizon Call of the Mountain (Guerrilla Games/Firesprite/SIE)
Resident Evil Village VR Mode (Capcom)
Synapse (nDreams)
Image: Tango Gameworks/Bethesda Softworks via Polygon
Best Action Game
Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco)
Dead Island 2 (Dambuster Studios/Deep Silver)
Ghostrunner 2 (One More Level/505 Games)
Hi-Fi Rush (Tango Gameworks/Bethesda Softworks)
Remnant 2 (Gunfire Games/Gearbox Publishing)
Best Action/Adventure Game
Alan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing)
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games/SIE)
Resident Evil 4 (Capcom)
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor (Respawn Entertainment/EA)
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
Best RPG
Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
Final Fantasy XVI (Square Enix)
Lies of P (Round8 Studio/Neowiz Games)
Sea of Stars (Sabotage Studio)
Starfield (Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda Softworks)
Best Fighting Game
God of Rock (Modus Studios Brazil/Modus Games)
Mortal Kombat 1 (NetherRealm Studios/WB Games)
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 (Ludosity/Fair Play Labs/GameMill Entertainment)
Pocket Bravery (Statera Studio/PQube)
Street Fighter 6 (Capcom)
Best Family Game
Disney Illusion Island (Dlala Studios/Disney)
Party Animals (Recreate Games)
Pikmin 4 (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
Sonic Superstars (Arzest/Sonic Team/Sega)
Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo
Best Sim/Strategy Game
Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp (WayForward/Nintendo)
Cities: Skylines II (Colossal Order/Paradox Interactive)
Company of Heroes 3 (Relic Entertainment/Sega)
Fire Emblem Engage (Intelligent Systems/Nintendo)
Pikmin 4 (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
Best Sports/Racing
EA Sports FC 24 (EA Vancouver/EA Romania/EA Sports)
F1 23 (Codemasters/EA Sports)
Forza Motorsport (Turn 10 Studios/Xbox Game Studios)
Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged (Milestone)
The Crew Motorfest (Ubisoft Ivory Tower/Ubisoft)
Best Multiplayer Presented by Discord
Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
Diablo IV (Blizzard Entertainment)
Party Animals (Recreate Games)
Street Fighter 6 (Capcom)
Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
Most Anticipated Game
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (Square Enix)
Hades II (Supergiant Games)
Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth (Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio/Sega)
Star Wars Outlaws (Massive Entertainment/Ubisoft)
Tekken 8 (Bandai Namco/Arika)
Player’s Voice
Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty (CD Projekt Red)
Genshin Impact (HoYoverse)
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games/SIE)
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
Content Creator of the Year
IronMouse
PeopleMakeGames
Quackity
Spreen
SypherPK
Image: Riot Games
Best Esports Game
Counter-Strike 2 (Valve)
Dota 2 (Valve)
League of Legends (Riot Games)
PUBG Mobile (LightSpeed Studios/Tencent Games)
Valorant (Riot Games)
Best Esports Athlete
Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok (League of Legends)
Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut (CS:GO)
Max “Demon1” Mazanov (Valorant)
Paco “HyDra” Rusiewiez (Call of Duty)
Park “Ruler” Jae-hyuk (League of Legends)
Phillip ”ImperialHal” Dosen (Apex Legends)
Best Esports Team
Evil Geniuses (Valorant)
Fnatic (Valorant)
Gaimin Gladiators (Dota 2)
JD Gaming (League of Legends)
Team Vitality (Counter-Strike)
Best Esports Coach
Christine “potter” Chi (Evil Geniuses – Valorant)
Danny “zonic” Sorensen (Team Falcons – Counter-Strike)
Jordan “Gunba” Graham (Florida Mayhem – Overwatch)
Remy “XTQZZZ” Quoniam (Team Vitality – Counter-Strike)
Yoon “Homme” Sung-young (JD Gaming – League of Legends)
Best Esports Event
2023 League of Legends World Championship
Blast.tv Paris Major 2023
Evo 2023
The International Dota 2 Championships 2023
Valorant Champions 2023
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- The Game Awards
- Alan Wake 2
- Baldur’s Gate 3
- Street Fighter 6
- The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
