As has been the case for the past nine years, the Game Awards ceremony took place this December, this time at the Microsoft Theatre in Los Angeles. Millions of gamers the world over tuned in to find out which of 2022’s top games would pick up awards in what some have called the Oscars of the video game world (and to reinforce this point, Hollywood actors like Al Pacino were actually present at this year’s ceremony).
Of course, while the Game Awards features many categories from Best Narrative to Best Multiplayer, it’s the Game of the Year award that truly matters… And six games were in the running for the coveted prize: Elden Ring, God of War Ragnarok, Horizon Forbidden West, Scorn, A Plague Tale: Requiem and Stray. Pundits mostly agreed that it would all come down to a duel between Elden Ring and God of War Ragnarok this year.
And God of War Ragnarok surely is a stunning third-person action and adventure game – it has the visceral and violent action of the early God of War games, but also an emotional story, with protagonist Kratos taking his son Atreus for the ride as in 2018’s God of War reboot, a game which incredibly enough it managed to surpass. It is a PS4 and PS5 exclusive, so it’s audience is limited to those who game on Sony’s PlayStation consoles though.
Elden Ring, meanwhile, is another game from creator Hidetaka Miyazaki (in a collaboration with Game of Thrones writer George R. R. Martin no less). Unlike his Dark Souls games, Elden Ring is an open world game, and also a more accessible experience as developer From Software has dialed down the difficulty while still offering a challenging and fascinating world to explore.
It was surely a tough choice between these two games though, but the Game of the Year award finally went to Elden Ring, which picked up three other awards at this year’s Game Awards ceremony.
God of War Ragnarok, though, despite not winning Game of the Year, won more awards than any other game in the night: a total of seven, including Best Narrative, a category in which it beat Elden Ring (which is understandable taking into account Miyazaki’s game doesn’t have much of a story truth be told).
From Software’s latest game Elden Ring took the top prize at the Game Awards this year.
It was also surprising to see Horizon Forbidden West come out empty handed. The sequel to 2017’s Horizon Zero Dawn was one of the biggest games of the year, and had been nominated for a total of seven awards but failed to pick up any during the night. It’s still one of the best games to come out in 2022, though.
Another game which likely was in many people’s eyes for this year’s Game Awards show was indie sensation Stray, an original video game in which you play a cat trying to find its way around a strange sci-fi world. It won awards for best indie game, and best debut indie game too (which seems like something of a contradiction but nonetheless it’s clear this game deserved the honors).
But aside from giving awards to games already released, the Game Awards 2022 show also let developers showcase upcoming games, and also make exciting announcements about these. CD Projekt Red’s upcoming expansion for Cyberpunk 2077 got a new trailer, while Blizzard finally revealed a release date for its eagerly anticipated Diablo IV game (which is hitting shelves on June 6, 2023).
The Game Awards 2022 let gamers take a peek at other hot upcoming games like Star Wars Jedi: Survivor and Final Fantasy XVI, two of the top upcoming video games of 2023 no doubt. Actually, Final Fantasy XVI had been nominated in the “Most Anticipated” category together with the likes of the Resident Evil 4 remake and Starfield, but it was Nintendo’s The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom which won the award for most anticipated game though.
Also, awards were doled out for the best multiplayer experience offered by a game (with Splatoon 3 surprisingly beating Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II) and also awards in several categories involving Esports.
Here follows a list of the Game Awards 2022 nominees and winners (via npr.org).
Game Awards 2022 winners & nominees
GAME OF THE YEAR
- A Plague Tale: Requiem (Asobo Studio/Focus Entertainment)
- Elden Ring (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco) * Winner *
- God of War Ragnarök (Sony Santa Monica/SIE)
- Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games/SIE)
- Stray (BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna)
- Xenoblade Chronicles 3 (Monolith Soft/Nintendo)
BEST GAME DIRECTION
- Elden Ring (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco) * Winner *
- God of War Ragnarök (Sony Santa Monica/SIE)
- Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games/SIE)
- Immortality (Half Mermaid)
- Stray (BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna)
BEST NARRATIVE
- A Plague Tale: Requiem (Asobo Studio/Focus Entertainment)
- Elden Ring (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco)
- God of War Ragnarök (Sony Santa Monica/SIE) * Winner *
- Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games/SIE)
- Immortality (Half Mermaid)
BEST ART DIRECTION
- Elden Ring (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco) * Winner *
- God of War Ragnarök (Sony Santa Monica/SIE)
- Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games/SIE)
- Scorn (Ebb Software/Kepler Interactive)
- Stray (BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna)
BEST SCORE AND MUSIC
- Olivier Deriviere, A Plague Tale: Requiem
- Tsukasa Saitoh,Elden Ring
- Bear McCreary, God of War Ragnarök * Winner *
- Two Feathers, Metal: Hellsinger
- Yasunori Mitsuda, Xenoblade Chronicles 3
BEST AUDIO DESIGN
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (Infinity Ward/Activision)
- Elden Ring (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco)
- God of War Ragnarök (Sony Santa Monica/SIE) * Winner *
- Gran Turismo 7 (Polyphony/SIE)
- Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games/SIE)
BEST PERFORMANCE
- Ashly Burch, Horizon Forbidden West
- Charlotte McBurney, A Plague Tale: Requiem
- Christopher Judge, God of War Ragnarök * Winner *
- Manon Gage, Immortality
- Sunny Suljic, God of War Ragnarök
GAMES FOR IMPACT
- A Memoir Blue (Cloisters Interactive/Annapurna)
- As Dusk Falls (Interior Night/Xbox Game Studios) * Winner *
- Citizen Sleeper (Jump Over The Age/Fellow Traveller)
- Endling – Extinction is Forever (Herobeat Studios/HandyGames)
- Hindsight (Team Hindsight/Annapurna)
- I Was a Teenage Exocolonist (Northway Games/Finji)
BEST ONGOING GAME
- Apex Legends (Respawn/EA)
- Destiny 2 (Bungie)
- FINAL FANTASY XIV (Square Enix) * Winner *
- Fortnite (Epic Games)
- Genshin Impact (HoYoverse)
BEST INDIE
- Cult of the Lamb (Massive Monster / Devolver Digital)
- Neon White (Angel Matrix/Annapurna)
- Sifu (Sloclap)
- Stray (BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna) * Winner *
- TUNIC (TUNIC Team/Finji)
BEST DEBUT INDIE
- Neon White (Angel Matrix/Annapurna Interactive)
- NORCO (Geography of Robots/Raw Fury)
- Stray (BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna) * Winner *
- TUNIC (TUNIC Team/Finji)
- Vampire Survivors (poncle)
BEST COMMUNITY SUPPORT
- Apex Legends (Respawn/EA)
- Destiny 2 (Bungie)
- FINAL FANTASY XIV (Square Enix) * Winner *
- Fortnite (Epic Games)
- No Man’s Sky (Hello Games)
BEST MOBILE
- Apex Legends Mobile (Lightspeed & Quantum/Respawn/EA)
- Diablo Immortal (Blizzard/NetEase)
- Genshin Impact (HoYovese)
- MARVEL SNAP (Second Dinner Studios/Nuverse) * Winner *
- Tower of Fantasy (Hotta Studio/Perfect World/Level Infinite)
BEST VR/AR
- After the Fall (Vertigo Games)
- Among Us VR (Schell Games/InnerSloth)
- BONELAB (Stress Level Zero)
- Moss: Book II (Polyarc) * Winner *
- Red Matter 2 (Vertical Robot)
BEST ACTION
- Bayonetta 3 (Platinum Games/Nintendo) * Winner *
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (Infinity Ward/Activision)
- Neon White (Angel Matrix/Annapurna)
- Sifu (Sloclap)
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge (Tribute Games/Dotemu)
BEST ACTION/ADVENTURE
- A Plague Tale: Requiem (Asobo Studio/Focus Entertainment)
- God of War Ragnarök (Sony Santa Monica/SIE) * Winner *
- Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games/SIE)
- Stray (BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna)
- TUNIC (TUNIC Team/Finji)
BEST ROLE PLAYING
- Elden Ring (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco) * Winner *
- Live a Live (Square Enix/Nintendo)
- Pokémon Legends: Arceus (Game Freak/Nintendo/TPCI)
- Triangle Strategy (Artdink/Square Enix)
- Xenoblade Chronicles 3 (Monolith Soft/Nintendo)
BEST FIGHTING
- DNF Duel (Arc System Works/EIGHTING/NEOPLE/NEXON)
- JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle R (CyberConnect 2 Co. Ltd/Bandai Namco)
- The King of Fighters XV (SNK/Plaion)
- MultiVersus (Player First Games/WB Games) * Winner *
- Sifu (Sloclap)
BEST FAMILY
- Kirby and the Forgotten Land (HAL Laboratory / Nintendo) * Winner *
- LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga (Traveller’s Tales/WB Games)
- Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope (Ubisoft Milan/Paris/Ubisoft)
- Nintendo Switch Sports (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
- Splatoon 3 (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
BEST SIM/STRATEGY
- Dune: Spice Wars (Shiro Games/Funcom)
- Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope (Ubisoft Milan/Paris/Ubisoft) * Winner *
- Total War: WARHAMMER III (Creative Assembly/Sega)
- Two Point Campus (Two Point Studios/Sega)
- Victoria 3 (Paradox Development Studio/Paradox Interactive)
BEST SPORTS/RACING
- F1 22 (Codemasters/EA Sports)
- FIFA 23 (EA Vancouver/Romania/EA Sports)
- NBA 2K23 (Visual Concepts/2K Sports)
- Gran Turismo 7 (Polyphony Digital/SIE) * Winner *
- OlliOlli World (Roll 7/Private Division)
BEST MULTIPLAYER
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (Infinity Ward/Activision)
- MultiVersus (Player First Games/WB Games)
- Overwatch 2 (Blizzard)
- Splatoon 3 (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)* Winner *
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge (Tribute Games/Dotemu)
MOST ANTICIPATED
- FINAL FANTASY XVI (Square Enix)
- Hogwarts Legacy (Avalanche Software/WB Games)
- Resident Evil 4 (Capcom)
- Starfield (Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda)
- The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo) * Winner *
CONTENT CREATOR OF THE YEAR
- Karl Jacobs
- Ludwig * Winner *
- Nibellion
- Nobru
- QTCinderella
BEST ADAPTATION
- Arcane: League of Legends (Fortiche/Riot Games/Netflix) * Winner *
- Cyberpunk: Edgerunners (Studio Trigger/CD Projekt, Netflix)
- The Cuphead Show! (Studio MDHR/King Features Syndicate/Netflix)
- Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Sega Sammy Group/Paramount Pictures)
- Uncharted (PlayStation Productions/Sony Pictures)
INNOVATION IN ACCESSIBILITY
- As Dusk Falls (Interior Night/Xbox Game Studios)
- God of War Ragnarök (Sony Santa Monica/SIE) * Winner *
- Return to Monkey Island (Terrible Toybox/Devolver Digital)
- The Last Of Us Part I (Naughty Dog/SIE)
- The Quarry (Supermassive Games/2K)
BEST ESPORTS GAME
- Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (Valve)
- DOTA 2 (Valve)
- League of Legends (Riot Games)
- Rocket League (Psyonix)
- VALORANT (Riot Games) * Winner *
BEST ESPORTS ATHLETE
- Jeong “Chovy” Ji-hoon (Gen.G, LOL)
- Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok (T1, LOL)
- Finn “karrigan” Andersen ( (FaZe Clan – CS:GO)
- Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev (Natus Vincere, CS:GO)
- Jacob “Yay” Whiteaker (Cloud9, Valorant) * Winner *
BEST ESPORTS TEAM
- DarkZero Esports (Apex Legends)
- FaZe Clan (CS:GO)
- Gen.G (League of Legends)
- LA Thieves (Call of Duty)
- LOUD (Valorant) * Winner *
BEST ESPORTS COACH
- Andrii “B1ad3” Horodenskyi (Natus Vincere, CS:GO)
- Matheus “bzkA” Tarasconi (LOUD, VALORANT) * Winner *
- Erik “d00mbr0s” Sandgren (FPX, VALORANT)
- Robert “RobbaN” Dahlström (FaZe Clan, CS:GO)
- Go “Score” Dong-bin (Gen.G, LOL)
BEST ESPORTS EVENT
- EVO 2022
- 2022 League of Legends World Championship * Winner *
- PGL Major Antwerp 2022 The 2022 Mid-Season Invitational
- VALORANT Champions 2022