Who won big at this year’s Game Awards? Did Kratos topple the Tarnished? Here are all the big winners of this year’s awards.
It’s that time again, when the industry turns its gaze to the biggest award show in interactive media, the Game Awards. This year a record number of votes were received from fans across the world to help determine the best of the best from this year’s video game offerings.
Hosted by Geoff Keighley, this year’s installment was once again held at the Microsoft Theatre in Los Angeles, with figures from all corners of the industry in attendance—from Hideo Kojima, Naoki Yoshida, and Hidetaka Miyazaki, to Doug Bowser and Phil Spencer, and director of last year’s Game of the Year, It Takes Two, Josef Fares.
Of course, the event was chock full of new trailers and world premieres; check out all of the other announcements from the Game Awards announcements here, including release dates for Street Fighter 6 and Final Fantasy XVI, and surprise announcements like Hades II.
CGMagazine was honoured to be one of the two Canadian outlets on the Jury this year, and our editors were on-hand at the event. For more behind-the-scenes insight from the site of the Game Awards, check us out on Twitter and TikTok.
Without further ado, here are the winners of the 2022 Game Awards:
GAME OF THE YEAR
God of War Ragnarok may have won more trophies overall, but the top prize at the Game Awards went to Elden Ring, long considered the frontrunner for most of the year. Director Hidetaka Miyazaki was on-hand to receive the honour.
- WINNER: Elden Ring (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco)
- A Plague Tale: Requiem (Asobo Studio/Focus Entertainment)
- 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 ACTION
With Bayonetta 3 winning this Game Awards’ prize for Best Action Game, Doug Bowser accepted on behalf of Nintendo and Platinum Games.
- WINNER: Bayonetta 3 (Platinum Games/Nintendo)
- 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
- WINNER: God of War Ragnarök (Sony Santa Monica/SIE)
- A Plague Tale: Requiem (Asobo Studio/Focus Entertainment)
- Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games/SIE)
- Stray (BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna)
- TUNIC (TUNIC Team/Finji)
BEST ROLE PLAYING
- WINNER: Elden Ring (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco)
- 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
- WINNER: MultiVersus (Player First Games/WB Games)
- 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)
- Sifu (Sloclap)
BEST MOBILE
- WINNER: MARVEL SNAP (Second Dinner Studios/Nuverse)
- Apex Legends Mobile (Lightspeed & Quantum/Respawn/EA)
- Diablo Immortal (Blizzard/NetEase)
- Genshin Impact (HoYovese)
- Tower of Fantasy (Hotta Studio/Perfect World/Level Infinite)
BEST VR/AR
- WINNER: Moss: Book II (Polyarc)
- After the Fall (Vertigo Games)
- Among Us VR (Schell Games/InnerSloth)
- BONELAB (Stress Level Zero)
- Red Matter 2 (Vertical Robot)
BEST FAMILY
- WINNER: Kirby and the Forgotten Land (HAL Laboratory / Nintendo)
- 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
- WINNER: Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope (Ubisoft Milan/Paris/Ubisoft)
- Dune: Spice Wars (Shiro Games/Funcom)
- Total War: WARHAMMER III (Creative Assembly/Sega)
- Two Point Campus (Two Point Studios/Sega)
- Victoria 3 (Paradox Development Studio/Paradox Interactive)
BEST SPORTS/RACING
- WINNER: Gran Turismo 7 (Polyphony Digital/SIE)
- F1 22 (Codemasters/EA Sports)
- FIFA 23 (EA Vancouver/Romania/EA Sports)
- NBA 2K23 (Visual Concepts/2K Sports)
- OlliOlli World (Roll 7/Private Division)
BEST MULTIPLAYER
- WINNER: Splatoon 3 (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (Infinity Ward/Activision)
- MultiVersus (Player First Games/WB Games)
- Overwatch 2 (Blizzard)
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge (Tribute Games/Dotemu)
GAMES FOR IMPACT
The Games for Impact category, as defined by Game Awards founder Keighley, is “recognizes a thought-provoking game with a profound pro-social meaning.” This year’s winner is As Dusk Falls, which had our reviewer wondering if it was “the future of mainstream video games as we know them?“
- WINNER: As Dusk Falls (Interior Night/Xbox Game Studios)
- A Memoir Blue (Cloisters Interactive/Annapurna)
- 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
- WINNER: FINAL FANTASY XIV (Square Enix)
- Apex Legends (Respawn/EA)
- Destiny 2 (Bungie)
- Fortnite (Epic Games)
- Genshin Impact (HoYoverse)
BEST COMMUNITY SUPPORT, PRESENTED BY DISCORD
- WINNER: FINAL FANTASY XIV (Square Enix)
- Apex Legends (Respawn/EA)
- Destiny 2 (Bungie)
- Fortnite (Epic Games)
- No Man’s Sky (Hello Games)
BEST INDIE
- WINNER: Stray (BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna)
- Cult of the Lamb (Massive Monster / Devolver Digital)
- Neon White (Angel Matrix/Annapurna)
- Sifu (Sloclap)
- TUNIC (TUNIC Team/Finji)
BEST DEBUT INDIE
- WINNER: Stray (BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna)
- Neon White (Angel Matrix/Annapurna Interactive)
- NORCO (Geography of Robots/Raw Fury)
- TUNIC (TUNIC Team/Finji)
- Vampire Survivors (poncle)
BEST GAME DIRECTION
Elden Ring and God of War went head-to-head multiple times tonight, but this category late in the Game Awards broadcast was the first time FromSoftware defeated Sony’s juggernaut.
- WINNER: Elden Ring (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco)
- God of War Ragnarök (Sony Santa Monica/SIE)
- Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games/SIE)
- Immortality (Half Mermaid)
- Stray (BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna)
PLAYERS’ VOICE
The only Game Awards category 100% decided by fan votes proved to be contentious and controversial, with Sonic Frontiers fans making a strong push. However the award went to Genshin Impact, despite not being a new game this year.
- WINNER: Genshin Impact
- Sonic Frontiers
- Elden Ring
- God of War Ragnarok
- Stray
BEST NARRATIVE
- WINNING: God of War Ragnarök (Sony Santa Monica/SIE)
- A Plague Tale: Requiem (Asobo Studio/Focus Entertainment)
- Elden Ring (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco)
- Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games/SIE)
- Immortality (Half Mermaid)
INNOVATION IN ACCESSIBILITY
- WINNER: God of War Ragnarök (Sony Santa Monica/SIE)
- As Dusk Falls (Interior Night/Xbox Game Studios)
- Return to Monkey Island (Terrible Toybox/Devolver Digital)
- The Last Of Us Part I (Naughty Dog/SIE)
- The Quarry (Supermassive Games/2K)
BEST PERFORMANCE
Inexplicably presented by Al “Scarface” Pachino himself, the first statue of the Game Awards went to Christopher Judge for his portrayal of Kratos in God of War Ragnarok.
- WINNER: Christopher Judge, God of War Ragnarök
- Ashly Burch, Horizon: Forbidden West
- Charlotte McBurney, A Plague Tale: Requiem
- Manon Gage, Immortality
- Sunny Suljic, God of War Ragnarök
BEST ART DIRECTION
- WINNER: Elden Ring (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco)
- 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
The Muppets’ own Animal was on-hand at the Game Awards to help Geoff Keighley announce Bear McCreary’s award for his work on God of War Ragnarok. Earlier in the evening, Hozier performed its theme “Blood on the Snow” live.
- WINNER: Bear McCreary, God of War Ragnarök
- Olivier Deriviere, A Plague Tale: Requiem
- Tsukasa Saitoh, Elden Ring
- Two Feathers, Metal: Hellsinger
- Yasunori Mitsuda, Xenoblade Chronicles 3
BEST AUDIO DESIGN
- WINNER: God of War Ragnarök (Sony Santa Monica/SIE)
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (Infinity Ward/Activision)
- Elden Ring (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco)
- Gran Turismo 7 (Polyphony/SIE)
- Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games/SIE)
MOST ANTICIPATED
- WINNER: The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
- FINAL FANTASY XVI (Square Enix)
- Hogwarts Legacy (Avalanche Software/WB Games)
- Resident Evil 4 (Capcom)
- Starfield (Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda)
BEST ADAPTATION
- WINNER: Arcane: League of Legends (Fortiche/Riot Games/Netflix)
- 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)
CONTENT CREATOR OF THE YEAR
- Winner: Ludwig
- Karl Jacobs
- Nibellion
- Nobru
- QTCinderella
ESPORTS
Valorant won big across the Game Awards’ five esports categories; only League of Legends could hold it back from sweeping this entire department.
BEST ESPORTS GAME
- WINNER: VALORANT (Riot Games)
- Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (Valve)
- DOTA 2 (Valve)
- League of Legends (Riot Games)
- Rocket League (Psyonix)
BEST ESPORTS ATHLETE
- WINNER: Jacob “Yay” Whiteaker (Cloud9, Valorant)
- 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)
BEST ESPORTS TEAM
- WINNER: LOUD (Valorant)
- DarkZero Esports (Apex Legends)
- FaZe Clan (CS:GO)
- Gen.G (League of Legends)
- LA Thieves (Call of Duty)
BEST ESPORTS COACH
- WINNER: Matheus “bzkA” Tarasconi (LOUD, VALORANT)
- Andrii “B1ad3” Horodenskyi (Natus Vincere, CS:GO)
- Erik “d00mbr0s” Sandgren (FPX, VALORANT)
- Robert “RobbaN” Dahlström (FaZe Clan, CS:GO)
- Go “Score” Dong-bin (Gen.G, LOL)
BEST ESPORTS EVENT
- WINNER: 2022 League of Legends World Championship
- EVO 2022
- PGL Major Antwerp 2022
- The 2022 Mid-Season Invitational
- VALORANT Champions 2022
