The Game Awards 2022 were presented yesterday with God of War Ragnarok and Elden Ring dominating most of the major categories.
Game of the Year – Elden Ring
The Game of the Year award went to Elden Ring over some stiff competition. This particular award is considered to be one of the most important ones of the entire event. It is an all-encompassing award recognizing “a game that delivers the absolute best experience across all creative and technical fields”.
Elden Ring is a role-playing game developed by FromSoftware in 2022 and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. Significantly, the game attracted approximately 900,000 viewers on Twitch within 24 hours of its release, making it the platform’s third-largest premiere. Elden Ring also won the top category awards for Best Role Playing Game and Best Art Direction.
Best Action/Adventure Game – God of War Ragnarok
God of War Ragnarok from Sony Interactive Entertainment was also a big winner for the evening. Significantly, God of War Ragnarok won the Best Action/Adventure Game category. Additionally, the game won awards for Best Soundtrack and Best Narrative among even more categories.
Interestingly, God of War Ragnarok was “reviewed bombed” just before the awards show. Review bombing is a practice where fans of another game (presumably Elden Ring) place negative reviews of a contending game. This is done in hopes that their choice will have an advantage over the negatively reviewed game. Even so, God of War Ragnarok had a very good showing at the Game Awards.
Related: Game Awards 2021 Winners
Esports Winners – VALORANT
In the Esports Category, Riot Games’ VALORANT was the big winner for Best Esports Game. The Best Esports team went to LOUD, again in the VALORANT category. The best Esports Player went to Cloud9’s Jacob “Yay” Whiteaker. He, unsurprisingly, is a VALORANT player.
However, League of Legends did get a solid win in the Best Esports Event Category. Specifically, the winning event was the 2022 League of Legends World Championship.
Related: Elden Ring Triumphs at Game Developers Choice Awards
To conclude, Let’s take a look at all the categories, the contenders, and the winners:
ESPORTS
BEST ESPORTS GAME
- VALORANT (Riot Games) – WINNER
- Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (Valve)
- DOTA 2 (Valve)
- League of Legends (Riot Games)
- Rocket League (Psyonix)
BEST ESPORTS ATHLETE
- Jacob “Yay” Whiteaker (Cloud9, Valorant) – WINNER
- 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
- LOUD (Valorant) – WINNER
- DarkZero Esports (Apex Legends)
- FaZe Clan (CS:GO)
- Gen.G (League of Legends)
- LA Thieves (Call of Duty)
BEST ESPORTS COACH
- Matheus “bzkA” Tarasconi (LOUD, VALORANT) – WINNER
- 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
- 2022 League of Legends World Championship – WINNER
- EVO 2022
- PGL Major Antwerp 2022 The 2022 Mid-Season Invitational
- VALORANT Champions 2022
GAMING
GAME OF THE YEAR
- Elden Ring (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco) – WINNER
- 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 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
- God of War Ragnarök (Sony Santa Monica/SIE) – WINNER
- A Plague Tale: Requiem (Asobo Studio/Focus Entertainment)
- Elden Ring (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco)
- 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
- Bear McCreary, God of War Ragnarök – WINNER
- Olivier Deriviere, A Plague Tale: Requiem
- Tsukasa Saitoh, Elden Ring
- Two Feathers, Metal: Hellsinger
- Yasunori Mitsuda, Xenoblade Chronicles 3
BEST AUDIO DESIGN
- God of War Ragnarök (Sony Santa Monica/SIE) – WINNER
- 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)
BEST PERFORMANCE
- Christopher Judge, God of War Ragnarök – WINNER
- Ashly Burch, Horizon Forbidden West
- Charlotte McBurney, A Plague Tale: Requiem
- Manon Gage, Immortality
- Sunny Suljic, God of War Ragnarök
GAMES FOR IMPACT
- As Dusk Falls (Interior Night/Xbox Game Studios) – WINNER
- 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
- FINAL FANTASY XIV (Square Enix) – WINNER
- Apex Legends (Respawn/EA)
- Destiny 2 (Bungie)
- Fortnite (Epic Games)
- Genshin Impact (HoYoverse)
BEST INDIE
- Stray (BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna) – WINNER
- Cult of the Lamb (Massive Monster / Devolver Digital)
- Neon White (Angel Matrix/Annapurna)
- Sifu (Sloclap)
- TUNIC (TUNIC Team/Finji)
Related: Atari XP Cartridges: The Must-Have Addition to Any Gaming Collection
BEST DEBUT INDIE
- Stray (BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna) – WINNER
- Neon White (Angel Matrix/Annapurna Interactive)
- NORCO (Geography of Robots/Raw Fury)
- TUNIC (TUNIC Team/Finji)
- Vampire Survivors (poncle)
BEST COMMUNITY SUPPORT
- FINAL FANTASY XIV (Square Enix) – WINNER
- Apex Legends (Respawn/EA)
- Destiny 2 (Bungie)
- Fortnite (Epic Games)
- No Man’s Sky (Hello Games)
BEST MOBILE
- MARVEL SNAP (Second Dinner Studios/Nuverse) – WINNER
- 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
- Moss: Book II (Polyarc) – WINNER
- After the Fall (Vertigo Games)
- Among Us VR (Schell Games/InnerSloth)
- BONELAB (Stress Level Zero)
- 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
- God of War Ragnarök (Sony Santa Monica/SIE) – WINNER
- 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
- 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
- MultiVersus (Player First Games/WB Games) – WINNER
- 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 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
- Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope (Ubisoft Milan/Paris/Ubisoft) – WINNER
- 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)
Related: Award-Winning Game Europa Universalis IV
BEST SPORTS/RACING
- Gran Turismo 7 (Polyphony Digital/SIE) – WINNER
- 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
- Splatoon 3 (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo) – WINNER
- 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)
MOST ANTICIPATED
- The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo) – WINNER
- FINAL FANTASY XVI (Square Enix)
- Hogwarts Legacy (Avalanche Software/WB Games)
- Resident Evil 4 (Capcom)
- Starfield (Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda)
CONTENT CREATOR OF THE YEAR
- Ludwig – WINNER
- Karl Jacobs
- 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
- God of War Ragnarök (Sony Santa Monica/SIE) – WINNER
- 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)
