The Game Awards were held on Thursday night, celebrating this year’s video gaming scene by awarding games for relevance and excellence in 2023.
Founder Geoff Keighley hosted the event. Awards were presented by previous winners, celebrities and notable names in the gaming industry.
With 31 categories, Larian Studios’ “Baldur’s Gate 3” won six out of its eight nominations, including the titular Game of the Year award.
Remedy Entertainment’s “Alan Wake 2” also won three awards including Best Narrative and Best Game Direction.
Notably, Insomniac Games’ “Spider-Man 2” did not receive any awards, despite receiving seven nominations.
Get The Daily Illini in your inbox!
The show also had musical performances from games such as “Alan Wake 2” and the upcoming “Final Fantasy VII Rebirth.” The Game of the Year award also had a medley of music from all of the nominees in the category performed by the Game Awards Orchestra.
From the beginning of the preshow to the end of the ceremony, various world premiere trailers were presented showing off new projects coming soon from various companies and creators.
Some notable announcements included “OD,” a new game from renowned Japanese video game designer Hideo Kojima, and new downloadable content for various games including “God of War: Ragnarok,” “Final Fantasy XVI” and various other projects.
New trailers for projects already in development were also presented, such as “Persona 3 Reloaded,” “Final Fantasy VII Rebirth” and “Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.”
All nominees and award recipients are listed below.
Game of the Year
- Alan Wake 2
- Baldur’s Gate 3 – WINNER
- Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
- Resident Evil 4
- Super Mario Bros. Wonder
- The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Best Game Direction
- Alan Wake 2 – WINNER
- Baldur’s Gate 3
- Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
- Super Mario Bros. Wonder
- The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Best Narrative
- Alan Wake 2 – WINNER
- Baldur’s Gate 3
- Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty
- Final Fantasy XVI
- Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
Best Art Direction
- Alan Wake 2 – WINNER
- Hi-Fi Rush
- Lies of P
- Super Mario Bros. Wonder
- The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Best Score and Music
- Alan Wake 2, Composer Petri Alanko
- Baldur’s Gate 3, Composer Borislav Slavov
- Final Fantasy XVI, Composer Masayoshi Soken – WINNER
- Hi-Fi Rush, Audio Director Shuichi Kobori
- The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Composed by Nintendo Sound Team
Best Audio Design
- Alan Wake 2
- Dead Space
- Hi-Fi Rush – WINNER
- Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
- Resident Evil 4
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 – WINNER
- Yuri Lowenthal, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
Innovation in Accessibility
- Diablo IV
- Forza Motorsport – WINNER
- Hi-Fi Rush
- Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
- Mortal Kombat 1
- Street Fighter 6
Games for Impact
- A Space for the Unbound
- Chants of Sennaar
- Goodbye Volcano High
- Tchia – WINNER
- Terra Nil
- Venba
Best Ongoing Game
- Apex Legends
- Cyberpunk 2077 – WINNER
- Final Fantasy XIV
- Fortnite
- Genshin Impact
Best Community Support
- Baldur’s Gate 3 – WINNER
- Cyberpunk 2077
- Destiny 2
- Final Fantasy XIV
- No Man’s Sky
Best Independent Game
- Cocoon
- Dave the Diver
- Dredge
- Sea of Stars – WINNER
- Viewfinder
Best Debut Indie Game
- Cocoon – WINNER
- Dredge
- Pizza Tower
- Venba
- Viewfinder
Best Mobile Game
- Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis
- Honkai: Star Rail – WINNER
- Hello Kitty Island Adventure
- Monster Hunter Now
- Terra Nil
Best VR/AR Game
- Gran Turismo 7
- Humanity
- Horizon Call of the Mountain
- Resident Evil Village VR Mode – WINNER
- Synapse
Best Action Game
- Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon – WINNER
- Dead Island 2
- Ghostrunner 2
- Hi-Fi Rush
- Remnant 2
Best Action/Adventure Game
- Alan Wake 2
- Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
- Resident Evil 4
- Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
- The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom – WINNER
Best RPG
- Baldur’s Gate 3 – WINNER
- Final Fantasy XVI
- Lies of P
- Sea of Stars
- Starfield
Best Fighting Game
- God of Rock
- Mortal Kombat 1
- Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2
- Pocket Bravery
- Street Fighter 6 – WINNER
Best Family Game
- Disney Illusion Island
- Party Animals
- Pikmin 4
- Sonic Superstars
- Super Mario Bros. Wonder – WINNER
Best Sim/Strategy Game
- Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp
- Cities: Skylines II
- Company of Heroes 3
- Fire Emblem Engage
- Pikmin 4 – WINNER
Best Sports/Racing
- EA Sports FC 24
- F1 23
- Forza Motorsport – WINNER
- Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged
- The Crew Motorfest
Best Multiplayer
- Baldur’s Gate 3 – WINNER
- Diablo IV
- Party Animals
- Street Fighter 6
- Super Mario Bros. Wonder
Best Adaptation
- Castlevania: Nocturne
- Gran Turismo
- The Last of Us – WINNER
- The Super Mario Bros. Movie
- Twisted Metal
Most Anticipated Game
- Final Fantasy VII Rebirth – WINNER
- Hades II
- Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth
- Star Wars Outlaws
- Tekken 8
Content Creator of the Year
- IronMouse – WINNER
- PeopleMakeGames
- Quackity
- Spreen
- SypherPK
Best Esports Game
- Counter-Strike 2
- Dota 2
- League of Legends
- PUBG Mobile
- Valorant – WINNER
Best Esports Athlete
- Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok (League of Legends) – WINNER
- 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) – WINNER
- Team Vitality (Counter-Strike)
Best Esports Coach
- Christine “potter” Chi (Evil Geniuses – Valorant) – WINNER
- 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 – WINNER
- Blast.tv Paris Major 2023
- EVO 2023
- The International Dota 2 Championships 2023
- VALORANT Champions 2023
