In what is surely to be the first of many accolades, Sony Santa Monica’s God of War won “Game of the Year” at the 2018 Game Awards. Kratos’s latest adventure also picked up statuettes for “Best Game Direction” and “Best Action/Adventure Game.”
But the biggest winner of the night was Rockstar’s Red Dead Redemption 2, which picked up four wins last night. The publisher’s “Cowboy Game” collected some shiny hardware for “Best Narrative,” “Best Score/Music,” “Best Audio Design,” and “Best Performance” (for Roger Clark’s work as Arthur Morgan).
The all-mighty Fortnite picked up two awards, “Best Ongoing Game” and “Best Multiplayer,” but the most surprising news of the night might be that Insomniac’s Spider-Man was completely shut out. Best of luck next time to the ol’ webhead.
More than a dozen different games went home as winners at the 2018 Game Awards, and you can find them all after the break.
Jury Voted Categories
Game of the Year
Recognizing a game that delivers the absolute best experience across all creative and technical fields.
- Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey (Ubisoft Quebec / Ubisoft)
- Celeste (Matt Makes Games)
- WINNER: God of War (Sony Santa Monica / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
- Spider-Man (Insomniac Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
- Monster Hunter: World (Capcom)
- Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)
Best Game Direction
Awarded to a game studio for outstanding creative vision and innovation in game direction and design.
- A Way Out (Hazelight Studios / EA)
- Detroit: Become Human (Quantic Dream / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
- WINNER: God of War (Sony Santa Monica / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
- Spider-Man (Insomniac Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
- Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)
Best Narrative
For outstanding storytelling and narrative development in a game.
- Detroit: Become Human (Quantic Dream / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
- God of War (Sony Santa Monica / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
- Life Is Strange 2: Episode 1 (Dontnod Entertainment / Square Enix)
- Spider-Man (Insomniac Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
- WINNER: Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)
Best Art Direction
For outstanding creative and/or technical achievement in artistic design and animation.
- Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey (Ubisoft Quebec / Ubisoft)
- God of War (Sony Santa Monica / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
- Octopath Traveler (Square Enix / Acquire / Nintendo)
- Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)
- WINNER: Return of Obra Dinn (3909)
Best Score/Music
For outstanding music, inclusive of score, original song and/or licensed soundtrack.
- Celeste (Lena Raine)
- God of War (Bear McCreary)
- Spider-Man (John Paesano)
- Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom (Joe Hisaishi)
- Octopath Traveler (Yasunori Nishiki)
- WINNER: Red Dead Redemption 2 (Woody Jackson)
Best Audio Design
Recognizing the best in-game audio and sound design.
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 (Treyarch Studios / Activision)
- Forza Horizon 4 (Playground Games / Turn 10 Studios / Microsoft Studios)
- God of War (Sony Santa Monica / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
- Spider-Man (Insomniac Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
- WINNER: Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)
Best Performance
Awarded to an individual for voice-over acting, motion and/or performance capture.
- Bryan Dechart, Detroit: Become Human (As Connor)
- Christopher Judge, God of War (As Kratos)
- Melissanthi Mahut, Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey (As Kassandra)
- WINNER: Roger Clark, Red Dead Redemption 2 (As Arthur Morgan)
- Yuri Lowenthal, Spider-Man (As Peter Parker)
Games for Impact
For a thought provoking game with a profound pro-social meaning or message.
- 11-11 Memories Retold (Digixart / Aardman Animations / Bandai Namco Entertainment)
- WINNER: Celeste (Matt Makes Games)
- Florence (Mountains / Annapurna Interactive)
- Life Is Strange 2: Episode 1 (Dontnod Entertainment / Square Enix)
- The Missing: JJ Macfield and the Island of Memories (White Owls / Arc System Works)
Best Ongoing Game
Awarded to a game for outstanding development of ongoing content that evolves the player experience over time.
- Destiny 2 (Bungie / Activision)
- WINNER: Fortnite (Epic Games)
- No Man’s Sky (Hello Games)
- Overwatch (Blizzard)
- Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege (Ubisoft Montreal / Ubisoft)
Best Mobile Game
For the best game playable on a dedicated mobile device.
- Donut County (Ben Esposito / Annapurna Interactive)
- WINNER: Florence (Mountains / Annapurna Interactive)
- Fortnite (Epic Games)
- PlayeUnknown’s Battlegrounds Mobile (Lightspeed & Quantum / Tencent Games)
- Reigns: Game of Thrones (Nerial / Developer Digital)
Best VR/AR Game
For the best game experience playable in virtual or augmented reality, irrespective of platform.
- WINNER: Astro Bot: Rescue Mission (SIE Japan Studio / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
- Beat Saber (Beat Games)
- Firewall Zero Hour (First Contact Entertainment / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
- Moss (Polyarc Games)
- Tetris Effect (Resonair / Enhance)
Best Action Game
For the best game in the action genre focused on combat.
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 (Treyarch / Activision)
- WINNER: Dead Cells (Motion Twin)
- Destiny 2: Forsaken (Bungie / Activision)
- Far Cry 5 (Ubisoft Montreal / Ubisoft)
- Mega Man 11 (Capcom)
Best Action/Adventure Game
For the best action/adventure game, combining combat with traversal and puzzle solving.
- Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey (Ubisoft Quebec / Ubisoft)
- WINNER: God of War (Sony Santa Monica / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
- Spider-Man (Insomniac Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
- Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)
- Shadow of the Tomb Raider (Eidos Montreal / Crystal Dynamics / Square Enix)
Best Role Playing Game
For the best game designed with rich player character customization and progression, including massively multiplayer experiences.
- Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age (Square Enix / Square Enix)
- WINNER: Monster Hunter: World (Capcom)
- Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom (Level 5 / Bandai Namco Entertainment)
- Octopath Traveler (Square Enix / Acquire / Nintendo)
- Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire (Obsidian Entertainment / Versus Evil)
Best Fighting Game
For the best game designed primarily around head-to-head combat.
- BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle (Arc System Works)
- WINNER: Dragon Ball FighterZ (Arc System Works / Bandai Namco Entertainment)
- Soul Calibur VI (Bandai Namco Studios / Bandai Namco Entertainment)
- Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition (Dimps / Capcom)
Best Family Game
For the best game appropriate for family play, irrespective of genre or platform.
- Mario Tennis Aces (Camelot Software Planning / Nintendo)
- Nintendo Labo (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)
- WINNER: Overcooked 2 (Ghost Town Games / Team 17)
- Starlink: Battle For Atlas (Ubisoft Toronto / Ubisoft)
- Super Mario Party (NDCube / Nintendo)
Best Strategy Game
Best game focused on real time or turn-based strategy gameplay, irrespective of platform.
- Battletech (Harebrained Schemes / Paradox Interactive
- Frostpunk (11 Bit Studios)
- WINNER: Into the Breach (Subset Games)
- The Banner Saga 3 (Stoic Studio / Versus Evil)
- Valkyria Chronicles 4 (Sega CS3 / Sega)
Best Sports/Racing Game
For the best traditional and non-traditional sports and racing game.
- FIFA 19 (EA Vancouver / EA Sports)
- WINNER: Forza Horizon 4 (Playground Games / Turn 10 Studios / Microsoft Studios)
- Mario Tennis Aces (Camelot Software Planning / Nintendo)
- NBA 2K19 (Visual Concepts / 2K Sports)
- Pro Evolution Soccer 2019 (PES Productions / Konami)
Best Multiplayer
For outstanding online multiplayer gameplay and design, including co-op and massively multiplayer experiences, irrespective of game genre.
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 (Treyarch / Activision)
- Destiny 2: Forsaken (Bungie / Activision)
- WINNER: Fortnite (Epic Games)
- Monster Hunter: World (Capcom)
- Sea of Thieves (Rare / Microsoft Studios)
Best Independent Game
For outstanding creative and technical achievement in a game made outside the traditional publisher system.
- WINNER: Celeste (Matt Makes Games)
- Dead Cells (Motion Twin)
- Into the Breach (Subset Games)
- Return of the Obra Dinn (3909)
- The Messenger (Sabotage Studio)
Best Student Game
Awarded the best student project created at the high school or college level.
- WINNER: Combat 2018 (Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences)
- Dash Quasar (UC Santa Cruz)
- JERA (Digipen Bilbao)
- LIFF (ISTART Digital)
- RE: Charge (MIT)
Content Creator of the Year
- Dr. Lupo
- Myth
- WINNER: Ninja
- Pokimane
- Willyrex
Best Esports Game
For the game that has delivered the best overall eSports experience to players (inclusive of tournaments, community support and content updates), irrespective of genre or platform.
- Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (Valve)
- DOTA 2 (Valve)
- Fortnite (Epic Games)
- League of Legends (Riot Games)
- WINNER: Overwatch (Blizzard)
Best Esports Player
The eSports player judged to be the most outstanding performer in 2018, irrespective of game.
- WINNER: Dominique “SonicFox” McLean (Echo Fox)
- Hajime “Tokido” Taniguchi
- Jian “Uzi” Zi-Hao (Royal Never Give Up)
- Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev (Natus Vincere)
- Sung-hyeon “JJoNak” Bang (New York Excelsior)
Best Esports Team
The eSports team judged to be the most outstanding for performance in 2018, inclusive of multi-team organizations.
- Astralis (Counter-Strike: Global Offensive)
- WINNER: Cloud9 (League of Legends)
- Fnatic (League of Legends)
- London Spitfire (Overwatch League)
- OG (DOTA 2)
Best Esports Coach
- WINNER: Bok “Reapered” Han-gyu (Cloud9)
- Cristian “ppasarel” Bănăseanu (OG)
- Danny “zonic” Sørensen (Astralis)
- Dylan Falco (Fnatic)
- Jakob “YamatoCannon” Mebdi (Team Vitality)
- Janko “YNk” Paunovic (MiBR)
Best Esports Event
- ELeague Major: Boston 2018
- EVO 2018
- WINNER: League of Legends World Championship
- Overwatch League Grand Finals
- The International 2018
Best Esports Hots
- Alex “Goldenboy” Mendez
- Alex “Machine” Richardson
- AndersBlume
- WINNER: Eefje “Sjokz” Depoortere
- Paul “RedEye” Chaloner
Best Esports Moment
- WINNER: C9 Comeback Win In Triple OT vs FAZE (ELeague)
- KT vs IG Base Race (League of Legends Worlds)
- G2 Beating RNG (League of Legends Worlds)
- OG’s Massive Upset of LGD (DOTA 2 Finals)
- SonicFox Side Switch Against Go1 in DBZ (EVO)
Fan Voted Categories
Best Debut Indie Game
Recognizing a new independent studio that released its first game in 2018.
- Donut County (Ben Esposito / Annapurna Interactive)
- Florence (Mountains / Annapurna Interactive)
- Moss (Polyarc Games)
- WINNER: The Messenger (Sabotage Studio)
- Yoku’s Island Express (Villa Gorilla)
