If video games have an equivalent to the film industry’s annual Oscars night, then the Game Awards is the name of the show that highlights the very best that the medium has to offer. It’s also thankfully devoid of reporters asking nominated game developers who they’re wearing, seeing people forced to don tuxedos and awkward flubs. La-La I can’t hear you, Warren Beatty.
What the Game Awards does have, is a youthful spirit of entertainment that honours the best of the year. 2018 has been a heck of a trip so far, with almost every month seeing the release of true game of the year material. The Game Awards (Which is almost as good as the annual Critical Hit awards which are held in my room but please keep it down guys my parents are trying to sleep) has a heck of a job this year to select the very best of the best.
Here’s a look at the categories and nominees this year (Thanks Polygon), which include a few surprises:
GAME OF THE YEAR
- Assassin’s Creed Odyssey (Ubisoft Quebec / Ubisoft)
- Celeste (Matt Makes Games)
- God of War (Sony Santa Monica / SIE)
- Marvel’s Spider-Man (Insomniac Games / SIE)
- Monster Hunter: World (Capcom)
- Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)
BEST ONGOING GAME
- Destiny 2 (Bungie / Activision)
- Fortnite (Epic Games)
- No Man’s Sky (Hello Games)
- Overwatch (Blizzard)
- Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege (Ubisoft Montreal / Ubisoft)
BEST GAME DIRECTION
- A Way Out (Hazelight Studios / EA)
- Detroit: Become Human (Quantic Dream / SIE)
- God of War (Sony Santa Monica / SIE)
- Marvel’s Spider-Man (Insomniac Games / SIE)
- Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)
BEST NARRATIVE
- Detroit: Become Human (Quantic Dream / SIE)
- God of War (Sony Santa Monica / SIE)
- Life is Strange 2: Episode 1 (Dontnod Entertainment / Square Enix)
- Marvel’s Spider-Man (Insomniac Games / SIE)
- Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)
BEST ART DIRECTION
- Assassin’s Creed Odyssey (Ubisoft Quebec / Ubisoft)
- God of War (Sony Santa Monica / SIE)
- Octopath Traveler (Square Enix / Acquire / Nintendo)
- Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)
- Return of Obra Din (3909 LLC)
BEST SCORE/MUSIC
- Celeste (Lena Raine)
- God of War (Bear McCreary)
- Marvel’s Spider-Man (John Paesano)
- Ni No Kuni 2: Revenant Kingdom (Joe Hisaishi)
- Octopath Traveler (Yasunori Nishiki)
- Red Dead Redemption 2 (Woody Jackson)
BEST AUDIO 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 / SIE)
- Marvel’s Spider-Man (Insomniac Games / SIE)
- Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)
BEST PERFORMANCE
- Bryan Dechart as Connor, Detroit: Become Human
- Christopher Judge as Kratos, God of War
- Melissanthi Mahut as Kassandra, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
- Roger Clark as Arthur Morgan, Red Dead Redemption 2
- Yuri Lowenthal as Peter Parker, Marvel’s Spider-Man
GAMES FOR IMPACT
- 11-11 Memories Retold (Digixart / Aardman Animations / Bandai Namco Entertainment)
- 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 INDEPENDENT GAME
- Celeste (Matt Makes Games)
- Dead Cells (Motion Twin)
- Into the Breach (Subset Games)
- Return of the Obra Dinn (3909 LLC)
- The Messenger (Sabotage Studio)
BEST MOBILE
- Donut County (Ben Esposito / Annapurna Interactive)
- Florence (Mountains / Annapurna Interactive)
- Fortnite (Epic Games)
- PUBG Mobile (Lightspeed & Quantum / Tencent Games)
- Reigns: Game of Thrones (Nerial / Developer Digital)
BEST VR/AR GAME
- Astro Bot Rescue Mission (SIE Japan Studio / SIE)
- Beat Saber (Beat Games)
- Firewall Zero Hour (First Contact Entertainment / SIE)
- Moss (Polyarc Games)
- Tetris Effect (Resonair / Enhance, Inc)
BEST ACTION GAME
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 (Treyarch / Activision)
- Dead Cells (Motion Twin)
- Destiny 2: Forsaken (Bungie / Activision)
- Far Cry 5 (Ubisoft Montreal / Ubisoft)
- Mega Man 11 (Capcom)
BEST ACTION/ADVENTURE GAME
- Assassin’s Creed Odyssey (Ubisoft Quebec / Ubisoft)
- God of War (Sony Santa Monica / SIE)
- Marvel’s Spider-Man (Insomniac Games / SIE)
- Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)
- Shadow of the Tomb Raider (Eidos Montreal / Crystal Dynamics / Square Enix)
BEST ROLE-PLAYING GAME
- Dragon Quest 11: Echoes of an Elusive Age (Square Enix / Square Enix)
- Monster Hunter: World (Capcom)
- Ni no Kuni 2: Revenant Kingdom (Level 5 / Bandai Namco Entertainment)
- Octopath Traveler (Square Enix / Acquire / Nintendo)
- Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire (Obsidian Entertainment / Versus Evil)
BEST FIGHTING
- BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle (Arc System Works)
- Dragon Ball FighterZ (Arc System Works / Bandai Namco Entertainment)
- Soulcalibur 6 (Bandai Namco Studios / Bandai Namco Entertainment)
- Street Fighter 5 Arcade (Dimps / Capcom)
BEST FAMILY GAME
- Mario Tennis Aces (Camelot Software Planning / Nintendo)
- Nintendo Labo (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)
- Overcooked 2 (Ghost Town Games / Team 17)
- Starlink: Battle for Atlas (Ubisoft Toronto / Ubisoft)
- Super Mario Party (NDCube / Nintendo)
BEST STRATEGY GAME
- Battletech (Harebrained Schemes / Paradox Interactive)
- Frostpunk (11 bit studios)
- Into the Breach (Subset Games)
- The Banner Saga 3 (Stoic Studio / Versus Evil)
- Valkyria Chronicles 4 (Sega CS3 / Sega)
BEST SPORTS/RACING
- FIFA 19 (EA Vancouver / EA Sports)
- 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 GAME
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 (Treyarch / Activision)
- Destiny 2: Forsaken (Bungie / Activision)
- Fortnite (Epic Games)
- Monster Hunter: World (Capcom)
- Sea of Thieves (Rare / Microsoft Studios)
BEST STUDENT GAME
- Combat 2018 (Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences – Norway)
- Dash Quasar (UC Santa Cruz)
- JERA (Digipen Bilbao, Spain)
- LIFF (ISTART Digital – France)
- RE: Charge (MIT)
BEST DEBUT INDIE GAME
- Donut County (Ben Esposito / Annapurna Interactive)
- Florence (Mountains / Annapurna Interactive)
- Moss (Polyarc Games)
- The Messenger (Sabotage Studio)
- Yoku’s Island Express (Villa Gorilla)
BEST ESPORTS GAME
- Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
- Dota 2
- Fortnite
- League of Legends
- Overwatch
BEST ESPORTS PLAYER
- 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
- Astralis (CSGO)
- Cloud9 (LOL)
- Fnatic (LOL)
- London Spitfire (Overwatch)
- OG (Dota 2)
BEST ESPORTS COACH
- 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
- League of Legends World Championship
- Overwatch League Grand Finals
- The International 2018
BEST ESPORTS HOST
- Alex “Goldenboy” Mendez
- Alex “Machine” Richardson
- AndersBlume Eefje “Sjokz” Depoortere
- Paul “RedEye” Chaloner
BEST ESPORTS MOMENT
- C9 Comeback Win In Triple OT vs FAZE (ELEAGUE) KT vs IG Base Race (LOL Worlds) G2 Beating RNG (LOL Worlds)
- OG’s Massive Upset of LGD (DOTA 2 Finals)
- SonicFox Side Switch Against Go1 in DBZ (EVO)
CONTENT CREATOR OF THE YEAR
- Dr. Lupo
- Myth
- Ninja
- Pokimane
- Willyrex
That’s not just a solid list of nominees. That’s a checklist that details just how damn good this year as been. We’ve seen heavyweights in Marvel’s Spider-Man and Forza Horizon 4, surprise knockouts such as Tetris Effect and the rise of beloved new franchises such as Return of the Obra Dinn. It has been a stellar year, topping even the amazing content that was rolled out in 2017.
Should be interesting to see who wins what, when the Game Awards broadcasts live across the world wide web on December 6 in the US of A.
Last Updated: November 14, 2018
Pariah
November 14, 2018 at 08:53
I see God of War winning a few awards. AC:Odyssey should walk away with at least 1. Celeste is surprising to see in so many categories. And is the list of eSports awards new or expanded from last year? It’s quite comprehensive. And they just had the eSports awards event this weekend past.
Nikola
November 14, 2018 at 09:14
This has been one of the toughest years at least for me to decide game of the year God of War was a master piece, Spider-man was really great, gameplay and story wise especially and then surprise of the year for me was AC Odyssey I can’t believe how good that game is actually a great RPG I would never think I would even consider a AC game for Game of the Year. Started Red Dead Redemption the other day also and it looks amazing as well haha. For me it’s beetween GoW and AC Odyssey any of the two can win it.
G8crasha
November 14, 2018 at 09:50
RDR2 – GOTY! I’m calling it!
JacoZAB
November 14, 2018 at 10:09
RDR2 is good, but the amount of passion and care that went into God of War makes it more deserving of GOTY
G8crasha
November 14, 2018 at 10:51
True. It’s a close call I guess between GOW and RDR2.
BradeLunner
November 14, 2018 at 17:56
Agreed. GOW should be gaming´s representative as high art
Original Heretic
November 14, 2018 at 09:59
Wow, shame on me. I haven’t played any of those nominated RPG’s. Damn.
Steffmeister
November 14, 2018 at 14:36
RDR2 has been everything that I was hoping for and more. My GOTY personally.
And I’d give Roger Clark as Arthur Morgan ‘Best Performance’ as well.
I loved God of War too but comes a distant 2nd for me. I haven’t played Spider-Man though. (Superheroes not my thing) and I was soooo bored with AC Origins, that I don’t want to play AC Odyssey soon, if ever.
Steffmeister
November 14, 2018 at 15:05
I can not describe how much I love RDR2. Best game since Witcher 3 for me and the only game since W3 that I wanted to start my 2nd playthrough as soon as I completed it, despite being a 40 hour + game.
Steffmeister
November 14, 2018 at 15:14
Best Score/Music: Red Dead Redemption 2 (Woody Jackson)
Brian
November 14, 2018 at 15:33
Wow, okay, so a few things. Why the hell are there so many eSports categories? Who cares about all of that fluff?
Second, how on earth did RDR2 get onto the Best Direction list after that whole crunch time thing???
Best Ongoing game – not a single MMO? Path of Exile? Warframe?
Why did they nominate Life is Strange 2 for best narrative when there’s only one episode available?
Fortnite is included in the eSports category but Rocket League is not? Okay.
Content creators of the year: Every BR streamer, but no streamers that people actually know outside of the BR community.