Well, the Game Awards have come and gone once again. Yes, world premieres from Elden Ring, Star Trek: Resurgence, Nightingale, and Horizon Forbidden West were ridiculously exciting, but this is still, well, an award show!
30 of them were given out, in fact. From celebrating the best and brightest in esports to the overall game of the year, practically every era of the video game industry had its moment to shine. Geoff Keighley told us it would be a big show, though nobody could’ve predicted what was to come. The Final Fantasy XIV fanboy in me came away more than a little satisfied.
THANK YOU for watching #TheGameAwards! What was your favorite moment of the night? 🎮🏆🕹 pic.twitter.com/B1rRo1basT
— The Game Awards (@thegameawards) December 10, 2021
If you happened to miss The 2021 Game Awards, below is a complete list of the winners. It’s easy to be cynical about how overflowing this show can be at times, but there’s no denying that the team behind them truly loves and cares about video games.
Game of the Year
- Resident Evil Village
- Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
- Psychonauts 2
- Metroid Dread
- It Takes Two – Winner
- Deathloop
The moment you’ve all been waiting for, Game of The Year! A massive congratulations to It Takes Two @hazelightgames + @ea + @josef_fares for your big win! #TheGameAwards pic.twitter.com/3o2kGm8qHm
— The Game Awards (@thegameawards) December 10, 2021
Best Game Direction
- Deathloop – Winner
- It Takes Two
- Returnal
- Psychonauts 2
- Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
Best Narrative
- Deathloop
- It Takes Two
- Life is Strange: True Colors
- Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy – Winner
- Psychonauts 2
.@MingNa is in the house to present Best Narrative! #TheGameAwards pic.twitter.com/b6HonUXBEU
— The Game Awards (@thegameawards) December 10, 2021
Best Art Direction
- Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
- Psychonauts 2
- Kena: Bridge of Spirits
- Deathloop – Winner
- The Artful Escape
Best Score and Music
- NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139 – Winner
- Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy
- Deathloop
- Cyberpunk 2077
- The Artful Escape
Here’s an incredible performance of music from each of tonight’s Game of the Year nominees from #TheGameAwards Orchestra, conducted by @Lornebalfe. pic.twitter.com/TB2PsKNB44
— The Game Awards (@thegameawards) December 10, 2021
Best Audio Design
- Returnal
- Resident Evil Village
- Forza Horizon 5 – Winner
- Deathloop
- Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
Best Performance
- Giancarlo Esposito as Anton Castillo in Far Cry 6
- Ozioma Akagha as Julianna Blake in Deathloop
- Jason Kelly as Colt Vahn in Deathloop
- Maggie Robertson as Lady Dimitrescu in Resident Evill Village – Winner
- Erika Mori as Alex Chen in Life is Strange: True Colors
A round of applause for @maggiethebard as Lady Dimitresc who just won Best Performance for @RE_Games Village! ☣️ #TheGameAwards pic.twitter.com/pyJZwBT17y
— The Game Awards (@thegameawards) December 10, 2021
Games for Impact
- Boyfriend Dungeon
- Before Your Eyes
- Chicory: A Colorful Tale
- Life is Strange: True Colors – Winner
- No Longer Home
Best Ongoing Game
- Call of Duty: Warzone
- Apex Legends
- Final Fantasy XIV Online – Winner
- Genshin Impact
- Fortnite
Best Indie
- Inscryption
- Death’s Door
- 12 Minutes
- Kena: Bridge of Spirits – Winner
- Loop Hero
Best Mobile Game
- Fantasian
- Genshin Impact – Winner
- League of Legends: Wild Rift
- Marvel Future Revolution
- Pokémon
Best Community Support
- Fortnite
- No Man’s Sky
- Destiny 2
- Final Fantasy XIV Online – Winner
- Apex Legends
Best Role Playing
- Monster Hunter Rise
- Scarlet Nexus
- Tales Of Arise – Winner
- Shin Megami Tensei V
- Cyberpunk 2077
Most Anticipated Game
- Starfield
- Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2
- Horizon Forbidden West
- Elden Ring – Winner
- God of War Ragnarök
A gift from us to you, the new @ELDENRING world premiere trailer! #TheGameAwards pic.twitter.com/FHwMHQMXlV
— The Game Awards (@thegameawards) December 10, 2021
Best Fighting
- Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles
- Guilty Gear Strive – Winner
- Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl
- Virtual Fighter 5: Ultimate Showdown
- Melty Blood: Type Lumina
Best Family
- It Takes Two – Winner
- Warioware: Get It Together
- Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury
- New Pokémon Snap
- Mario Party Superstars
Best Sim/Strategy
- Age of Empires 4 – Winner
- Evil Genius 2: World Domination
- Humankind
- Inscryption
- Microsoft Flight Simulator
Best Sports/Racing
- F1 2021
- FIFA 22
- Forza Horizon 5 – Winner
- Hot Wheels Unleashed
- Riders Republic
Best Esports Game
- Valorant
- Call of Duty
- Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
- League of Legends – Winner
- DOTA 2
Best Esports Athlete
- Chris “Simp” Lehr
- Heo “Showmaker” Su
- Magomed “Collapse” Khalilov
- Oleksandr “S1mple” Kostyliev – Winner
- Tyson “Tenz” Ngo
EZ x2@thegameawards @s1mpleO pic.twitter.com/rMPOvVGTy4
— NAVI (@natusvincere) December 10, 2021
Best Esports Team
- Atlanta Faze
- DWG Kia
- Natus Vincere – Winner
- Sentinels
- Team Spirit
Best Esports Coach
- Airat “Silent” Gaziev
- Andrey “Engh” Sholokhov
- Andrii “B1ad3” Horodenskyi
- James “Crowder” Crowder
- Kim “Kkoma” Jeong-Gyun – Winner
Best Esports Event
- The International 2021
- PGL Major Stockholm 2021
- 2021 League of Legends World Championship – Winner
- PUBG Mobile Global Championship 2020
- Valorant Champions Tour: Stage 2 Masters
Best Multiplayer
- Knockout City
- Back 4 Blood
- It Takes Two – Winner
- Monster Hunter Rise
- New World
- Valheim
#TheGameAwards celebrated @mikethequad last night for Accessibility in Gaming. Abundant motivation and inspiration, presented to you by @chevrolet. Check it out! pic.twitter.com/BNkJLhWLNs
— The Game Awards (@thegameawards) December 10, 2021
Innovation in Accessibility
- Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy
- Forza Horizon 5 – Winner
- Far Cry 6
- Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
- The Vale: Shadow of the Crown
Best VR/AR
- Resident Evil 4 VR – Winner
- Sniper Elite VR
- Lone Echo 2
- I Expect You to Die
- Hitman 3
Best Action Game
- Back 4 Blood
- Chivalry 2
- Deathloop
- Far Cry 6
- Returnal – Winner
Metroid Dread from @NintendoAmerica + @MercurySteam wins Best Action/Adventure Game! #TheGameAwards pic.twitter.com/yoHQENnCx0
— The Game Awards (@thegameawards) December 10, 2021
Best Action / Adventure
- Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy
- Metroid Dread – Winner
- Psychonauts 2
- Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
- Resident Evil Village
Best Indie Debut
- The Artful Escape
- The Forgotten City
- Kena: Bridge of Spirits – Winner
- Sable
- Valhiem
What an incredible night!
Thank you @thegameawards for Best Debut Indie Game and Best Independent Game.
We are indescribably thankful to @Sony, @EpicGames, our community, friends, and family – you are everything! #findtheRot #kenabridgeofspirits #IndieGameDev pic.twitter.com/Scg2wAwSBz— Kena: Bridge of Spirits (@emberlab) December 10, 2021
Content Creator of the Year
- Dream – Winner
- Fuslie
- Gaules
- Ibai
- Grefg
Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF.