The Game Awards 2018: God of War seizes Game of the Year, Red Dead Redemption 2 wins four awards

After the requisite leaks and speculation, The Game Awards 2018 aired this morning (Friday) to recognize the best gaming had to offer. The annual awards ceremony is joined by live performances, new trailers, and debut announcements, but for now here are all the nominees and the winners.

GAME OF THE YEAR

Win: God of War (SIE Santa Monica / SIE)
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey (Ubisoft Quebec / Ubisoft)
Celeste (Matt Makes Games)
Marvel’s Spider-Man (Insomniac Games / SIE)
Monster Hunter: World (Capcom)
Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)

BEST ONGOING GAME

Win: Fortnite (Epic Games)
Destiny 2 (Bungie / Activision)
No Man’s Sky (Hello Games)
Overwatch (Blizzard Entertainment)
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege (Ubisoft Montreal / Ubisoft)

BEST GAME DIRECTION

Win: God of War (SIE Santa Monica / SIE)
A Way Out (Hazelight Studios / EA)
Detroit: Become Human (Quantic Dream / SIE)
Marvel’s Spider-Man (Insomniac Games / SIE)
Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)

BEST NARRATIVE

Win: Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)
Detroit: Become Human (Quantic Dream / SIE)
God of War (SIE Santa Monica / SIE)
Life is Strange 2: Episode 1 (Dontnod Entertainment / Square Enix)
Marvel’s Spider-Man (Insomniac Games / SIE)

BEST ART DIRECTION

Win: Return of Obra Din (3909 LLC)
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)

BEST SCORE/MUSIC

Win: Red Dead Redemption 2 (Woody Jackson)
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)

BEST AUDIO DESIGN

Win: Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)
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)

BEST PERFORMANCE

Win: Roger Clark (Arthur Morgan, Red Dead Redemption 2)
Bryan Dechart (Connor, Detroit: Become Human)
Christopher Judge (Kratos, God of War)
Melissanthi Mahut (Kassandra, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey)
Yuri Lowenthal (Peter Parker, Marvel’s Spider-Man)

GAMES FOR IMPACT

Win: Celeste (Matt Makes Games)
11-11 Memories Retold (Digixart , Aardman Animations / Bandai Namco Entertainment)
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

Win: 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

Win: Florence (Mountains / Annapurna Interactive)
Donut County (Ben Esposito / Annapurna Interactive)
Fortnite (Epic Games)
PUBG Mobile (Lightspeed & Quantum / Tencent Games)
Reigns: Game of Thrones (Nerial / Developer Digital)

BEST VR/AR GAME

Win: 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

Win: Dead Cells (Motion Twin)
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 (Treyarch / Activision)
Destiny 2: Forsaken (Bungie / Activision)
Far Cry 5 (Ubisoft Montreal / Ubisoft)
Mega Man 11 (Capcom)

BEST ACTION/ADVENTURE GAME

Win: God of War (SIE Santa Monica / SIE)
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey (Ubisoft Quebec / Ubisoft)
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

Win: Monster Hunter: World (Capcom)
Dragon Quest 11: Echoes of an Elusive Age (Square Enix / Square Enix)
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

Win: Dragon Ball FighterZ (Arc System Works / Bandai Namco Entertainment)
BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle (Arc System Works)
Soulcalibur 6 (Bandai Namco Studios / Bandai Namco Entertainment)
Street Fighter 5 Arcade (Dimps / Capcom)

BEST FAMILY GAME

Win: Overcooked 2 (Ghost Town Games / Team 17)
Mario Tennis Aces (Camelot Software Planning / Nintendo)
Nintendo Labo (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)
Starlink: Battle for Atlas (Ubisoft Toronto / Ubisoft)
Super Mario Party (NDCube / Nintendo)

BEST STRATEGY GAME

Win: Into the Breach (Subset Games)
Battletech (Harebrained Schemes / Paradox Interactive)
Frostpunk (11 bit studios)
The Banner Saga 3 (Stoic Studio / Versus Evil)
Valkyria Chronicles 4 (Sega CS3 / Sega)

BEST SPORTS/RACING

Win: Forza Horizon 4 (Playground Games, Turn 10 Studios / Microsoft Studios)
FIFA 19 (EA Vancouver / EA Sports)
Mario Tennis Aces (Camelot Software Planning / Nintendo)
NBA 2K19 (Visual Concepts / 2K Sports)
Pro Evolution Soccer 2019 (PES Productions / Konami)

BEST MULTIPLAYER GAME

Win: Fortnite (Epic Games)
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 (Treyarch / Activision)
Destiny 2: Forsaken (Bungie / Activision)
Monster Hunter: World (Capcom)
Sea of Thieves (Rare / Microsoft Studios)

BEST STUDENT GAME

Win: Combat 2018 (Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences)
Dash Quasar (UC Santa Cruz)
JERA (Digipen Bilbao, Spain)
LIFF (ISTART Digital – France)
RE: Charge (MIT)

BEST DEBUT INDIE GAME

Win: The Messenger (Sabotage Studio)
Donut County (Ben Esposito / Annapurna Interactive)
Florence (Mountains / Annapurna Interactive)
Moss (Polyarc Games)
Yoku’s Island Express (Villa Gorilla)

BEST ESPORTS GAME

Win: Overwatch (Blizzard Entertainment)
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (Valve)
Dota 2 (Valve)
Fortnite (Epic Games)
League of Legends (Riot Games)

BEST ESPORTS PLAYER

Win: 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

Win: Cloud9 (LOL)
Astralis (CSGO)
Fnatic (LOL)
London Spitfire (Overwatch)
OG (Dota 2)

BEST ESPORTS COACH

Win: 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

Win: League of Legends World Championship
ELEAGUE Major: Boston 2018
Evo 2018
Overwatch League Grand Finals
The International 2018

BEST ESPORTS HOST

Win: Eefje “Sjokz” Depoortere
Alex “Goldenboy” Mendez
Alex “Machine” Richardson
Anders Blume
Paul “RedEye” Chaloner

BEST ESPORTS MOMENT

Win: 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

Win: Ninja
Dr. Lupo
Myth
Pokimane
Willyrex

***

To recap, God of War took home three trophies (Game of the Year, Best Game Direction, and Action/Adventure Game) while Red Dead Redemption 2 rounded up four (Best Narrative, Score/Music, Audio Design, and Performance). Not to forget indie hit Celeste with its two wins (Games for Impact, Best Independent Game).

Congratulations to all the winners!