The biggest takeaways and full winners from The Game Awards
The Game Awards founder and host Geoff Keighley alongside the Great Gonzo in an interstitial bit between rapid-fire awards. The Game Awards hide caption
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The Game Awards
The Game Awards founder and host Geoff Keighley alongside the Great Gonzo in an interstitial bit between rapid-fire awards.
The Game Awards
Baldur's Gate 3 had an outstanding night at The Game Awards.
Not only crowned Game of the Year, the Dungeons and Dragons epic won Best RPG, Best Community Support, Best Multiplayer, the Players' Voice Award — and one of its actors, Neil Newbon, won Best Performance.
Larian Studios CEO Swen Vincke, center, celebrates Baldur's Gate 3's big win in plate armor. The Game Awards hide caption
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The Game Awards
Larian Studios CEO Swen Vincke, center, celebrates Baldur's Gate 3's big win in plate armor.
The Game Awards
Surreal horror adventure Alan Wake 2 followed closely behind, picking up Best Directing, Best Narrative, and Best Art Direction. But it also stole the show with a live musical number featuring the game's stars and creator Sam Lake performing interpretive dance to a heavy metal accompaniment.
From left to right: Masked dancers, Alan Wake star Ilkka Villi, game creator Sam Lake, and "Mr. Door" actor David Harewood. The Game Awards hide caption
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The Game Awards
From left to right: Masked dancers, Alan Wake star Ilkka Villi, game creator Sam Lake, and "Mr. Door" actor David Harewood.
The Game Awards
That wasn't the only bonkers moment of the night. Hideo Kojima and Jordan Peale stepped from a fog-shrouded door to announce a new collaboration called OD. Matthew McConaughey, Timothee Chalemet, Simu Liu, Anthony Mackie and stars from the upcoming Fallout TV show rotated on and off stage to plug their game-related projects and present awards.
A live orchestra played a brand new song from the upcoming Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, which, incidentally also won in the Most Anticipated Game category. VTuber Ironmouse accepted the Content Creator of the Year award in character as an animated demon queen. And muppet Gonzo joined Awards founder and host Geoff Keighley to ruminate on chasing chickens in Best Action/Adventure winner, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
But before we get to the rest of the highlights, some disclosure: NPR is one of the more than 100 outlets that contributed ballots to The Game Awards, which picked winners based on those tallies and an open online voting system.
Singer Loren Allred performs Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth's new theme song, composed by series legend Nobuo Uematsu. The Game Awards hide caption
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The Game Awards
Singer Loren Allred performs Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth's new theme song, composed by series legend Nobuo Uematsu.
The Game Awards
The complete list of nominees and winners (in bold) of The Game Awards 2023 is below.
Game of the YearAlan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing)
Baldur's Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
Marvel's Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games/SIE)
Resident Evil 4 (Capcom)
Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
Best Game DirectionAlan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing)
Baldur's Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
Marvel's Spider-Man 2(Insomniac Games/SIE)
Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
Best AdaptationCastlevania: Nocturne (Powerhouse Animation/Netflix)
Gran Turismo (PlayStation Productions/Sony Pictures)
The Last of Us (PlayStation Productions/HBO)
The Super Mario Bros. Movie (Illumination/Nintendo/Universal Pictures)
Twisted Metal (PlayStation Productions/Peacock)
Best NarrativeAlan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing)
Baldur's Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty (CD Projekt Red)
Final Fantasy XVI (Square Enix)
Marvel's Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games/SIE)
Best Art DirectionAlan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing)
Hi-Fi Rush (Tango Gameworks/Bethesda Softworks)
Lies of P (Round8 Studio/Neowiz Games)
Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
Best Score and MusicAlan Wake 2, Composer Petri Alanko (Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing)
Baldur's Gate 3, Composer Borislav Slavov (Larian Studios)
Final Fantasy XVI, Composer Masayoshi Soken (Square Enix)
Hi-Fi Rush, Audio Director Shuichi Kobori (Tango Gameworks/Bethesda Softworks)
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Composed by Nintendo Sound Team (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
Best Audio DesignAlan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing)
Dead Space (Motive Studio/EA)
Hi-Fi Rush (Tango Gameworks/Bethesda Softworks)
Marvel's Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games/SIE)
Resident Evil 4 (Capcom)
Best PerformanceBen 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
Yuri Lowenthal, Marvel's Spider-Man 2
Innovation in AccessibilityDiablo IV (Blizzard Entertainment)
Forza Motorsport (Turn 10 Studios/Xbox Game Studios)
Hi-Fi Rush (Tango Gameworks/Bethesda Softworks)
Marvel's Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games/SIE)
Mortal Kombat 1 (NetherRealm Studios/WB Games)
Street Fighter 6 (Capcom)
Games for ImpactA Space for the Unbound (Mojiken Studio/Toge Productions/Chorus)
Chants of Sennaar (Rundisc/Focus Entertainment)
Goodbye Volcano High (KO_OP)
Tchia (Awaceb/Kepler Interactive)
Terra Nil (Free Lives/Devolver Digital/Netflix)
Venba (Visai Games)
Best Ongoing GameApex Legends (Respawn Entertainment/EA)
Cyberpunk 2077 (CD Projekt Red)
Final Fantasy XIV (Square Enix)
Fortnite (Epic Games)
Genshin Impact (HoYoverse)
Best Community SupportBaldur's Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
Cyberpunk 2077 (CD Projekt Red)
Destiny 2 (Bungie)
Final Fantasy XIV (Square Enix)
No Man's Sky (Hello Games)
Best Independent GameCocoon (Geometric Interactive/Annapurna Interactive)
Dave the Diver (MINTROCKET)
Dredge (Black Salt Games/Team 17)
Sea of Stars (Sabotage Studio)
Viewfinder (Sad Owl Studios/Thunderful Publishing)
Best Debut Indie GameCocoon (Geometric Interactive/Annapurna Interactive)
Dredge (Black Salt Games/Team 17)
Pizza Tower (Tour de Pizza)
Venba (Visai Games)
Viewfinder (Sad Owl Studios/Thunderful Publishing)
Best Mobile GameFinal Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis (Applibot/Square Enix)
Honkai: Star Rail (HoYoverse)
Hello Kitty Island Adventure (Sunblink Entertainment)
Monster Hunter Now (Niantic/Capcom)
Terra Nil (Free Lives/Devolver/Netflix)
Best VR/AR GameGran Turismo 7 (Polyphony Digital/SIE)
Humanity (tha LTD/Enhance Games)
Horizon Call of the Mountain (Guerrilla Games/Firesprite/SIE)
Resident Evil Village VR Mode (Capcom)
Synapse (nDreams)
Best Action GameArmored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco)
Dead Island 2 (Dambuster Studios/Deep Silver)
Ghostrunner 2 (One More Level/505 Games)
Hi-Fi Rush (Tango Gameworks/Bethesda Softworks)
Remnant 2 (Gunfire Games/Gearbox Publishing)
Best Action/Adventure GameAlan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing)
Marvel's Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games/SIE)
Resident Evil 4 (Capcom)
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor (Respawn Entertainment/EA)
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
Best RPGBaldur's Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
Final Fantasy XVI (Square Enix)
Lies of P (Round8 Studio/Neowiz Games)
Sea of Stars (Sabotage Studio)
Starfield (Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda Softworks)
Best Fighting GameGod of Rock (Modus Studios Brazil/Modus Games)
Mortal Kombat 1 (NetherRealm Studios/WB Games)
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 (Ludosity/Fair Play Labs/GameMill Entertainment)
Pocket Bravery (Statera Studio/PQube)
Street Fighter 6 (Capcom)
Best Family GameDisney Illusion Island (Dlala Studios/Disney)
Party Animals (Recreate Games)
Pikmin 4 (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
Sonic Superstars (Arzest/Sonic Team/Sega)
Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
Best Sim/Strategy GameAdvance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp (WayForward/Nintendo)
Cities: Skylines II (Colossal Order/Paradox Interactive)
Company of Heroes 3 (Relic Entertainment/Sega)
Fire Emblem Engage (Intelligent Systems/Nintendo)
Pikmin 4 (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
Best Sports/RacingEA Sports FC 24 (EA Vancouver/EA Romania/EA Sports)
F1 23 (Codemasters/EA Sports)
Forza Motorsport (Turn 10 Studios/Xbox Game Studios)
Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged (Milestone)
The Crew Motorfest (Ubisoft Ivory Tower/Ubisoft)
Best Multiplayer Presented by DiscordBaldur's Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
Diablo IV (Blizzard Entertainment)
Party Animals (Recreate Games)
Street Fighter 6 (Capcom)
Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
Most Anticipated GameFinal Fantasy VII Rebirth (Square Enix)
Hades II (Supergiant Games)
Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth (Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio/Sega)
Star Wars Outlaws (Massive Entertainment/Ubisoft)
Tekken 8 (Bandai Namco/Arika)
Players Voice AwardBaldur's Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty (CD Projekt Red)
Genshin Impact (HoYoverse)
Marvel's Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games/SIE)
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
Content Creator of the YearIronMouse
PeopleMakeGames
Quackity
Spreen
SypherPK
Best Esports GameCounter-Strike 2 (Valve)
Dota 2 (Valve)
League of Legends (Riot Games)
PUBG Mobile (LightSpeed Studios/Tencent Games)
Valorant (Riot Games)
Best Esports AthleteLee "Faker" Sang-hyeok (League of Legends)
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 TeamEvil Geniuses (Valorant)
Fnatic (Valorant)
Gaimin Gladiators (Dota 2)
JD Gaming (League of Legends)
Team Vitality (Counter-Strike)
Best Esports CoachChristine "potter" Chi (Evil Geniuses - Valorant)
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 Event2023 League of Legends World Championship
Blast.tv Paris Major 2023
EVO 2023
The International Dota 2 Championships 2023
VALORANT Champions 2023