The Game Awards 2023: Unveiling the Triumphs of Digital Excellence

The Game Awards 2023: Unveiling the Triumphs of Digital Excellence

In a dazzling display of virtual grandeur, The Game Awards 2023 took center stage at the Peacock Theater in L.A. on December 7, celebrating the outstanding achievements in the gaming universe. The night belonged to the captivating realm of Baldur’s Gate 3, as the game clinched an impressive six awards, crowned by the coveted Game of the Year accolade.

 

Baldur’s Gate 3’s dominance extended across diverse categories, with triumphs in Best Community Support, Best RPG, Best Multiplayer, Players’ Voice, and Best Performance, where Neil Newbon’s portrayal of Astarion left an indelible mark. The game’s remarkable success was foreshadowed by its leading eight nominations, tying with the equally acclaimed Alan Wake 2.

 

Alan Wake 2, although sharing the limelight, secured its own victories, clinching three prestigious awards for Best Narrative, Best Art Direction, and Best Game Direction. The competition between these two gaming giants was a thrilling spectacle that kept fans on the edge of their seats throughout the ceremony.

The 10th annual Game Awards went beyond expectations, captivating audiences worldwide through live streams on over 30 platforms, including YouTube, Twitch, Facebook, TikTok Live, and X. The electrifying atmosphere of the event was punctuated by unexpected announcements that sent shockwaves through the gaming community.

Among the surprises, EA Originals unveiled the highly anticipated title Tales of Kenzera: ZAU, promising an immersive gaming experience. Sega, not to be outdone, made waves by announcing the revival of classic franchises such as Crazy Taxi, Streets of Rage, Golden Axe, Jet Set Radio, and Shinobi. These revelations set the stage for an exciting future in gaming, as players eagerly anticipate the return of beloved classics.

As the curtains fell on The Game Awards 2023, the gaming industry stood witness to the coronation of its champions. Baldur’s Gate 3 emerged as the beacon of excellence, while Alan Wake 2 carved its niche in the pantheon of gaming brilliance. The event not only honored the past year’s accomplishments but also unveiled a promising future filled with nostalgia and innovation.


Here is the full winners list:

Game of the Year
Alan 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 Direction
Alan 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 Adaptation
Castlevania: 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 Narrative
Alan 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 Score and Music
Alan 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 Art Direction
Alan 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 Audio Design
Alan 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 Performance
Ben 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 Accessibility
Diablo 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 Impact
A 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 Community Support
Baldur’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 Ongoing Game
Apex Legends (Respawn Entertainment/EA)

Cyberpunk 2077 (CD Projekt Red)
Final Fantasy XIV (Square Enix)

Fortnite (Epic Games)
Genshin Impact (HoYoverse)

Best Independent Game
Cocoon (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 Game
Cocoon (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 Game
Final 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 Game
Gran 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 Game
Armored 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 Game
Alan 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 RPG
Baldur’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 Game
God 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 Game
Disney 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 Game
Advance 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/Racing
EA 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 Discord
Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
Diablo IV (Blizzard Entertainment)

Party Animals (Recreate Games)
Street Fighter 6 (Capcom)
Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)

Players’ Voice
Baldur’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)

Most Anticipated Game
Final 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)

Content Creator of the Year
IronMouse
PeopleMakeGames

Quackity
Spreen
SypherPK

Best Esports Game
Counter-Strike 2 (Valve)

Dota 2 (Valve)
League of Legends (Riot Games)
PUBG Mobile (LightSpeed Studios/Tencent Games)
Valorant (Riot Games)

Best Esports Athlete
Lee “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 Team
Evil Geniuses (Valorant)

Fnatic (Valorant)
Gaimin Gladiators (Dota 2)
JD Gaming (League of Legends)
Team Vitality (Counter-Strike)

Best Esports Coach
Christine “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 Event
2023 League of Legends World Championship
Blast.tv Paris Major 2023

EVO 2023
The International Dota 2 Championships 2023
Valorant Champions 2023

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