Recognizing a game that delivers the absolute best experience across all creative and technical fields.

Best Game Direction

Awarded for outstanding creative vision and innovation in game direction and design.

• Elden Ring (FromSoftware / Bandai Namco Entertainment)
• God of War Ragnarok (Santa Monica Studio / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• IMMORTALITY (Half Mermaid)
• STRAY (BlueTwelve Studio / Annapurna Interactive)

Best Narrative

For outstanding storytelling and narrative development in a game.

• A Plague Tale: Requiem (Asobo Studio / Focus Entertainment)
• Elden Ring (FromSoftware / Bandai Namco Entertainment)
• God of War Ragnarok (Santa Monica Studio / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• IMMORTALITY (Half Mermaid)

Best Art Direction

For outstanding creative and/or technical achievement in artistic design and animation.

• Elden Ring (FromSoftware / Bandai Namco Entertainment)
• God of War Ragnarok (Santa Monica Studio / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Scorn (Ebb Software / Kepler Interactive)
• STRAY (BlueTwelve Studio / Annapurna Interactive)

Best Score and Music

For outstanding music, inclusive of score, original song and/or licensed soundtrack.

• A Plague Tale: Requiem (Olivier Deriviere, Composer)
• Elden Ring (Tsukasa Saitoh, Composer)
• God of War Ragnarok (Bear McCreary, Composer)
• Metal: Hellsinger (Two Feathers, Composer)
• Xenoblade Chronicles 3 (Yasunori Mitsuda, Composer)

Best Audio Design

Recognizing the best in-game audio and sound design.

Best Performance

Awarded to an individual for voice-over acting, motion and/or performance capture.

• Ashly Burch (Horizon Forbidden West)
• Charlotte McBurney (A Plague Tale: Requiem)
• Christopher Judge (God of War Ragnarok)
• Manon Gage (IMMORTALITY)
• Sunny Suljic (God of War Ragnarok)

Games for Impact

For a thought-provoking game with a pro-social meaning or message.

Best Ongoing Game

Awarded to a game for outstanding development of ongoing content that evolves the player experience over time.

Best Indie

For outstanding creative and technical achievement in a game made outside the traditional publisher system.

Best Mobile Game

For the best game playable on a mobile device.

Best Community Support

Recognizing a game for outstanding community support, transparency and responsiveness, inclusive of social media activity and game updates / patches.

• Apex Legends (Respawn Entertainment / Electronic Arts)
• Destiny 2 (Bungie)
• Final Fantasy XIV (Creative Business Unit III / Square Enix)
• Fortnite (Epic Games)
• No Man’s Sky (Hello Games)

Innovation in Accessibility

Recognizing software and / or hardware that is pushing the medium forward by adding features, technology and content to help games be played and enjoyed by an even wider audience.

Best Virtual Reality / Augmented Reality

For the best game experience playable in virtual or augmented reality, irrespective of platform.

Best Action Game

For the best game in the action genre focused primarily on combat.

Best Action / Adventure

For the best action / adventure game, combining combat with traversal and puzzle solving.

• A Plague Tale: Requiem (Asobo Studio / Focus Entertainment)
• God of War Ragnarok (Santa Monica Studio / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• STRAY (BlueTwelve Studio / Annapurna Interactive)
• TUNIC (TUNIC Team / Finji)

Best Role-Playing

For the best game designed with rich player character customization and progression, including massively multiplayer experiences.

Best Fighting

For the best game designed primarily around head-to-head combat.

Best Family

For the best game appropriate for family play, irrespective of genre or platform.

Best Simulation / Strategy

Best game focused on real time or turn-based simulation or strategy gameplay, irrespective of platform.

Best Sports / Racing

For the best traditional and non-traditional sports and racing game.

Best Multiplayer

For outstanding online multiplayer gameplay and design, including co-op and massively multiplayer experiences, irrespective of game genre or platform.

• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (Infinity Ward / Activision)
• MultiVersus (Player First Games / WB Games)
• Overwatch 2 (Blizzard)
• Splatoon 3 (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge (Tribute Games / Dotemu)

Content Creator of the Year

For a streamer or content creator who has made an important and positive impact on the community in 2021.

• Karl Jacobs
• Ludwig
• Nibellion
• Nobru
• QTCinderella

Best Debut Indie

For the best debut game created by a new independent studio.

• Neon White (Angel Matrix / Annapurna Interactive)
• NORCO (Geography of Robots / Raw Fury)
• STRAY (BlueTwelve Studio / Annapurna Interactive)
• TUNIC (TUNIC Team / Finji)
• Vampire Survivors (poncle)

Best Adaptation

Recognizing outstanding creative work that faithfully and authentically adapts a video game to another entertainment medium.

• Arcane: League of Legends (Fortiche / Riot Games / Netflix)
• Cyberpunk: Edgerunners (Studio Trigger / CD Projekt RED / Netflix)
• The Cuphead Show! (Studio MDHR / King Features Syndicate / Netflix)
• Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Sega Sammy Group / Paramount Pictures)
• Uncharted (PlayStation Productions / Sony Pictures)

Most Anticipated

Recognizing an announced game that has demonstrably illustrated potential to push the gaming medium forward.

Best eSports Game

For the game that has delivered the best overall esports experience to players (inclusive of tournaments, community support and content updates), irrespective of genre or platform.

• Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (Valve)
• DOTA 2 (Valve)
• League of Legends (Riot Games)
• Rocket League (Psyonix / Epic Games)
• VALORANT (Riot Games)

Best eSports Athlete

The eSports athlete judged to be the most outstanding for performance and conduct in 2021, irrespective of game.

• Jeong “Chovy” Ji-hoon (Gen.G, League of Legends)
• Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok (T1, League of Legends)
• Finn “karrigan” Andersen ( (FaZe Clan, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive)
• Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev (Natus Vincere, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive)
• Jacob “Yay” Whiteaker (Cloud9, VALORANT)

Best eSports Team

Recognizing a specific eSports team (not the full organization) judged the most outstanding for performance and conduct in 2021.

• DarkZero Esports (Apex Legends)
• FaZe Clan (Counter-Strike: Global Offensive)
• Gen.G (League of Legends)
• LA Thieves (Call of Duty)
• LOUD (VALORANT)

Best eSports Coach

The eSports coach judged to be the most outstanding for performance and conduct in 2021.

• Andrii “B1ad3” Horodenskyi (Natus Vincere, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive)
• Matheus “bzkA” Tarasconi (LOUD, VALORANT)
• Erik “d00mbr0s” Sandgren (FPX, VALORANT)
• Robert “RobbaN” Dahlström (FaZe Clan, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive)
• Go “Score” Dong-bin (Gen.G, League of Legends)

Best eSports Event

Recognizing an event (across single or multiple days) that delivered a best-of-class experience for participants and the broadcast audience.

• EVO 2022
• 2022 League of Legends World Championship
• PGL Major Antwerp 2022
• The 2022 Mid-Season Invitational
• VALORANT Champions 2022