The Game Awards 2022: The Winners

Format Change! Yeah I?ve decided to flip the script again and realized transcribing the show and posting a 10+ page article covering nearly 4 hours of content is not only boring but a complete waste of my time. So I?ve decided to return to the tried and true format of a bit of color and posting the list of the winners, so here we go!

God of War Ragnar?k despite its release coming 9 days (November 9th, 2022) before the cutoff point of this year?s nomination period November 18th, 2022) had a strong showing during the main program, racking up wins for best Action Title, Narrative, Performance, Score, Audio Design, and Accessibility. However the night belonged to Hayao Miyasaki and the crew from FromSoftware whose Elden Ring won Game of the Year, Game Direction, Art Direction, and Roleplaying Game. Stray, a title about a lost cat, managed to claw 2 wins away from the competition winning Best Indie and Debut.

Perhaps the most hilarious category of the was for the Player?s Choice which pitted the fanbases of Sonic the Hedgehog and Genshin Impact against each other. Geoff?s delivery of the winner was made even more comedic when he declared ?After removing the bot votes the winner is Genshin Impact? (Also Syndee Goodman?s speed run of announcing winners of the Esports categories resulted in several one word winner declarations nearly induced a spit take from me as well). While I took no part in voting, I will gladly accept the 800 Primogem bribe from MiHoYo/HoyoVerse for this meaningless win.

Nintendo also had a decent showing with a smattering of wins via a wide swath of titles. The biggest disappointment was Nibellion not winning content creator of the year, as the gaming news aggregator quit Twitter and news aggregation shortly after it?s acquisition by Elon Musk and this win would?ve been a nice retirement award for his lengthy and important tenure. Another disappointment was the Fighting Games category which not only featured a title that isn?t a fighting game (Sifu), but was won by a fighting game whose momentum was seemingly halted (Multiversus).

So that?s the Winners and Losers of the The Games Award 2022, a less cringey affair as compared to other years, but that might be because I was groggy through most of it.

GAME OF THE YEAR
Elden Ring (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco)

BEST GAME DIRECTION 
Elden Ring (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco)

BEST NARRATIVE
God of War Ragnar?k (Sony Santa Monica/SIE)

BEST ART DIRECTION
Elden Ring (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco)

BEST SCORE AND MUSIC
Bear McCreary, God of War Ragnar?k

BEST AUDIO DESIGN
God of War Ragnar?k (Sony Santa Monica/SIE)

BEST PERFORMANCE (Presented by the guy who did the Dunkaccino Song)
Christopher Judge, God of War Ragnar?k

GAMES FOR IMPACT
As Dusk Falls (Interior Night/Xbox Game Studios)

BEST ONGOING GAME
FINAL FANTASY XIV (Square Enix)

BEST INDIE
Stray (BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna)

BEST DEBUT INDIE 
Stray (BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna)

BEST COMMUNITY SUPPORT, PRESENTED BY DISCORD
FINAL FANTASY XIV (Square Enix)

BEST MOBILE 
MARVEL SNAP (Second Dinner Studios/Nuverse)

BEST VR/AR 
Moss: Book II (Polyarc)

BEST ACTION 
Bayonetta 3 (Platinum Games/Nintendo)

BEST ACTION/ADVENTURE 
God of War Ragnar?k (Sony Santa Monica/SIE)

BEST ROLE PLAYING 
Elden Ring (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco)

BEST FIGHTING 
MultiVersus (Player First Games/WB Games)

BEST FAMILY 
Kirby and the Forgotten Land (HAL Laboratory / Nintendo)

BEST SIM/STRATEGY 
Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope (Ubisoft Milan/Paris/Ubisoft)

BEST SPORTS/RACING 
Gran Turismo 7 (Polyphony Digital/SIE)

BEST MULTIPLAYER 
Splatoon 3 (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)

MOST ANTICIPATED 
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)

CONTENT CREATOR OF THE YEAR
Ludwig

BEST ADAPTATION
Arcane: League of Legends (Fortiche/Riot Games/Netflix)

INNOVATION IN ACCESSIBILITY
God of War Ragnar?k (Sony Santa Monica/SIE)

BEST ESPORTS GAME
VALORANT (Riot Games)

BEST ESPORTS ATHLETE
Jacob ?Yay? Whiteaker (Cloud9, Valorant)

BEST ESPORTS TEAM
LOUD (Valorant)

BEST ESPORTS COACH
Matheus ?bzkA? Tarasconi (LOUD, VALORANT)

BEST ESPORTS EVENT
2022 League of Legends World Championship

Players Voice 
Genshin Impact (miHoYo)