Geoff Keighley and his co-presenters shotgunned their way through dozens of awards during tonight’s Game Awards, but in between all the World Premiere Trailers, they managed to shine a brief spotlight on a wide variety of titles. Unlike most years when a handful of titles dominate the conversation, this year’s Game Awards spread the wealth among a lot of worthy winners, including Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, this year’s recipient of the “Game of the Year” award.
From Software’s ninja adventure also claimed the “Best Action/Adventure Game” trophy, but it wasn’t able to sway the jury for the other three nominations it was up for. Instead, ZA/UM’s Disco Elysium became the most-honored game of the night, winning “Best Narrative,” “Best Role Playing Game,” “Best Independent Game,” and “Fresh Indie Game.”
Some of the ceremony’s other winners included Kojima Production’s Death Stranding (“Best Game Direction,” “Best Score/Music,” and “Best Performance” for Mads Mikkelsen), Remedy’s Control (“Best Art Direction”), Beat Games’s Beat Saber (“Best VR/AR Game”), Respawn’s Apex Legends (“Best Multiplayer”), and Activision’s Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled (“Best Sports/Racing Game”).
In addition to a rousing speech by their former President, Reggie Fils-Aime, Nintendo had a great night too, taking home trophies for “Best Fighting Game” (Super Smash Bros. Ultimate), “Best Family Game” (Luigi’s Mansion 3), and “Best Strategy Game” (Fire Emblem: Three Houses).
The complete list of winners and nominees from the 2019 Game Awards, as well as a video replay of the ceremony, can be found below.
Jury-Voted Categories
Game of the Year
Recognizing a game that delivers the absolute best experience across all creative and technical fields.
- WINNER: Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
- Control
- Death Stranding
- The Outer Worlds
- Resident Evil 2
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Best Game Direction
Awarded to a game studio for outstanding creative vision and innovation in game direction and design.
- WINNER: Death Stranding
- Control
- Outer Wilds
- Resident Evil 2
- Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
Best Narrative
For outstanding storytelling and narrative development in a game.
- WINNER: Disco Elysium
- A Plague Tale: Innocence
- Control
- Death Stranding
- The Outer Worlds
Best Art Direction
For outstanding creative and/or technical achievement in artistic design and animation.
- WINNER: Control
- Death Stranding
- Gris
- Sayonara Wild Hearts
- Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
- The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening
Best Score/Music
For outstanding music, inclusive of score, original song and/or licensed soundtrack.
- WINNER: Death Stranding
- Cadence of Hyrule
- Devil May Cry 5
- Kingdom Hearts III
- Sayonara Wild Hearts
Best Audio Design
Recognizing the best in-game audio and sound design.
- WINNER: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
- Control
- Death Stranding
- Gears 5
- Resident Evil 2
- Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
Best Performance
Awarded to an individual for voice-over acting, motion and/or performance capture.
- WINNER: Mads Mikkelsen (As Cliff) – Death Stranding
- Ashly Burch (As Parvati Holcomb) – The Outer Worlds
- Courtney Hope (As Jesse Faden) – Control
- Laura Bailey (As Kait Diaz) – Gears 5
- Matthew Porretta (As Dr. Casper Darling) – Control
- Norman Reedus (As Sam Porter Bridges) – Death Stranding
Games For Impact
For a thought provoking game with a profound pro-social meaning or message.
- WINNER: Gris
- Concrete Genis
- Kind Words
- Life Is Strange 2
- Sea of Solitude
Best Ongoing Game
Awarded to a game for outstanding development of ongoing content that evolves the player experience over time.
- WINNER: Fortnite
- Apex Legends
- Destiny 2
- Final Fantasy XIV
- Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege
Best Mobile Game
For the best game playable on a dedicated mobile device.
- WINNER: Call of Duty Mobile
- Grindstone
- Sayonara Wild Hearts
- Sky: Children of Light
- What The Golf?
Best VR/AR Game
For the best game experience playable in virtual or augmented reality, irrespective of platform.
- WINNER: Beat Saber
- Asgard’s Wrath
- Blood & Truth
- No Man’s Sky
- Trover Saves the Universe
Best Action Game
For the best game in the action genre focused on combat.
- WINNER: Devil May Cry 5
- Apex Legends
- Astral Chain
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
- Gears 5
- Metro Exodus
Best Action/Adventure Game
For the best action/adventure game, combining combat with traversal and puzzle solving.
- WINNER: Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
- Borderlands 3
- Control
- Death Stranding
- Resident Evil 2
- The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening
Best Role Playing Game
For the best game designed with rich player character customization and progression, including massively multiplayer experiences.
- WINNER: Disco Elysium
- Final Fantasy XIV
- Kingdom Hearts III
- Monster Hunter World: Iceborne
- The Outer Worlds
Best Fighting Game
For the best game designed primarily around head-to-head combat.
- WINNER: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
- Dead or Alive 6
- Jump Force
- Mortal Kombat 11
- Samurai Showdown
Best Family Game
For the best game appropriate for family play, irrespective of genre or platform.
- WINNER: Luigi’s Mansion 3
- Ring Fit Adventure
- Super Mario Maker 2
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
- Yoshi’s Crafted World
Best Strategy Game
Best game focused on real time or turn-based strategy gameplay, irrespective of platform.
- WINNER: Fire Emblem: Three Houses
- Age of Wonders: Planetfall
- Anno 1800
- Total War: Three Kingdoms
- Wargroove
Best Sports/Racing Game
For the best traditional and non-traditional sports and racing game.
- WINNER: Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled
- Dirt Rally 2.0
- Pro Evolution Soccer 2020
- F1 2019
- FIFA 20
Best Multiplayer
For outstanding online multiplayer gameplay and design, including co-op and massively multiplayer experiences, irrespective of game genre.
- WINNER: Apex Legends
- Borderlands 3
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
- Tetris 99
- Tom Clancy’s The Division 2
Best Independent Game
For outstanding creative and technical achievement in a game made outside the traditional publisher system.
- WINNER: Disco Elysium
- Baba Is You
- Katana Zero
- Outer Wilds
- Untitled Goose Game
Fresh Indie Game (Sponsored by Subway)
Recognizing a new independent studio that released its first game in 2019.
- WINNER: Disco Elysium
- Gris
- My Friend Pedro
- Outer Wilds
- Slay the Spire
- Untitled Goose Game
Best Community Support
Recognizing a game for outstanding community support, transparency, and responsiveness.
- WINNER: Destiny 2
- Apex Legends
- Final Fantasy XIV
- Fortnite
- Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege
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.
- WINNER: League of Legends
- Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
- Dota 2
- Fortnite
- Overwatch
Best Esports Player
The esports player judged to be the most outstanding performer in 2019, irrespective of game.
- WINNER: Kyle “bugha” Giersdorf – Fortnite
- Lee “faker” Sang-Hyeok – League of Legends
- Luka “perkz” Perkovic – League of Legends
- Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev – Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
- Jay “sinatraa” Won – Overwatch
Best Esports Team
The esports team judged to be the most outstanding for performance in 2019, inclusive of multi-team organizations.
- WINNER: G2 Esports – League of Legends
- Astralis – Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
- OG – Dota 2
- San Francisco Shock – Overwatch League
- Team Liquid – Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
Best Esports Coach
The esports coach judged to be the most outstanding for performance and conduct in 2019.
- WINNER: Danny “Zonic” Sorensen – Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
- Eric “Adren” Hoag – Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
- Nu-Ri “Cain” Jang – League of Legends
- Fabian “Grabbz” Lohmann – League of Legends
- Kim “kkoma” Jeong-Gyun – League of Legends
- Titouan “Sockshka” Merloz – Dota 2
Best Esports Event
Recognizing a singular event (across single or multiple days) that delivered a best-of-class experience for participants, in-person fans, and the broadcast audience.
- WINNER: League of Legends World Championship 2019
- Evo 2019
- Fortnite World Cup 2019
- Overwatch League Grand Finals 2019
- IEM Katowice 2019
- The International 2019
Best Esports Host
The best host or commentator of esports events (both in-venue and/or broadcast) in 2019, irrespective of game or language.
- WINNER: Eefje “Sjookz” Depoortere
- Alex “Machine” Richardson
- Paul “Redeye” Chaloner
- Alex “Goldenboy” Mendez
- Duan “Candice” Yu-Shuang
Content Creator of the Year
For a streamer or content creator who has made an important and positive impact on the industry in 2019.
- WINNER: Michael “shroud” Grzesiek
- Jack “Courage” Dunlop
- Benjamin “Dr. Lupo” Lupo
- Soleil “Ewok” Wheeler
- David “grefg” Martinez
Fan-Voted Categories
Player’s Voice
- WINNER: Fire Emblem: Three Houses
- Death Stranding
- Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate