Tag: Game of the Year

Vampire Survivors Snaps Elden Ring’s Streak and Wins “Best Game” at the 2022-2023 BAFTA Games Awards

Sony Santa Monica’s God of War (2018) is the only game in history to win “Game of the Year” honors at all five major year-end shows.

With the SXSW Gaming Awards off the calendar, and after Elden Ring‘s victories at The Game Awards, the DICE Awards, and the GDC Awards, it was looking extremely likely that Kratos would soon have some company. But it was not to be… and God of War: Ragnarok wasn’t even the one to snap the streak.

Instead, “Best Game” at the 2022-2023 BAFTA Games Awards went to Poncle’s Vampire Survivors.

The retro-styled “bullet heaven” shooter has been steadily picking up steam since it was released in early access in December 2021, and won over even more converts after its official launch in October. I’m sure a lot of people will look at this as an unlikely victory, but the membership of the British Academy has always tended to go their own way (most famously in 2017-2018 when it chose What Remains of Edith Finch over The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild). To further push that point home, Vampire Survivors also won the “Game Design” statuette.

So what of Elden Ring? From Software’s dark fantasy also won two awards, “Original Property” and “Multiplayer.”

Believe it or not, the biggest winner of the night was actually Sony Santa Monica and God of War: Ragnarok. The conclusion to Kratos’s Norse adventures took home six total awards, including three for the developer (“Animation,” “Audio Achievement,” and “Music”), both performance awards (Christopher Judge for “Performer in a Leading Role” and Laya DeLeon Hayes for “Performer in a Supporting Role”), and the fan-voted “EE Game of the Year.”

The complete list of winners and nominees from the 2022-2023 BAFTA Games Awards, as well as a replay of the ceremony, can be found after the break.

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Elden Ring Wins “Game of the Year” at 2022-2023 GDC Awards

Hold on to your hats, but From Software’s Elden Ring is now three-for-three at the major year-end awards after it collected a total of three awards, including “Game of the Year,” at the 2022-2023 Game Developers Choice Awards. In addition to the top prize, the development team will need to find room in their trophy case for the “Best Design” and “Best Visual Arts” statuettes.

“Three” was the theme of the night as things definitely happened in threes during the ceremony, starting right at the top with the hosting duties of Leslee Sullivant, a triple threat Game Producer, Writer, and TikTok creator (you’ve absolutely seen at least one of her “stories from the games industry” videos).

The other big winner last night was Sony Santa Monica’s God of War: Ragnarok, which also won three awards. The godlike technical feats performed by Kratos netted “Best Audio” and “Best Technology” for the developer, while a public vote secured the “Audience Award.”

Finally, four other awards went to four very deserving games (the theme suffers when your program has ten awards). Obsidian’s tale of medieval murder, Pentiment, won “Best Narrative.” Immortality‘s innovative use of video was the snared an “Innovation Award” for Half Mermaid. BlueTwelve continued their streak with another “Best Debut” award for Stray. And Citizen Sleeper was given the “Social Impact Award.”

Congratulations also to John Romero, who was given the Lifetime Achievement Award for Doom, Quake, and a laundry list of other games; and to the family of Mabel Addis, who was posthumously awarded the Pioneer Award for her work on The Sumerian Game.

The full list of winners, nominees, and honorable mentions from the 2022-2023 GDC Awards can be found after the break.

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SXSW Gaming Awards: All the Winners from 2013 to 2022

The SXSW Gaming Awards were previously given out each Spring as part of the South by Southwest festival, honoring games released during the previous calendar year. The ceremony was first held in 2014, but games and gaming have a long history at the Austin festival.

South by Southwest, also popularly known as SXSW, first opened its doors in 1987 as a regional music festival organized by The Austin Chronicle. After quickly growing in prominence over the next few years, SXSW expanded its scope in 1994 with the addition of a Film Festival. A Multimedia track focusing on technology and games would launch a year later.

SXSW’s celebration of games and game creators would get its own section, Screenburn, in 2006. That name was clearly a vestige of early 2000s “xtreme” culture, and it gave way to the more familiar SXSW Gaming in 2013.

Nominees for the SXSW Gaming Awards were chosen by festival staff with assistance from an advisory board. After the nominees were announced, the public helped determine the winners by participating in an online vote to help select the winners, which was weighted alongside another vote from festival staff and the advisory board.

The SXSW Gaming Awards were discontinued in 2023.

Every “Video Game of the Year” winner from the SXSW Gaming Awards can be found here…

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GOTY Flashback: 2013-2014 SXSW Gaming Awards

The organizers of South By Southwest have closed the doors on yet another festival within the Austin city limits, but for the first time in nearly a decade, they did so without the SXSW Gaming Awards. According to a spokesperson for the event, the Gaming Awards were discontinued this year in an effort to “streamline our festival a bit more.”

But rather than wonder whether SXSW’s jury would have chosen Elden Ring or God of War: Ragnarok, let’s look back at the winners from the very first SXSW Gaming Awards ceremony in 2013-2014.

The inaugural program from the SXSW Gaming Awards honored the best games from 2013 and you’ll find a very familiar name at the very top of the list. The Last of Us, which has since spawned multiple re-releases, a sequel, and a live-action adaptation, was the most-awarded game of the night, collecting “Game of the Year” honors for Naughty Dog, as well as three other statuettes (“Narrative,” “Musical Score,” and “SFX”).

While The Last of Us edged out some tough opposition for the big prize at the first SXSW Gaming Awards, almost all of the other titles competing for “Game of the Year” came away with something.

▶ The “Excellence in Gaming Marketing” award went to Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag for promoting a life of piracy.
▶ The patriotic imagery of Columbia snared the “Excellence in Art” award for Irrational’s BioShock Infinite.
▶ Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto V, which has also been re-released multiple times in the last decade, received the “Excellence in Technical Achievement” award.
▶ The chaotic multiplayer of Nintendo’s Super Mario 3D World won “Best Multiplayer Game.”
▶ And the origami world of Media Molecule’s Tearaway won “Excellence in Design and Direction.”

The full list of winners and nominees from the 2013-2014 SXSW Gaming Awards (as reported by the Austin Chronicle) can be found after the break.

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Elden Ring Wins “Game of the Year” at 2022-2023 DICE Awards

From Software’s Elden Ring has gone two-for-two during the 2022-2023 awards season after the RPG captured “Game of the Year” honors at the conclusion of last night’s DICE Awards ceremony. The RPG’s distinctive dark fantasy aesthetic was honored with four other awards, also winning for “Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction,” “Outstanding Achievement in Game Design,” “Outstanding Technical Achievement,” and, of course, “Role-Playing Game of the Year.”

It was a good night for From Software, though the mighty God of War was not always so easily toppled.

Before the show, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences bestowed a dozen nominations on God of War: Ragnarok. But while it might have missed the big prize, Kratos and company collected more statuettes than any other game at the DICE Awards. Developers from Sony Santa Monica would climb up on stage seven times, starting with the award for “Adventure Game of the Year.”

The team would also be honored for their narrative work (“Outstanding Achievement in Story” and “Outstanding Achievement in Character” for Kratos himself), graphical prowess (“Outstanding Achievement in Animation” and “Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction”), and audio work (“Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition” and “Outstanding Achievement in Audio Design”).

The only other game to win multiple awards at the 2022-2023 DICE Awards was Vertical Robot’s Red Matter 2, which was triumphant in both immersive reality categories (“Immersive Reality Technical Achievement” and “Immersive Reality Game of the Year”).

Many of the remaining awards were distributed amongst some of the biggest surprises from 2022. The vampire-less Vampire Survivors sunk its teeth into the “Action Game of the Year” award. The full-fledged Premium Edition of Dwarf Fortress paid off more than 15 years of anticipation with a win for “Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year.” And the addictive Marvel Snap was named “Mobile Game of the Year.”

You’ll find a replay of last night’s ceremony, which was hosted by Greg “GameOverGreggy” Miller and IGN’s Stella Chung, after the break, along with a full list of winners and nominees.

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Elden Ring Wins “Game of the Year” in Bizarre Finale to the 2022 Game Awards

Though it’s faced some stiff competition over the last year, Elden Ring‘s coronation as “Game of the Year” has sometimes felt like an inevitability ever since it was released all the way back in February.

That expectation became a reality during last night’s Game Awards ceremony, as From Software’s already stellar reputation was burnished with “Game of the Year” and three additional statuettes (“Best Game Direction,” “Best Art Direction,” and “Best Role Playing Game”). But what happened next threatened to overshadow the entire show, as a teenager bypassed security and walked on stage alongside the developers. After Game Director Hidetaka Miyazaki delivered his acceptance speech, the teenager addressed the audience, and dedicated the award to “my reformed Orthodox Rabbi Bill Clinton.”

It was certainly one of the oddest moments from the show’s history.

But before all that, the night certainly belonged to God of War: Ragnarok. Though it missed out on “Game of the Year,” Sony Santa Monica’s game took home a half-dozen statuettes, including for “Best Action/Adventure Game,” “Best Audio Design,” “Best Score and Music,” and “Best Narrative.” Ragnarok also won the “Innovation in Accessibility” award for its expansive accessibility options and Christopher Judge’s portrayal of Kratos won “Best Performance.”

Stray was also denied “Game of the Year” honors, but it did win a pair of prizes for “Best Independent Game” and (unsurprisingly) “Best Debut Indie.”

Finally, Nintendo had a good night with multiple wins spread across its impressive 2022 lineup. The consolemaker collected statuettes for “Best Family Game” (for Kirby and the Forgotten Land), “Best Sim/Strategy Game” (for Mario + Rabbids: Spark of Hope), and “Best Multiplayer” (for Splatoon 3). Things are also looking good for 2023 as The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom won “Most Anticipated Game.”

A video replay of the 2022 Game Awards can be found after the break (skip to 3:53:00 if you’re solely interested in “my reformed Orthodox Rabbi Bill Clinton”), along with all the winners and nominees.

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2021 GOTY Scoreboard: It Takes Two, Returnal, and More

There have been years where the “Game of the Year” honors were spread far and wide amongst several big titles… but 2021 went even further than that.

Four games shared in the five major year-end awards, a nearly unprecedented outcome that last occurred during the 2007-2008 awards season. This time around, Square Enix’s resurgent MMO (Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker), Daniel Mullins’s visually-impressive card battler (Inscryption), and Housemarque’s action-packed roguelike (Returnal) all collected a single award. But that’s only three, and the tie was broken by Hazelight’s It Takes Two, which managed to capture a second statuette.

Moving beyond the major awards, many publications were equally split on their “Game of the Year” choice, though a few titles stood out from the pack. That list includes Bethesda’s Deathloop, Playground’s Forza Horizon 5, Nintendo’s Metroid Dread, Insomniac’s Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, and Capcom’s Resident Evil Village.

And it didn’t stop there. You can see more of last year’s most-acclaimed titles in the 2021 GOTY Scoreboard after the break.

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Returnal Breaks the Loop and Wins “Best Game” at the 2021-2022 BAFTA Games Awards

Housemarque has been caught in a familiar loop throughout their attendance at The Game Awards, the DICE Awards, the SXSW Gaming Awards, and the GDC Awards. Their acclaimed third-person shooter, Returnal, was nominated in multiple categories at each show, but the developers came away emptyhanded almost every time.

That pattern certainly changed at the 2021-2022 BAFTA Games Awards, as Returnal was honored with the “Best Game” award and three other statuettes (“Audio Achievement,” “Music,” and “Performer in a Leading Role” for Jane Perry).

A handful of other games also took home multiple awards during the ceremony, including Hazelight’s It Takes Two (“Multiplayer” and “Original Property”), Insomniac’s Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (“Technical Achievement” and “Animation”), and Witch Beam’s Unpacking (“Narrative” and the fan-voted “EE Game of the Year”).

The BAFTA Games Awards are headquartered in London, and the organizers also annually hand out an award for “Best British Game.” This year, that honor went to Playground’s Forza Horizon 5.

You can find the complete list of nominees and all the other winners (including Chicory: A Colorful Tale, Inscryption, Psychonauts 2, and more), as well as a replay of the ceremony (which was hosted by Elle Osili-Wood), after the break.

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Inscryption Wins “Game of the Year” at the 2021-2022 GDC Awards

A new player got dealt into the game at this year’s Game Developers Conference. Just an hour after claiming the “Seumas McNally Grand Prize” at the Independent Games Festival, Daniel Mullins Games’s Inscrpytion also took home “Game of the Year” honors at the 2021-2022 Game Developers Choice Awards.

Even though we’re more than a decade removed from the rise of the indie movement, this is the first time a game has won both awards in the same year.

While Inscrpytion made history, Insomniac’s Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart continued to do what it’s done at nearly every ceremony this year, collecting statuettes for “Best Visual Art” and “Best Technology.”

But the GDC Awards usually gives the spotlight over to a lot of unique games, and that certainly happened this year. Other winners from last night’s ceremony include Iron Gate’s Valheim (“Best Debut” and the “Audience Award”), Witch Beam’s Unpacking (“Best Audio” and the “Innovation Award”), Double Fine’s Psychonauts 2 (“Best Narrative”), Kitfox’s Boyfriend Dungeon (the “Social Impact Award”), and Hazelight’s It Takes Two (“Best Design”).

A full list of all the nominees at the 2021-2022 GDC Awards can be found after the break, along with a replay of the ceremony.

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Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker Wins “Video Game of the Year” at 2021-2022 SXSW Gaming Awards

Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker made history this weekend at the 2021-2022 SXSW Gaming Awards.

Square Enix’s MMO won “Video Game of the Year” at the close of the ceremony, marking the first time an MMO has ever won the top prize at one of the major year-end award shows. Not content with a single trophy, the game also took home the “Excellence in Narrative” and “Excellence in Original Score” awards for Square Enix and Producer Naoki “Yoshi-P” Yoshida.

As in years past, the SXSW voting body chose to spread out the remainder of the awards among a wide variety of deserving titles.

The developers at Witch Beam can put the “Matthew Crump Cultural Innovation Award” on their shelf for Unpacking, but it was Kena: Bridge of Spirits that was honored with the “Indie Game of the Year” award last night. Another buzzy indie from last year, Daniel Mullins’s Inscryption, cashed in a winning hand with a victory in the “Excellence in Game Design” category.

Insomniac’s Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart rode its next-gen accolades to a trophy for “Excellence in Technical Achievement,” and Playground’s Forza Horizon 5 did the same in the “Excellence in Animation, Art, and Visual Achievement” category.

The creepy soundscapes of Capcom’s Resident Evil Village claimed the “Excellence in Audio Design” award, while stablemate Resident Evil 4 VR won “VR Game of the Year.”

Finally, after scoring “Game of the Year’ victories at The Game Awards and the DICE Awards, Hazelight’s It Takes Two had to settle for “Excellence in Multiplayer” at SXSW.

A complete list of winners and nominees from the 2021-2022 SXSW Gaming Awards can be found after the break.

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