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The Game Award for Game of the Year

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The Game Award for Game of the Year is an award presented annually by The Game Awards. It is given to a video game judged to deliver the best experience across creative and technical fields. The award is traditionally accepted by the game's directors or studio executives. The process begins with over 100 video game publications and websites, which collectively name six games as nominees. After the nominees are selected, the winner is chosen by a combined vote between the jury (90%) and public voting (10%).

The Game Award for Game of the Year
Larian Studios won Game of the Year for Baldur's Gate 3 in 2023.
Awarded forBest video game of the year
CountryUnited States
Presented byThe Game Awards
First awardedDecember 5, 2014; 10 years ago (2014-12-05)
Most recent winnerAstro Bot (2024)
Most awards
Most nominationsSony Interactive Entertainment (13)
Websitethegameawards.com

Since its inception, the award has been given to eleven video games. Publisher Sony Interactive Entertainment has won the award three times and been nominated a record thirteen times, while FromSoftware is the only developer with more than one win. Bethesda Softworks and Capcom are the most nominated companies without a win at four. The most recent winner is Astro Bot by Team Asobi.

Process and history

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The Game Awards has a voting jury consisting of over 100 video game media and influencer outlets, which have been specifically selected for their work in critically evaluating video games. Each outlet completes an unranked ballot listing its top five choices; games with the most appearances across the ballots are selected as the nominees. The winners are determined between the jury (90%) and public voting (10%).[1] The public vote is held via the official website and social media platforms such as Discord, Facebook, and Twitter;[2][3] in China, fan voting is held via Bilibili.[1]

Any game released before a certain date in November prior to the ceremony is eligible for award consideration.[4] As a result, any game released after the cutoff date is eligible in the following year's ceremony,[1] such as 2018's Super Smash Bros. Ultimate nominations at the Game Awards 2019;[5] similarly, games released between the ballot due date in early November and the cutoff date in mid-to-late November are often overlooked, such as Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order in both 2019 and 2020[a] and Demon's Souls and Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales in 2020.[4] Early access games available before the cutoff date are eligible, as are live service games regardless of their release year:[1] 2018's Among Us received several nominations in 2020.[9]

 
Josef Fares presenting Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2022

The Game Award for Game of the Year is given to a video game judged to deliver the best experience across creative and technical fields.[10] It is presented as the final award of the ceremony and is widely considered its most prestigious honor.[11][12][13] Since 2017, the announcement of the winner has been preceded by a medley performance of the scores of each nominee by the Game Awards Orchestra, conducted by Lorne Balfe.[14][15] The category was expanded from five to six nominees in 2018.[16]

The award is traditionally accepted by the director of the winning game or an executive from the studio; the first award in 2014 was accepted by Dragon Age: Inquisition executive producer Mark Darrah and BioWare general manager Aaryn Flynn.[17] The Game Awards host and producer Geoff Keighley presented the award for the first four ceremonies.[11][18][19][20] Other presenters include directors of past winners—such as 2016 winner Overwatch's lead director Jeff Kaplan in 2018,[21] 2020 winner The Last of Us Part II's creative director Neil Druckmann in 2021,[12] 2021 winner It Takes Two's director Josef Fares in 2022,[22] and 2023 winner Baldur's Gate 3's director Swen Vincke in 2024[23]—and celebrity guests like Vin Diesel and Michelle Rodriguez in 2019,[24] Christopher Nolan in 2020,[25] and Timothée Chalamet in 2023.[26]

Winners and nominees

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Acceptees of the award
 
Mark Darrah for Dragon Age: Inquisition (2014)
 
Marcin Iwiński for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (2015)
 
 
Eiji Aonuma and Hidemaro Fujibayashi for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (2017)
 
Cory Barlog for God of War (2018)
 
Hidetaka Miyazaki for Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (2019) and Elden Ring (2022)
 
Neil Druckmann for The Last of Us Part II (2020)
 
Josef Fares for It Takes Two (2021)
 
Swen Vincke for Baldur's Gate 3 (2023)
 
Nicolas Doucet for Astro Bot (2024)

Winners are listed first, highlighted in yellow and boldface, and indicated with a double dagger (‡).

Winners and nominees
Event Game Developer Publisher Ref.
2014 Dragon Age: Inquisition ‡ BioWare Electronic Arts [27]
[28]
Bayonetta 2 PlatinumGames Nintendo
Dark Souls II FromSoftware Bandai Namco Games
Hearthstone Blizzard Entertainment
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor Monolith Productions Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
2015 The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt ‡ CD Projekt Red CD Projekt [29]
[30]
Bloodborne FromSoftware Sony Computer Entertainment
Fallout 4 Bethesda Game Studios Bethesda Softworks
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain Kojima Productions Konami
Super Mario Maker Nintendo EAD Nintendo
2016 Overwatch ‡ Blizzard Entertainment [31]
[32]
Doom id Software Bethesda Softworks
Inside Playdead
Titanfall 2 Respawn Entertainment Electronic Arts
Uncharted 4: A Thief's End Naughty Dog Sony Computer Entertainment
2017 The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild ‡ Nintendo EPD Nintendo [33]
[34]
Horizon Zero Dawn Guerrilla Games Sony Interactive Entertainment
Persona 5 P-Studio Atlus
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds PUBG Corporation
Super Mario Odyssey Nintendo EPD Nintendo
2018 God of War ‡ Santa Monica Studio Sony Interactive Entertainment [16]
[35]
Assassin's Creed Odyssey Ubisoft Quebec Ubisoft
Celeste Maddy Makes Games
Marvel's Spider-Man Insomniac Games Sony Interactive Entertainment
Monster Hunter: World Capcom
Red Dead Redemption 2 Rockstar Games
2019 Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice ‡ FromSoftware Activision [36]
[37]
Control Remedy Entertainment 505 Games
Death Stranding Kojima Productions Sony Interactive Entertainment
Resident Evil 2 Capcom
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Bandai Namco Studios Nintendo
Sora Ltd.
The Outer Worlds Obsidian Entertainment Private Division
2020 The Last of Us Part II ‡ Naughty Dog Sony Interactive Entertainment [38]
[39]
Animal Crossing: New Horizons Nintendo EPD Nintendo
Doom Eternal id Software Bethesda Softworks
Final Fantasy VII Remake Square Enix
Ghost of Tsushima Sucker Punch Productions Sony Interactive Entertainment
Hades Supergiant Games
2021 It Takes Two ‡ Hazelight Studios Electronic Arts [40]
[41]
Deathloop Arkane Studios Bethesda Softworks
Metroid Dread MercurySteam Nintendo
Psychonauts 2 Double Fine Xbox Game Studios
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart Insomniac Games Sony Interactive Entertainment
Resident Evil Village Capcom
2022 Elden Ring ‡ FromSoftware Bandai Namco Entertainment [42]
[43]
A Plague Tale: Requiem Asobo Studio Focus Entertainment
God of War Ragnarök Santa Monica Studio Sony Interactive Entertainment
Horizon Forbidden West Guerrilla Games
Stray BlueTwelve Studio Annapurna Interactive
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Monolith Soft Nintendo
2023 Baldur's Gate 3 ‡ Larian Studios [44]
[45]
Alan Wake 2 Remedy Entertainment Epic Games Publishing
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Nintendo EPD Nintendo
Marvel's Spider-Man 2 Insomniac Games Sony Interactive Entertainment
Resident Evil 4 Capcom
Super Mario Bros. Wonder Nintendo EPD Nintendo
2024 Astro Bot ‡ Team Asobi Sony Interactive Entertainment [46]
[47]
Balatro LocalThunk Playstack
Black Myth: Wukong Game Science
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree FromSoftware Bandai Namco Entertainment
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Square Enix
Metaphor: ReFantazio Studio Zero Sega[b]

Multiple nominations and awards

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Developers

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Developer Nominations Wins
FromSoftware 5 2
Nintendo EPD 1
Capcom 4 0
Insomniac Games 3
Blizzard Entertainment 2 1
Naughty Dog
Santa Monica Studio
Guerrilla Games 0
id Software
Kojima Productions
Remedy Entertainment
Square Enix

Publishers

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Publisher Nominations Wins
Sony Interactive Entertainment[c] 13 3
Nintendo 10 1
Bethesda Softworks 4 0
Capcom
Electronic Arts 3 2
Bandai Namco Entertainment[d] 1
Blizzard Entertainment 2
Square Enix 0

Franchises

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Franchise Nominations Wins
Resident Evil 3 0
Super Mario
Elden Ring 2 1
God of War
The Legend of Zelda
Doom 0
Final Fantasy
Horizon
Marvel's Spider-Man

Notes

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  1. ^ Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order was released prior to the cutoff date of The Game Awards 2019 but was considered ineligible and did not receive any formal nominations[4][6] (it placed third in the fan-voted Player's Voice Award);[7] it received one nomination in 2020.[8]
  2. ^ Published in Japan by subsidiary company Atlus
  3. ^ Known as Sony Computer Entertainment until April 2016[48]
  4. ^ Known as Bandai Namco Games from January 2014 to April 2015[49][50]

References

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