The annual Game Awards has grown exponentially in size since its inception. I remember how big it was in 2014, and back then I thought it had reached its peak in popularity. “This is the epitome of Video Game Awards shows and no one would have it beat”; how wrong I was. The show has continued to best its own numbers, year after year.

The annual Video Game Awards 2018 took place on 6 December 2018, where an entire spate of video games, development studios, publishers, esports teams, and even video game personalities, were rewarded for their contributions to the industry.

While many awards were handed out, the most intriguing was that of the title for Game of the Year. Many of the games on the list are games that Vamers has had the pleasure of reviewing. Category finalists include: Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey, God of War, Celeste, Marvel’s Spider-Man, and even Red Dead Redemption 2, and Monster Hunter: World. All stellar games! However, the announced winner was met with eyebrows ever so slightly raised, when the award was announced and the theatre roared in celebration – Red Dead Redemption 2 did not get the title! Granted, God of War is also an amazing title, but colour me impressed that another came out on top.

With that said, and without further adieu, here is the list of nominees and winners for your viewing pleasure.


GAME OF THE YEAR


Assassin’s Creed Odyssey (Ubisoft Quebec / Ubisoft)

Celeste (Matt Makes Games)

Winner: God of War (Sony Santa Monica / SIE)

Marvel’s Spider-Man (Insomniac Games / SIE)

Monster Hunter: World (Capcom)

Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)


BEST ONGOING GAME


Destiny 2 (Bungie / Activision)

Winner: Fortnite (Epic Games)

No Man’s Sky (Hello Games)

Overwatch (Blizzard)

Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege (Ubisoft Montreal / Ubisoft)


BEST GAME DIRECTION


A Way Out (Hazelight Studios / EA)

Detroit: Become Human (Quantic Dream / SIE)

Winner: God of War (Sony Santa Monica / SIE)

Marvel’s Spider-Man (Insomniac Games / SIE)

Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)


BEST NARRATIVE


Detroit: Become Human (Quantic Dream / SIE)

God of War (Sony Santa Monica / SIE)

Life is Strange 2: Episode 1 (Dontnod Entertainment / Square Enix)

Marvel’s Spider-Man (Insomniac Games / SIE)

Winner: Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)


BEST ART DIRECTION


Assassin’s Creed Odyssey (Ubisoft Quebec / Ubisoft)

God of War (Sony Santa Monica / SIE)

Octopath Traveler (Square Enix / Acquire / Nintendo)

Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)

Winner: Return of Obra Din (3909 LLC)


BEST SCORE/MUSIC


Celeste (Lena Raine)

God of War (Bear McCreary)

Marvel’s Spider-Man (John Paesano)

Ni No Kuni 2: Revenant Kingdom (Joe Hisaishi)

Octopath Traveler (Yasunori Nishiki)

Winner: Red Dead Redemption 2 (Woody Jackson)


BEST AUDIO DESIGN


Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 (Treyarch Studios / Activision)

Forza Horizon 4 (Playground Games / Turn 10 Studios / Microsoft Studios)

God of War (Sony Santa Monica / SIE)

Marvel’s Spider-Man (Insomniac Games / SIE)

Winner: Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)


BEST PERFORMANCE


Bryan Dechart as Connor, Detroit: Become Human

Christopher Judge as Kratos, God of War

Melissanthi Mahut as Kassandra, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey

Winner: Roger Clark as Arthur Morgan, Red Dead Redemption 2

Yuri Lowenthal as Peter Parker, Marvel’s Spider-Man


GAMES FOR IMPACT


11-11 Memories Retold (Digixart / Aardman Animations / Bandai Namco Entertainment)

Winner: Celeste (Matt Makes Games)

Florence (Mountains / Annapurna Interactive)

Life is Strange 2: Episode 1 (Dontnod Entertainment / Square Enix)

The Missing: JJ Macfield and the Island of Memories (White Owls / Arc System Works)


BEST INDEPENDENT GAME


Winner: Celeste (Matt Makes Games)

Dead Cells (Motion Twin)

Into the Breach (Subset Games)

Return of the Obra Dinn (3909 LLC)

The Messenger (Sabotage Studio)


BEST MOBILE


Donut County (Ben Esposito / Annapurna Interactive)

Winner: Florence (Mountains / Annapurna Interactive)

Fortnite (Epic Games)

PUBG Mobile (Lightspeed & Quantum / Tencent Games)

Reigns: Game of Thrones (Nerial / Developer Digital)


BEST VR/AR GAME


Winner: Astro Bot Rescue Mission (SIE Japan Studio / SIE)

Beat Saber (Beat Games)

Firewall Zero Hour (First Contact Entertainment / SIE)

Moss (Polyarc Games)

Tetris Effect (Resonair / Enhance, Inc)


BEST ACTION GAME


Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 (Treyarch / Activision)

Winner: Dead Cells (Motion Twin)

Destiny 2: Forsaken (Bungie / Activision)

Far Cry 5 (Ubisoft Montreal / Ubisoft)

Mega Man 11 (Capcom)


BEST ACTION/ADVENTURE GAME


Assassin’s Creed Odyssey (Ubisoft Quebec / Ubisoft)

Winner: God of War (Sony Santa Monica / SIE)

Marvel’s Spider-Man (Insomniac Games / SIE)

Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)

Shadow of the Tomb Raider (Eidos Montreal / Crystal Dynamics / Square Enix)


BEST ROLE-PLAYING GAME


Dragon Quest 11: Echoes of an Elusive Age (Square Enix / Square Enix)

Winner: Monster Hunter: World (Capcom)

Ni no Kuni 2: Revenant Kingdom (Level 5 / Bandai Namco Entertainment)

Octopath Traveler (Square Enix / Acquire / Nintendo)

Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire (Obsidian Entertainment / Versus Evil)


BEST FIGHTING


BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle (Arc System Works)

Winner: Dragon Ball FighterZ (Arc System Works / Bandai Namco Entertainment)

Soulcalibur 6 (Bandai Namco Studios / Bandai Namco Entertainment)

Street Fighter 5 Arcade (Dimps / Capcom)


BEST FAMILY GAME


Mario Tennis Aces (Camelot Software Planning / Nintendo)

Nintendo Labo (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)

Winner: Overcooked 2 (Ghost Town Games / Team 17)

Starlink: Battle for Atlas (Ubisoft Toronto / Ubisoft)

Super Mario Party (NDCube / Nintendo)


BEST STRATEGY GAME


Battletech (Harebrained Schemes / Paradox Interactive)

Frostpunk (11 bit studios)

Winner: Into the Breach (Subset Games)

The Banner Saga 3 (Stoic Studio / Versus Evil)

Valkyria Chronicles 4 (Sega CS3 / Sega)


BEST SPORTS/RACING


FIFA 19 (EA Vancouver / EA Sports)

Winner: Forza Horizon 4 (Playground Games / Turn 10 Studios / Microsoft Studios)

Mario Tennis Aces (Camelot Software Planning / Nintendo)

NBA 2K19 (Visual Concepts / 2K Sports)

Pro Evolution Soccer 2019 (PES Productions / Konami)


BEST MULTIPLAYER GAME


Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 (Treyarch / Activision)

Destiny 2: Forsaken (Bungie / Activision)

Winner: Fortnite (Epic Games)

Monster Hunter: World (Capcom)

Sea of Thieves (Rare / Microsoft Studios)


BEST STUDENT GAME


Winner: Combat 2018 (Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences – Norway)

Dash Quasar (UC Santa Cruz)

JERA (Digipen Bilbao, Spain)

LIFF (ISTART Digital – France)

RE: Charge (MIT)


BEST DEBUT INDIE GAME


Donut County (Ben Esposito / Annapurna Interactive)

Florence (Mountains / Annapurna Interactive)

Moss (Polyarc Games)

Winner: The Messenger (Sabotage Studio)

Yoku’s Island Express (Villa Gorilla)


BEST ESPORTS GAME


Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

Dota 2

Fortnite

League of Legends

Winner: Overwatch


BEST ESPORTS PLAYER


Winner: Dominique “SonicFox” McLean (Echo Fox)

Hajime “Tokido” Taniguchi

Jian “Uzi” Zi-Hao (Royal Never Give Up)

Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev (Natus Vincere)

Sung-hyeon “JJoNak” Bang (New York Excelsior)


BEST ESPORTS TEAM


Astralis (CSGO)

Winner: Cloud9 (LOL)

Fnatic (LOL)

London Spitfire (Overwatch)

OG (Dota 2)


BEST ESPORTS COACH


Winner: Bok “Reapered” Han-gyu (Cloud9)

Cristian “ppasarel” Bănăseanu (OG)

Danny “zonic” Sørensen (Astralis)

Dylan Falco (Fnatic)

Jakob “YamatoCannon” Mebdi (Team Vitality)

Janko “YNk” Paunovic (MiBR)


BEST ESPORTS EVENT


ELEAGUE Major: Boston 2018

Evo 2018

Winner: League of Legends World Championship

Overwatch League Grand Finals

The International 2018


BEST ESPORTS HOST


Alex “Goldenboy” Mendez

Alex “Machine” Richardson

Anders Blume

Winner: Eefje “Sjokz” Depoortere

Paul “RedEye” Chaloner


BEST ESPORTS MOMENT


Winner: C9 Comeback Win In Triple OT vs FAZE (ELEAGUE)

KT vs IG Base Race (LOL Worlds)

G2 Beating RNG (LOL Worlds)

OG’s Massive Upset of LGD (DOTA 2 Finals)

SonicFox Side Switch Against Go1 in DBZ (EVO)


CONTENT CREATOR OF THE YEAR


Dr. Lupo

Myth

Winner: Ninja

Pokimane

Willyrex


There you have it, folks. Did your favourite games make the cut? Let us know below!

Junior Editor at Vamers. From Superman to Ironman; Bill Rizer to Sam Fisher and everything in-between, Edward loves it all. He is a Bachelor of Arts student and English Major specialising in Language and Literature. He is an avid writer and casual social networker with a flare for all things tech related.