Best Soundtrack

  • Hades (Supergiant Games)
  • The Last of Us Part II (Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
  • Doom Eternal (id Software / Bethesda Softworks)
  • Final Fantasy VII: Remake (Square Enix)
  • Ghost of Tsushima (Sucker Punch Productions / Sony Interactive Entertainment)

Mentions honorable: Half-Life: Alyx (Valve), Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Nintendo EPD/ Nintendo), Ori and the Will of the Wisps (Moon Studios / Xbox Game Studios / iam8bit), Fuser (Harmonix Music Systems / NCsoft)

Best start

  • Phasmophobia (Kinetic Games)
  • Umurangi Generation (Origame Digital / Playism, Origame Digital)
  • Carrion (Phobia Game Studio / Devolver Digital)
  • Mortal Shell (Cold Symmetry / Playstack)
  • Raji: An Ancient Epic (Nodding Heads Games / Super!Com)

Mentions honorable: Call of the Sea (Out of the Blue / Raw Fury), Röki (Polygon Treehouse / CI Games), If Found… (Dreamfeel / Annapurna Interactive)

Best Design

  • Ghost of Tsushima (Sucker Punch Productions / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
  • The Last of Us Part II (Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
  • Hades (Supergiant Games)
  • Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Nintendo EPD/ Nintendo)
  • Half-Life: Alyx (Valve)

Mentions honorable: Final Fantasy VII: Remake (Square Enix), Crusader Kings III (Paradox Development Studio / Paradox Interactive), Spelunky 2 (Blitworks, Mossmouth / Mossmouth), Dreams (Media Molecule / Sony Interactive Entertainment)

Best innovation

  • Microsoft Flight Simulator (Asobo Studio / Xbox Game Studios)
  • Dreams (Media Molecule / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
  • Half-Life: Alyx (Valve)
  • Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout (Mediatonic / Devolver Digital)
  • Hades (Supergiant Games)

Mentions honorable: Astro’s Playroom (Sony Japan Studio/Team Asobi / Sony Interactive Entertainment), Ghost of Tsushima (Sucker Punch Productions / Sony Interactive Entertainment), The Last of Us Part II (Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment), Watch Dogs: Legion (Ubisoft Toronto / Ubisoft)

Best mobile game

  • The Pathless (Giant Squid / Annapurna Interactive)
  • Genshin Impact (miHoYo)
  • Legends of Runeterra (Riot Games)
  • Alba: A Wildlife Adventure (ustwo / PID Publishing)
  • If Found… (Dreamfeel / Annapurna Interactive)

Mentions honorable: Pokémon Café Mix (Genius Sonority / Nintendo / The Pokémon Company), Reigns: Beyond (Nerial / Devolver Digital)

Better narration

  • Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition (Cardboard Computer / Annapurna Interactive)
  • Final Fantasy VII: Remake (Square Enix)
  • Hades (Supergiant Games)
  • The Last of Us Part II (Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
  • Ghost of Tsushima (Sucker Punch Productions / Sony Interactive Entertainment)

Mentions honorable: Spiritfarer (Thunder Lotus Games), Half-Life: Alyx (Valve), Cyberpunk 2077 (CD Projekt RED / CD Projekt), If Found… (Dreamfeel / Annapurna Interactive), Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales (Insomniac Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment), 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim (Vanillaware / Atlus)

Best technology

  • The Last of Us Part II (Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
  • Half-Life: Alyx (Valve)
  • Dreams (Media Molecule / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
  • Ghost of Tsushima (Sucker Punch Productions / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
  • Microsoft Flight Simulator (Asobo Studio / Xbox Game Studios)

Mentions honorable: Final Fantasy VII: Remake (Square Enix), Astro’s Playroom (Sony Japan Studio/Team Asobi / Sony Interactive Entertainment), Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales (Insomniac Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)

Best artistic direction

  • Ghost of Tsushima (Sucker Punch Productions / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
  • Hades (Supergiant Games)
  • The Last of Us Part II (Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
  • Ori and the Will of the Wisps (Moon Studios / Xbox Game Studios / iam8bit)
  • Cyberpunk 2077 (CD Project RED / CD Project)

Mentions honorable: Final Fantasy VII: Remake (Square Enix), Spiritfarer (Thunder Lotus Games), Umurangi Generation (Origame Digital / Playism, Origame Digital), Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales (Insomniac Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)

Best VR / AR Game

  • The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners (Skydance Interactive)
  • Paper Beast (Pixel Reef)
  • Dreams (Media Molecule / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
  • Half-Life: Alyx (Valve)
  • Star Wars: Squadrons (Motive Studios / Electronic Arts)

Mentions honorable: Phasmophobia (Kinetic Games), The Room VR: A Dark Matter (Fireproof Games), Iron Man VR (Camouflaj / Sony Interactive Entertainment), Microsoft Flight Simulator (Asobo Studio / Xbox Game Studios), Until You Fall (Schell Games)

Game of the year

  • Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Nintendo EPD/ Nintendo)
  • The Last of Us Part II (Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
  • Half-Life: Alyx (Valve)
  • Hades (Supergiant Games)
  • Ghost of Tsushima (Sucker Punch Productions / Sony Interactive Entertainment)

Mentions honorable: Spelunky 2 (Blitworks, Mossmouth / Mossmouth), Doom Eternal (id Software / Bethesda Softworks), Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales (Insomniac Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment), Microsoft Flight Simulator (Asobo Studio / Xbox Game Studios), Final Fantasy VII: Remake (Square Enix), Genshin impact (miHoYo).

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