It Takes Two won Game of the Year at the 2021 Game Awards, beating out games like Deathloop and Metroid Dread for the top spot.
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Though the slew of “world exclusives!” might have you think otherwise, The Game Awards—also known as E3 Part 2: Geoff Keighley’s Winter Break Edition—are ostensibly about honoring some of the buzziest games of the year. Following last year’s socially distanced charade, the event was IRL this year, with games industry haut monde filing into the Microsoft ƒTheater in sunny Los Angeles, making every games writer posted up in 37ºF New York hot with envy (he said, definitely not feeling scorned at all).
Six blockbusters were up for the top prize this year, but awards were doled out across more than two dozen categories, covering everything from specific genres to technical accolades to “best esports game, presented by GrubHub.” Deliberations were mostly (about 90 percent) determined by a voting body of press and influencers, but 10 percent of the vote is weighted by fan feedback.
What follows is the full list of nominees, with winners highlighted in bold. Congrats to all involved. If your championed game didn’t win big, rest easy knowing it’s GOTY in your heart.
Game of the Year
Deathloop (Arkane Studios/Bethesda)It Takes Two (Hazelight Studios/EA)Metroid Dread (Mercury Steam/Nintendo)Psychonauts 2 (Double Fine/Xbox Game Studios)Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (Insomniac Games/SIE)Resident Evil Village (Capcom)
Best Game Direction
Deathloop (Arkane Studios/Bethesda)It Takes Two (Hazelight Studios/EA)Returnal (Housemarque/SIE)Psychonauts 2 (Double Fine/Xbox Game Studios)Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (Insomniac Games/SIE)
Best Ongoing
Apex Legends (Respawn/EA)Call of Duty: Warzone (Infinity Ward/Raven/Activision)Final Fantasy XIV (SQUARE ENIX)Fortnite (Epic Games)Genshin Impact (MiHoYo)
Best Indie
12 Minutes (Luis Antonio/Annapurna Interactive)Death’s Door (Acid Nerve/Devolver Digital)Kena: Bridge of Spirits (Ember Lab)Inscryption (Daniel Mullins Games/Devolver Digital)Loop Hero (Four Quarters/Devolver Digital)
Best Debut Indie
Kena: Bridge of Spirits (Ember Lab)Sable (Shedworks/Raw Fury)The Artful Escape (Beethoven & Dinosaur/Annapurna)The Forgotten City (Modern Storyteller/Dear Villagers)Valheim (Iron Gate/Coffee Stain)
Best Narrative
Deathloop (Arkane Studios/Bethesda)It Takes Two (Hazelight Studios/EA)Life is Strange: True Colors (Deck Nine/SQUARE ENIX)Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy (Eidos Montreal/SQUARE ENIX)Psychonauts 2 (Double Fine/Xbox Game Studios)
Best Art Direction
Deathloop (Arkane Studios/Bethesda)Kena: Bridge of Spirits (Ember Lab)Psychonauts 2 (Double Fine/Xbox Game Studios)Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (Insomniac Games/SIE)The Artful Escape (Beethoven & Dinosaur/Annapurna)
Best Score and Music
Cyberpunk 2077 (Marcin Przybylowicz, Piotr T. Adamczyk, Composers)Deathloop (Tom Salta, Composer)NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139 (Keiichi Okabe, Composer)Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy (Richard Jacques, Composer)The Artful Escape (Johnny Galvatron & Josh Abrahams, Composers)
Best Audio Design
Deathloop (Arkane Studios/Bethesda)Forza Horizon 5 (Playground Games/Xbox Game Studios)Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (Insomniac Games/SIE)Resident Evil Village (Capcom)Returnal (Housemarque/SIE)
Best Performance
Erika Mori as Alex Chen, Life is Strange: True ColorsGiancarlo Esposito as Anton Castillo, Far Cry 6Jason E. Kelley as Colt Vahn, DeathloopMaggie Robertson as Lady Dimitrescu, Resident Evil VillageOzioma Akagha as Julianna Blake, Deathloop
Games for Impact
Before Your Eyes (GoodbyeWorld Games/Skybound Games)Boyfriend Dungeon (Kitfox Games)Chicory (Greg Lobanow, Alexis dean-Jones, Lena Raine, Madeline Berger, A Shell in the Pit/Finji)Life is Strange: True Colors (Deck Nine/SQUARE ENIX)No Longer Home (Humble Grove, Hana Lee, Cel Davison, Adrienne Lombardo, Eli Rainsberry/Fellow Traveler)
Best Community Support
Apex Legends (Respawn/EA)Destiny 2 (Bungie)Final Fantasy XIV Online (SQUARE ENIX)Fortnite (Epic Games)No Man’s Sky (Hello Games)
Best Mobile Game, Presented by Verizon
Fantasian (Mistwalker)Genshin Impact (MiHoYo)League of Legends: Wild Rift (Riot Games)MARVEL Future Revolution (Netmarble)Pokemon Unite (TiMi Studios/The Pokemon Company)
Best VR/AR
Hitman 3 (IO Interactive)I Expect You To Die 2 (Schell Games)Lone Echo II (Ready at Dawn/Oculus Studios)Resident Evil 4 (Armature Studio/Capcom/Oculus Studios)Sniper Elite VR (Coatsink/Just Add Water/Rebellion Developments)
Best Action
Back 4 Blood (Turtle Rock/WB Games)Chivalry II (Torn Banner Studios/Tripwire Interactive)Deathloop (Arkane Studios/Bethesda)Far Cry 6 (Ubisoft Toronto/Ubisoft)Returnal (Housemarque/SIE)
Best Action/Adventure
Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy (Eidos Montreal/SQUARE ENIX)Metroid Dread (Mercury Steam/Nintendo)Psychonauts 2 (Double Fine/Xbox Game Studios)Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (Insomniac Games/SIE)Resident Evil Village (Capcom)
Best Role Playing
Cyberpunk 2077 (CD Projekt Red)Monster Hunter Rise (Capcom)Scarlet Nexus (Bandai Namco)Shin Megami Tensei V (Atlus/Sega)Tales of Arise (Bandai Namco)
Best Fighting
Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles (CyberConnect2/Sega)Guilty Gear -Strive- (Arc System Works)Melty Blood: Type Lumina (French-Bread/Delightworks)Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl (Ludosity/Fair Play Labs/GameMill)Virtua Fighter 5: Ultimate Showdown (Sega)
Best Family
It Takes Two (Hazelight Studios/EA)Mario Party Superstars (NDcube/Nintendo)New Pokémon Snap (Bandai Namco/The Pokémon Company/Nintendo)Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury (Nintendo)WarioWare: Get It Together! (Intelligent Systems/Nintendo)
Best Sports/Racing
F1 2021 (Codemasters/EA Sports)FIFA 22 (EA Vancouver/EA Sports)Forza Horizon 5 (Playground Games/Xbox Game Studios)Hot Wheels Unleashed (Milestone)Riders Republic (Ubisoft Annecy/Ubisoft)
Best Sim/Strategy
Age of Empires IV (Relic Entertainment/Xbox Game Studios)Evil Genius 2: World Domination (Rebellion Developments)Humankind (Amplitude Studios/Sega)Inscryption (Daniel Mullins Games/Devolver)Microsoft Flight Simulator (Asobo Studio/Xbox Game Studios)
Best Multiplayer
Back 4 Blood (Turtle Rock/WB Games)It Takes Two (Hazelight Studios/EA)Knockout City (Velan Studios/EA)Monster Hunter Rise (Capcom)New World (Amazon Games)Valheim (Iron Gate Studio/Coffee Stain)
Most Anticipated
Elden Ring (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco)God of War Ragnarök (Sony Santa Monica/SIE)Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games/SIE)Sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo)Starfield (Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda)
Innovation in Accessibility, Presented by Chevrolet
Far Cry 6 (Ubisoft Toronto/Ubisoft)Forza Horizon 5 (Playground Games/Xbox Game Studios)Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy (Eidos Montreal/SQUARE ENIX)Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (Insomniac Games/SIE)The Vale: Shadow of the Crown (Creative Bytes Studios/Falling Squirrel)
Content Creator of the Year
DreamFuslieGaulesIbaiTheGrefg
Best Esports Game, Presented by Grubhub
Call of Duty (Activision)CS:GO (Valve)DOTA2 (Valve)League of Legends (Riot Games)Valorant (Riot Games)
Best Esports Athlete
Chris “Simp” LehrHeo “ShowMaker” SuMagomed “Collapse” KhalilovOleksandr “s1mple” KostylievTyson “TenZ” Ngo
Best Esports Team
Atlanta FaZe (COD)DWG KIA (LOL)Natus Vincere (CS:GO)Sentinels (Valorant)Team Spirit (DOTA2)
Best Esports Coach
Airat “Silent” GazievAndrey “ENGH” SholokhovAndrii “B1ad3" HorodenskyiJames “Crowder” CrowderKim “kkOma” Jeong-gyun
Best Esports Event
2021 League of Legends World ChampionshipPGL Major Stockholm 2021PUBG Mobile Global Championship 2020The International 2021
