Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice wins Game of the Year at the Game Awards
Last year, it was a berserker warrior of ancient Greece who won the top honor at the Game Awards. This year, it’s a disfigured, battle-hardened shogun warrior.
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, from directors Hidetaka Miyazaki and Kazuhiro Hamatani, won Game of the Year during the industry’s big awards ceremony on Thursday night. (It also happens to be EW’s top game of the year. Just saying.)
The title emerged ahead of even Death Stranding, the highly anticipated and ambitious release from Hideo Kojima that featured motion-captured performances from Norman Reedus, Mads Mikkelsen, Léa Seydoux, and other Hollywood actors. Although, Kojima ended up winning Best Direction, Mikkelsen won Best Performance, and the game itself won Best Score.
Disco Elysium, the indie game from studio ZA/UM, was another surprise winner of the night, hauling in awards for Best Narrative, Best Independent Game, Best RPG, and Fresh Indie Developer.
See the main list of winner below.
Game of The Year
Control (Remedy/505 Games)
Death Stranding (Kojima Productions/SIE)
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Bandai-Namco/Sora/Nintendo)
Resident Evil 2 (Capcom/Capcom)
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (From Software/Activision) — WINNER
The Outer Worlds (Obsidian/Private Division)
Best Game Direction
Control (Remedy/505 Games)
Death Stranding (Kojima Productions/SIE) — WINNER
Resident Evil 2 (Capcom/Capcom)
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (From Software/Activision)
Outer Wilds (Mobius Digital/Annapurna)
Best Narrative
A Plague Tale: Innocence (Asobo/Focus Home)
Control (Remedy/505)
Death Stranding (Kojima Productions/SIE)
Disco Elysium (ZA/UM) — WINNER
The Outer Worlds (Obsidian/Private Division)
Best Art Direction
Control (Remedy/505) — WINNER
Death Stranding (Kojima Productions/SIE)
Gris (Nomada Studio/Devolver)
Sayonara Wild Hearts (Simogo/Annapurna)
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (From Software/Activision)
The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening (Grezzo/Nintendo)
Best Score/Music
Cadence of Hyrule (Brace Yourself Games/Nintendo)
Death Stranding (Kojima Productions/SIE) — WINNER
Devil May Cry 5 (Capcom)
Kingdom Hearts III (Square Enix)
Sayonara Wild Hearts (Simogo/Annapurna)
Best Audio Design
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (Infinity Ward/Activision) — WINNER
Control (Remedy/505)
Death Stranding (Kojima Productions/SIE)
Gears 5 (The Coalition/Xbox Game Studios)
Resident Evil 2 (Capcom)
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (From Software/Activision)
Best Performance
Ashly Burch as Parvati Holcomb, The Outer Worlds
Courtney Hope as Jesse Faden, Control
Laura Bailey as Kait Diaz, Gears 5
Mads Mikkelsen as Cliff, Death Stranding — WINNER
Matthew Porretta as Dr. Casper Darling, Control
Norman Reedus as Sam Porter Bridges, Death Stranding
Games for Impact
Concrete Genie (Pixelopus/SIE)
Gris (Nomada Studio/Devolver) — WINNER
Kind Words (Popcannibal)
Life is Strange 2 (Dontnod/Square Enix)
Sea of Solitude (Jo-Mei Games/EA)
Best Ongoing Game
Apex Legends (Respawn)
Destiny 2 (Bungie)
Final Fantasy XIV (Square Enix)
Fortnite (Epic Games) — WINNER
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft)
Best Independent Game
Baba Is You (Hempuli)
Disco Elysium (ZA/UM) — WINNER
Katana ZERO (Askiisoft/Devoler)
Outer Wilds (Mobius Digital/Annapurna)
Untitled Goose Game (House House/Panic)
Best Mobile Game
Call of Duty: Mobile (TiMi Studios/Activision) — WINNER
GRINDSTONE (Capybara Games)
Sayonara Wild Hearts (Simogo/Annapurna)
Sky: Children of Light (Thatgamecompany)
What the Golf? (Tribland)
Best Community Support
Apex Legends (Respawn/EA)
Destiny 2 (Bungie) — WINNER
Final Fantasy XIV (Square Enix)
Fortnite (Epic Games)
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft)
Best VR/AR Game
Asgard’s Wrath (Sanzaru Games/Oculus Studios)
Blood & Truth (SIE London Studio/SIE)
Beat Saber (Beat Games) — WINNER
No Man’s Sky (Hello Games)
Trover Saves the Universe (Squanch Games)
Best Action Game
Apex Legends (Respawn/EA)
Astral Chain (Platinum Games/Nintendo)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (Infinity Ward/Activision)
Devil May Cry 5 (Capcom/Capcom) — WINNER
Gears 5 (The Coalition/Xbox Game Studios)
Metro Exodus (4A Games/Deep Silver)
Best Action/Adventure Game
Borderlands 3 (Gearbox/2K)
Control (Remedy/505 Games)
Death Stranding (Kojima Productions/SIE)
Resident Evil 2 (Capcom)
The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening (Grezzo/Nintendo)
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (From Software/Activision) — WINNER
Best RPG
Disco Elysium (ZA/UM) — WINNER
Final Fantasy XIV (Square Enix)
Kingdom Hearts III (Square Enix)
Monster Hunter World: Iceborne (Capcom)
The Outer Worlds (Obsidian/Private Division)
Best Fighting Game
Dead or Alive 6 (Team Ninja/Koei Tecmo)
Jump Force (Spike Chunsoft/Bandai Namco)
Mortal Kombat 11 (NetherRealm/WBIE)
Samurai Showdown (SNK/Athlon)
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Bandai Namco/Sora/Nintendo) — WINNER
Best Family Game
Luigi’s Mansion 3 (Next Level Games/Nintendo) — WINNER
Ring Fit Adventure (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
Super Mario Maker 2 (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Bandai Namco/Sora/Nintendo)
Yoshi’s Crafted World (Good-Feel/Nintendo)
Best Strategy Game
Age of Wonders: Planetfall (Triumph Studios/Paradox)
Anno 1800 (Blue Byte/Ubisoft)
Fire Emblem: Three Houses (Intelligent Systems/Koei Tecmo/Nintendo) — WINNER
Total War: Three Kingdoms (Creative Assembly/Sega)
Tropico 6 (Limbic Entertainment/Kalypso Media)
Wargroove (Chucklefish)
Best Sports/Racing Game
Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled (Beenox/Activision) — WINNER
DiRT Rally 2.0 (Codemasters)
eFootball Pro Evolution Soccer 2020 (PES Productions/Konami)
F1 2019 (Codemasters)
FIFA 20 (EA Sports)
Best Multiplayer Game
Apex Legends (Respawn/EA) — WINNER
Borderlands 3 (Gearbox/2K)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (Infinity Ward/Activision)
Tetris 99 (Arika/Nintendo)
Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 (Massive Entertainment/Ubisoft)
Fresh Indie Developer
ZA/UM for Disco Elysium — WINNER
Nomada Studio for Gris
DeadToast Entertainment for My Friend Pedro
Mobius Digital for Outer Wilds
Mega Crit for Slay the Spire
Content Creator of the Year
Jack “Courage” Dunlop
Benjamin “Dr. Lupo” Lupo
Soleil “Ewok” Wheeler
David “Grefg” Martinez
Michael “Shroud” Grzesiek — WINNER
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