The winners of The Game Awards 2022—and where to buy them
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Step aside Oscars, and make way Grammys, there’s only one award show that matters in December: The Game Awards. Created in 2014 and hosted by video game journalist Geoff Keighley, The Game Awards are a celebration of the year’s best games, with nominations across various categories such as the best game score and the best virtual reality. Additionally, The Game Awards is an evening of trailer premieres for highly anticipated video games.
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Last night, some of this year’s most buzzed-about games including God of War: Ragnarök and Elden Ring took home several awards. Whether you’re figuring out what games to gift this holiday season or you’re a gamer looking to treat yourself, we’re here to help you buy this year’s hottest games. Here are the winners of The Game Awards 2022—and where to buy them.
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Winners of The Game Awards 2022
Game of the Year
The winner of this award is seen as the absolute best game of the year and excels in both creativity and technical fidelity.
Winner: Elden Ring
Available on Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, online
Other nominees: A Plague Tale: Requiem, God of War Ragnarök, Horizon Forbidden West, Stray, Xenoblade Chronicles 3
Best Game Direction
The winner of this award has an excellent creative vision and innovative design philosophy.
Winner: Elden Ring
Available on Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, online
Other nominees: God of War Ragnarök, Horizon Forbidden West, Immortality, Stray
Best Narrative
This award’s winner is seen as having strong storytelling.
Winner: God of War Ragnarök
Available on PS4, PS5
Other nominees: A Plague Tale: Requiem, Elden Ring, Horizon Forbidden West, Immortality
Best Art Direction
This award acknowledges a game’s outstanding art design, be it through character, animation or environmental design.
Winner: Elden Ring
Available on Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, online
Other nominees: God of War: Ragnarök, Horizon Forbidden West, Scorn, Stray
Best Score/Music
The recipient of this award is a composer who crafted an excellent soundtrack that enhances all aspects of a game.
Winner: Bear McCreary – God of War: Ragnarök
Available on PS4, PS5
Other nominees: Olivier Deriviere – A Plague Tale: Requiem, Tsukasa Saitoh – Elden Ring, Two Feathers – Metal Hellsinger, Yasunori Mitsuda
Best Audio Design
Separate from score/music, this award recognizes the sound effects and audio that further tie a game together.
Winner: God of War Ragnarök
Available on PS4, PS5
Other nominees: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Elden Ring, Gran Turismo 7, Horizon Forbidden West
Best Performance
The winner of this award is an individual with outstanding voice-acting, motion or performance capture.
Winner: Christopher Judge – God of War: Ragnarök
Available on PS4, PS5
Other nominees: Ashly Birch – Horizon Forbidden West, Charlotte McBurney – A Plague Tale: Requiem, Manon Gage – Immortality, Sunny Suljic – God of War: Ragnarok
Games for Impact
The winner of this game has a thought-provoking social message or theme in its narrative.
Winner: As Dusk Falls
Available on Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox Cloud Gaming, online
Other nominees: A Memoir Blue, Citizen Sleeper, Endling – Extinction is Forever, Hindsight, I Was a Teenage Exocolonist
Best Ongoing Game
This award is given to the best game with no set endpoint, mostly understood as a game that is continually being developed.
Winner: Final Fantasy 14 Online
Available online
Other nominees: Apex Legends, Destiny 2, Fortnite, Genshin Impact
Best Indie Game
The award is given to the best game created by an independent or small publisher.
Winner: Stray
Available on PS4, PS5, online
Other nominees: Cult of the Lamb, Neon White, Sifu, TUNIC
Best Debut Indie Game
This is awarded to the best game created by a newly formed independent or small publisher.
Winner: Stray
Available on PS4, PS5, online
Other nominees: Neon White, NORCO, TUNIC, Vampire Survivors
Best Mobile Game
This is awarded to the best game that can be played on mobile devices such as phones or tablets.
Winner: Marvel Snap
Available on iOS, Android, online
Other nominees: Apex Legends Mobile, Diablo Immortal, Genshin Impact, Tower of Fantasy
Best Community Support
The winner of this award is acknowledged as having a responsive team that is helpful and transparent with its community of players about updates, patches and more.
Winner: Final Fantasy 14 Online
Available online
Other nominees: Apex Legends, Destiny 2, Fortnite, No Man’s Sky
Best VR/AR Game
This is awarded to the best game created for augmented and virtual reality platforms such as Meta Quest 2.
Winner: Moss: Book II
Available on PS4, PS5, online
Other nominees: After the Fall, Among Us VR, BONELAB, Red Matter 2
Innovation in Accessibility
This award recognizes a game with features and content that help it to be enjoyed by a wider audience.
Winner: God of War: Ragnarök
Available on PS4, PS5
Other nominees: As Dusk Falls, Returnal, Return to Monkey Island, The Last of Us Part 1, The Quarry
►Related: See the latest accessibility products and news from Reviewed
Best Action Game
This award is given to the best game in the action genre. These games typically have a heavy focus on combat.
Winner: Bayonetta 3
Available on Nintendo Switch
Other nominees: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, Neon White, Sifu, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge
Best Action/Adventure Game
This is awarded to the best game in the action/adventure genre, which often blends combat with puzzle-solving and exploration.
Winner: God of War Ragnarök
Available on PS4, PS5
Other nominees: A Plague Tale: Requiem, Horizon Forbidden West, Stray, TUNIC
Best RPG
This is awarded to the best game in the roleplaying game (RPG) genre. These games will often focus on customization and/or making your character stronger by gaining levels.
Winner: Elden Ring
Available on Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, online
Other nominees: Live a Live, Pokémon Legends: Arceus, Triangle Strategy, Xenoblade Chronicles 3
Best Fighting Game
This is awarded to the best game in the fighting genre. These games are focused around player-versus-player combat.
Winner: MultiVersus
Available on Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, online
Other nominees: DNF Duel, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle R, The King of Fighters 15, Sifu
Best Family Game
This is awarded to games whose content is seen as being enjoyable for families to play together, regardless of age.
Winner: Kirby and the Forgotten Land
Available on Nintendo Switch
Other nominees: LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope, Nintendo Switch Sports, Splatoon 3
Best Sports/Racing Game
This is awarded to the best in the sports or racing genre. Sports games emulate real-life sports such as basketball or football. Racing games refer to games in which a player tries to reach the goal the fastest.
Winner: Gran Turismo 7
Available on PS4, PS5
Other nominees: F1 22, FIFA 23, NBA 2K23, OlliOlli World
Best SIM/Strategy Game
This is awarded to the game with the best simulation real-time or turn-based. Additionally, this award focuses on the best strategy gameplay.
Winner: Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope
Available on Nintendo Switch
Other nominees: Dune: Spice Wars, Total War: WARHAMMER 3, Two Point Campus, Victoria 3
Best Multiplayer Game
Awarded to the game with outstanding multiplayer gameplay, design and experience.
Winner: Splatoon 3
Available on Nintendo Switch
Other nominees: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, MultiVersus, Overwatch 2, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge
Content Creator of the Year
Awarded to a streamer or content creator who has left a positive impact on the gaming community.
Winner: Ludwig
Other nominees: Karl Jacobs, Nibellion, Nobru, QTCinderella
Best Esports Athlete
Awarded to an electronic sports athlete noted for their outstanding performance and conduct.
Winner: Jaccob “yay” Whiteaker (Cloud9, VALORANT)
Available online
Other nominees: Jeong “Chovy” Ji-hoon (Gen.G, LOL), Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok (T1, LOL), Finn “Karrigan” Andersen (FaZe Clan, CS:GO), Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev (Natus Vincere, CS:GO)
Best Esports Coach
This award celebrates an electronic sports coach notable for their outstanding performance and conduct.
Winner: Matheus “bzkA” Tarasconi (LOUD, VALORANT)
Available online
Other nominees: Andrii “B1ad3” Horodenskyi (Natus Vincere, CS:GO), Erik “d00mbr0s” Sandgren (FPX, VALORANT), Robert “RobbaN” Dahlström (FaZe Clan, CS:GO), Go “Score” Dong-bin (Gen.G, LOL)
Best Esports Event
Awarded to an electronic sports event that delivered a superb experience for players and audiences alike.
Winner: 2022 League of Legends World Championship
Available online
Other nominees: EVO 2022, PGL Major Antwerp 2022, The 2022 Mid-Season Invitational, VALORANT Champions 2022
Best Esports Game
Awarded to the electronic sports game with the best player experience, taking into account tournaments, community support and content updates.
Winner: VALORANT
Available online
Other nominees: Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, DOTA 2, League of Legends, Rocket League
Best Esports Team
This award recognizes an electronic sports team notable for its outstanding performance and conduct.
Winner: LOUD (VALORANT)
Available online
Other nominees: DarkZero Esports (Apex Legends), FaZe Clan (CS:GO), Gen.G (League of Legends), LA Thieves (Call of Duty)
Most Anticipated Game
This is awarded to a currently unreleased game that is generating the most excitement among potential players.
Winner: The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Available on Nintendo Switch starting May 12, 2023
Other nominees: Final Fantasy 16, Hogwarts Legacy, Resident Evil 4, Starfield
Best Adaptation
Awarded to the best adaptation of a video game in movies, TV, comics or more.
Winner: Arcane: League of Legends
Available online
Other nominees: Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, The Cuphead Show!, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Uncharted
Video game deals available today
Award-winning games:
- Elden Ring: Starting at $44.95 at Walmart (Save up to $15)
- Bayonetta 3: $55.13 at Amazon (Save $5)
- Gran Turismo 7:$29.97 at Walmart (Save $39.02)
- Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope: $31.98 at Amazon (Save $28.01)
Other video games:
- Animal Crossing: New Horizons:$49.94 at Walmart (Save $10.05)
- Horizon Forbidden West: $29.97 at Walmart (Save $30.02)
- Just Dance 2023 Edition: $39.97 at Walmart (Save $20.02)
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild: $39.99 at Walmart (Save $20)
- PGA Tour 2K23: $34.97 at Amazon (Save $35.02)
- FIFA 23 Standard Edition:$34.99 at Best Buy (Save $35)
- Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Ragnarok Edition: $29.99 at Best Buy (Save $70)
- NBA 2K23:$34.99 at Target (Save $35)
- Madden NFL 23:$29.99 at Target (Save $30)
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Prices were accurate at the time this article was published but may change over time.
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