At the 2018 Game Awards, God of War took home the trophy for the highly-coveted Game of the Year award. Another game that won big at the award ceremony was Red Dead Redemption 2, which won more awards than any other nominee.
The Games Awards is an annual ceremony that celebrates the best achievements in the video game industry. Last year’s Game of the Year Award went to Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. This year, Marvel’s Spider-Man, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, Red Dead Redemption 2, God of War, Monster Hunter: World, and indie game Celeste, were all in the running for the prize. Many of the games were nominated in other categories as well. The Games Awards is also a time for developers to unveil brand-new games. The 2018 ceremony featured official announcements for Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3, Mortal Kombat XI, and more.
Rockstar Games won four awards for Red Dead Redemption 2, including Best Narrative, Best Audio Design, Best Performance, and Best Score/Music. However, the highest honor, Game of the Year, went to the PlayStation 4 exclusive God of War. This year’s God of War game also won Best Game Direction and Best Action/Adventure Game. Here is the full list of nominees and winners in all categories:
Game of the Year
- Assassin’s Creed Odyssey Celeste God of War Marvel’s Spider-Man Monster Hunter: World Red Dead Redemption 2
Best Performance
- Bryan Dechart as Connor, Detroit: Become Human Christopher Judge as Kratos, God of War Melissanthi Mahut as Kassandra, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey Roger Clark as Arthur Morgan, Red Dead Redemption 2 Yuri Lowenthal as Peter Parker, Marvel’s Spider-Man
Content Creator of the Year
- Dr. Lupo Myth Ninja Pokimane Willyrex
Best Ongoing Game
- Destiny 2 Fortnite No Man’s Sky Overwatch Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege
Best Game Direction
- A Way Out Detroit: Become Human God of War Marvel’s Spider-Man Red Dead Redemption 2
Best Narrative
- Detroit: Become Human God of War Life is Strange 2: Episode 1 Marvel’s Spider-Man Red Dead Redemption 2
Best Art Direction
- Assassin’s Creed Odyssey God of War Octopath Traveler Red Dead Redemption 2 Return of Obra Din
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) Red Dead Redemption 2 (Woody Jackson)
Best Audio Design
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 Forza Horizon 4 God of War Marvel’s Spider-Man Red Dead Redemption 2
Games for Impact
- 11-11 Memories Retold Celeste Life is Strange 2: Episode 1 The Missing: JJ Macfield and the Island of Memories
Best Independent Game
- Celeste Dead Cells Into the Breach Return of the Obra Dinn The Messenger
Best Mobile Game
- Donut County Florence Fortnite Reigns: Game of Thrones
Best VR/AR Game
- Astro Bot Rescue Mission Beat Saber Firewall Zero Hour Moss Tetris Effect
Best Action Game
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 Dead Cells (Motion Twin) Destiny 2: Forsaken Far Cry 5 Mega Man 11
Best Action/Adventure Game
- Assassin’s Creed Odyssey God of War Marvel’s Spider-Man Red Dead Redemption 2 Shadow of the Tomb Raider
Best Role-Playing Game
- Dragon Quest 11: Echoes of an Elusive Age Monster Hunter: World Ni no Kuni 2: Revenant Kingdom Octopath Traveler Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire
Best Fighting Game
- BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle Dragon Ball FighterZ Soulcalibur 6 Street Fighter 5 Arcade
Best Family Game
- Mario Tennis Aces Nintendo Labo Overcooked 2 Starlink: Battle for Atlas Super Mario Party
Best Strategy Game
- Battletech Frostpunk Into the Breach The Banner Saga 3 Valkyria Chronicles 4
Best Sports/Racing Game
- FIFA 19 Forza Horizon 4 Mario Tennis Aces NBA 2K19 Pro Evolution Soccer 2019
Best Multiplayer Game
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 Destiny 2: Forsaken Fortnite Monster Hunter: Sea of Thieves
Best Student Game
- Combat 2018 Dash Quasar JERA LIFF RE: Charge
Best Debut Indie Game
- Donut County Florence Moss The Messenger Yoku’s Island Express
Best E-Sports Game
- Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Dota 2 Fortnite League of Legends Overwatch
Best E-Sports Player
- Dominique “SonicFox” McLean (Echo Fox) Hajime “Tokido” Taniguchi J ian “Uzi” Zi-Hao (Royal Never Give Up) Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev (Natus Vincere) Sung-hyeon “JJoNak” Bang (New York Excelsior)
Best E-Sports Team
- Astralis (CSGO) Cloud9 (LOL) Fnatic (LOL) London Spitfire (Overwatch) OG (Dota 2)
Best E-Sports Coach
- 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 E-Sports Event
- ELEAGUE Major: Boston 2018 EVO 2018 League of Legends World Championship Overwatch League Grand Finals The International 2018
Best E-Sports Host
- Alex “Goldenboy” Mendez Alex “Machine” Richardson AndersBlume Eefje “Sjokz” Depoortere Paul “RedEye” Chaloner
Best E-Sports Moment
- 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)
Game of the Year was a highly contested race, as each of the six nominees had received plenty of praise from critics. Which each had a good chance of winning, Red Dead Redemption 2 was a heavy favorite, which showed, as it managed to pick up four awards, and one more than the Game of the Year winner. Red Dead Redemption 2 has been such a hit that the game may actually sell 20 million copies by the end of the year, which is an impressive feat. God of War has also experienced its fair share of success; it sold 5 million copies in its first month, and held the title of PlayStation 4’s fastest-selling exclusive until the launch of Marvel’s Spider-Man.
Fans may notice that both Marvel’s Spider-Man and Assassin’s Creed Odyssey - two extremely popular and well-received titles - were nominated for numerous awards but didn’t win any of them. For the major awards, the night belonged to God of War and Red Dead Redemption 2. Other highlights were wins for Fortnite, Dragon Ball FighterZ, and Monster Hunter: World.
