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Finalists & Winners

Honoring the Best Games of 2018

For photos, please browse our albums.

Lifetime Achievement Award Winner

Amy Hennig

The Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes the career and achievements of a developer who has made an indelible impact on the craft of game development and games as a whole.

Pioneer Award Winner

Rieko Kodama

The Pioneer Award (formerly known as the First Penguin Award) celebrates those individuals who developed a breakthrough technology, game concept, or gameplay design at a crucial juncture in video game history - paving the way for the myriads who followed them.

Audience Award Winner

Beat Saber (Beat Games)

Game of the Year

God of War (Sony Santa Monica / Sony Interactive Entertainment)

Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)
Return of the Obra Dinn (Lucas Pope / 3909)
Marvel's Spider-Man (Insomniac Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Celeste (Matt Makes Games)

Honorable Mentions: Tetris Effect (Monstars and Resonair / Enhance), Super Smash Bros Ultimate (Bandai Namco Studios & Sora / Nintendo), Into the Breach (Subset Games), Assassin's Creed Odyssey (Ubisoft Quebec / Ubisoft), Florence (Mountains / Annapurna Interactive), Monster Hunter: World (Capcom)

Best Audio

Celeste (Matt Makes Games)

Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)
God of War (Sony Santa Monica / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Marvel's Spider-Man (Insomniac Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Tetris Effect (Monstars and Resonair / Enhance)

Honorable Mentions: Beat Saber (Beat Games), Wandersong (Greg Lobanov / Humble Bundle), Return of the Obra Dinn (Lucas Pope / 3909), Battlefield V (EA DICE / Electronic Arts), Forza Horizon 4 (Playground Games and Turn 10 Studios / Microsoft Studios)

Best Debut

Mountains (Florence)

Polyarc (Moss)
Nomada Studio (Gris)
Villa Gorilla (Yoku's Island Express)
Sabotage (The Messenger)

Honorable Mentions: Beat Games (Beat Saber), Digital Sun (Moonlighter), Two Point Studios (Two Point Hospital), Okomotive (Far: Lone Sails)

Best Design

Into the Breach (Subset Games)

Marvel's Spider-Man (Insomniac Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Celeste (Matt Makes Games)
Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)
God of War (Sony Santa Monica / Sony Interactive Entertainment)

Honorable Mentions: Frostpunk (11 bit studios), Minit (Kitty Calis, Jan Willem Nijman, Jukio Kallio & Dominik Johann / Devolver Digital), Return of the Obra Dinn (Lucas Pope / 3909), Astro Bot Rescue Mission (SIE Japan Studio / Sony Interactive Entertainment), Monster Hunter: World (Capcom)

Best Mobile Game

Florence (Mountains / Annapurna Interactive)

Alto's Odyssey (Snowman)
Reigns: Game of Thrones (Nerial / Devolver Digital)
Holedown (Grapefrukt Games)
Donut County (Ben Esposito / Annapurna Interactive)

Honorable Mentions: Furistas Cat Cafe (Runaway), The Room: Old Sins (Fireproof Studios), Pocket Run Pool (Zach Gage), Alphabear 2 (Spry Fox), Twinfold (Kenny Sun)

Innovation Award

Nintendo Labo (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)

Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)
Florence (Mountains / Annapurna Interactive)
Tetris Effect (Monstars and Resonair / Enhance)
Return of the Obra Dinn (Lucas Pope / 3909)

Honorable Mentions: Minit (Kitty Calis, Jan Willem Nijman, Jukio Kallio & Dominik Johann / Devolver Digital), Celeste (Matt Makes Games), God of War (Sony Santa Monica / Sony Interactive Entertainment), Astro Bot Rescue Mission (SIE Japan Studio / Sony Interactive Entertainment), Moss (Polyarc), A Way Out (Hazelight Studios / Electronic Arts)

Best Narrative

Return of the Obra Dinn (Lucas Pope / 3909)

Florence (Mountains / Annapurna Interactive)
God of War (Sony Santa Monica / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Marvel's Spider-Man (Insomniac Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)

Honorable Mentions: Assassin's Creed Odyssey (Ubisoft Quebec / Ubisoft), Detroit: Become Human (Quantic Dream / Sony Interactive Entertainment), Celeste (Matt Makes Games), Life is Strange 2 (Dontnod Entertainment / Square Enix), Where the Water Tastes Like Wine (Dim Bulb Games and Serenity Forge / Good Shepherd Entertainment)

Best Technology

Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)

Marvel's Spider-Man (Insomniac Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Assassin's Creed Odyssey (Ubisoft Quebec / Ubisoft)
Forza Horizon 4 (Playground Games and Turn 10 Studios / Microsoft Studios)
God of War (Sony Santa Monica / Sony Interactive Entertainment)

Honorable Mentions: Sea of Thieves (Rare / Microsoft Studios), Far Cry 5 (Ubisoft Montreal and Ubisoft Toronto / Ubisoft), Battlefield V (EA DICE / Electronic Arts), Detroit: Become Human (Quantic Dream / Sony Interactive Entertainment), Return of the Obra Dinn (Lucas Pope / 3909)

Best Visual Art

Gris (Nomada Studio / Devolver Digital)

Marvel's Spider-Man (Insomniac Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
God of War (Sony Santa Monica / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Return of the Obra Dinn (Lucas Pope / 3909)
Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)

Honorable Mentions: Battlefield V (EA DICE / Electronic Arts), Tetris Effect (Monstars and Resonair / Enhance), Dragon Ball FighterZ (Arc System Works / Bandai Namco Entertainment), Assassin's Creed Odyssey (Ubisoft Quebec / Ubisoft), Below (Capybara Games)

Best VR/AR Game

Beat Saber (Beat Games)

Budget Cuts (Neat Corporation)
Tetris Effect (Monstars and Resonair / Enhance)
Moss (Polyarc)
Astro Bot Rescue Mission (SIE Japan Studio / Sony Interactive Entertainment)

Honorable Mentions: Jurassic World Alive (Ludia), In Death (Sólfar Studios), Tendar (Tender Claws), Firewall Zero Hour (First Contact Entertainment / Sony Interactive Entertainment), Deracine (FromSoftware / Sony Interactive Entertainment)