Finalists & Winners
Honoring the Best Games of 2020
Pioneer Award Winner
Tom Fulp
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.
Lifetime Achievement Award Winner
Laralyn McWilliams
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.
Audience Award Winner
Ghost of Tsushima (Sucker Punch Productions / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Game of the Year
Hades (Supergiant Games) - WINNER
Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Nintendo EPD/ Nintendo)
The Last of Us Part II (Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Half-Life: Alyx (Valve)
Ghost of Tsushima (Sucker Punch Productions / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Honorable Mentions: Spelunky 2 (Blitworks, Mossmouth / Mossmouth), Doom Eternal (id Software / Bethesda Softworks), Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales (Insomniac Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment), Microsoft Flight Simulator (Asobo Studio / Xbox Game Studios), Final Fantasy VII: Remake (Square Enix), Genshin impact (miHoYo)
Best Audio
Hades (Supergiant Games) - WINNER
The Last of Us Part II (Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Doom Eternal (id Software / Bethesda Softworks)
Final Fantasy VII: Remake (Square Enix)
Ghost of Tsushima (Sucker Punch Productions / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Honorable Mentions: Half-Life: Alyx (Valve), Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Nintendo EPD/ Nintendo), Ori and the Will of the Wisps (Moon Studios / Xbox Game Studios / iam8bit), Fuser (Harmonix Music Systems / NCsoft)
Best Debut
Phasmophobia (Kinetic Games) - WINNER
Umurangi Generation (Origame Digital / Playism, Origame Digital)
Carrion (Phobia Game Studio / Devolver Digital)
Mortal Shell (Cold Symmetry / Playstack)
Raji: An Ancient Epic (Nodding Heads Games / Super!Com)
Honorable Mentions: Call of the Sea (Out of the Blue / Raw Fury), Röki (Polygon Treehouse / CI Games), If Found… (Dreamfeel / Annapurna Interactive)
Best Design
Hades (Supergiant Games) - WINNER
Ghost of Tsushima (Sucker Punch Productions / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
The Last of Us Part II (Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Nintendo EPD/ Nintendo)
Half-Life: Alyx (Valve)
Honorable Mentions: Final Fantasy VII: Remake (Square Enix), Crusader Kings III (Paradox Development Studio / Paradox Interactive), Spelunky 2 (Blitworks, Mossmouth / Mossmouth), Dreams (Media Molecule / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Innovation Award
Dreams (Media Molecule / Sony Interactive Entertainment) - WINNER
Microsoft Flight Simulator (Asobo Studio / Xbox Game Studios)
Half-Life: Alyx (Valve)
Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout (Mediatonic / Devolver Digital)
Hades (Supergiant Games)
Honorable Mentions: Astro's Playroom (Sony Japan Studio/Team Asobi / Sony Interactive Entertainment), Ghost of Tsushima (Sucker Punch Productions / Sony Interactive Entertainment), The Last of Us Part II (Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment), Watch Dogs: Legion (Ubisoft Toronto / Ubisoft)
Best Mobile Game
Genshin Impact (miHoYo) - WINNER
The Pathless (Giant Squid / Annapurna Interactive)
Legends of Runeterra (Riot Games)
Alba: A Wildlife Adventure (ustwo / PID Publishing)
If Found... (Dreamfeel / Annapurna Interactive)
Honorable Mentions: Pokémon Café Mix (Genius Sonority / Nintendo / The Pokémon Company), Reigns: Beyond (Nerial / Devolver Digital)
Best Narrative
The Last of Us Part II (Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment) - WINNER
Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition (Cardboard Computer / Annapurna Interactive)
Final Fantasy VII: Remake (Square Enix)
Hades (Supergiant Games)
Ghost of Tsushima (Sucker Punch Productions / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Honorable Mentions: Spiritfarer (Thunder Lotus Games), Half-Life: Alyx (Valve), Cyberpunk 2077 (CD Projekt RED / CD Projekt), If Found... (Dreamfeel / Annapurna Interactive), Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales (Insomniac Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment), 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim (Vanillaware / Atlus)
Best Technology
Microsoft Flight Simulator (Asobo Studio / Xbox Game Studios) - WINNER
The Last of Us Part II (Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Half-Life: Alyx (Valve)
Dreams (Media Molecule / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Ghost of Tsushima (Sucker Punch Productions / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Honorable Mentions: Final Fantasy VII: Remake (Square Enix), Astro's Playroom (Sony Japan Studio/Team Asobi / Sony Interactive Entertainment), Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales (Insomniac Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Best Visual Art
Ghost of Tsushima (Sucker Punch Productions / Sony Interactive Entertainment) - WINNER
Hades (Supergiant Games)
The Last of Us Part II (Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Ori and the Will of the Wisps (Moon Studios / Xbox Game Studios / iam8bit)
Cyberpunk 2077 (CD Projekt RED / CD Projekt)
Honorable Mentions: Final Fantasy VII: Remake (Square Enix), Spiritfarer (Thunder Lotus Games), Umurangi Generation (Origame Digital / Playism, Origame Digital), Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales (Insomniac Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Best VR/AR Game
Half-Life: Alyx (Valve) - WINNER
The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners (Skydance Interactive)
Paper Beast (Pixel Reef)
Dreams (Media Molecule / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Star Wars: Squadrons (Motive Studios / Electronic Arts)
Honorable Mentions: Phasmophobia (Kinetic Games), The Room VR: A Dark Matter (Fireproof Games), Iron Man VR (Camouflaj / Sony Interactive Entertainment), Microsoft Flight Simulator (Asobo Studio / Xbox Game Studios), Until You Fall (Schell Games)