The best video games of the year were honored at the 2021 Game Awards, hosted by Geoff Keighley and featuring presenters like Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Ann Moss, Simu Liu, Jim Carrey, Ben Schwartz, Guillermo del Toro, Giancarlo Esposito, Ming-Na Wen and more.
The co-op game “It Takes Two” took home game of the year, the night’s highest honor. It also won best family game and best multiplayer game.
The show was broadcast live from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, starting at 5 p.m. PT, and included first looks, trailers and new gameplay for some 40 video games. On the film and TV side, there were also debut trailers for Paramount Plus’ live-action “Halo” series and “Sonic 2,” starring Schwartz as Sonic, Carrey as Dr. Robotnik and Idrik Elba as Knuckles.
The ceremony also featured performances from Sting and Imagine Dragons.
See a full list of winners below.
Game of the Year
Deathloop (Arkane Studios/Bethesda)
It Takes Two (Hazelight Studios/EA) (WINNER)
Metroid Dread (Mercury Steam/Nintendo)
Psychonauts 2 (Double Fine/Xbox Game Studios)
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (Insomniac Games/SIE)
Resident Evil Village (Capcom)
Best Game Direction
Deathloop (Arkane Studios/Bethesda) (WINNER)
It Takes Two (Hazelight Studios/EA)
Returnal (Housemarque/SIE)
Psychonauts 2 (Double Fine/Xbox Game Studios)
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (Insomniac Games/SIE)
Best Ongoing
Apex Legends (Respawn/EA)
Call of Duty: Warzone (Infinity Ward/Raven/Activision)
Final Fantasy XIV online (Square Enix) (WINNER)
Fortnite (Epic Games)
Genshin Impact (MiHoYo)
Best Narrative
Deathloop (Arkane Studios/Bethesda)
It Takes Two (Hazelight Studios/EA)
Life is Strange: True Colors (Deck Nine/SQUARE ENIX)
Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy (Eidos Montreal/SQUARE ENIX) (WINNER)
Psychonauts 2 (Double Fine/Xbox Game Studios)
Best Indie
12 Minutes (Luis Antonio/Annapurna Interactive)
Death’s Door (Acid Nerve/Devolver Digital)
Kena: Bridge of Spirits (Ember Lab) (WINNER)
Inscryption (Daniel Mullins Games/Devolver Digital)
Loop Hero (Four Quarters/Devolver Digital)
Best Mobile Game
Fantasian (Mistwalker)
Genshin Impact (MiHoYo) (WINNER)
League of Legends: Wild Rift (Riot Games)
Marvel Future Revolution (Netmarble)
Pokemon Unite (TiMi Studios/The Pokemon Company)
Best VR/AR
Hitman 3 (IO Interactive)
I Expect You To Die 2 (Schell Games)
Lone Echo II (Ready at Dawn/Oculus Studios)
Resident Evil 4 (Armature Studio/Capcom/Oculus Studios) (WINNER)
Sniper Elite VR (Coatsink/Just Add Water/Rebellion Developments)
Best Action
Back 4 Blood (Turtle Rock/WB Games)
Chivalry II (Torn Banner Studios/Tripwire Interactive)
Deathloop (Arkane Studios/Bethesda)
Far Cry 6 (Ubisoft Toronto/Ubisoft)
Returnal (Housemarque/SIE) (WINNER)
Best Action/Adventure
Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy (Eidos Montreal/SQUARE ENIX)
Metroid Dread (Mercury Steam/Nintendo) (WINNER)
Psychonauts 2 (Double Fine/Xbox Game Studios)
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (Insomniac Games/SIE)
Resident Evil Village (Capcom)
Best Role Playing
Cyberpunk 2077 (CD Projekt Red)
Monster Hunter Rise (Capcom)
Scarlet Nexus (Bandai Namco)
Shin Megami Tensei V (Atlus/Sega)
Tales of Arise (Bandai Namco) (WINNER)
Best Fighting
Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles (CyberConnect2/Sega)
Guilty Gear -Strive- (Arc System Works) (WINNER)
Melty Blood: Type Lumina (French-Bread/Delightworks)
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl (Ludosity/Fair Play Labs/GameMill)
Virtua Fighter 5: Ultimate Showdown (Sega)
Best Debut Indie
Kena: Bridge of Spirits (Ember Lab) (WINNER)
Sable (Shedworks/Raw Fury)
The Artful Escape (Beethoven & Dinosaur/Annapurna)
The Forgotten City (Modern Storyteller/Dear Villagers)
Valheim (Iron Gate/Coffee Stain)
Best Family
It Takes Two (Hazelight Studios/EA) (WINNER)
Mario Party Superstars (NDcube/Nintendo)
New Pokémon Snap (Bandai Namco/The Pokémon Company/Nintendo)
Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury (Nintendo)
WarioWare: Get It Together! (Intelligent Systems/Nintendo)
Best Sports/Racing
F1 2021 (Codemasters/EA Sports)
FIFA 22 (EA Vancouver/EA Sports)
Forza Horizon 5 (Playground Games/Xbox Game Studios) (WINNER)
Hot Wheels Unleashed (Milestone)
Riders Republic (Ubisoft Annecy/Ubisoft)
Best Sim/Strategy
Age of Empires IV (Relic Entertainment/Xbox Game Studios) (WINNER)
Evil Genius 2: World Domination (Rebellion Developments)
Humankind (Amplitude Studios/Sega)
Inscryption (Daniel Mullins Games/Devolver)
Microsoft Flight Simulator (Asobo Studio/Xbox Game Studios)
Best Multiplayer
Back 4 Blood (Turtle Rock/WB Games)
It Takes Two (Hazelight Studios/EA) (WINNER)
Knockout City (Velan Studios/EA)
Monster Hunter Rise (Capcom)
New World (Amazon Games)
Valheim (Iron Gate Studio/Coffee Stain)
Most Anticipated Game
Elden Ring (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco) (WINNER)
God of War Ragnarök (Sony Santa Monica/SIE)
Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games/SIE)
Sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo)
Starfield (Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda)
Best Art Direction
Deathloop (Arkane Studios/Bethesda) (WINNER)
Kena: Bridge of Spirits (Ember Lab)
Psychonauts 2 (Double Fine/Xbox Game Studios)
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (Insomniac Games/SIE)
The Artful Escape (Beethoven & Dinosaur/Annapurna)
Best Score and Music
Cyberpunk 2077 (Marcin Przybylowicz, Piotr T. Adamczyk, Composers)
Deathloop (Tom Salta, Composer)
NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139 (Keiichi Okabe, Composer) (WINNER)
Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy (Richard Jacques, Composer)
The Artful Escape (Johnny Galvatron & Josh Abrahams, Composers)
Best Audio Design
Deathloop (Arkane Studios/Bethesda)
Forza Horizon 5 (Playground Games/Xbox Game Studios) (WINNER)
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (Insomniac Games/SIE)
Resident Evil Village (Capcom)
Returnal (Housemarque/SIE)
Best Performance
Erika Mori as Alex Chen, Life is Strange: True Colors
Giancarlo Esposito as Anton Castillo, Far Cry 6
Jason E. Kelley as Colt Vahn, Deathloop
Maggie Robertson as Lady Dimitrescu, Resident Evil Village (WINNER)
Ozioma Akagha as Julianna Blake, Deathloop
Games for Impact
Before Your Eyes (GoodbyeWorld Games/Skybound Games)
Boyfriend Dungeon (Kitfox Games)
Chicory (Greg Lobanow, Alexis dean-Jones, Lena Raine, Madeline Berger, A Shell in the Pit/Finji
Life is Strange: True Colors (Deck Nine/SQUARE ENIX) (WINNER)
No Longer Home (Humble Grove, Hana Lee, Cel Davison, Adrienne Lombardo, Eli Rainsberry/Fellow Traveler)
Best Community Support
Apex Legends (Respawn/EA)
Destiny 2 (Bungie)
Final Fantasy XIV online (Square Enix) (WINNER)
Fortnite (Epic Games)
No Man’s Sky (Hello Games)
Innovation in Accessibility
Far Cry 6 (Ubisoft Toronto/Ubisoft)
Forza Horizon 5 (Playground Games/Xbox Game Studios) (WINNER)
Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy (Eidos Montreal/SQUARE ENIX)
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (Insomniac Games/SIE)
The Vale: Shadow of the Crown (Creative Bytes Studios/Falling Squirrel)
Content Creator of the Year
Dream (WINNER)
Fuslie
Gaules
Ibai
TheGrefg
Best Esports Game
Call of Duty (Activision)
CS:GO (Valve)
DOTA2 (Valve)
League of Legends (Riot Games) (WINNER)
Valorant (Riot Games)
Best Esports Athlete
Chris “Simp” Lehr
Heo “ShowMaker” Su
Magomed “Collapse” Khalilov
Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev (WINNER)
Tyson “TenZ” Ngo
Best Esports Team
Atlanta FaZe (COD)
DWG KIA (LOL)
Natus Vincere (CS:GO) (WINNER)
Sentinels (Valorant)
Team Spirit (DOTA2)
Best Esports Coach
Airat “Silent” Gaziev
Andrey “ENGH” Sholokhov
Andrii “B1ad3” Horodenskyi
James “Crowder” Crowder
Kim “kkOma” Jeong-gyun (WINNER)
Best Esports Event
2021 League of Legends World Championship (WINNER)
PGL Major Stockholm 2021
PUBG Mobile Global Championship 2020
The International 2021
Valorant Champions Tour: Stage 2 Masters
