So, another year, another host of games to be up for various awards. As you can imagine, the 2020 edition was not without its difficulties – showcased by Geoff Keighley’s socially distanced presence on-screen with various parties. However, that doesn’t mean that the awards themselves were any less prodigious.
Anyways, without further ado, let’s delve into the 2020 Game Awards Ceremony, featuring the categories, notifications, and, of course, the winners.
Game of the Year
Nominees;
- Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Nintendo)
- DOOM Eternal (id Software, Bethesda)
- Final Fantasy VII Remake (Square Enix)
- Ghost of Tsushima (Sucker Punch, SIE)
- Hades (Supergiant Games)
- The Last of Us: Part II (Naughty Dog, SIE)
Winner; The Last of Us: Part II
Best Game Direction
Nominees;
- Final Fantasy VII Remake (Square Enix)
- Ghost of Tsushima (Sucker Punch, SIE)
- Hades (Supergiant Games)
- Half-Life: Alyx (Valve)
- The Last of Us: Part II (Naughty Dog, SIE)
Winner: The Last of Us: Part II
Best Narrative
Nominees;
- 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim (Vanillaware, Atlus/SEGA), written by George Kamitani
- Final Fantasy VII Remake (Square Enix), written by Kazushige Nojima, Motomu Toriyama, Hiroaki Iwaki, and Sachie Hirano
- Ghost of Tsushima (Sucker Punch, SIE), written by Ian Ryan, Liz Albl, Patrick Downs, Jordan Lemos, and Nate Fox
- Hades (Supergiant Games), written by Greg Kasavin
- The Last of Us: Part II (Naughty Dog, SIE), written by Neil Druckmann and Halley Gross
Winner; The Last of Us: Part II
Best Art Direction
Nominees;
- Final Fantasy VII Remake (Square Enix)
- Ghost of Tsushima (Sucker Punch, SIE)
- Hades (Supergiant Games)
- Ori and the Will of the Wisps (Moon Studios, Xbox Game Studios)
- The Last of Us: Part II (Naughty Dog, SIE)
Winner; Ghost of Tsushima
Best Score and Music
Nominees;
- DOOM ETERNAL (id Software, Bethesda), composed by Mick Gordon
- Final Fantasy VII Remake (Square Enix), composed by Nobuo Uematsu, Masashi Hamauzu, and Mitsuto Suzuki
- Hades (Supergiant Games), composed by Darren Korb
- Ori and the Will of the Wisps (Moon Studios, Xbox Game Studios), composed by Gareth Coker
- The Last of Us: Part II (Naughty Dog, SIE), composed by Gustavo Santaolalla, with additional music by Mac Quayle
Winner; Final Fantasy VII Remake
Best Audio Design
Nominees;
- DOOM ETERNAL (id Software, Bethesda)
- Ghost of Tsushima (Sucker Punch, SIE)
- Half-Life: Alyx (Valve)
- Resident Evil 3 (Capcom)
- The Last of Us: Part II (Naughty Dog SIE)
Winner; The Last of Us: Part II
Best Performance
Nominees;
- Ashley Johnson as Ellie, The Last of Us: Part II
- Laura Bailey as Abby, The Last of Us: Part II
- Daisuke Tsuki as Jin Sakai, Ghost of Tsushima
- Logan Cunningham as Hades, Hades
- Nadji Jeter as Miles Morales, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales
Winner; Laura Bailey as Abby
Games For Impact
Nominees;
- If Found… (Dreamfeel)
- Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition (Cardboard Computer)
- Spiritfarer (Thunder Lotus Games)
- Tell Me Why (DONTNOD Entertainment, Xbox Games Studios)
- Through the Darkest of Times (Paintbucket Games)
Winner; Tell Me Why
Best Ongoing
Nominees;
- Apex Legends (Respawn Entertainment, EA)
- Call of Duty: Warzone (Infinity Ward, Raven Software, Activision)
- Destiny 2 (Bungie)
- Fortnite (Epic Games)
- No Man’s Sky (Hello Games)
Winner; No Man’s Sky
Best Indie Game
Nominees;
- Carrion (Phobia Game Studio, Devolver Digital)
- Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockdown (Mediatonic, Devolver Digital)
- Hades (Supergiant Games)
- Spelunky 2 (Mossmouth)
- Spiritfarer (Thunder Lotus Games)
Winner; Hades
Best Mobile Game
Nominees;
- Among Us (Innersloth)
- Call of Duty: Mobile (Timi Studios, Activision)
- Genshin Impact (miHoYo)
- Legends of Runeterra (Riot Games)
- Pokémon Café Mix (Genius Sonority)
Winner; Among Us
Best Community Support
Nominees;
- Apex Legends (Respawn Entertainment, EA)
- Destiny 2 (Bungie)
- Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockdown (Mediatonic, Devolver Digital)
- Fortnite (Epic Games)
- No Man’s Sky (Hello Games)
Winner; Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockdown
Best VR/AR
Nominees;
- Dreams (Media Molecule, SIE)
- Half-Life: Alyx (Valve)
- Marvel’s Iron-Man VR (Camouflaj, SIE)
- Star Wars: Squadrons (Motive Studios, EA)
- The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners (Skydance Interactive)
Winner; Half-Life: Alyx
Innovation in Accessibility
Nominees;
- Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla (Ubisoft Montreal)
- Grounded (Obsidian Entertainment)
- Hyperdot (Tribe Games)
- The Last of Us: Part II (Naughty Dog, SIE)
- Watch Dogs: Legion (Ubisoft Toronto)
Winner; The Last of Us: Part II
Best Action Game
Nominees;
- DOOM ETERNAL (id Software, Bethesda)
- Hades (Supergiant Games)
- Half-Life: Alyx (Valve)
- NIOH 2 (Team Ninja)
- Streets of Rage 4 (Dotemu)
Winner; Hades
Best Action/Adventure
Nominees;
- Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla (Ubisoft Montreal)
- Ghost of Tsushima (Sucker Punch, SIE)
- Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales (Insomniac Games, SIE)
- Ori and the Will of the Wisps (Moon Studios, Xbox Game Studios)
- Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (Respawn Entertainment, EA)
- The Last of Us: Part II (Naughty Dog, SIE)
Winner; The Last of Us: Part II
Best Role-Playing
Nominees;
- Final Fantasy VII Remake (Square Enix)
- Genshin Impact (miHoYo)
- Persona 5 Royal (Atlus, P Studio, SEGA)
- Wasteland 3 (InXile Entertainment, Deep Silver)
- Yakuza: Like a Dragon (Ryo Ga Gotoku, SEGA)
Winner; Final Fantasy VII Remake
Best Fighting Game
Nominees;
- Granblue Fantasy: Versus (Arc System Works, CyGames, XSeed)
- Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate (Netherrealm Studio, WB Games)
- One Punch Man: A Hero Nobody Knows (Spike Chunsoft, Bandai Namco)
- Street Fighter V: Champion Edition (Dimps, Capcom)
- Under Night In-Birth EXE: Late [CL-R] (French Bread, Arc System Works, Aksys
Winner; Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate
Best Family Game
Nominees;
- Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Nintendo)
- Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time (Toys For Bob, Activision)
- Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockdown (Mediatonic, Devolver Digital)
- Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit (Velan Studios, Nintendo)
- Minecraft Dungeons (Mojang, Double Eleven, Xbox Game Studios)
- Paper Mario: The Origami King (Intelligent Systems, Nintendo)
Winner; Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Best Sim/Strategy
Nominees;
- Crusader Kings III (Paradox Development Studio, Paradox)
- Desperados III (MiMiMi Games, THQ Nordic)
- Gears Tactics (Splash Damage, The Coalition, Xbox Game Studios)
- Microsoft Flight Simulator (Asobo, Xbox Game Studios)
- XCOM: Chimera Squad (Firaxis, 2K)
Winner; Microsoft Flight Simulator
Best Sports/Racing Game
Nominees;
- DiRT 5 (Codemasters)
- F1 2020 (Codemasters)
- FIFA 21 (EA)
- NBA 2K21 (Visual Concepts, 2K)
- Tony Hawk’s Pro-Skater 1 & 2: Remastered (Vicarious Visions, Activision)
Winner; Tony Hawk’s Pro-Skater 1 & 2: Remastered
Best Multiplayer Game
Nominees;
- Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Nintendo)
- Among Us (Innersloth)
- Call of Duty: Warzone (Infinity Ward, Raven Software, Activision)
- Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockdown (Mediatonic, Devolver Digital)
- Valorant (Riot Games)
Winner; Among Us
Best Debut Game
Nominees;
- Carrion (Phobia Game Studio, Devolver Digital)
- Mortal Shell (Cold Symmetry, Playstack)
- Raji: An Ancient Epic (Nodding Heads Games, Super.com)
- Röki (Polygon Treehouse, United Label, CI Games)
- Phasmophobia (Kinetic Games)
Winner; Phasmophobia
And there you have it. The winners and runners-up in the 2020 Games Award ceremony. Be sure to stick with ABG as we’ll be having our own Game of the Year ceremony real soon. Heck, we might even have an “Audience’s Choice” award or something.
ABG’s Senior Editor (News), YouTube content creator/streamer.