The Game Award for Game of the Year

The Game Award for Game of the Year

The Game Award for Game of the Year is an award presented annually by The Game Awards. It is given to a video game judged to deliver the best experience across creative and technical fields. The award is traditionally accepted by the game's directors or studio executives. The process begins with over 100 video game publications and websites, which collectively name six games as nominees. After the nominees are selected, the winner is chosen by a combined vote between the jury (90%) and public voting (10%).

Since its inception, the award has been given to eleven video games. Publisher Sony Interactive Entertainment has won the award three times and been nominated a record thirteen times, while FromSoftware is the only developer with more than one win. Bethesda Softworks and Capcom are the most nominated companies without a win at four. The most recent winner is Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 by Sandfall Interactive.

Process and history

The Game Award for Game of the Year

The Game Awards has a voting jury consisting of over 100 video game media and influencer outlets, which have been specifically selected for their work in critically evaluating video games. Each outlet completes an unranked ballot listing its top five choices; games with the most appearances across the ballots are selected as the nominees. The winners are determined between the jury (90%) and public voting (10%). The public vote is held via the official website and social media platforms such as Discord, Facebook, and Twitter; in China, fan voting is held via Bilibili.

Any game released before a certain date in November prior to the ceremony is eligible for award consideration. As a result, any game released after the cutoff date is eligible in the following year's ceremony, such as 2018's Super Smash Bros. Ultimate nominations at the Game Awards 2019; similarly, games released between the ballot due date in early November and the cutoff date in mid-to-late November are often overlooked, such as Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order in both 2019 and (/wiki/TheGameAwards2020) and Demon's Souls and Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales in 2020. Early access games available before the cutoff date are eligible, as are live service games regardless of their release year: 2018's Among Us received several nominations in 2020.

Josef Fares presenting Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2022

The Game Award for Game of the Year is given to a video game judged to deliver the best experience across creative and technical fields. It is presented as the final award of the ceremony and is widely considered its most prestigious honor. Since 2017, the announcement of the winner has been preceded by a medley performance of the scores of each nominee by the Game Awards Orchestra, conducted by Lorne Balfe. The category was expanded from five to six nominees in (/wiki/TheGameAwards2018).

The award is traditionally accepted by the director of the winning game or an executive from the studio; the first award in (/wiki/TheGameAwards2014) was accepted by Dragon Age: Inquisition executive producer Mark Darrah and BioWare general manager Aaryn Flynn. The Game Awards host and producer Geoff Keighley presented the award for the first four ceremonies. Other presenters include directors of past winners—such as (/wiki/TheGameAwards2016) winner Overwatch's lead director Jeff Kaplan in 2018, 2020 winner The Last of Us Part II's creative director Neil Druckmann in (/wiki/TheGameAwards2021), 2021 winner It Takes Two's director Josef Fares in (/wiki/TheGameAwards2022), 2023 winner Baldur's Gate 3's director Swen Vincke in (/wiki/TheGameAwards2024), and 2024 winner Astro Bot's director Nicolas Doucet in (/wiki/TheGameAwards2025)—and celebrity guests like Vin Diesel and Michelle Rodriguez in 2019, Christopher Nolan in 2020, and Timothée Chalamet in 2023.

Winners and nominees

The Game Award for Game of the Year

Winners are listed first, highlighted in yellow and boldface, and indicated with a double dagger (‡).

<table><thead><tr><th>Event</th><th>Game</th><th>Developer</th><th>Publisher</th><th>Ref.</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>2014</td><td>Dragon Age: Inquisition ‡</td><td>BioWare</td><td>Electronic Arts</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Bayonetta 2</td><td>PlatinumGames</td><td>Nintendo</td></tr><tr><td>Dark Souls II</td><td>FromSoftware</td><td>Bandai Namco Games</td></tr><tr><td>Hearthstone</td><td>Blizzard Entertainment</td></tr><tr><td>Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor</td><td>Monolith Productions</td><td>Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment</td></tr><tr><td>2015</td><td>The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt ‡</td><td>CD Projekt Red</td><td>CD Projekt</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Bloodborne</td><td>FromSoftware</td><td>Sony Computer Entertainment</td></tr><tr><td>Fallout 4</td><td>Bethesda Game Studios</td><td>Bethesda Softworks</td></tr><tr><td>Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain</td><td>Kojima Productions</td><td>Konami</td></tr><tr><td>Super Mario Maker</td><td>Nintendo EAD</td><td>Nintendo</td></tr><tr><td>2016</td><td>Overwatch ‡</td><td>Blizzard Entertainment</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Doom</td><td>id Software</td><td>Bethesda Softworks</td></tr><tr><td>Inside</td><td>Playdead</td></tr><tr><td>Titanfall 2</td><td>Respawn Entertainment</td><td>Electronic Arts</td></tr><tr><td>Uncharted 4: A Thief's End</td><td>Naughty Dog</td><td>Sony Computer Entertainment</td></tr><tr><td>2017</td><td>The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild ‡</td><td>Nintendo EPD</td><td>Nintendo</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Horizon Zero Dawn</td><td>Guerrilla Games</td><td>Sony Interactive Entertainment</td></tr><tr><td>Persona 5</td><td>P-Studio</td><td>Atlus</td></tr><tr><td>PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds</td><td>PUBG Corporation</td></tr><tr><td>Super Mario Odyssey</td><td>Nintendo EPD</td><td>Nintendo</td></tr><tr><td>2018</td><td>God of War ‡</td><td>Santa Monica Studio</td><td>Sony Interactive Entertainment</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Assassin's Creed Odyssey</td><td>Ubisoft Quebec</td><td>Ubisoft</td></tr><tr><td>Celeste</td><td>Maddy Makes Games</td></tr><tr><td>Marvel's Spider-Man</td><td>Insomniac Games</td><td>Sony Interactive Entertainment</td></tr><tr><td>Monster Hunter: World</td><td>Capcom</td></tr><tr><td>Red Dead Redemption 2</td><td>Rockstar Games</td></tr><tr><td>2019</td><td>Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice ‡</td><td>FromSoftware</td><td>Activision</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Control</td><td>Remedy Entertainment</td><td>505 Games</td></tr><tr><td>Death Stranding</td><td>Kojima Productions</td><td>Sony Interactive Entertainment</td></tr><tr><td>Resident Evil 2</td><td>Capcom</td></tr><tr><td>Super Smash Bros. Ultimate</td><td>Bandai Namco Studios</td><td>Nintendo</td></tr><tr><td>Sora Ltd.</td></tr><tr><td>The Outer Worlds</td><td>Obsidian Entertainment</td><td>Private Division</td></tr><tr><td>2020</td><td>The Last of Us Part II ‡</td><td>Naughty Dog</td><td>Sony Interactive Entertainment</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Animal Crossing: New Horizons</td><td>Nintendo EPD</td><td>Nintendo</td></tr><tr><td>Doom Eternal</td><td>id Software</td><td>Bethesda Softworks</td></tr><tr><td>Final Fantasy VII Remake</td><td>Square Enix</td></tr><tr><td>Ghost of Tsushima</td><td>Sucker Punch Productions</td><td>Sony Interactive Entertainment</td></tr><tr><td>Hades</td><td>Supergiant Games</td></tr><tr><td>2021</td><td>It Takes Two ‡</td><td>Hazelight Studios</td><td>Electronic Arts</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Deathloop</td><td>Arkane Studios</td><td>Bethesda Softworks</td></tr><tr><td>Metroid Dread</td><td>MercurySteam</td><td>Nintendo</td></tr><tr><td>Psychonauts 2</td><td>Double Fine</td><td>Xbox Game Studios</td></tr><tr><td>Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart</td><td>Insomniac Games</td><td>Sony Interactive Entertainment</td></tr><tr><td>Resident Evil Village</td><td>Capcom</td></tr><tr><td>2022</td><td>Elden Ring ‡</td><td>FromSoftware</td><td>Bandai Namco Entertainment</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>A Plague Tale: Requiem</td><td>Asobo Studio</td><td>Focus Entertainment</td></tr><tr><td>God of War Ragnarök</td><td>Santa Monica Studio</td><td>Sony Interactive Entertainment</td></tr><tr><td>Horizon Forbidden West</td><td>Guerrilla Games</td></tr><tr><td>Stray</td><td>BlueTwelve Studio</td><td>Annapurna Interactive</td></tr><tr><td>Xenoblade Chronicles 3</td><td>Monolith Soft</td><td>Nintendo</td></tr><tr><td>2023</td><td>Baldur's Gate 3 ‡</td><td>Larian Studios</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Alan Wake 2</td><td>Remedy Entertainment</td><td>Epic Games Publishing</td></tr><tr><td>The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom</td><td>Nintendo EPD</td><td>Nintendo</td></tr><tr><td>Marvel's Spider-Man 2</td><td>Insomniac Games</td><td>Sony Interactive Entertainment</td></tr><tr><td>Resident Evil 4</td><td>Capcom</td></tr><tr><td>Super Mario Bros. Wonder</td><td>Nintendo EPD</td><td>Nintendo</td></tr><tr><td>2024</td><td>Astro Bot ‡</td><td>Team Asobi</td><td>Sony Interactive Entertainment</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Balatro</td><td>LocalThunk</td><td>Playstack</td></tr><tr><td>Black Myth: Wukong</td><td>Game Science</td></tr><tr><td>Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree</td><td>FromSoftware</td><td>Bandai Namco Entertainment</td></tr><tr><td>Final Fantasy VII Rebirth</td><td>Square Enix</td></tr><tr><td>Metaphor: ReFantazio</td><td>Studio Zero</td><td>Sega</td></tr><tr><td>2025</td><td>Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 ‡</td><td>Sandfall Interactive</td><td>Kepler Interactive</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Death Stranding 2: On the Beach</td><td>Kojima Productions</td><td>Sony Interactive Entertainment</td></tr><tr><td>Donkey Kong Bananza</td><td>Nintendo EPD</td><td>Nintendo</td></tr><tr><td>Hades II</td><td>Supergiant Games</td></tr><tr><td>Hollow Knight: Silksong</td><td>Team Cherry</td></tr><tr><td>Kingdom Come: Deliverance II</td><td>Warhorse Studios</td><td>Deep Silver</td></tr></tbody></table>

Multiple nominations and awards

Developers

Developer	Nominations	Wins
Nintendo EPD	7	1
FromSoftware	5	2
Capcom	4	0
Insomniac Games	3
Kojima Productions
Blizzard Entertainment	2	1
Naughty Dog
Santa Monica Studio
Guerrilla Games	0
id Software
Remedy Entertainment
Square Enix
Supergiant Games

Publishers

Publisher	Nominations	Wins
Sony Interactive Entertainment	14	3
Nintendo	11	1
Bethesda Softworks	4	0
Capcom
Electronic Arts	3	2
Bandai Namco Entertainment	1
Blizzard Entertainment	2
Square Enix	0
Supergiant Games

Franchises

<table><thead><tr><th>Franchise</th><th>Nominations</th><th>Wins</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Resident Evil</td><td>3</td><td>0</td></tr><tr><td>Super Mario</td></tr><tr><td>Elden Ring</td><td>2</td><td>1</td></tr><tr><td>God of War</td></tr><tr><td>The Legend of Zelda</td></tr><tr><td>Death Stranding</td><td>0</td></tr><tr><td>Doom</td></tr><tr><td>Final Fantasy</td></tr><tr><td>Hades</td></tr><tr><td>Horizon</td></tr><tr><td>Marvel's Spider-Man</td></tr></tbody></table>