The Game Awards 2023

[spatular]

there's been some interesting stuff shown before the show - new world of goo, and thrasher (if i remembered the name right) by people who made thumper - looks a bit like nights into dreams.

[one-armed dwarf]

 

[one-armed dwarf]

I watched some of this and it was quite a good show. But they really need to stop being so aggressive with playing people off stage. It makes it feel like a show which resents the people its trying to celebrate and this aspect of it gets worse year by year.

 

Astorians VA was having none of it

 

edit and then there's this. Notice how they never do this for Anthony Mackie, Matthew McConaughy, Gonzo the chicken fucker

 

 

[Maryokutai]

It's so ironic too because the show is so bloated. I presume this is all because Judge* was rambling on last year, but it's pretty obvious that was an exception. Just cut out those absolutely pointless eSports awards nobody is interested in and let the people say what they want to say. Most of them are super nervous and uncomfortable speaking in front of such an audience anyway, they'll gladly get off the stage after a minute or two.

 

That said I think in terms of games shown/announced this was the best VGA they ever did. Now Geoff needs to get his act together so that the show itself can be of the same standard than the content from his partners.

 

(*the joke he made about the CoD campaign, which I liked, also showed just how immature this industry still is, where poking fun at something in public like this almost seems like a taboo. I don't think any other media form is so afraid of addressing their own failures in a lighthearted way.)

[DisturbedSwan]

It's standard practice in awards shows really, I know the Oscars do it. Still shit though for sure.

 

All the winners:

 

 

Quote

 

Game of the Year

• Alan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment)
• Baldur's Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
• Marvel's Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games)
• Resident Evil 4 (Capcom)
• Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Nintendo)
• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo)

Player's Voice

• Baldur's Gate 3
• Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty
• Genshin Impact
• Marvel's Spider-Man 2
• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Best Game Direction

• Alan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment)
• Baldur's Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
• Marvel's Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games)
• Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Nintendo)
• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo)

Best Narrative

• Alan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment)
• Baldur's Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
• Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty
• Final Fantasy 16 (Square Enix)
• Marvel's Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games)

Best Art Direction

• Alan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment)
• Hi-Fi Rush (Tango Gameworks)
• Lies of P (Round8 Studio)
• Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Nintendo)
• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo)

Best Score and Music

• Alan Wake 2, composer Petri Alanko (Remedy Entertainment)
• Baldur's Gate 3, composer Borislav Slavov (Larian Studios)
• Final Fantasy 16, composer Masayoshi Soken (Square Enix)
• Hi-Fi Rush, audio director Shuichi Kobori (Tango Gameworks)
• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, composed by Nintendo Sound Team (Nintendo)

Best Audio Design

• Alan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment)
• Dead Space (Motive Studio)
• Hi-Fi Rush (Tango Gameworks)
• Marvel's Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games)
• Resident Evil 4 (Capcom)

Best Performance

• Ben Starr, Final Fantasy 16
• Cameron Monaghan, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
• Idris Elba, Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty
• Melanie Liburd, Alan Wake 2
• Neil Newbon, Baldur's Gate 3
• Yuri Lowenthal, Marvel's Spider-Man 2

Innovation in Accessibility

• Diablo 4 (Blizzard)
• Forza Motorsport (Turn 10 Studios)
• Hi-Fi Rush (Tango Gameworks)
• Marvel's Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games)
• Mortal Kombat 1 (NetherRealm Studios)
• Street Fighter 6 (Capcom)

Games for Impact

• A Space for the Unbound (Mojiken Studio)
• Chants of Sennaar (Rundisc)
• Goodbye Volcano High (KO_OP)
• Tchia (Awaceb)
• Terra Nil (Free Lives)
• Venba (Visai Games)

Best Ongoing

• Apex Legends (Respawn/EA)
• Cyberpunk 2077 (CD Projekt Red)
• Final Fantasy 14 (Square Enix)
• Fortnite (Epic Games)
• Genshin Impact (HoYoVerse)

Best Community Support

• Baldur's Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
• Cyberpunk 2077 (CD Projekt Red)
• Destiny 2 (Bungie)
• Final Fantasy 14 (Square Enix)
• No Man's Sky (Hello Games)

Best Independent Game

• Cocoon (Geometric Interactive)
• Dave the Diver (Mintrocket)
• Dredge (Black Salt Games)
• Sea of Stars (Sabotage Studio)
• Viewfinder (Sad Owl Studios)

Best Debut Indie Game

• Cocoon (Geometric Interactive)
• Dredge (Black Salt Games)
• Pizza Tower (Tour de Pizza)
• Venba (Visai Games)
• Viewfinder (Sad Owl Studios)

Best Mobile Game

• Final Fantasy 7: Ever Crisis (Applibot)
• Hello Kitty Island Adventure (Sunblink Entertainment)
• Honkai: Star Rail (Hoyoverse)
• Monster Hunter Now (Niantic)
• Terra Nil (Free Lives)

Best VR/AR

• Gran Turismo 7 (Polyphony Digital)
• Horizon Call of the Mountain (Guerilla Games)
• Humanity (Tha LTD)
• Resident Evil Village VR Mode (Capcom)
• Synapse (nDreams)

Best Action Game

• Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon (FromSoftware)
• Dead Island 2 (Dambuster Studios)
• Ghostrunner 2 (One More Level)
• Hi-Fi Rush (Tango Gameworks)
• Remnant 2 (Gunfire Games)

Best Action/Adventure

• Alan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment)
• Marvel's Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games)
• Resident Evil 4 (Capcom)
• Star Wars Jedi: Survivor (Respawn Entertainment)
• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo)

Best RPG

• Baldur's Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
• Final Fantasy 16 (Square Enix)
• Lies of P (Round8 Studio)
• Sea of Stars (Sabotage Studio)
• Starfield (Bethesda Game)

Best Fighting Game

• God of Rock (Modus Studios Brazil)
• Mortal Kombat 1 (NetherRealm Studios)
• Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 (Ludosity/Fair Play Labs)
• Pocket Bravery (Statera Studio)
• Street Fighter 6 (Capcom)

Best Family

• Disney Illusion Island (Dlala Studios)
• Party Animals (Recreate Games)
• Pikmin 4 (Nintendo)
• Sonic Superstars (Arzest/Sonic Team)
• Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Nintendo)

Best Sim/Strategy

• Advanced Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp (WayForward)
• Cities: Skylines 2 (Colossal Order)
• Company of Heroes 3 (Relic Entertainment)
• Fire Emblem Engage (Intelligent Systems)
• Pikmin 4 (Nintendo)

Best Sports/Racing

• EA Sports FC 24 (EA Vancouver)
• F1 23 (Codemasters)
• Forza Motorsport (Turn 10 Studios)
• Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged (Milestone)
• The Crew Motorfest (Ubisoft Ivory Tower)

Best Multiplayer

• Baldur's Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
• Diablo 4 (Blizzard)
• Party Animals (Recreate Games)
• Street Fighter 6 (Capcom)
• Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Nintendo)

Best Adaptation

• Castlevania: Nocturne (Netflix)
• Gran Turismo (Sony Pictures)
• The Last of Us (HBO)
• The Super Mario Bros. Movie (Universal Pictures)
• Twisted Metal (Peacock)

Most Anticipated Game

• Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth (Square Enix)
• Hades 2 (Supergiant Games)
• Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth (Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio)
• Star Wars Outlaws (Massive Entertainment)
• Tekken 8 (Bandai Namco)

Content Creator of the Year

• Ironmouse
• PeopleMakeGames
• Quackity
• Spreen
• SypherPK

Best Esports Game

• Counter-Strike 2 (Valve)
• Dota 2 (Valve)
• League of Legends (Riot Games)
• PUBG Mobile (Lightspeed/KRAFTON)
• Valorant (Riot Games)

Best Esports Athlete

• Lee "Faker" Sang-Hyeok (League of Legends)
• Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut (CS:GO)
• Max "Demon1" Mazanov (Valorant)
• Paco "HyDra" Rusiewiez (Call of Duty)
• Park "Ruler" Jae-Hyuk (League of Legends)
• Phillip "ImperialHal" Dosen

Best Esports Team

• Evil Geniuses (Valorant)
• Fnatic (Valorant)
• Gaimin Gladiators (Dota 2)
• JD Gaming (League of Legends)
• Team Vitality (Counter-Strike)

Best Esports Coach

• Christine "Potter" Chi (Evil Geniuses, Valorant)
• Danny "Zonic" Sorensen (Team Falcons, Counter-Strike)
• Jordan "Gunba" Graham (Florida Mayhem, Overwatch)
• Remy "XTQZZZ" Quoniam (Team Vitality, Counter-Strike)
• Yoon "Homme" Sung-Young (JD Gaming, League of Legends)

Best Esports Event

• 2023 League of Legends World Champtionship
• BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023
• EVO 2023
• The International Dota 2 Championships 2023
• Valorant Champions 2023

 

•  

 

[Nag]

Thank god Alan Wake 2 didn't win GotY... that's all I'm saying.😄

[one-armed dwarf]

I know they play people off on the oscars as well, but this is a show which already speedruns through awards so quickly without allowing people to say anything at all as if they don't matter. So it stands out more that even the big awards feel truncated and crushed between PR for Twisted Metal and a rogue mode for GoW. Every Oscar has somebody step up to say a bit

 

This was actually a good show but had the worst balance ever for adverts and puff pieces versus genuine celebration of the medium.

[radiofloyd]

Big win for BG3. I haven’t played enough to agree whether it’s my game of 2023 or not but I’m certainly happy to see companies like Larian be recognised!

[DisturbedSwan]

The whole GOTY category was odd for me this year as I'd played 10 hours of BG3, gave up on TotK after 20 hours and that was it. So I had no real stake in it or judgement about who I thought should win it etc. like I usually do.

 

I am pleased BG3 won though, nice to have an independent studio win the GOTY prize, I'm just glad TotK didn't win it.

[mfnick]

Skimmed through this, it was ok. Not much I was really excited by to be honest - one of the weakest in this respect.

 

I’ve got to say though, I’d already heard some bad stuff about them playing the award winners off early & the “Please wrap it up” sign but holy shit it was worse than I thought. It was really badly done and incredibly disrespectful. Especially when so much inane bullshit was given plenty of time to breathe such as the muppet bit and all the bored celebs they got were allowed to talk shit for ages. Some of the introductions to the categories were given a disproportionate amount of time compared to the winners. Relegating categories such as best Action, RPG, Fighting, music and Indie games to a 10 second read is actually fucking disgusting!

 

Maybe spend less time speaking to Kojima about nothing, give the bored movie celebs less importance, less games 2 years+ away, maybe less musical acts and maybe they can have time to actually award these other categories properly and allow winners a bit more respect and time on stage.