The Game Awards 2023: All nominees and winners

THE Game Awards is often thought of as the gaming Oscars as it is the year’s biggest award show for all things gaming.

Another thing people often say is that 2023 has been the best year ever for gaming, with what feels like more 80+ releases than any other year.

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However, of all those amazing games only a handful of them can take home the prize.

Here are the winners in all categories at The Game Awards 2023.

Game of the Year

Baldur’s Gate 3 really cleaned up at this year’s awards and rightly so given how much everyone loved it.

• Resident Evil 4
• Spider-Man 2
• Alan Wake 2
• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
• Super Mario Bros. Wonder
• Baldur’s Gate 3

Best Game Direction 

Bringing the strong sense of impending doom, we were still surprised to see Alan Wake 2 walk away with this one.

• Spider-Man 2
• Alan Wake 2
• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
• Super Mario Bros. Wonder
• Baldur’s Gate 3

Best Narrative

A story told through fragments, where you switch between two characters and the inside of their minds, Alan Wake 2 is a gripping story.

• Baldur’s Gate 3
• Alan Wake 2
• Final Fantasy 16
• Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty
• Spider-Man 2

Best Art Direction

The dark atmosphere made Alan Wake 2 as terrifying as it is, giving it the award for best art direction.

• Hi-Fi Rush
• Super Mario Bros. Wonder
• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
• Lies of P
• Alan Wake 2

Best Score & Music

Final Fantasy is known for its incredible music and while there was some good competition, 16 managed to wow fans one more time.

• Hi-Fi Rush
• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
• Final Fantasy 16
• Baldur’s Gate 3
• Alan Wake 2

Best Audio Design

Hi-Fi Rush is a game all about how everything moves on time to the beat and it felt obvious it would win this award.

• Dead Space
• Alan Wake 2
• Hi-Fi Rush
• Resident Evil 4 
• Spider-Man 2

Best Performance

Players fell in love with the charming Astarion in Baldur’s Gate 3 and it’s easy to see why Newbon took home this award.

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

Innovation in Accessibility

Forza put a lot of effort into making it playable for all types of players including audio description and ASL,  a worthy winner of this award.

• Forza Motorsport
• Diablo 4
• Hi-Fi Rush
• Spider-Man 2
• Mortal Kombat 1
• Street Fighter 6

Games for Impact

Tchia let more people experience the culture of New Caledonia, which is why it won this award.

• A Space for the Unbound
• Venba
• Goodbye, Volcano High
• Tchia
• Chants of Sennar
• Terra Nil

Best Ongoing Game

Cyberpunk 2077 had a rocky launch, but has since come back strong, in particular with the recent Phantom Liberty DLC.

• Fortnite
• Genshin Impact
• Apex Legends
• Final Fantasy 14
• Cyberpunk 2077

Best Community Support

Releasing in early access, Baldur’s Gate 3 managed to tweak the game until it was ready for its fantastic release.

• Baldur’s Gate 3
• Cyberpunk 2077
• Destiny 2
• Final Fantasy 14
• No Man’s Sky

Best Independent Game

Sea of Stars brought back old-school RPGs in a way that was modern enough for new audiences.

• Cocoon
• Dave the Diver
• Sea of Stars
• Viewfinder
• Dredge

Best Debut Indie Game

Cocoon added a new depth to puzzle games that we have never seen before and is well deserving of this award.

• Venba
• Dredge
• Viewfinder
• Cocoon
• Pizza Tower

Best Mobile Game

From the developers of Genshin Impact, one of the most played games all around the world, Honkai Star Rail was sure to be a success.

• Terra Nil
• Honkai Star Rail
• Final Fantasy 7: Ever Crisis
• Hello Kitty: Island Adventure
• Monster Hunter Now

Best VR/AR Game

Since Resident Evil 7 was transferred to VR we got hooked on this new kind of horror, so it’s no surprise that Village took this one.

• Resident Evil Village VR mode
• Gran Turismo 7
• Horizon: Call of the Mountain
• Synapse
• Humanity

Best Action Game

FromSoftware usually does well at The Game Awards, and Armored Core has continued its streak.

• Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon
• Dead Island 2
• Remnant 2
• Hi-Fi Rush
• Ghostrunner 2

Best Action/Adventure Game

Just like Breath of the Wild the year it came out, Tears of the Kingdom blew players away with how far it pushed the medium.

• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
• Alan Wake 2
• Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
• Resident Evil 4
• Spider-Man 2

Best Role-Playing Game

We expected Baldur’s Gate 3 to clean up at the awards this year, and it certainly hasn’t disappointed.

• Baldur’s Gate 3
• Lies of P
• Sea of Stars
• Starfield
• Final Fantasy 16

Best Fighting Game

Mortal Kombat 1 tried its best but when it comes to fighting games there is currently no better game than Street Fighter 6.

• God of Rock
• Street Fighter 6
• Mortal Kombat 1
• Pocket Bravery
• Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2

Best Family Game

Also nominated for Game of the Year, it seemed obvious that Mario would take home this award.

• Pikmin 4
• Super Mario Bros. Wonder
• Sonic Superstars
• Party Animals
• Disney Illusion Island

Best Sim/Strategy Game

While this category upset strategy fans, Pikmin 4 made the genre more accessible for a variety of players.

• Cities: Skylines 2
• Advance Wars 1+2: ReBoot Camp
• Company of Heroes 3
• Fire Emblem Engage
• Pikmin 4

Best Sports/Racing Game

There was only one outstanding sports game this year, and Forza Motorsport was notable for so much more than it’s great accessibility.

• EA Sports FC 24
• F1 23
• Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged
• The Crew Motorfest
• Forza Motorsport

Best Multiplayer Game

While Nintendo is best known for its fantastic multiplayer, Baldur’s Gate 3 was just a standout game this year.

• Baldur’s Gate 3
• Super Mario Bros. Wonder
• Party Animals
• Diablo 4
• Street Fighter 6

Player’s Voice Award

Voted for entirely by players, it’s good to see that players’ thoughts align so closely with the critics on Baldur’s Gate 3. 

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

Best Adaptation

The Last of Us made a whole new audience aware of just how great gaming story-telling is.

• Gran Turismo
• The Last of Us
• Castlevania: Nocturne
• Twisted Metal
• The Super Mario Bros. Movie

Most Anticipated Game

We’ve been waiting a long time for the Final Fantasy 7 remake and it didn’t surprise anyone when the sequel took home this award.

• Hades 2
• Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth
• Star Wars Outlaws
• Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth
• Tekken 8

Content Creator of the Year

A Vtuber has won creator of the year for the first time ever, and accepted her award via her Vtuber persona.

• People Make Games
• Quackity
• Ironmouse
• Sypherpk
• Spreen

Best Esports Game

Valorant has a passionate community and has pulled the award out here, but overall League of Legends cleaned up in the esports categories.

• DOTA 2
• Counter-Strike 2
• League of Legends
• PUBG Mobile
• Valorant

Best Esports Athlete

• Lee “Faker” Sang-Hyeok – League of Legends
• Mathieu “Zywoo” Herbaut – CS:GO
• Max “Demon1” Mazanov – Valorant
• Paco “Hydra” Rusiwiez – Call of Duty
• Park “Ruler” Jae-Hyuk – League of Legends
• Phillip “Imperialhal” Dosen – Apex Legends

Best Esports Team

• Evil Geniuses – Valorant
• FNATIC – Valorant
• Gamin Gladiators – DOTA 2
• JD Gaming – League of Legends
• Team Vitality – Counter-Strike

Best Esports Coach

• Christine “Potter” Chi – Evil Geniuses
• Danny “Zonic” Sorenson – Team Falcons
• Jordan “Gunba” Graham – Florida Mayhem
• Remy “XTQZZZ” Quoniam – Team Vitality
• Yoon “Homme” Sung-Young – JD Gaming

Best Esports Event

• 2023 League of Legends World Championship
• Blast TV Paris Major 2023
• EVO 2023
• The International DOTA Championships 2023
• Valorant Championships 2023

If you want to compare the winners with our predictions then check out our Game Awards 2023 winner predictions.

Written by Georgina Young on behalf of GLHF.