God of War Ragnarök, Elden Ring Win Big At The Game Awards 2022

God-of-War-Ragnarok-nominations-and-wins-at-The-Game-Awards-2022-GOTY-1536x864 — Screengrab Courtesy of The Game Awards via Twitch Screengrab Courtesy of The Game Awards via Twitch

The Game Awards 2022 held on December 8, 2022 honored the best video game titles of the year. While the acclaimed God of War Ragnarök led the nominations, Bandai Namco’s Elden Ring ultimately took home the night’s biggest award winning the honorary Game of the Year. The event was hosted by journalist Geoff Keighley, the creator and producer of The Game Awards, and was held to an invite-only audience at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. The preshow ceremony was hosted by popular host and producer Sydnee Goodman.

The video game awards ceremony featured appearances from celebrated actors and comedians such as Al Pacino, Keegan-Michael Key, Jessica Henwick to music performances by Halsey and Hozier. Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey also made an appearance presenting an award, the pair are starring in the upcoming HBO live-action adaptation of the renowned video-game franchise The Last of Us.

God of War Ragnarök, the ninth installment of one of the most successful video game franchises of all time, God of War, led the ceremony’s nominees with 10 nominations including major categories such as Best Narrative, Best Performance, and Game of the Year. Even with a release date so far into the year (Nov. 9th 2022), the game still conquered the celebratory night. Given its massive success pre release date and post launch Santa Monica Studios still took home a lot of awards this year. The formidable and iconic Kratos voice-actor Chris Judge gave a very long but heartfelt and honorary speech for his Best Performance as the legendary Greek God of War.

Congratulations to @iamchrisjudge for his Best Performance win for God of War Ragnarök! ?#TheGameAwards pic.twitter.com/4kvDvYIG0B
— The Game Awards (@thegameawards) December 9, 2022

Game of the Year
Best Game Direction
Best Narrative - **WINNER**
Best Art Direction
Best Score and Music - **WINNER**
Best Audio Design - **WINNER**
2x Best Performance (Christopher Judge & Sunny Suljic) - **WINNER**
Best Action/Adventure Game - **WINNER**
Innovation in Accessibility - **WINNER**

Congrats to @SonySantaMonica for racking up a mythic six #GameAwards wins for God of War Ragnarök! pic.twitter.com/eKVzkhX438
— PlayStation (@PlayStation) December 9, 2022

Deservingly, God of War Ragnarök received its accolades, but another massive blockbuster Elden Ring ultimately took home the nights biggest prize for Game of the Year along with other major wins such as Best Game Direction, Art Direction, and Best Role Playing Game. Elden Ring is a massively popular fantasy role-playing game created by FromSoftware, Inc. and Bandai Namco. The epic fantasy was directed by Hidetakka Miyazaki with world-building provided by Game of Thrones fantasy writer George R.R. Martin. Unfortunately, its moment was crashed by a security breech that eventually led to the arrest of a derailed kid taking to the stage, thanking “reformed orthodox rabbi Bill Clinton.” While it is still unclear if this was a troll or some kind of ant-semitic tactic, this occasion was in front of millions of viewers, ruining the moment and raising serious security concerns.

Moments after the ceremony ended, host Geoff Keighley tweeted, “The individual who interrupted our game of the year moment has been arrested.”

Aside from the unforeseen stage crash, the ninth annual ceremony featured tons of momentous moments and was packed with surprises. Hideo Kojima unveiled a teaser trailer of “Death Stranding 2,” and we also got first looks at the upcoming “Star Wars Jedi: Survivor,” “Street Fighter 6,” “Final Fantasy XVI,” “TEKKEN 8,” Idris Elba in “Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty” and more.

Just unveiled a teaser trailer of DS2 at TGA 2022. ? Have fun! pic.twitter.com/jEs6efuI0Y
— HIDEO_KOJIMA (@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN) December 9, 2022

See the full list of winners below:

GAME OF THE YEAR

It is an honour to have been chosen as Game of the Year 2022 among so many great titles.

We truly are thankful for your enduring support, and we hope your journey into the Lands Between was as memorable to you as it was to us.#ELDENRING pic.twitter.com/cJCGDVQDWD
— ELDEN RING (@ELDENRING) December 9, 2022

Elden Ring (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco)

BEST GAME DIRECTION

Elden Ring (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco)

BEST NARRATIVE

God of War Ragnarök (Sony Santa Monica/SIE)

BEST ART DIRECTION

Elden Ring (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco)

BEST SCORE AND MUSIC

Bear McCreary, God of War Ragnarök

BEST AUDIO DESIGN

God of War Ragnarök (Sony Santa Monica/SIE)

BEST PERFORMANCE

Christopher Judge, God of War Ragnarök

GAMES FOR IMPACT

Our first title @asduskfallsgame is OUT NOW!

This interactive story is meant for everyone – gamers and non-gamers – who enjoy mature and deep storytelling.

We hope you will love playing As Dusk Falls ❤️ https://t.co/r0LaW4OUJQ
— INTERIOR/NIGHT (@Int_Night) July 19, 2022

As Dusk Falls (Interior Night/Xbox Game Studios)

BEST ONGOING GAME

FINAL FANTASY XIV (Square Enix)

BEST INDIE

Stray (BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna)

BEST DEBUT INDIE

Stray (BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna)

BEST COMMUNITY SUPPORT, PRESENTED BY DISCORD

FINAL FANTASY XIV (Square Enix)

BEST MOBILE

MARVEL SNAP (Second Dinner Studios/Nuverse)

BEST VR/AR

Moss: Book II (Polyarc)

BEST ACTION

Bayonetta 3 (Platinum Games/Nintendo)

BEST ACTION/ADVENTURE

God of War Ragnarök brought the action at #TheGameAwards, winning Best Action/Adventure game! pic.twitter.com/WNnFaWgyld
— PlayStation (@PlayStation) December 9, 2022

God of War Ragnarök (Sony Santa Monica/SIE)

BEST ROLE PLAYING

Elden Ring (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco)

BEST FIGHTING

MultiVersus (Player First Games/WB Games)

BEST FAMILY

Kirby and the Forgotten Land (HAL Laboratory / Nintendo)

BEST SIM/STRATEGY

Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope (Ubisoft Milan/Paris/Ubisoft)

BEST SPORTS/RACING

Gran Turismo 7 (Polyphony Digital/SIE)

BEST MULTIPLAYER