The 2024 Game Awards are upon us. The big night for the gaming industry kicked off at 7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles and will live stream across YouTube, Twitch and other social media channels.
Hosted by gaming industry star Geoff Keighley, the event covers 29 competitive categories, including Game of the Year. The games vying for that top honor include “Astro Bot,” “Balatro,” “Black Myth: Wukong,” “Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree,” “Final Fantasy VII Rebirth,” and “Metaphor: ReFantazio.”
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the awards show, and Keighley and the Game Awards team promise big surprises to come during the night, including announcements about games coming in 2025 and beyond.
Top reveals included “It Takes Two” creator Hazelight Studios’ new game “Split Fiction” and the new teaser trailer for “Borderlands 4.” Among the other notable moments were a first look at “Mafia: The Old Country,” the reveal of Warner Bros. mobile game “Game of Thrones: Kingsroad,” the trailer for “The Witcher 4,” Wargaming’s announcement of fresh IP “Steel Hunters,” and FromSoftware teasing new “Elden Ring” game “Elden Ring Nightreign” coming in 2025.
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During the ceremony, Tencent’s Amir Satvat was honored with the show’s first-ever Gamechanger award for his effort in helping developers hit by the gaming industry-wide layoffs this year find new work. Satvat said in his acceptance speech there was a “staggering amount of game experience eliminated” in 2024, estimating 34,000 jobs were lost. “You can’t make great games without great people,” he said.
The Players’ Voice award (which is selected via open online vote vs. the more than 130 media outlets that choose the Game Awards winners) went to “Black Myth: Wukong.”
The 2024 Game Awards are taking place amid an ongoing strike by actors’ union SAG-AFTRA against major video game publishers. SAG-AFTRA’s old contract with the mega companies has expired and they have yet to come to terms on a new deal with the major sticking point being the use of generative AI.
See below for the winners list, which Variety will be updating live throughout the show.
Game of the Year
ASTRO BOT (Team Asobi/SIE)
Balatro (LocalThunk/Playstack)
Black Myth: Wukong (Game Science)
Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco)
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (Square Enix)
Metaphor: ReFantazio (Studio Zero/Atlus/Sega)
Best Game Direction
ASTRO BOT (Team Asobi/SIE) (WINNER)
Balatro (LocalThunk/Playstack)
Black Myth: Wukong (Game Science)
Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco)
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (Square Enix)
Metaphor: ReFantazio (Studio Zero/Atlus/Sega)
Best Narrative
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (Square Enix)
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth (Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio/Sega)
Metaphor: ReFantanzio (Studio Zero/Atlus/Sega) (WINNER)
Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II (Ninja Theory/Xbox Game Studios)
Silent Hill 2 (Bloober Team/Konami)
Best Art Direction
ASTRO BOT (Team Asobi/SIE)
Black Myth: Wukong (Game Science)
Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco)
Metaphor: ReFantazio (Studio Zero/Atlus/Sega) (WINNER)
Neva (Nomada Studio/Devolver)
Best Score and Music
ASTRO BOT (Team Asobi/SIE)
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (Square Enix) (WINNER)
Metaphor: ReFantazio (Studio Zero/Atlus/Sega)
Silent Hill 2 (Bloober Team/Konami)
Stellar Blade (Shift Up/SIE)
Best Audio Design
ASTRO BOT (Team Asobi/SIE)
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 (Treyarch/Raven/Activision/Xbox)
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (Square Enix)
Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 (Ninja Theory/Xbox Game Studios) (WINNER)
Silent Hill 2 (Bloober Team/Konami)
Best Performance
Briana White, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
Hannah Telle, Life is Strange: Double Exposure
Humberly González, Star Wars Outlaws
Luke Roberts, Silent Hill 2
Melina Juergens, Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 (WINNER)
Innovation in Accessibility
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 (Treyarch/Raven/Activision/Xbox)
Diablo IV (Blizzard/Xbox)
Dragon Age: The Veilguard (BioWare/EA)
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown (Ubisoft Montpellier/Ubisoft) (WINNER)
Star Wars Outlaws (Massive Entertainment/Ubisoft)
Games for Impact
Closer the Distance (Osmotic Studios/Skybound Games)
Indika (Odd Meter/11 Bit Studios)
Neva (Nomada Studio/Devolver) (WINNER)
Life is Strange: Double Exposure (Deck Nine/Square Enix)
Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II (Ninja Theory/Xbox Game Studios)
Tales of Kenzera: Zau (Surgent Studios/EA)
Best Ongoing Game
Destiny 2 (Bungie/SIE)
Diablo IV (Blizzard/Xbox)
Final Fantasy XIV (Square Enix)
Fortnite (Epic Games)
Helldivers 2 (Arrowhead Game Studios/SIE) (WINNER)
Best Community Support
Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian) (WINNER)
Final Fantasy XIV (Square Enix)
Fortnite (Epic Games)
Helldivers 2 (Arrowhead Game Studios/SIE)
No Man’s Sky (Hello Games)
Best Independent Game
Animal Well (Shared Memory/Bigmode)
Balatro (LocalThunk/Playstack) (WINNER)
Lorelei and the Laser Eyes (Simogo/Annapurna Interactive)
Neva (Nomada Studio/Devolver)
UFO 50 (Mossmouth)
Best Debut Indie Game
Animal Well (Shared Memory/Bigmode)
Balatro (LocalThunk/Playstack) (WINNER)
Manor Lords (Slavic Magic/Hooded Horse)
Pacific Drive (Ironwood Studios/Kepler Interactive)
The Plucky Squire (All Possible Futures/Devolver)
Best Mobile Game
AFK Journey (FARLIGHT/Lilith Games)
Balatro (LocalThunk/Playstack) (WINNER)
Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket (Creatures Inc/TPCI)
Wuthering Waves (Kuro Games)
Zenless Zone Zero (miHoYo)
Best VR/AR Game
Arizona Sunshine Remake (Vertigo Games)
Asgard’s Wrath 2 (Sanzaru Games/Oculus Studios)
Batman: Arkham Shadow (Camouflaj/Oculus Studios) (WINNER)
Metal: Hellsinger VR (Lab 42/The Outsiders/Funcom)
Metro Awakening (Vertigo Games)
Best Action Game
Black Myth: Wukong (Game Science) (WINNER)
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 (Treyarch/Raven/Activision/Xbox)
Helldivers 2 (Arrowhead Game Studios/SIE)
Stellar Blade (Shift Up/SIE)
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 (Saber Interactive/Focus Entertainment)
Best Action/Adventure Game
ASTRO BOT (Team Asobi/SIE) (WINNER)
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown (Ubisoft Montpellier/Ubisoft)
Silent Hill 2 (Bloober Team/Konami)
Star Wars Outlaws (Massive Entertainment/Ubisoft)
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom (Grezzo/Nintendo)
Best RPG
Dragon’s Dogma 2 (Capcom)
Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco)
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (Square Enix)
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth (Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio/Sega)
Metaphor: ReFantazio (Studio Zero/Atlus/Sega) (WINNER)
Best Fighting Game
Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO (Spike Chunsoft/Bandai Namco)
Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising (Arc System Works/Cygames)
Marvel vs Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics (Capcom)
MultiVersus (Player First Games/WB Games)
Tekken 8 (Bandai Namco) (WINNER)
Best Family Game
ASTRO BOT (Team Asobi/SIE) (WINNER)
Princess Peach: Showtime! (Good-Feel/Nintendo)
Super Mario Party Jamboree (Nintendo Cube/Nintendo)
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom (Grezzo/Nintendo)
The Plucky Squire (All Possible Futures/Devolver)
Best Sim/Strategy Game
Age of Mythology: Retold (World’s Edge/Forgotten Empires/Xbox Game Studios)
Frostpunk 2 (11 Bit Studios) (WINNER)
Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess (Capcom)
Manor Lords (Slavic Magic/Hooded Horse)
Unicorn Overlord (Vanillaware/Sega/Atlus)
Best Sports/Racing Game
F1 24 (Codemasters/EA Sports)
EA Sports FC 25 (EA Vancouver/EA Romania/EA Sports) (WINNER)
NBA 2K25 (Visual Concepts/2K)
Top Spin 2K25 (Hangar 13/2K)
WWE 2K24 (Visual Concepts/2K)
Best Multiplayer Game
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 (Treyarch/Raven/Activision/Xbox)
Helldivers 2 (Arrow Game Studios/SIE) (WINNER)
Super Mario Party Jamboree (Nintendo Cube/Nintendo)
Tekken 8 (Bandai Namco)
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 (Saber Interactive/Focus Entertainment)
Best Adaptation
Arcane (Riot/Fortiche/Netflix)
Fallout (Bethesda/Kilter Films/Amazon MGM Studios) (WINNER)
Knuckles (Sega/Paramount)
Like a Dragon: Yakuza (Sega/Amazon MGM Studios)
Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft (Crystal Dynamics/Legendary/Netflix)
Most Anticipated Game
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach (Kojima Productions/SIE)
Ghost of Yōtei (Sucker Punch Productions/SIE)
Grand Theft Auto VI (Rockstar Games) (WINNER)
Metroid Prime 4: Beyond (Retro Studios/Nintendo)
Monster Hunter Wilds (Capcom)
Content Creator of the Year
CaseOh (WINNER)
IlloJuan
Techno Gamerz
TypicalGamer
Usada Pekora
Best Esports Game
Counter-Strike 2 (Valve)
DOTA 2 (Valve)
League of Legends (Riot Games) (WINNER)
Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (Moonton)
Valorant (Riot Games)
Best Esports Athlete
33 – Neta Shapira
Aleksib – Aleksi Virolainen
Chovy – Jeong Ji-hoon
Faker – Lee Sang-hyeok (WINNER)
ZyWoO – Mathieu Herbaut
ZmjjKk – Zheng Yongkang
Best Esports Team
Bilibili Gaming (League of Legends)
Gen.G (League of Legends)
NAVI (Counter-Strike)
T1 (League of Legends) (WINNER)
Team Liquid (DOTA 2)