The Game Awards have started to feel more like an advertising campaign than an awards show, but it still is an important way for the best games of the year to get some major recognition. TGA is heading towards its 11th year, and in the past decade it’s had the chance to highlight some of the best games ever made.
2014 – Dragon Age: Inquisition – Bioware
The Other Contenders
- Bayonetta 2
- Dark Souls II
- Hearthstone
- Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor
The Game Awards kicked off in 2014, and that year’s top contenders and GotY winner established a bit of a trend for the show – the tendency to favor sprawling, open-world fantasy games over smaller titles and sequels over new IP. While that trend may not be ideal, it shouldn’t reflect poorly on Dragon Age: Inquisition, which is a great RPG that you can easily sink hundreds of hours into even if you haven’t played the two games that come before it.
2015 – The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – CD Projekt Red
The Other Contenders
- Bloodborne
- Metal Gear Solid V
- Super Mario Maker
- Fallout 4
Wild Hunt had some stiff competition in 2015, but it ended up winning not just Game of the Year, but also Best Role-Playing Game, and Developer of the Year for CD Projekt Red. Thanks to its fully realized character, masterfully crafted world, and staggering amount of side content, The Witcher 3 is still looked at as one of the best RPGs ever made.
2016 – Overwatch – Blizzard Entertainment
The Other Contenders
- Titanfall 2
- Doom
- Inside
- Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End
The 2016 Game Awards were the best yet for multiplayer games. Though it had some strong competition, Blizzard’s Overwatch came out on top. The first-person, team-based shooter put another notch in Blizzard’s belt of astounding successful multiplayer games. It inspired legions of fans and led to a much less well-received sequel.
2017 – The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – Nintendo EPD
The Other Contenders
- PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds
- Persona 4
- Horizon Zero Dawn
- Super Mario Odyssey
Nintendo had two chances to win Game of the Year heading into the 2017 Game Awards. While the contenders are all great games, no one was surprised when Breath of the Wild walked away with the award. The game completely rewrote everyone’s expectation for a Zelda entry and gave us an open world that is still one of the most fun to explore in all of gaming.
2018 – God of War – Santa Monica Studio
The Other Contenders
- Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
- Marvel’s Spider-Man
- Monster Hunter: World
- Red Dead Redemption 2
2018’s Game of the Year winner also rebooted the formula of a longstanding franchise. From combat to storytelling, God of War improved just about everything that previous games had introduced, and it breathed life into a franchise that hadn’t seen a new entry in half a decade. Its sequel was also a GotY contender, but for my money I’d take the 2018 game.
2019 – Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice – FromSoftware
The Other Contenders
- Control
- Death Stranding
- The Outer Worlds
- Resident Evil 2
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Sekiro brought FromSoftware back into Game of the Year territory, and it’s easy to see why. It took the mechanics fans loved from the other Souls games and combined them with entirely new exploration and stealth systems. It also laid the groundwork for FromSoftware’s next masterpiece: Elden Ring.
2020 – The Last of Us Part II – Naughty Dog
The Other Contenders
- Animal Crossing: New Horizons
- Doom Eternal
- Final Fantasy VII Remake
- Ghost of Tsushima
- Hades
The Last of Us Part II is arguably the most controversial Game of the Year winner, but that has less to do with the situation at The Game Awards and more with the general reception of Part II in the first place. Despite the controversy, Part II undeniably pushed the envelope on video game storytelling, and it did that while making significant gameplay improvements to The Last of Us and showering us with eye-popping visuals.
2021 – It Takes Two – Hazelight Studios
The Other Contenders
- Deathloop
- Metroid Dread
- Psychonauts 2
- Rachet & Clank: Rift Apart
- Resident Evil Village
It Takes Two really stands out among the other GotY winners because it’s co-op only, a feature that’s as integral to the story as it is to the actual gameplay. It’s becoming harder to find good co-op games, especially ones with couch co-op as an option, and It Takes Two remains one of the very best options for playing with a friend that there’s ever been.
2022 – Elden Ring – FromSoftware
The Other Contenders
- God of War Ragnarök
- A Plague Tale: Requiem
- Stray
- Xenoblade Chronicles 3
- Horizon Forbidden West
Just three years after winning Game of the Year with Sekiro, FromSoftware was back at it with Elden Ring. We’ve got to pour one out for the Horizon franchise that just can’t seem to catch a break, but it’s hard to argue that Elden Ring didn’t earn the award. It not only created one of the biggest open worlds ever, but it filled that world with all kinds of secrets to discover, areas to explore, and bizarre NPCs to meet (and kill).
2023 – Baldur’s Gate 3 – Larian Studios
The Contenders
- Alan Wake 2
- The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
- Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
- Resident Evil 4
- Super Mario Bros. Wonder
In the best and worst year for gaming, 9,000 people working in the industry lost their jobs over the course of 2023, and at the same time we saw some incredible games debut. The level of detail, and the freedom of player expression in Baldur’s Gate 3 is absolutely mind-boggling, and it raises the bar for the entire art form.
