Red Dead Redemption 2 takes home award for photo mode contest at London Games Festival

Red Dead Redemption 2‘s photo mode is no joke

Red Dead Redemption 2 has been widely considered one of the most beautiful games of all time, at least when it comes to realism, and that beauty was officially recognized by way of photo mode at the London Games Festival this past week. The Virtual Photo Challenge was sponsored and judged by Nvidia and The Fourth Focus, and the official Screenshot of the Year was taken by Joe Meizies. The screenshot was displayed in Trafalgar Square as part of the weekend’s festivities.

The festival organizers have been so kind as to publicly share a Google Drive folder of all of the best shots, which feature other games like Horizon Forbidden West, Gran Turismo, Ghost of Tsushima, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, Cyberpunk 2077, and more.

“The challenge celebrates the new artistic medium of virtual photography where creators can bring video game design and virtual worlds to life. From a stunning landscape to intimate portrait, candid street to abstract architecture or historical to sci-fi fantasy,” reads the contest’s official website.

Photo mode has recently become a staple of larger AAA games, and the bonus feature has expanded dramatically in recent years, with all new filters, settings, and effects that you can play with, a vast majority of which I have no idea what they do. It’s really cool to see a new subsection of photography emerging organically before our eyes, which, by the sound of it, is exactly what this kind of contest is trying to foster.

Even if I don’t know what I’m doing from a photography standpoint, photo mode can be a great way to see a game from a different angle (no pun intended), and it’s nice to appreciate the art that the development team works so hard on. It’s also a great way to ease yourself in if you’re interested in seriously getting into real-life photography, and you have the benefit of having access to all of its tools within a game you already own.

Red Dead Redemption 2 and dozens of other games with photo mode are making photography more accessible than ever, which is not something I would have expected from video games, but it’s certainly something I’m glad for.