Since the first edition of The Game Awards in 2014, studios, distributors and games from all over the world have been awarded in different categories. It all started with Dragon Age: Inquisition, big winner of the first TGA. In the following years, games like The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and The Last of Us Part II were among the winners.
Always the same?
In recent editions of the awards, it is a fact that some games stood out a lot. In 2022, for example, a good part of the awards was divided between just two titles: Elden Ring and God of War Ragnarök.
The previous year, in 2021, there was greater variety, but in 2020, The Last of Us Part II won seven awards alone. This may lead to a fair question, which is: is there really a variation in TGA winners?
The three big winners of the TGA
There are exactly three companies whose games have won Game of the Year more than once. We’re talking about Electronic Arts, Activision Blizzard and Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE).
In the case of Electronic Arts, the two games distributed by the company that won Game of the Year were Dragon Age: Inquisition (2014) and It Takes Two (2021). In the case of Activision Blizzard, the winners were Overwatch (2016) and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (2019). Finally, SIE’s winning games were God of War (2018) and The Last of Us Part II (2020).
Considering that, in total, there were nine editions of the TGA until the moment of publication of this article, in November 2023, it is a fact that EA, Activision Blizzard and SIE won, combined, two thirds of all the Game of the Year awards that existed in the TGA.
What about the other TGAs?
The other editions were won by CD Projekt Red (The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, 2015), Nintendo (The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, 2017) and Bandai Namco (Elden Ring, 2022). Only three times has a TGA Game of the Year winner been a game not from EA, Activision Blizzard or Sony Interactive Entertainment.
The nominees for Game of the Year at TGA 2023 are Alan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing), Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios), Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games/SIE), Resident Evil 4 (Capcom), Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo), The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo).
With eight nominations each, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Alan Wake 2 and Baldur’s Gate 3 are the big favorites at TGA 2023, followed by Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, which has seven nominations, and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, who impressed players around the world with the systems he presented.
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If Nintendo wins with Tears of the Kingdom or — and it’s less likely — with Super Mario Bros. Wonder, she can join the group of TGA’s biggest winners. Otherwise, Sony could become the leader, with four wins, or Larian Studios and Remedy Entertainment could finally become part of the companies that won at least once.
TGA: The most awarded games in the event’s history
Considered the main awards event in the gaming industry today, The Game Awards began in 2014. In almost a decade of the event, titles such as The Last of Us Part II, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and many others have established themselves as the best the years in which they were released.
In the list below, The Enemy presents the games that won the most awards in a single edition of the TGA. We’re talking about titles like God of War, Red Dead Redemption 2 and many other games that were awarded in different categories in the years in which they competed. So, let’s go.
- Red Dead Redemption 2
Both this list item and the next three are actually tied for third place. With four awards, Red Dead Redemption 2 is one of the games that shares the last position on the podium. The game won, in 2018, in the following categories: Best Narrative, Best Music, Best Audio Design and Best Acting (Roger Clark as Arthur Clark).
- Overwatch
Blizzard’s shooter was the main winner of 2016, when it won awards in the following categories: Game of the Year, Best Direction, Best Multiplayer and Best Esports Game.
- Disco Elysium
Probably the lowest budget game on this list, Disco Elysium surprised, in 2019, by winning Best Narrative, Best Independent Game, Best RPG and Best Indie Game.
- Elden Ring
Some from Software game would inevitably appear here. Elden Ring won, in 2022, in no less than four categories: Game of the Year, Best Direction, Best Art Direction and Best RPG.
- God of War Ragnarök
With no less than six awards, God of War Ragnarök is the second most awarded game in TGA history. In 2022, the title won in the following categories: Best Narrative, Best Music, Best Audio Design, Best Acting (Christopher Judge as Kratos), Innovation in Accessibility and Best Action and Adventure Game.
- The Last of Us Part II
The biggest winner in TGA history is still The Last of Us Part II. The game released in 2020 was awarded in no less than seven categories: Game of the Year, Best Direction, Best Narrative, Best Audio Design, Innovation in Accessibility, Best Action and Adventure Game and Best Performance (Laura Bailey as Abby).
The TGA’s most competitive years in the main category
Since the appearance of The Game Awards in 2014, there has been no shortage of editions of the award in which two specific games were considered the big favorites, almost as if there was a final played at the event. How can we not forget Red Dead Redemption 2 and God of War in 2018?
In the list below, The Enemy presents four occasions in which the Game of the Year category, at The Game Awards, featured two clear favorites; games that were much more praised, whether by critics or the public, than others in the years in which they were released.
- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt vs. Bloodborne
It’s hard to imagine that anyone, in 2015, believed that the Game of the Year award could go to any game other than Bloodborne or The Witcher 3. The other contenders were Super Mario Maker, Fallout 4 and Metal Gear Solid V: Phantom Pain — great games, without a doubt, but they were overshadowed by CD Projekt Red’s masterpiece and one of the most influential games in from Software’s history.
- Overwatch vs. Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End
In 2016, the TGA Game of the Year nominees were Doom, Inside, Titanfall 2, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End and Overwatch. The level, on average, was not as high as in the previous game, but the big prize would hardly go to the remarkable conclusion of the saga of Nathan Drake, protagonist of the Naughty Dog series, or to Blizzard’s Hero Shooter. In the end, Overwatch emerged victorious.
- God of War vs. Red Dead Redemption 2
The restart of one of the most important series in the history of the PlayStation brand against the sequel to what is probably Rockstar’s second biggest franchise, the GTA company. The year 2018 was marked, at TGA, by the dispute between two of the best games released at the end of the previous generation of consoles. The big winner, in the end, was God of War.
- Elden Ring vs. God of War Ragnarök
Combined, from Software’s masterpiece and the conclusion of Kratos’ most recent journey won in 10 categories at TGA 2022. Unlike what happened in 2018, however, God of War Ragnarök lost the night’s big prize to Elden Ring, which it was the first game in from Software’s history to win the Game of the Year category.
