The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) is pleased to announce the nominees for its 26th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards (#DICEAwards), the video game industry’s premier, peer-juried awards show co-hosted by Greg Miller (Kinda Funny Games) and Stella Chung (IGN). The winners will be revealed at a special 26th Anniversary edition of the D.I.C.E. Awards ceremony and livestreamed by our official media partner, IGN, on Thursday, Feb. 23 from Resorts World in Las Vegas as the culmination of the week-long industry gathering at the 2023 D.I.C.E. Summit (#DICE2023).
A total of 61 games released in 2022 are nominated. God of War: Ragnarök leads the pack with 12 nominations, followed by Horizon Forbidden West earning 8 and Elden Ring with 7. Tying with 4 nominations each are Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare ll, IMMORTALITY, Moss: Book II, TUNIC, and Vampire Survivors. Finalists for 2022’s top honor, Game of the Year, are: Elden Ring, God of War Ragnarök, Horizon Forbidden West, Stray, and Vampire Survivors.
"I wanted to give a special thank you as always to our peer panelists. They continue to dedicate their time and expertise in judging and selecting the best games of 2022," said Meggan Scavio, president of the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. "And on behalf of all of us at the Academy, congratulations to all our finalists! Each of the games selected have marveled us with their unique approaches to storytelling, creativity, and technical innovation. We can't wait to celebrate your hard work and achievements at the 26th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards!"
The Academy and its Board of Directors thank all of the people who serve as Peer Panelists and generously volunteer their time to determine finalists. View a full list of Peer Panelists here.
26th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards Finalists:
Outstanding Achievement in Animation |
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Cuphead - The Delicious Last Course |
Elden Ring |
God of War Ragnarök |
Horizon Forbidden West |
Moss: Book II |
| Studio MDHR | FromSoftware Inc. | Santa Monica Studio | Guerrilla | Polyarc |
| Bandai Namco Entertainment America Inc. |
Sony Interactive Entertainment | Sony Interactive Entertainment | ||
| Supervising Animator Hanna Abi-Hanna Art Director Chad Moldenhauer Animators Jared Beckstrand Jake Clark Simone Cirillo Joseph Coleman Rapeepat Jewanarom Danielle Johnson Tina Nawrocki Jamie Oliff Additional Animation Stephanie Alexander Jefferson Bastida Joey Mildenberger Loris Pernault Piti Yindee |
Animation Director Hideto Nonokawa Lead Animator Yoshiki Kida Animator Taro Yoshida Lead Rigger Yuki Kato Rigger Naoki Yamauchi |
Animation Director Bruno Velazquez Narrative Animation Lead Erica Pinto Gameplay Animation Lead Medhi Yssef Lead Character Technical Artist Axel Stanley-Grossman Technical Animation Lead James Sweeney |
Studio Animation Director Richard Oud Technical Animation Director Paulus Bannink Technical Director Kim van Heest Cinematics Director Ismael Auray Cinematics Animation Director Daniel Sipes |
Animation Direction |
Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction |
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Call of Duty®:
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God of War Ragnarök |
Horizon Forbidden West |
Stray |
The Callisto Protocol |
| Infinity Ward | Santa Monica Studio | Guerrilla | BlueTwelve Studio | Striking Distance Studios |
| Activision Publishing | Sony Interactive Entertainment | Sony Interactive Entertainment | Annapurna Interactive | KRAFTON |
| Art Director Joel Emslie Artists Joel Emslie Chris George Paul Interrante Jay Barajas Tom Szakolczay Dave Blizzard Velinda Reyes Charles Chabert Bernardo Antoniazzi Riccard Linde |
Art Director Rafael Grassetti Environment Art Lead Dan McKim External Development – Principal John Palamarchuk Character Art Lead Eric J. Valdes Concept Art Leads Dela Longfish Luke Berliner Visual Effects Lead Christopher Lloyd |
Studio Director & Studio Art Director Jan-Bart van Beek Senior Art Director Misja Baas Art Directors Roland Ijzermans Roy Postma Ben Sprout Alex Zapata |
Creators & Directors Koola Viv |
Art Director Demetrius Leal Director of Concept Art Jesse Lee Environmental Art Director Aasim Zubair Character Director Glauco Longhi Game Director Glen Schoefield Chief Creative Officer Chris Stone |
Outstanding Achievement in Character |
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Call of Duty®:
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God of War Ragnarök |
God of War Ragnarök |
Horizon Forbidden West |
Return to Monkey Island |
Alejandro Vargas |
Atreus |
Kratos |
Aloy |
Guybrush Threepwood |
| Infinity Ward |
Santa Monica Studio |
Santa Monica Studio |
Guerrilla |
Terrible Toybox |
| Activision Publishing |
Sony Interactive Entertainment |
Sony Interactive Entertainment |
Sony Interactive Entertainment |
Devolver Digital |
| Writers Jeffrey Negus Brian Bloom Justin Harris Actor Alain Mesa |
Actor Sunny Suljic Narrative Director Matt Sophos Lead Writer Richard Zangrande Gaubert Art Director Raf Grassetti Animation Director Bruno Velazquez Gameplay Technical Director Jonathan Burke Lead Character Technical Artist Axel Stanley-Grossman Character Art Lead Eric J. Valdes Narrative Technical Design Leads Göksu Uğur Mike Grattan Combat Design Lead Mihir Sheth |
Actor Christopher Judge Narrative Director Matt Sophos Lead Writer Richard Zangrande Gaubert Art Director Raf Grassetti Animation Director Bruno Velazquez Gameplay Technical Director Jonathan Burke Lead Character Technical Artist Axel Stanley-Grossman Character Art Lead Eric J. Valdes Narrative Technical Design Leads Göksu Uğur Mike Grattan Combat Design Lead Mihir Sheth |
Studio Narrative Director Ben McCaw Actor Ashly Burch Conversations Director Jochen Willemsen Cinematics Director Ismael Auray Cinematics Animation Director Daniel Sipes |
Writers David Grossman Ron Gilbert Actor Dominic Armato |
Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition |
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A Plague Tale: Requiem |
God of War Ragnarök |
Horizon Forbidden West |
Metal: Hellsinger |
Moss: Book II |
| Asobo Studio | Santa Monica Studio | Guerrilla | The Outsiders | Polyarc |
| Focus Entertainment | Sony Interactive Entertainment | Sony Interactive Entertainment | Funcom Oslo AS | |
| Composer Olivier Derivière |
Composer Bear McCreary Score Producers Keith Leary Peter Scaturro |
Music Supervision Lucas van Tol Composers Joris de Man The Flight Niels van der Leest Oleksa Lozowchuk |
Composers Elvira Björkman Nicklas Hjertberg |
Composer Jason Graves |
Outstanding Achievement in Audio Design |
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A Plague Tale: Requiem |
Call of Duty®:
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God of War Ragnarök |
Gotham Knights |
Somerville |
| Asobo Studio | Infinity Ward | Santa Monica Studio | Warner Bros. Games Montreal | Jumpship |
| Focus Entertainment | Activision Publishing | Sony Interactive Entertainment | Warner Bros. Games | |
| Audio Director Aurélien Piters Sound Designer Maxime Touchon |
Audio Director |
Technical Sound Designer Sean LaValle Supervising Sound Designer Michael Kent Supervising Dialogue Designer Jodie Kupsco Audio Director Frank Favre |
Advanced Audio Designer Benoit Lafrance Advanced Audio Designer Dustin Reid WB Games Montreal Audio Team |
Audio Director & Composer Matteo Cerquone Sound Designer Arron Amo-Travers Audio Programmer Jay Steen |
Outstanding Achievement in Story |
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Elden Ring |
God of War Ragnarök |
I Was a Teenage Exocolonist |
IMMORTALITY |
NORCO |
| FromSoftware Inc. | Santa Monica Studio | Northway Games | Half Mermaid Productions | Geography of Robots |
| Bandai Namco Entertainment America Inc. |
Sony Interactive Entertainment | FINJI | Raw Fury | |
| World Created by Hidetaka Miyazaki George R.R. Martin |
Narrative Director Matt Sophos Lead Writer Richard Zangrande Gaubert Writer Orion Walker |
Writers Sarah Northway Lindsay Ishihiro |
Writers Sam Barlow Amelia Gray Allan Scott Barry Gifford |
Writer Yuts |
Outstanding Technical Achievement |
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A Plague Tale: Requiem |
Elden Ring |
God of War Ragnarök |
Horizon Forbidden West |
Teardown |
| Asobo Studio | FromSoftware Inc. | Santa Monica Studio | Guerrilla | Tuxedo Labs |
| Focus Entertainment | Bandai Namco Entertainment America Inc. |
Sony Interactive Entertainment | Sony Interactive Entertainment | |
| Lead Engine Programmer Nicolas Becavin Lead Gameplay Programmer Cyril Doillon |
Programming Director Takeshi Suzuki Lead Programmer Yuki Kido Game Programmer Takuya Ohashi R&D Section Jun ITO Graphics System Section Takasuke Ando |
Gameplay Technical Director Jonathan Burke Technical Director Josh Hobson Lead Rendering Programmer Stephen McAuley Lead Engine Pipeline Programmer Vadim Slyusarev Lead Technical Artist Nathan Kennedy Lead Character Technical Artist Axel Stanley-Grossman AI Lead Göksu Uğur Technical Animation Lead James Sweeney Gameplay Architect Victor Cepeda |
Studio Director & Technical Director Michiel van der Leeuw Gameplay Technical Director Stefan Lauwers Technical Director Decima Engine Remco Straatman |
Game Designer & Programmer Dennis Gustafsson |
Action Game of the Year |
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Bayonetta 3 |
Grounded |
Neon White |
Sifu |
Vampire Survivors |
| PlatinumGames Inc. |
Obsidian Entertainment | Angel Matrix | Sloclap | poncle |
| Nintendo of America | Xbox Game Studios | Annapurna Interactive | Kepler Interactive | |
| Creative Director & Game Director Yusuke Miyata Producers Yuji Nakao Makoto Okazaki |
Game Director Adam Brennecke |
Creators Ben Esposito Geneva Hodgson |
Creative Director & Game Director Jordan Layani Producer Edward Sananikone |
Creative Director & Game Director Luca Galante |
Adventure Game of the Year |
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God of War Ragnarök |
Horizon Forbidden West |
NORCO |
Stray |
TUNIC |
| Santa Monica Studio | Guerrilla | Geography of Robots | BlueTwelve Studio | Isometricorp Games LTD |
| Sony Interactive Entertainment | Sony Interactive Entertainment | Raw Fury | Annapurna Interactive | FINJI |
| Game Director Eric Williams Lead Producer Chad Cox Studio Head Yumi Yang |
Studio Director & Executive Producer Angie Smets Studio Director & Studio Art Director Jan-Bart van Beek Game Director Mathijs de Jonge Production Director Joel Eschler Studio Director & Technical Director Michiel van der Leeuw |
Writer Yuts Design Aaron Gray |
Creators & Directors Koola Viv Producer Swann Martin-Raget |
Creative Director & Game Director Andrew Shouldice Producer Felix Kramer |
Family Game of the Year |
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Disney Dreamlight Valley |
Kirby's Dream Buffet |
Lost in Play |
Mario + Rabbids
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Trombone Champ |
| Gameloft | HAL Laboratory, Inc., Nintendo | Happy Juice Games | Ubisoft Milan, Ubisoft Paris | Holy Wow Studios |
| Nintendo | Joystick Ventures | Ubisoft | ||
| Lead Producer Manea Castet Producer Christian Ayotte Game Director Nicholas Mainville |
General Director Shinya Kumazaki Sequence Director Shota Yamada Level Design Director Kosuke Yamazaki Executive Producer Shuntaro Furukawa |
Creative Directors Oren Rubin Alon Simon Yuval Markovich |
Producer Xavier Manzanares Creative Director Davide Soliani |
Created by Daniel Vecchitto |
Fighting Game of the Year |
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JoJo's Bizarre Adventure:
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MultiVersus |
Rumbleverse |
SpiderHeck |
THE KING OF FIGHTERS XV |
| CyberConnect2 Co. Ltd. | Player First Games | Iron Galaxy Studios | Neverjam | SNK CORPORATION |
| Bandai Namco Entertainment America Inc. | Warner Bros. Games | Epic Games | tinyBuild | |
| Director Tomoyuki Kato Producers Taichiro Miyazaki Yasuhiko Tsuneoka Hironori Yamaoka |
Game Director Tony Huynh Producer Katie Hancock Art Director Jonathan Diesta |
Game Director Lars DeVore Producer Leo Rodriguez |
Creative Director & Lead Designer Uvis Zviedris |
Creative Director Eisuke Ogura Game Director Kaito Soranaka |
Racing Game of the Year |
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F1® 22 |
Gran Turismo 7 |
Need for Speed™ Unbound |
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| Codemasters | Polyphony Digital | Criterion Games | ||
| EA SPORTS | Sony Interactive Entertainment | Electronic Arts | ||
| VP F1 Development Ian Flatt Executive Producer Mike Tebbutt Senior Creative Director Lee Mather |
President, CEO, & Producer Kazunori Yamauchi |
Executive Producer Pete Lake Creative Director Kieran Crimmins Design Director Bill Lane Studio Design Director Gary Paterson |
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Role-Playing Game of the Year |
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Citizen Sleeper |
Elden Ring |
Weird West |
World of Warcraft®:
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Xenoblade Chronicles 3 |
| Jump Over the Age | FromSoftware Inc. | WolfEye Studios | Blizzard Entertainment | Monolith Soft |
| Fellow Traveller | Bandai Namco Entertainment America Inc. |
Devolver Digital | Nintendo | |
| Creator, Writer, & Designer Gareth Damian Martin Composer & Sound Designer Amos Roddy Character Artist Guillaume Singelin |
Director Hidetaka Miyazaki Co-Director Yui Tanimura Executive Producer Eiichi Nakajima |
Creative Director & Game Director Raphaël Colantonio Executive Producer Julien Roby |
Game Director |
Game Directors Koh Kojima Genki Yokota Creative Director Tetsuya Takahashi Producers Koh Kojima Genki Yokota |
Sports Game of the Year |
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EA SPORTS™ FIFA 23 |
Mario Strikers:
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MLB® The Show™ 22 |
NBA 2K23 |
OlliOlli World |
| EA Vancouver, EA Romania | Next Level Games | San Diego Studio | Visual Concepts | Roll7 |
| EA SPORTS | Nintendo | Sony Interactive Entertainment, MLB Advanced Media |
2K | Private Division |
| SVP, GM Nick Wlodyka Production Director Garreth Reeder VP, FIFA HD John Shepherd |
Game Director Devon Blanchet Producers Kensuke Tanabe Yoshihito Ikebata |
Senior Director of Product Development Chris Cutliff Production Director Jason Villa Manager of Game Design Luis Martinez |
VP of Development Erick Boenisch Gameplay Director Mike Wang |
Creative Director & Game Director John Ribbins Producers Dan Croucher Samed Mehmet |
Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year |
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Dwarf Fortress |
IXION |
Marvel's Midnight Suns |
Potion Craft:
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Warhammer 40,000:
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| Bay12 Games | Bulwark Studios | Firaxis Games | niceplay games | Complex Games |
| Kitfox Games | Kasedo Games | 2K | tinyBuild | Frontier Foundry |
| Creators Tarn Adams Zach Adams |
Creative Director Emmanuel Monnereau Game Director Jeremy Guery |
Creative Director Jacob Solomon Senior Franchise Producer Garth DeAngelis Project Art Director Denis Moellers Lead Designer Joe Weinhoffer Lead Writer Zach Bush Cinematic Director Chris Staehler |
Game Director Mikhail Chuprakov |
Executive Producer Matt Horsman Producer Grant Towell Creative Director Noah Decter-Jackson CTO Adrian Cheater Art Director Jonas Van Niekerk Design Lead Peter Schnabl |
Immersive Reality Technical Achievement |
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Among Us VR |
Cosmonious High |
Moss: Book II |
Red Matter 2 |
The Last Clockwinder |
| Innersloth, Schell Games, Robot Teddy | Owlchemy Labs | Polyarc | Vertical Robot | Pontoco |
| Innersloth | Cyan Ventures | |||
| Senior Producer Jennifer Rabbitt Project Director Mike Traficante Design Director Michal Ksiazkiewicz Art Director Todd Verdeyen Engineering Director William Roberts |
Senior Gameplay Engineer & Programming Artist Max Burgess Expert Engineer & Quaternion Wrangler Zi Ye Expert Graphics Engineer & Mixologist Ben Hopkins Sr Lead Engineer & Conjurer of Altered Realities Ryan Dawson |
Animation Director Richard Lico Art Director Mike Jensen Audio Director Kristen Quinn Engineering Director Mike Felice Design Director Joshua Stiksma Lead Technical Artist Tyler Walters |
Game Director & Programming Iñaki Hernandez Gastañaga Game & Art Director, Technical Art Norman Schaar |
Project Leads John Austin Matt Blair |
Immersive Reality Game of the Year |
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Cosmonious High |
Moss: Book II |
Red Matter 2 |
Tentacular |
The Last Clockwinder |
| Owlchemy Labs | Polyarc | Vertical Robot | Firepunchd | Pontoco |
| Devolver Digital | Cyan Ventures | |||
| Gameplay Director & All Hats Wearer Graeme Borland Producer & Production Pantomath Alexandra Hopper Lead Writer & Narrative Designer & Story Mason Hanna Brady Art Director & Cat Whisperer Carrie Witt Product Director & Tea Fairy Chelsea Howe |
Animation Director |
Game Directors Norman Schaar Iñaki Hernandez Gastañaga |
Code Luca Scaramuzzino Creative Director & Game Director Simon Cubasch |
Project Leads John Austin Matt Blair Art Director Anita Tung |
Outstanding Achievement for an Independent Game |
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IMMORTALITY |
Neon White |
Teenage Mutant
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TUNIC |
Vampire Survivors |
| Half Mermaid Productions | Angel Matrix | Tribute Games | Isometricorp Games LTD | poncle |
| Annapurna Interactive | Dotemu | FINJI | ||
| Game Director Sam Barlow Producer Natalie Watson |
Creators Ben Esposito Geneva Hodgson |
Creative Director Frédéric Gémus Game Director Jonathan Lavigne Producer Jean-François Major |
Creative Director & Game Director Andrew Shouldice Producer Felix Kramer |
Creative Director & Game Director Luca Galante |
Mobile Game of the Year |
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Diablo Immortal |
Gibbon: Beyond the Trees |
IMMORTALITY |
MARVEL SNAP |
Poinpy |
| Blizzard Entertainment, NetEase | Broken Rules Interactive Media GmbH |
Half Mermaid Productions | Second Dinner Studios | Moppin |
| Blizzard Entertainment | Nuverse | Devolver Digital, Netflix | ||
| Game Director Wyatt Cheng Executive Producer Peiwen Yao |
Creative Director Clemens Scott Game Director Felix Bohatsch Producer Josef Wiesner |
Game Director Sam Barlow Producer Natalie Watson |
Chief Development Officer Ben Brode Chief Production Officer Yong Woo Chief Executive Officer Hamilton Chu |
Game Director, Game Designer, & Progammer Ojiro Fumoto |
Online Game of the Year |
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Call of Duty®:
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EA SPORTS FIFA 23 |
FINAL FANTASY XIV: Endwalker |
MARVEL SNAP |
Rumbleverse |
| Infinity Ward | EA Vancouver, EA Romania | SQUARE ENIX | Second Dinner Studios | Iron Galaxy Studios |
| Activision Publishing | EA SPORTS | Nuverse | Epic Games | |
| Lead Online Designers Geoff Smith Joe Cecot Lead Online Engineer Mitch Sanborne |
Supervising Technical Directors Xinwei Kong Alex Pascoci Technical Director Sean Quinn |
Producer & Director Naoki Yoshida |
Chief Development Officer Ben Brode Chief Production Officer Yong Woo Chief Executive Officer Hamilton Chu |
Lead Online Designer Ramon Andres Franco Ochoa Lead Online Engineer Eric Sheppard |
Outstanding Achievement in Game Design |
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Elden Ring |
God of War Ragnarök |
MARVEL SNAP |
TUNIC |
Vampire Survivors |
| FromSoftware Inc. | Santa Monica Studio | Second Dinner Studios | Isometricorp Games LTD | poncle |
| Bandai Namco Entertainment America Inc. |
Sony Interactive Entertainment | Nuverse | FINJI | |
| Director Hidetaka Miyazaki Co-Director Yui Tanimura Gameplay Directors Tomoro Inaba Kaikou Arima Battle Director Junya Ishizaki Lead Battle Designer Takumi Kato Level Design Director Yosuke Kayugawa Lead Level Designer Tsuyoshi Yoshikawa |
Design Director Jason McDonald Level Design Leads Michael Cheng Luis R. Sanchez Encounters Design Lead Andrew Chrysafidis Combat Design Leads Mihir Sheth Denny Yeh Camera Design Lead Erol Oksuz Systems & Technical Design Lead Nick Eberle Player Investment Design Lead Anthony DiMento UI/UX Design Lead Mila Pavlin |
Chief Development Officer Ben Brode Chief Production Officer Yong Woo Chief Executive Officer Hamilton Chu |
Creative Director & Game Director Andrew Shouldice |
Creative Director & Game Director Luca Galante |
Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction |
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Elden Ring |
God of War Ragnarök |
Horizon Forbidden West |
IMMORTALITY |
TUNIC |
| FromSoftware Inc. | Santa Monica Studio | Guerrilla | Half Mermaid Productions | Isometricorp Games LTD |
| Bandai Namco Entertainment America Inc. |
Sony Interactive Entertainment | Sony Interactive Entertainment | FINJI | |
| Director Hidetaka Miyazaki Co-Director Yui Tanimura |
Game Director Eric Williams |
Game Director Mathijs de Jonge Studio Director & Studio Art Director Jan-Bart van Beek |
Game Director Sam Barlow |
Creative Director & Game Director Andrew Shouldice |
Game of the Year |
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Elden Ring |
God of War Ragnarök |
Horizon Forbidden West |
Stray |
Vampire Survivors |
| FromSoftware Inc. | Santa Monica Studio | Guerrilla | BlueTwelve Studio | poncle |
| Bandai Namco Entertainment America Inc. |
Sony Interactive Entertainment | Sony Interactive Entertainment | Annapurna Interactive | |
| Director Hidetaka Miyazaki Co-Director Yui Tanimura Executive Producer Eiichi Nakajima |
Game Director Eric Williams Lead Producer Chad Cox Studio Head Yumi Yang |
Studio Director & Executive Producer Angie Smets Studio Director & Studio Art Director Jan-Bart van Beek Game Director Mathijs de Jonge Production Director Joel Eschler Studio Director & Technical Director Michiel van der Leeuw |
Creators & Directors Koola Viv Producer Swann Martin-Raget |
Creative Director & Game Director Luca Galante |