The Game Awards 2022 winners list: 'Elden Ring' receives the highest honor.

Published Dec. 8, 2022 Updated Dec. 9, 2022 6:51 AM PT

The Game Awards returned to Los Angeles’ Microsoft Theater on Thursday night for its first in-person event since the COVID pandemic. Basking in the cheers of the gaming community was FromSoftware’s “Elden Ring,” which won the top prize — game of the year.

“We have faced so many difficulties while developing this game ... so I’m really relieved,” said director Hidetaka Miyazaki. “I haven’t made up my mind to create even more interesting games than this one. As for ‘Elden Ring,’ we still have more things we want to do, so getting this GOTY award really, really encourages us.”

Heading into the ceremony, “Elden Ring” received seven nominations. “Elden Ring” also won prizes for art direction, role-playing and direction.

FromSoftware last won game of the year in 2019 for “Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.”

For the Game Awards creator and host Geoff Keighley, Thursday’s show was a welcome return to ceremony’s usual form, with notable gaming figures — Xbox’s Phil Spencer and previous Game Awards honorees Hideo Kojima, and Josef Fares — in attendance.

Of course, this year also touted something new for the ceremony — its inaugural best adaptation category.

Ahead of the show, Keighley told The Times that 2022 is an optimal time to start celebrating “authentic” and fresh takes on gaming content.

“[The category] just speaks to how gaming is taking over pop culture,” he said in November on a video call. “Part of the mission of our show is to celebrate the power of this medium as the largest, most dominant form of entertainment. So I think this is just another example of it’s continued proliferation.”

Netflix’s “Arcane,” an animated take on the world of Riot’s “League of Legends,” took home the first best adaptation award.

The Game Awards’ in-person comeback also saw prizes for “Stray,” “Bayonetta 3” and “God of War Ragnarök,” which won six categories. See the full list of the 2022 Game Awards winners below:

Game of the year

Elden Ring (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco) | WINNER
A Plague Tale: Requiem (Asobo Studio/Focus Entertainment)
God of War Ragnarök (Sony Santa Monica/SIE)
Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games/SIE)
Stray (BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna)
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 (Monolith Soft/Nintendo)

Game direction

Elden Ring (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco)| WINNER
God of War Ragnarök (Sony Santa Monica/SIE)
Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games/SIE)
Immortality (Half Mermaid)
Stray (BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna)

Narrative

God of War Ragnarök (Sony Santa Monica/SIE) | WINNER
A Plague Tale: Requiem (Asobo Studio/Focus Entertainment)
Elden Ring (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco)
Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games/SIE)
Immortality (Half Mermaid)

Art direction

Elden Ring (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco) | WINNER
God of War Ragnarök (Sony Santa Monica/SIE)
Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games/SIE)
Scorn (Ebb Software/Kepler Interactive)
Stray (BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna)

Score and music

Bear McCreary, God of War Ragnarök | WINNER
Olivier Deriviere, A Plague Tale: Requiem
Tsukasa Saitoh, Elden Ring
Two Feathers, Metal: Hellsinger
Yasunori Mitsuda, Xenoblade Chronicles 3

Audio design

God of War Ragnarök (Sony Santa Monica/SIE) | WINNER
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (Infinity Ward/Activision)
Elden Ring (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco)
Gran Turismo 7 (Polyphony/SIE)
Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games/SIE)

Performance

Christopher Judge, God of War Ragnarök | WINNER
Ashly Burch, Horizon Forbidden West
Charlotte McBurney, A Plague Tale: Requiem
Manon Gage, Immortality
Sunny Suljic, God of War Ragnarök

Games for impact

As Dusk Falls (Interior Night/Xbox Game Studios) | WINNER
A Memoir Blue (Cloisters Interactive/Annapurna)
Citizen Sleeper (Jump Over The Age/Fellow Traveller)
Endling: Extinction Is Forever (Herobeat Studios/HandyGames)
Hindsight (Team Hindsight/Annapurna)
I Was a Teenage Exocolonist (Northway Games/Finji)

Ongoing game

Final Fantasy XIV (Square Enix) | WINNER
Apex Legends (Respawn/EA)
Destiny 2 (Bungie)
Fortnite (Epic Games)
Genshin Impact (HoYoverse)

Indie

Stray (BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna) | WINNER
Cult of the Lamb (Massive Monster / Devolver Digital)
Neon White (Angel Matrix/Annapurna)
Sifu (Sloclap)
Tunic (Tunic Team/Finji)

Debut indie

Stray (BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna) | WINNER
Neon White (Angel Matrix/Annapurna Interactive)
Norco (Geography of Robots/Raw Fury)
Tunic (Tunic Team/Finji)
Vampire Survivors (poncle)

Community support, presented by Discord

Final Fantasy XIV (Square Enix) | WINNER
Apex Legends (Respawn/EA)
Destiny 2 (Bungie)
Fortnite (Epic Games)
No Man’s Sky (Hello Games)

Mobile

Marvel Snap (Second Dinner Studios/Nuverse) | WINNER
Apex Legends Mobile (Lightspeed & Quantum/Respawn/EA)
Diablo Immortal (Blizzard/NetEase)
Genshin Impact (HoYovese)
Tower of Fantasy (Hotta Studio/Perfect World/Level Infinite)

VR/AR

Moss: Book II (Polyarc) | WINNER
After the Fall (Vertigo Games)
Among Us VR (Schell Games/InnerSloth)
Bonelab (Stress Level Zero)
Red Matter 2 (Vertical Robot)

Action

Bayonetta 3 (Platinum Games/Nintendo) | WINNER
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (Infinity Ward/Activision)
Neon White (Angel Matrix/Annapurna)
Sifu (Sloclap)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge (Tribute Games/Dotemu)

Action/adventure

God of War Ragnarök (Sony Santa Monica/SIE) | WINNER
A Plague Tale: Requiem (Asobo Studio/Focus Entertainment)
Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games/SIE)
Stray (BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna)
Tunic (Tunic Team/Finji)

Role-playing

Elden Ring (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco) | WINNER
Live a Live (Square Enix/Nintendo)
Pokémon Legends: Arceus (Game Freak/Nintendo/TPCI)
Triangle Strategy (Artdink/Square Enix)
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 (Monolith Soft/Nintendo)

Fighting

MultiVersus (Player First Games/WB Games) | WINNER
DNF Duel (Arc System Works/Eighting/Neople/Nexon)
JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle R (CyberConnect 2 Co. Ltd/Bandai Namco)
The King of Fighters XV (SNK/Plaion)
Sifu (Sloclap)

Family