God of War beats Fortnite for top gong at Game Awards

This year’s Game Awards saw God of War take home the top gong. But the announcement of a new Far Cry has everyone talking.

Far Cry, New Dawn, will be released in February next year. Picture: Ubisoft

Fortnite and Read Dead Redemption 2 have cleaned up at the Game Awards 2018, but were unable to pick up the coveted Game of the Year Award, which instead went to the critically acclaimed God of War.

The night looked to belong to game developer Rockstar, with Read Dead Redemption dominating the early award announcements, taking out Best Narrative, Best Score/Music, Best Audio Design and Best Performance for Roger Clark’s portrayal of Arthur Morgan.

Red Dead Redemption dominated the Game Awards early in the evening.

As the night wore on, fortune seemed to swing in favour of Epic Games, with hugely successful Fortnite streamer Ninja winning the award for Best Content Creator, before Epic Games took out Best Ongoing Game and Best Multiplayer game.

However the amazing story behind God of War was enough to push it over the line for the biggest award of the night, while also taking home Best Game Direction and Best Action/Adventure Game.

God of War took out the biggest award of the event.

Executive producer of God of War, Shannon Studstill said the win was completely unexpected, but thanked the team at Santa Monica Studios for coming together to realise the beautiful vision for the God of War reboot.

WOW! Congratulations to God of War, you are the Game of the Year! 🙌 #TheGameAwards pic.twitter.com/UOoHb2w6lW

— The Game Awards (@thegameawards) December 7, 2018

Several big game announcements were revealed throughout the awards night, highlighted by the reveal of a Crash Team Racing remake.

Crash Bandicoot will return to our screens on June 21st 2019, on Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled for PS4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch.

After successful remasters of Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon recently, fans had been calling for this to come next.

The evening also revealed the imminent remake of Crash Team Racing. Picture: Activision

The other big reveal was the announcement of Far Cry New Dawn, by Ubisoft, which will pick up from the events of Far Cry 5, in a post-apocalyptic landscape.

The game will be released on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in February next year and is reminiscent of the Mad Max series, with vehicle combat, a Thunderdome aesthetic and plenty of explosions and gunfire.

While it’s not clear at this stage who the main player’s character will be, it has been revealed they will be joining forces with survivors in Hope County to counter the threat posed by The Highwaymen, a merciless band of marauders led by twin sisters Mickey and Lou.

Ubisoft confirmed the game is a stand-alone Far Cry experience and sequel to Far Cry 5,

with “fresh narrative, compelling setting and new gameplay experiences”.

Far Cry, New Dawn, will be released in February next year. Picture: Ubisoft

AWARD WINNERS:

GAME OF THE YEAR

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey (Ubisoft Quebec / Ubisoft)

Celeste (Matt Makes Games)

Winner: God of War (Sony Santa Monica / SIE)

Marvel’s Spider-Man (Insomniac Games / SIE)

Monster Hunter: World (Capcom)

Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)

BEST ONGOING GAME

Destiny 2 (Bungie / Activision)

Winner: Fortnite (Epic Games)

No Man’s Sky (Hello Games)

Overwatch (Blizzard)

Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege (Ubisoft Montreal / Ubisoft)

BEST GAME DIRECTION

A Way Out (Hazelight Studios / EA)

Detroit: Become Human (Quantic Dream / SIE)

Winner: God of War (Sony Santa Monica / SIE)

Marvel’s Spider-Man (Insomniac Games / SIE)

Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)

BEST NARRATIVE

Detroit: Become Human (Quantic Dream / SIE)

God of War (Sony Santa Monica / SIE)

Life is Strange 2: Episode 1 (Dontnod Entertainment / Square Enix)

Marvel’s Spider-Man (Insomniac Games / SIE)

Winner: Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)

BEST ART DIRECTION

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey (Ubisoft Quebec / Ubisoft)

God of War (Sony Santa Monica / SIE)

Octopath Traveler (Square Enix / Acquire / Nintendo)

Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)

Winner: Return of Obra Din (3909 LLC)

BEST SCORE/MUSIC

Celeste (Lena Raine)

God of War (Bear McCreary)

Marvel’s Spider-Man (John Paesano)

Ni No Kuni 2: Revenant Kingdom (Joe Hisaishi)

Octopath Traveler (Yasunori Nishiki)

Winner: Red Dead Redemption 2 (Woody Jackson)

BEST AUDIO DESIGN

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 (Treyarch Studios / Activision)

Forza Horizon 4 (Playground Games / Turn 10 Studios / Microsoft Studios)

God of War (Sony Santa Monica / SIE)

Marvel’s Spider-Man (Insomniac Games / SIE)

Winner: Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)

BEST PERFORMANCE

Bryan Dechart as Connor, Detroit: Become Human

Christopher Judge as Kratos, God of War

Melissanthi Mahut as Kassandra, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey

Winner: Roger Clark as Arthur Morgan, Red Dead Redemption 2

Yuri Lowenthal as Peter Parker, Marvel’s Spider-Man

GAMES FOR IMPACT

11-11 Memories Retold (Digixart / Aardman Animations / Bandai Namco Entertainment)

Winner: Celeste (Matt Makes Games)

Florence (Mountains / Annapurna Interactive)

Life is Strange 2: Episode 1 (Dontnod Entertainment / Square Enix)

The Missing: JJ Macfield and the Island of Memories (White Owls / Arc System Works)

BEST INDEPENDENT GAME

Winner: Celeste (Matt Makes Games)

Dead Cells (Motion Twin)

Into the Breach (Subset Games)

Return of the Obra Dinn (3909 LLC)

The Messenger (Sabotage Studio)

BEST MOBILE

Donut County (Ben Esposito / Annapurna Interactive)

Winner: Florence (Mountains / Annapurna Interactive)

Fortnite (Epic Games)

PUBG Mobile (Lightspeed & Quantum / Tencent Games)

Reigns: Game of Thrones (Nerial / Developer Digital)

BEST VR/AR GAME

Winner: Astro Bot Rescue Mission (SIE Japan Studio / SIE)

Beat Saber (Beat Games)

Firewall Zero Hour (First Contact Entertainment / SIE)

Moss (Polyarc Games)

Tetris Effect (Resonair / Enhance, Inc)

BEST ACTION GAME

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 (Treyarch / Activision)

Winner: Dead Cells (Motion Twin)

Destiny 2: Forsaken (Bungie / Activision)

Far Cry 5 (Ubisoft Montreal / Ubisoft)

Mega Man 11 (Capcom)

BEST ACTION/ADVENTURE GAME

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey (Ubisoft Quebec / Ubisoft)

Winner: God of War (Sony Santa Monica / SIE)

Marvel’s Spider-Man (Insomniac Games / SIE)

Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)

Shadow of the Tomb Raider (Eidos Montreal / Crystal Dynamics / Square Enix)

BEST ROLE-PLAYING GAME

Dragon Quest 11: Echoes of an Elusive Age (Square Enix / Square Enix)

Winner: Monster Hunter: World (Capcom)

Ni no Kuni 2: Revenant Kingdom (Level 5 / Bandai Namco Entertainment)

Octopath Traveler (Square Enix / Acquire / Nintendo)

Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire (Obsidian Entertainment / Versus Evil)

BEST FIGHTING

BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle (Arc System Works)

Winner: Dragon Ball FighterZ (Arc System Works / Bandai Namco Entertainment)

Soulcalibur 6 (Bandai Namco Studios / Bandai Namco Entertainment)

Street Fighter 5 Arcade (Dimps / Capcom)

BEST FAMILY GAME

Mario Tennis Aces (Camelot Software Planning / Nintendo)

Nintendo Labo (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)

Winner: Overcooked 2 (Ghost Town Games / Team 17)

Starlink: Battle for Atlas (Ubisoft Toronto / Ubisoft)

Super Mario Party (NDCube / Nintendo)

BEST STRATEGY GAME

Battletech (Harebrained Schemes / Paradox Interactive)

Frostpunk (11 bit studios)

Winner: Into the Breach (Subset Games)

The Banner Saga 3 (Stoic Studio / Versus Evil)

Valkyria Chronicles 4 (Sega CS3 / Sega)

BEST SPORTS/RACING

FIFA 19 (EA Vancouver / EA Sports)

Winner: Forza Horizon 4 (Playground Games / Turn 10 Studios / Microsoft Studios)

Mario Tennis Aces (Camelot Software Planning / Nintendo)

NBA 2K19 (Visual Concepts / 2K Sports)

Pro Evolution Soccer 2019 (PES Productions / Konami)

BEST MULTIPLAYER GAME

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 (Treyarch / Activision)

Destiny 2: Forsaken (Bungie / Activision)

Winner: Fortnite (Epic Games)

Monster Hunter: World (Capcom)

Sea of Thieves (Rare / Microsoft Studios)

BEST STUDENT GAME

Winner: Combat 2018 (Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences — Norway)

Dash Quasar (UC Santa Cruz)

JERA (Digipen Bilbao, Spain)

LIFF (ISTART Digital — France)

RE: Charge (MIT)

BEST DEBUT INDIE GAME

Donut County (Ben Esposito / Annapurna Interactive)

Florence (Mountains / Annapurna Interactive)

Moss (Polyarc Games)

Winner: The Messenger (Sabotage Studio)

Yoku’s Island Express (Villa Gorilla)

BEST ESPORTS GAME

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

Dota 2

Fortnite

League of Legends

Winner: Overwatch

BEST ESPORTS PLAYER

Winner: Dominique “SonicFox” McLean (Echo Fox)

Hajime “Tokido” Taniguchi

Jian “Uzi” Zi-Hao (Royal Never Give Up)

Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev (Natus Vincere)

Sung-hyeon “JJoNak” Bang (New York Excelsior)

BEST ESPORTS TEAM

Astralis (CSGO)

Winner: Cloud9 (LOL)

Fnatic (LOL)

London Spitfire (Overwatch)

OG (Dota 2)

BEST ESPORTS COACH

Winner: Bok “Reapered” Han-gyu (Cloud9)

Cristian “ppasarel” Bănăseanu (OG)

Danny “zonic” Sørensen (Astralis)

Dylan Falco (Fnatic)

Jakob “YamatoCannon” Mebdi (Team Vitality)

Janko “YNk” Paunovic (MiBR)

BEST ESPORTS EVENT

ELEAGUE Major: Boston 2018

Evo 2018

Winner: League of Legends World Championship

Overwatch League Grand Finals

The International 2018

BEST ESPORTS HOST

Alex “Goldenboy” Mendez

Alex “Machine” Richardson

Anders Blume

Winner: Eefje “Sjokz” Depoortere

Paul “RedEye” Chaloner

BEST ESPORTS MOMENT

Winner: C9 Comeback Win In Triple OT vs FAZE (ELEAGUE)

KT vs IG Base Race (LOL Worlds)

G2 Beating RNG (LOL Worlds)

OG’s Massive Upset of LGD (DOTA 2 Finals)

SonicFox Side Switch Against Go1 in DBZ (EVO)

CONTENT CREATOR OF THE YEAR

Dr. Lupo

Myth

Winner: Ninja

Pokimane

Willyrex