Astro Bot wins Game of the Year

Astro Bot has won the top prize at the videogame industry’s biggest awards ceremony.

The cute and colourful PlayStation platformer beat Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Black Myth: Wukong, Metaphor: Refantazio Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree and Balatro to be named Game of the Year at The Game Awards .

Accepting the trophy, Nicolas Doucet, studio head of developer Team Asobi, appeared to pay tribute to rival Nintendo.

Astro Bot also picked up three other awards – Best Family Game, Best Action/Adventure and Best Game Direction.

It was also a good night for the poker-themed indie hit Balatro, which won three awards including Best Mobile Game.

Role-playing game Metaphor: ReFantazio also won three awards, in what was a strong night for Japanese game developers.

Black Myth: Wukong, based on Chinese legends, proved once again to be hugely popular with fans, winning the publicly voted Player’s Voice Award.

It was a disappointing night for Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth, which had been nominated in seven categories but only took home the best music trophy.

Melina Juergens, from Cambridge, UK-based studio Ninja Theory, won the best perfomance prize for playing the title role in Hellblade 2: Senua’s Saga.

There aren’t many events where you can get performances from a full orchestra and Snoop Dogg.

The rapper dropped by to present the Best Ongoing Game Award to Helldivers 2, and perform a new song.

And it wouldn’t be gaming’s biggest night without some surprise celebrity appearances.

Harrison Ford took to the stage alongside Troy Baker, the man who plays Indiana Jones in the recent game based on the film series.

The Game Awards – sometimes called “the Oscars of gaming” – is often criticised for spending more time showing commercials and trailers for new games than it does on handing out awards.

However, last year organisers claimed the event attracted 118 million livestream viewers, and those previews are one of the biggest draws for gaming fans.

In more recent years, bigger publishers have tended to save their biggest announcements for their own separate live events.

As expected, there was no new information on Grand Theft Auto 6 or Nintendo’s next console – two of the most anticipated upcoming releases.

But that did leave room for a brand new game from Naughty Dog, the PlayStation studio known for hits including The Last of Us, Uncharted and Crash Bandicoot.

Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, launched with a glossy trailer mixed to It’s a Sin by the Pet Shop Boys.

A sequel to Capcom’s Okami was also revealed, and Polish developer CD Projekt Red confirmed The Witcher 4 was in development.

A common complaint about The Game Awards is that it often fails to acknowledge wider issues in the industry.

Against a backdrop of widespread layoffs worldwide – a trend that has continued this year – critics of the 2023 show called for winners to be given more time on-stage to speak out.

This year’s the event introduced the Game Changers Award.

The winner, Amir Satvat, a director at Tencent Games in the US, set up a personal project to help recently laid-off game developers find new work.

In an emotional acceptance speech, he said “growing up, all I ever wanted was to be a part of the video game industry”.

He also thanked his parents, who he said “taught me that my value lies in how I treat other people”.

Larian Studios boss Swen Vincke, who presented the Game of the Year award after his team’s Baldur’s Gate 3 won the title last year, was also praised for his remarks.

He took aim at chasing market share and “arbitrary sales targets” and mourned the “lost art” of studios making “a game they want to play themselves”.

This year’s ceremony took place as a strike by video game actors over AI protections and working conditions rumbled on.

Acting union SAG-Aftra and Game Workers of Southern California announced plans to plans to distribute leaflets outside the Peacock Theatre venue, where the ceremony is held, this year.

Other controversies this year have included the nomination of Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree in the Game of the Year category.

Some fans argued the expansion pack – an add-on for 2022 Game of the Year Elden Ring – shouldn’t have been eligible.

And others were upset when three of five nominations for the Player’s Choice prize – the only award entirely voted for by fans – went to free-to-play mobile games including Genshin Impact.

The rest of the winners are decided by a panel of industry experts and a fan vote which counts for 10% of the final score.

There are 30 awards in total across a wide range of categories including audio design, best independent game and accessibility and innovation.

The full list of winners is on the Game Awards website.

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