Sony Santa Monica’s God of War (2018) is the only game in history to win “Game of the Year” honors at all five major year-end shows.
With the SXSW Gaming Awards off the calendar, and after Elden Ring‘s victories at The Game Awards, the DICE Awards, and the GDC Awards, it was looking extremely likely that Kratos would soon have some company. But it was not to be… and God of War: Ragnarok wasn’t even the one to snap the streak.
Instead, “Best Game” at the 2022-2023 BAFTA Games Awards went to Poncle’s Vampire Survivors.
The retro-styled “bullet heaven” shooter has been steadily picking up steam since it was released in early access in December 2021, and won over even more converts after its official launch in October. I’m sure a lot of people will look at this as an unlikely victory, but the membership of the British Academy has always tended to go their own way (most famously in 2017-2018 when it chose What Remains of Edith Finch over The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild). To further push that point home, Vampire Survivors also won the “Game Design” statuette.
So what of Elden Ring? From Software’s dark fantasy also won two awards, “Original Property” and “Multiplayer.”
Believe it or not, the biggest winner of the night was actually Sony Santa Monica and God of War: Ragnarok. The conclusion to Kratos’s Norse adventures took home six total awards, including three for the developer (“Animation,” “Audio Achievement,” and “Music”), both performance awards (Christopher Judge for “Performer in a Leading Role” and Laya DeLeon Hayes for “Performer in a Supporting Role”), and the fan-voted “EE Game of the Year.”
The complete list of winners and nominees from the 2022-2023 BAFTA Games Awards, as well as a replay of the ceremony, can be found after the break.
Jury-Voted Categories
Best Game
- WINNER: Vampire Survivors
- Cult of the Lamb
- Elden Ring
- God of War: Ragnarok
- Marvel Snap
- Stray
Best British Game
- WINNER: Rollerdrome
- Citizen Sleeper
- OlliOlli World
- Total War: Warhammer III
- Two Point Campus
- Vampire Survivors
Original Property
- WINNER: Elden Ring
- Citizen Sleeper
- Cult of the Lamb
- Sifu
- Stray
- Vampire Survivors
Debut Game
- WINNER: Tunic
- As Dusk Falls
- The Case of the Golden Idol
- Stray
- Trombone Champ
- Vampire Survivors
Performer in a Leading Role
- WINNER: Christopher Judge (As Kratos) – God of War: Ragnarok
- Alain Mesa (As Alejandro Vargas) – Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II
- Sunny Suljic (As Atreus) – God of War: Ragnarok
- Manon Gage (As Marissa Marcel) – Immortality
- Charlotte McBurney (As Amicia) – A Plague Tale: Requiem
- Siobhan Williams (As Laura) – The Quarry
Performer in a Supporting Role
- WINNER: Laya DeLeon Hayes (As Angrboda) – God of War: Ragnarok
- Danielle Bisutti (As Freya) – God of War: Ragnarok
- Adam J. Harrington (As Sindri) – God of War: Ragnarok
- Ryan Hurst (As Thor) – God of War: Ragnarok
- Alison Jaye (As Alva) – Horizon: Forbidden West
- Charlotta Mohlin (As The One) – Immortality
Animation
- WINNER: God of War: Ragnarok
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II
- Horizon: Forbidden West
- Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga
- Sifu
- Stray
Artistic Achievement
- WINNER: Tunic
- Elden Ring
- God of War: Ragnarok
- Immortality
- Pentiment
- A Plague Tale: Requiem
Audio Achievement
- WINNER: God of War: Ragnarok
- Horizon: Forbidden West
- Metal: Hellsinger
- A Plague Tale: Requiem
- Stray
- Tunic
Game Design
- WINNER: Vampire Survivors
- Cult of the Lamb
- Elden Ring
- God of War: Ragnarok
- Horizon: Forbidden West
- Tunic
Technical Achievement
- WINNER: Horizon: Forbidden West
- Elden Ring
- God of War: Ragnarok
- Immortality
- The Last of US Part I
- Stray
Narrative
- WINNER: Immortality
- Citizen Sleeper
- God of War: Ragnarok
- Pentiment
- A Plague Tale: Requiem
- Stray
Multiplayer
- WINNER: Elden Ring
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II
- FIFA 23
- Overwatch 2
- Splatoon 3
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge
Music
- WINNER: God of War: Ragnarok
- Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course
- Elden Ring
- A Plague Tale: Requiem
- Stray
- Tunic
Family
- WINNER: Kirby and the Forgotten Land
- Disney Dreamlight Valley
- Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga
- Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope
- Nintendo Switch Sports
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge
Game Beyond Entertainment
- WINNER: Endling: Extinction is Forever
- Citizen Sleeper
- Gibbon: Beyond the Trees
- I Was A Teenage Exocolonist
- Not For Broadcast
- We’ll Always Have Paris
Evolving Game
- WINNER: Final Fantasy XIV
- Apex Legends
- Dreams
- The Elder Scrolls Online
- Forza Horizon 5
- No Man’s Sky
BAFTA Fellowship
- WINNER: Shuhei Yoshida
Fan-Voted Categories
EE Game of the Year
- WINNER: God of War: Ragnarok
- Elden Ring
- Horizon: Forbidden West
- Immortality
- Marvel Snap
- Stray