Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice wins Game of the Year at the Game Awards

Last year, it was a berserker warrior of ancient Greece who won the top honor at the Game Awards. This year, it's a disfigured, battle-hardened shogun warrior.

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, from directors Hidetaka Miyazaki and Kazuhiro Hamatani, won Game of the Year during the industry's big awards ceremony on Thursday night. (It also happens to be EW's top game of the year. Just saying.)

The title emerged ahead of even Death Stranding, the highly anticipated and ambitious release from Hideo Kojima that featured motion-captured performances from Norman Reedus, Mads Mikkelsen, Léa Seydoux, and other Hollywood actors. Although, Kojima ended up winning Best Direction, Mikkelsen won Best Performance, and the game itself won Best Score.

Disco Elysium, the indie game from studio ZA/UM, was another surprise winner of the night, hauling in awards for Best Narrative, Best Independent Game, Best RPG, and Fresh Indie Developer.

See the main list of winner below.

Game of The Year

Control (Remedy/505 Games)

Death Stranding (Kojima Productions/SIE)

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Bandai-Namco/Sora/Nintendo)

Resident Evil 2 (Capcom/Capcom)

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (From Software/Activision) — WINNER

The Outer Worlds (Obsidian/Private Division)

Best Game Direction

Control (Remedy/505 Games)

Death Stranding (Kojima Productions/SIE) — WINNER

Resident Evil 2 (Capcom/Capcom)

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (From Software/Activision)

Outer Wilds (Mobius Digital/Annapurna)

Best Narrative

A Plague Tale: Innocence (Asobo/Focus Home)

Control (Remedy/505)

Death Stranding (Kojima Productions/SIE)

Disco Elysium (ZA/UM) — WINNER

The Outer Worlds (Obsidian/Private Division)

Best Art Direction

Control (Remedy/505) — WINNER

Death Stranding (Kojima Productions/SIE)

Gris (Nomada Studio/Devolver)

Sayonara Wild Hearts (Simogo/Annapurna)

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (From Software/Activision)

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (Grezzo/Nintendo)

Best Score/Music

Cadence of Hyrule (Brace Yourself Games/Nintendo)

Death Stranding (Kojima Productions/SIE) — WINNER

Devil May Cry 5 (Capcom)

Kingdom Hearts III (Square Enix)

Sayonara Wild Hearts (Simogo/Annapurna)

Best Audio Design

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (Infinity Ward/Activision) — WINNER

Control (Remedy/505)

Death Stranding (Kojima Productions/SIE)

Gears 5 (The Coalition/Xbox Game Studios)

Resident Evil 2 (Capcom)

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (From Software/Activision)

Best Performance

Ashly Burch as Parvati Holcomb, The Outer Worlds

Courtney Hope as Jesse Faden, Control

Laura Bailey as Kait Diaz, Gears 5

Mads Mikkelsen as Cliff, Death Stranding — WINNER

Matthew Porretta as Dr. Casper Darling, Control

Norman Reedus as Sam Porter Bridges, Death Stranding

Games for Impact

Concrete Genie (Pixelopus/SIE)

Gris (Nomada Studio/Devolver) — WINNER

Kind Words (Popcannibal)

Life is Strange 2 (Dontnod/Square Enix)

Sea of Solitude (Jo-Mei Games/EA)

Best Ongoing Game

Apex Legends (Respawn)

Destiny 2 (Bungie)

Final Fantasy XIV (Square Enix)

Fortnite (Epic Games) — WINNER

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

Best Independent Game

Baba Is You (Hempuli)

Disco Elysium (ZA/UM) — WINNER

Katana ZERO (Askiisoft/Devoler)

Outer Wilds (Mobius Digital/Annapurna)

Untitled Goose Game (House House/Panic)

Best Mobile Game

Call of Duty: Mobile (TiMi Studios/Activision) — WINNER

GRINDSTONE (Capybara Games)

Sayonara Wild Hearts (Simogo/Annapurna)

Sky: Children of Light (Thatgamecompany)

What the Golf? (Tribland)

Best Community Support

Apex Legends (Respawn/EA)

Destiny 2 (Bungie) — WINNER

Final Fantasy XIV (Square Enix)

Fortnite (Epic Games)

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

Best VR/AR Game

Asgard's Wrath (Sanzaru Games/Oculus Studios)

Blood & Truth (SIE London Studio/SIE)

Beat Saber (Beat Games) — WINNER

No Man's Sky (Hello Games)

Trover Saves the Universe (Squanch Games)

Best Action Game

Apex Legends (Respawn/EA)

Astral Chain (Platinum Games/Nintendo)

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (Infinity Ward/Activision)

Devil May Cry 5 (Capcom/Capcom) — WINNER

Gears 5 (The Coalition/Xbox Game Studios)

Metro Exodus (4A Games/Deep Silver)

Best Action/Adventure Game

Borderlands 3 (Gearbox/2K)

Control (Remedy/505 Games)

Death Stranding (Kojima Productions/SIE)

Resident Evil 2 (Capcom)

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (Grezzo/Nintendo)

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (From Software/Activision) — WINNER

Best RPG

Disco Elysium (ZA/UM) — WINNER

Final Fantasy XIV (Square Enix)

Kingdom Hearts III (Square Enix)

Monster Hunter World: Iceborne (Capcom)

The Outer Worlds (Obsidian/Private Division)

Best Fighting Game

Dead or Alive 6 (Team Ninja/Koei Tecmo)

Jump Force (Spike Chunsoft/Bandai Namco)

Mortal Kombat 11 (NetherRealm/WBIE)

Samurai Showdown (SNK/Athlon)

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Bandai Namco/Sora/Nintendo) — WINNER

Best Family Game

Luigi's Mansion 3 (Next Level Games/Nintendo) — WINNER

Ring Fit Adventure (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)

Super Mario Maker 2 (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Bandai Namco/Sora/Nintendo)

Yoshi's Crafted World (Good-Feel/Nintendo)

Best Strategy Game

Age of Wonders: Planetfall (Triumph Studios/Paradox)

Anno 1800 (Blue Byte/Ubisoft)

Fire Emblem: Three Houses (Intelligent Systems/Koei Tecmo/Nintendo) — WINNER

Total War: Three Kingdoms (Creative Assembly/Sega)

Tropico 6 (Limbic Entertainment/Kalypso Media)

Wargroove (Chucklefish)

Best Sports/Racing Game

Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled (Beenox/Activision) — WINNER

DiRT Rally 2.0 (Codemasters)

eFootball Pro Evolution Soccer 2020 (PES Productions/Konami)

F1 2019 (Codemasters)

FIFA 20 (EA Sports)

Best Multiplayer Game

Apex Legends (Respawn/EA) — WINNER

Borderlands 3 (Gearbox/2K)

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (Infinity Ward/Activision)

Tetris 99 (Arika/Nintendo)

Tom Clancy's The Division 2 (Massive Entertainment/Ubisoft)

Fresh Indie Developer

ZA/UM for Disco Elysium — WINNER

Nomada Studio for Gris

DeadToast Entertainment for My Friend Pedro

Mobius Digital for Outer Wilds

Mega Crit for Slay the Spire

Content Creator of the Year

Jack "Courage" Dunlop

Benjamin "Dr. Lupo" Lupo

Soleil "Ewok" Wheeler

David "Grefg" Martinez

Michael "Shroud" Grzesiek — WINNER

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