The Game Awards 2024 has just wrapped up, with an electric mix of awards, reveals, and jaw-dropping announcements. This year’s show wasn’t just a celebration of the crème de la crème of gaming for 2024 but also a glimpse into its future, packed with surprises that had legions of fans worldwide abuzz with excitement!
Let’s start by reviewing the highlights of the awards section of the event, including the winners of the most standout categories. Then, we’ll unpack the blockbuster announcements that have the entire gaming community talking!
Notable Award Winners
First off, the highlights from the winners of the Game Awards 2024! From jaw-dropping visuals to storytelling that left players in emotional tatters, the winners this year showcased the absolute pinnacle of gaming excellence.
Whether it was a groundbreaking RPG that redefined the genre, a heart-pounding action game that had us glued to our controllers, or a narrative masterpiece that made us question life itself, these award winners reminded us why gaming is more than just entertainment – it’s an art form. Here’s a closer look at the legends who took home the trophies and the games that stole the spotlight.
Game of the Year: Astro Bot
The Game Awards’ most coveted prize went to Team Asobi’s Astro Bot. Lauded for its delightful blend of platforming precision and emotional storytelling, this title charmed critics and players alike. Up against titans like Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, Astro Bot emerged victorious by delivering a perfect storm of innovation and accessibility!
However, Astro Bot’s win has caused some controversy and has led to some discourse online; most feel that it flew under the radar compared to some of the other big-name releases. Personally, I backed Black Myth: Wukong to take home the victory as it’s one of the best games I’ve ever had the pleasure of playing, but I can see the logic behind why Astro Bot was picked in the end.
Best Narrative: Metaphor: ReFantazio
Studio Zero delivered a storytelling masterclass with Metaphor: ReFantazio. The game weaves a deeply layered narrative exploring themes of existentialism, societal expectations, and the human condition — very familiar topics in the Persona games — all wrapped in a vividly imagined high-fantasy world.
Its story proved compelling enough to edge out heavy hitters like Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, and this win cements its place as a standout in storytelling. It’s a new venture by the same people behind the Persona series, but it shows that they still have the Midas touch.
Best Multiplayer Game: Helldivers 2
If you’ve ever accidentally shot your teammate in the back during a frantic mission, Helldivers 2 is for you. One of my personal favourites, this co-op shooter mastered the art of controlled chaos, offering frenetic gameplay paired with tight teamwork mechanics, taking the world by storm earlier this year.
For me, the appeal of Helldivers 2 is in its collaborative gameplay, requiring you to work together with your teammates during missions, offering ample opportunity for hilarious hijinks and some pretty awe-inspiring cinematic moments. And that is also why the game is a deserved winner in the Best Multiplayer category!
Best Action Game: Black Myth: Wukong
When Black Myth: Wukong took the internet by storm with its first trailer in 2020, there was understandably some scepticism on whether the final release would live up to the hype. After all, there have been games that have flown too close to the sun only for gamers to get burned. Luckily for us, this game hasn’t.
Action games don’t get much better than Black Myth: Wukong, which also took home another award at the Game Awards 2024. Combining tight combat with an unforgettable sense of scale, this game managed to thrill and awe in equal measure. Its win in this category demonstrates how completely the developers understood the art of making in-game combat fun, satisfying and addictive.
Best Adaptation: Fallout
Historically, video game adaptations were something to ridicule, but it’s heartening to see that it no longer is a laughing matter in recent years. Introduced in 2022, the Best Adaptation category returns with another slate of great movies and TV series.
Bethesda’s Fallout series made the leap to television with a masterful adaptation that captured the franchise’s trademark blend of dark humour and post-apocalyptic storytelling. Considering how dedicated the fanbase is, the fact that they didn’t go up in arms over a butchering of their beloved game’s premise makes it a successful adaption. That, and also being a great show on its own – I’d say Fallout took home a well-deserved win in this category.
Big Announcements
If the awards celebrated the past year of gaming, the announcements at The Game Awards 2024 gave us a tantalising glimpse of the future! From surprise sequels we didn’t know we needed to jaw-dropping new IPs, this year’s reveals did not hold back.
Whether it was cinematic trailers that left us screaming at our screens or cryptic teasers that raised more questions than answers, there was something that left everybody excited! Here’s everything that stole the show and kept us buzzing long after the lights went down.
The Witcher 4
This one had me jumping up and yelling at my screen when it was revealed. As a lifelong RPG fan and someone who considers Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt to be the greatest game of all time, The Witcher 4’s trailer was an earth-shattering revelation. I had already known a sequel was in the works, but seeing the trailer, and watching one of my favourite characters of all time in action again was the culmination of years of dreams come true!
While Geralt of Rivia (the series’ titular protagonist up to this point) won’t be the main character of Witcher 4, I’m confident that CD Projekt Red know what they’re doing, and won’t disappoint for this highly anticipated release!
Borderlands 4
Another game that’s the fourth in its series, Borderlands 4 was announced at the Game Awards 2024. One of the pioneers of the looter-shooter genre that now has names such as Warframe and Destiny under its banner, Borderlands 4 aims to follow up on the legacy of its predecessors with even wackier weapons and silky smooth gunplay!
With Borderlands 3 being one of the most successful looter shooters of all time, there’s a lot of pressure on its sequel to live up to the hype, but I’ll definitely be first to try to get my hands on it to find out!
Elden Ring: Nightreign
Whoo, boy, this was probably the biggest unexpected reveal at the Game Awards 2024 – no one saw a whole new game set in the Elden Ring universe coming! FROMSOFTWARE really threw us a curveball with Elden Ring: Nightreign, with the unprecedented addition of multiplayer co-op, and a gameplay loop unlike that of their previous titles, more akin to a roguelike than a grand story-driven RPG.
With the appearance of new enemies and game mechanics in the trailer, the promise of 3 new classes and cross-generation play, FROMSOFTWARE fans have good reason to be excited!
Split Fiction
Remember It Takes Two? With its whimsical setting and gameplay balanced by a truly heart-wrenching story? It won the hearts of many, as well as the Game of the Year back in 2021.
Well, indie developer Hazelight has come back and unveiled Split Fiction at the Game Awards 2024, of course in their signature split-screen co-op style! Based on the premise of players having to jump between a science fiction and fantasy world in a bid to escape the clutches of a greedy publisher, it’s shaping up to be the next big thing in co-op gaming!
Re/Match
Re/Match is an unexpected but not unwelcome announcement from Slocap, who became well-known for third-person fighting games with slick gameplay and beautifully stylised graphics, the foremost being 2022’s Sifu.
But instead of another fighting action game, they’ve taken things down a decidedly less violent route, with a 5v5 football simulator in the same vein as Rocket League slated to be their next release! As a football fan myself, I’m very hyped to see how Re/Match breaks out of the conventional football game mould set down by the FIFA games and experiments with its style of gameplay!
Okami Sequel
Who would’ve thought that this would get a sequel? The original Okami, first released in 2006, is a much-beloved game by fans—the beautiful watercolour aesthetic has stood the test of time even today.
This new sequel also sees its original director Hideki Kamiya return to helm the game, this time under his new independent studio CLOVERS. No doubt the game is still a long way off, but the fact that it is even being made is a cause for celebration!
Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet
Geoff Keighley saved arguably the biggest world premiere for the last. Since winning Game of the Year in 2020, people have been wondering what Naughty Dog is up to next – especially considering they shelved plans for The Last of Us Online. Now we know what they have been cooking up.
The game is Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, a new action-adventure game set in a sci-fi world. Directed by Neil Druckmann, it sees protagonist Jordan A. Mun (played by actress Tati Gabrielle) in the role of a bounty hunter. After experiencing escapism and realism through the Uncharted and The Last of Us games respectively, Intergalactic brings an exciting breath of fresh air with its sci-fi aesthetic. I’m sure fans can’t wait to see more!
The Game Awards 2024
And that’s it for our rundown of the Game Awards 2024! They pulled out all the stops for its 10th edition, with industry-shaking announcements, exciting developments and some of gaming’s highest honours awarded to its most deserving.
If you’re looking for more details on the event or want to catch the full list of award recipients and big announcements, you can do so here at the Game Awards official website! For the latest developments in the gaming industry, be sure to check out the Game Awards Instagram! With that, I’ll see you in 2025, ready to crown some new award winners after another long, fun year of gaming!
Visuals courtesy of the The Game Awards.
