Finalists
Honoring the Best Games of 2021
Pioneer Award
The Pioneer Award (formerly known as the First Penguin Award) celebrates those individuals who developed a breakthrough technology, game concept, or gameplay design at a crucial juncture in video game history - paving the way for the myriads who followed them.
Lifetime Achievement Award
The Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes the career and achievements of a developer who has made an indelible impact on the craft of game development and games as a whole.
Audience Award
The Audience Award winner is selected from the list of finalist games from every Main Category. The Audience Award winner is selected through a public vote.
Game of the Year
Inscryption (Daniel Mullins Games / Devolver Digital)
Forza Horizon 5 (Playground Games / Xbox Game Studios)
Resident Evil Village (Capcom)
Deathloop (Arkane Studios / Bethesda Softworks)
It Takes Two (Hazelight Studios / Electronic Arts)
Honorable Mentions: Halo Infinite (343 Industries / Xbox Game Studios), Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy (Eidos Montreal / Square Enix), Psychonauts 2 (Double Fine / Xbox Game Studios), Chicory: A Colorful Tale (The Chicory: A Colorful Tale Team / Finji), Death's Door (Acid Nerve / Devolver Digital)
Best Audio
Returnal (Housemarque / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Unpacking (Witch Beam / Humble)
Deathloop (Arkane Studios / Bethesda Softworks)
Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy (Eidos Montreal / Square Enix)
Forza Horizon 5 (Playground Games / Xbox Game Studios)
Honorable Mentions: Halo Infinite (343 Industries / Xbox Game Studios), It Takes Two (Hazelight Studios / Electronic Arts), Genesis Noir (Feral Cat Den / Fellow Traveller), Kid A Mnesia: Exhibition (Arbitrarily Good Productions, Namethemachine / Epic Games), Resident Evil Village (Capcom)
Best Debut
Kena: Bridge of Spirits (Ember Lab)
Valheim (Iron Gate Studio / Coffee Stain Publishing)
Wildermyth (Worldwalker Games / WhisperGames)
The Artful Escape (Beethoven & Dinosaur / Annapurna Interactive)
Sable (Shedworks / Raw Fury)
Honorable Mentions: Genesis Noir (Feral Cat Den / Fellow Traveller), ElecHead (Tsuyomi / NamaTakahashi), Unsighted (Studio Pixel Punk / Humble)
Best Design
It Takes Two (Hazelight Studios / Electronic Arts)
Psychonauts 2 (Double Fine / Xbox Game Studios)
Halo Infinite (343 Industries / Xbox Game Studios)
Deathloop (Arkane Studios / Bethesda Softworks)
Inscryption (Daniel Mullins Games / Devolver Digital)
Honorable Mentions: Resident Evil Village (Capcom), Unpacking (Witch Beam / Humble), Death's Door (Acid Nerve, Devolver Digital), Loop Hero (Four Quarters, Devolver Digital)
Innovation Award
It Takes Two (Hazelight Studios / Electronic Arts)
Wildermyth (Worldwalker Games / WhisperGames)
Unpacking (Witch Beam / Humble)
Inscryption (Daniel Mullins Games / Devolver Digital)
Deathloop (Arkane Studios / Bethesda Softworks)
Honorable Mentions: Returnal (Housemarque / Sony Interactive Entertainment), Chicory: A Colorful Tale (The Chicory: A Colorful Tale Team / Finji), Loop Hero (Four Quarters, Devolver Digital)
Best Narrative
Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy (Eidos Montreal / Square Enix)
Deathloop (Arkane Studios / Bethesda Softworks)
It Takes Two (Hazelight Studios / Electronic Arts)
Psychonauts 2 (Double Fine / Xbox Game Studios)
Unpacking (Witch Beam / Humble)
Honorable Mentions: Kena: Bridge of Spirits (Ember Lab), Life is Strange: True Colors (Deck Nine / Square Enix), The Forgotten City (Modern Storyteller / Dear Villagers), Inscryption (Daniel Mullins Games / Devolver Digital), Wildermyth (Worldwalker Games / WhisperGames)
Social Impact Award
Before Your Eyes (GoodbyeWorld Games / Skybound Games)
It Takes Two (Hazelight Studios / Electronic Arts)
Life is Strange: True Colors (Deck Nine / Square Enix)
Boyfriend Dungeon (Kitfox Games)
Chicory: A Colorful Tale (The Chicory: A Colorful Tale Team / Finji)
Honorable Mentions: Forza Horizon 5 (Playground Games / Xbox Game Studios)
Best Technology
Halo Infinite (343 Industries / Xbox Game Studios)
Forza Horizon 5 (Playground Games / Xbox Game Studios)
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (Insomniac Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Returnal (Housemarque / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Hitman 3 (IO Interactive)
Honorable Mentions: Battlefield 2042 (EA DICE / Electronic Arts), Resident Evil Village (Capcom)
Best Visual Art
Forza Horizon 5 (Playground Games / Xbox Game Studios)
Kena: Bridge of Spirits (Ember Lab)
Deathloop (Arkane Studios / Bethesda Softworks)
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (Insomniac Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Psychonauts 2 (Double Fine / Xbox Game Studios)
Honorable Mentions: The Artful Escape (Beethoven & Dinosaur / Annapurna Interactive), Resident Evil Village (Capcom), Genesis Noir (Feral Cat Den / Fellow Traveller), Returnal (Housemarque / Sony Interactive Entertainment), Sable (Shedworks / Raw Fury)