The Game Awards 2018
The Game Awards 2018 | |
---|---|
Greg Thomas | |
Website | thegameawards.com |
Online coverage | |
Runtime | 2 hours, 49 minutes |
Viewership | 26.2 million |
Produced by |
|
Directed by | Richard Preuss |
The Game Awards 2018 was an award show that honored the best
God of War and Red Dead Redemption 2 received eight nominations each, the most in Game Awards history at the time.[a] At the show, Red Dead Redemption 2 tied for the highest-awarded game in the show's history with four wins,[b] and God of War was awarded Game of the Year. Several new games were revealed, including Far Cry New Dawn, Hades, and The Outer Worlds. In association with the event, sales were held on most digital storefronts for nominees and former winners. The 2018 was viewed by over 26.2 million streams, the most in its history to date,[c] with four million concurrent viewers at its peak. It received a generally positive reception from media publications, with praise directed at the opening speech and announcements but some criticism for the focus on reveals over awards.
Background
As with previous iterations of
The core team working on the show throughout the year consists of four or five people.
Keighley estimated he worked on the show for around 18 hours each day from August to November, and 19 hours for the final month. Kim felt she had a
The show was held at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on December 6, 2018. It was
Announcements
During the event, sales on some nominated and previously-winning games were held on the Nintendo eShop, PlayStation Store, Steam, and Xbox Games Store.[10] Announcements on recently released and upcoming games were made for:[11][12]
New games announced during the ceremony included:[11][12]
- Among Trees
- Atlas
- Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled
- Dragon Age 4
- Far Cry New Dawn
- Hades
- Journey to the Savage Planet
- The Last Campfire
- Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order
- Mortal Kombat 11
- The Outer Worlds
- The Pathless
- Sayonara Wild Hearts
- Scavengers
- Stranger Things 3: The Game
- Survived By
Keighley was contacted by
Winners and nominees
The nominees for The Game Awards 2018 were announced on November 13, 2018;
The Trending Gamer award from previous shows was effectively split into two: Content Creator of the Year for those creating new and innovative video game content, such as live streamers and video creators; and the Global Gaming Citizens program, to recognize honorees improving their communities through video games.
Awards
Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface, and indicated with a double dagger (‡).[20]
Video games
Esports and creators
Best Esports Game | Best Esports Player[f] |
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| |
Best Esports Team | Best Esports Coach |
|
|
Best Esports Event | Best Esports Host |
| |
Best Esports Moment | Content Creator of the Year |
|
Honorary awards
Industry Icon Award | Global Gaming Citizens[g] |
---|---|
|
|
Games with multiple nominations and awards
Multiple nominations
God of War and Red Dead Redemption 2 both received eight nominations each, the most in the show's history at the time.[a] Other games with multiple nominations included Marvel's Spider-Man with seven, and Assassin's Creed Odyssey, Celeste, and Fortnite with four each. Sony Interactive Entertainment had 20 total nominations, more than any other publisher, followed by Rockstar Games with eight and Square Enix and Ubisoft with seven each.[14]
Nominations | Game |
---|---|
8 | God of War |
Red Dead Redemption 2 | |
7 | Marvel's Spider-Man |
4 | Assassin's Creed Odyssey |
Celeste | |
Fortnite | |
3 | Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 |
Destiny 2 | |
Detroit: Become Human | |
Florence | |
Monster Hunter: World | |
Octopath Traveler | |
2 | Dead Cells |
Donut County | |
Forza Horizon 4 | |
Into the Breach | |
Life Is Strange 2 | |
Mario Tennis Aces | |
The Messenger | |
Moss | |
Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom | |
Return of the Obra Dinn | |
Overwatch |
Nominations | Publisher |
---|---|
20 | Sony Interactive Entertainment |
8 | Rockstar Games |
7 | Square Enix |
Ubisoft | |
6 | Activision |
Nintendo | |
5 | Annapurna Interactive |
Bandai Namco Entertainment | |
Capcom | |
4 | Epic Games |
Maddy Makes Games | |
3 | Devolver Digital |
Microsoft Studios
| |
2 | 3909 LLC |
Arc System Works[h] | |
Blizzard Entertainment | |
Electronic Arts | |
Motion Twin | |
Polyarc Games | |
Subset Games | |
Valve |
Multiple awards
Red Dead Redemption 2 received the most awards with four wins, tying for the highest-awarded game in the show's history to date.[b] God of War won three awards, while Celeste and Fortnite won two. Rockstar Games and Sony Interactive Entertainment were the most successful publishers, with four wins each, while Epic Games and Maddy Makes Games won two.[26]
Awards | Game |
---|---|
4 | Red Dead Redemption 2 |
3 | God of War |
2 | Celeste |
Fortnite |
Awards | Publisher |
---|---|
4 | Rockstar Games |
Sony Interactive Entertainment | |
2 | Epic Games |
Maddy Makes Games |
Presenters and performers
Presenters
The following individuals, listed in order of appearance, presented awards or introduced trailers. All other awards were presented by Keighley.[27] Aisha Tyler was announced as a presenter but she was forced to drop out to film for Criminal Minds.[1]
Name | Role | Ref. |
---|---|---|
Josef Fares | Presented the award for Best Action Game in the preshow | [28] |
Alex Hutchinson | Presented the reveal trailer for Journey to the Savage Planet in the preshow | [29] |
Reggie Fils-Aimé | Opened the show with a shared speech about unity in the industry | [2] |
Shawn Layden | ||
Phil Spencer | ||
Jacksepticeye | Presented the award for Best Narrative | |
Pokimane | ||
Jonah Hill | Presented the Industry Icon award | [30] |
Rosa Salazar | Presented the award for Best Performance | [2] |
Christoph Waltz | ||
Jean-Sebastien Decant | Presented the reveal trailer for Far Cry New Dawn | [1] |
Patrice Désilets | Presented the gameplay trailer for Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey | [11] |
Josh Holmes | Presented the reveal trailer for Scavengers | [31] |
Brendon Urie | Presented the award for Best Score/Music | [32] |
Mathieu Coté | Presented the reveal trailer for Dead by Daylight: Darkness Among Us | [27] |
Casey Hudson | Presented the story for Anthem | [30] |
Crash Bandicoot[i] | Presented the reveal trailer for Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled | [33] |
Christopher Judge | Presented the award for Content Creator of the Year | [2] |
Sunny Suljic | ||
Leonard Boyarsky | Presented the reveal trailer for The Outer Worlds | [30] |
Tim Cain | ||
Jesse Houston | Presented the console announce trailer for Dauntless | [34] |
Joel McHale | Presented the award for Best Esports Athlete | [30] |
Dave Curd | Presented the Vikendi trailer for PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds |
[35] |
Brian Bell | Introduced the performers Ali and Casey Edwards | [27] |
Rivers Cuomo | [36] | |
Jesse Rapczak | Presented the reveal trailer for Atlas | [37] |
Jeremy Stieglitz | ||
Ninja | Presented the award for Best Independent Game | [32] |
Pepe the King Prawn | ||
Elaine Chase | Announced the esports program for Magic: The Gathering Arena | [38] |
The Duffer Brothers |
Presented the reveal trailer for Stranger Things 3: The Game | [30] |
Ed Boon | Presented the reveal trailer for Mortal Kombat 11 and the award for Best Sports/Racing Game | [11] |
Phil Spencer | Presented the demo trailer for Devil May Cry 5 | [27] |
Lena Raine | Presented the award for Best Game Direction | |
Donald Mustard | Presented the Season 7 and "The Block" trailers for Fortnite | [39] |
Russo brothers | Presented the award for Best Ongoing Game | [28] |
Reggie Fils-Aimé | Presented the Joker trailer for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate | [11] |
Jeff Kaplan | Presented the award for Game of the Year | [36] |
Performers
The following individuals or groups performed musical numbers.[40]
Name | Song | Game(s) |
---|---|---|
The Game Awards Orchestra[j] | The Game Awards Theme Song | — |
Harry Gregson-Williams | ||
Lena Raine | ||
Sarah Schachner | ||
Hans Zimmer | ||
The Game Awards Orchestra[j] | "Legion of Dawn"[9] | Anthem |
Sarah Schachner | ||
Ali Edwards | "Devil Trigger" | Devil May Cry 5 |
Casey Edwards | ||
Daniel Lanois Rhiannon Giddens |
"Mountain Hymn" | Red Dead Redemption 2 |
"Cruel World" | ||
"Mountain Finale" | ||
"Unshaken" | ||
The Game Awards Orchestra[j] | "Lifelight" | Super Smash Bros. Ultimate |
Game of the Year medley[k] | Assassin's Creed Odyssey | |
Celeste[l] | ||
God of War | ||
Marvel's Spider-Man | ||
Monster Hunter: World | ||
Red Dead Redemption 2 |
Reception
Nominees
Ceremony
Several journalists highlighted the shared speech of Fils-Aimé, Layden, and Spencer as a highlight of the ceremony;
Shacknews staff found the show an improvement over previous years, particularly in its presentation and professionalism, though God of War's win polarized the crew.[51] Kotaku's Heather Alexandra found SonicFox's acceptance speech among the most heartfelt moments of the show.[52] Destructoid's CJ Andriessen criticized the show's heavier focus on announcements than awards, noting trailers received more screen time than winners.[53] The Verge's Megan Farokhmanesh highlighted the show's problematic winners, such as Ninja's use of racial expletives and refusal to stream with women and Red Dead Redemption 2's use of crunch practices.[54]
Viewership
The Game Awards 2018 was the most-viewed ceremony to date.
Notes
- ^ a b God of War and Red Dead Redemption 2's eight nomination record was beaten by Death Stranding's eleven nominations at The Game Awards 2019.[22]
- ^ a b The other games that received four awards were Overwatch in 2016[23] and Death Stranding in 2019.[24] This record was beaten by The Last of Us Part II's seven wins in 2020.[25]
- ^ a b The viewership record was beaten in 2019 with 45.2 million streams.[55]
- ^ Presented in conjunction with Spotify[21]
- ^ Presented in conjunction with Dolby[21]
- ^ Presented by Omen by HP[21]
- ^ Presented in conjunction with Facebook Gaming[3]
- ^ Arc System Works had an additional nomination as the developer of Dragon Ball FighterZ.[20]
- ^ Costume performer dressed as the fictional character[33]
- ^ a b c d Conducted by Lorne Balfe[2]
- ^ Accompanied by Peter DiStefano on guitar and DeLaney Harter on violin[41]
- ^ Performed with Lena Raine[40]
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