While The Game Awards 2021 looks forward by featuring some of the biggest announcements and reveals in the world of video games, it is also a time to celebrate the incredible games that this past year so special.

From Game of the Year to Innovation in Accessibility to Best Narrative, there were a ton of categories that highlighted games of all types that all deserve recognition for what they accomplished. However, only one game could win each category, and we've listed all the winners of The Game Awards 2021 below.

In addition to gathering all the winners in this article, we've also rounded up all the biggest news and announcements from The Game Awards 2021, and you can check that out here.

Game of the Year

Recognizing a game that delivers the absolute best experience across all creative and technical fields.

• Deathloop
• It Takes Two - WINNER
• Metroid Dread
• Psychonauts 2
• Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
• Resident Evil Village

Best Game Direction

Awarded for outstanding creative vision and innovation in game direction and design.

• Deathloop - WINNER
• It Takes Two
• Returnal
• Psychonauts 2
• Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart

Best Narrative

For outstanding storytelling and narrative development in a game.

• Deathloop
• It Takes Two
• Life is Strange: True Colors
• Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy - WINNER
• Psychonauts 2

Best Art Direction

For outstanding creative and/or technical achievement in artistic design and animation.

• Deathloop - WINNER
• Kena: Bridge of Spirits
• Psychonauts 2
• Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
• The Artful Escape

Best Score/Music

For outstanding music, inclusive of score, original song and/or licensed soundtrack.

• Cyberpunk 2077
• Deathloop
• Nier Replicant ver.1.22474487139 - WINNER
• Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy
• The Artful Escape

Best Audio Design

Recognizing the best in-game audio and sound design.

• Deathloop
• Forza Horizon 5 - WINNER
• Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
• Resident Evil Village
• Returnal

Best Performance

Awarded to an individual for voice-over acting, motion and/or performance capture.

• Erika Mori, Life is Strange
• Giancarlo Esposito, Far Cry 6
• Jason E. Kelley, Deathloop
• Maggie Robertson, Resident Evil Village - WINNER
• Ozioama Akagha, Deathloop

Games for Impact

For a thought-provoking game with a pro-social meaning or message.

• Before Your Eyes
• Boyfriend Dungeon
• Chicory: A Colorful Tale
• Life is Strange: True Colors - WINNER
• No Longer Home

Best Ongoing Game

Awarded to a game for outstanding development of ongoing content that evolves the player experience over time.

• Apex Legends
• Call of Duty: War Zone
• Final Fantasy XIV Online - WINNER
• Fortnite
• Genshin Impact

Best Indie Game

For outstanding creative and technical achievement in a game made outside the traditional publisher system.

• 12 Minutes
• Death's Door
• Kena: Bridge of Spirits - WINNER
• Inscryption
• Loop Hero

Best Debut Indie Game

For the best debut game created by a new independent studio.

• Kena: Bridge of Spirits - WINNER
• Sable
• The Artful Escape
• The Forgotten City
• Valheim

Best Mobile Game

For the best game playable on a mobile device.

• Fantasian
• Genshin Impact - WINNER
• League of Legends
• MARVEL Future Revolution
• Pokemon Unite

Best Community Support

Recognizing a game for outstanding community support, transparency and responsiveness, inclusive of social media activity and game updates/patches.

• Apex Legends: Escape
• Destiny 2: Beyond Light
• Final Fantasy XIV Online - WINNER
• Fortnite
• No Man's Sky

Best VR/AR Game

For the best game experience playable in virtual or augmented reality, irrespective of platform.

• Hitman III
• I Expect You to Die 2
• Lone Echo II
• Resident Evil 4 - WINNER
• Sniper Elite VR

Innovation in Accessibility

Recognizing software and/or hardware that is pushing the medium forward by adding
features, technology and content to help games be played and enjoyed by an even wider audience.

• Far Cry 6
• Forza Horizon 5 - WINNER
• Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy
• Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
• The Vale: Shadow of the Crown

Best Action Game

For the best game in the action genre focused primarily on combat.

• Back 4 Blood
• Chivalry II
• Deathloop
• Far Cry 6
• Returnal - WINNER

Best Action/Adventure Game

For the best action/adventure game, combining combat with traversal and puzzle solving.

• Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy
• Metroid Dread - WINNER
• Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
• Resident Evil Village
• Psychonauts 2

Best RPG

For the best game designed with rich player character customization and progression, including massively multiplayer experiences.

• Cyberpunk 2077
• Monster Hunter Rise
• Scarlet Nexus
• Shin Megami Tensei V
• Tales of Arise - WINNER

Best Fighting Game

For the best game designed primarily around head-to-head combat.

• Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles
• Guilty Gear -Strive- - WINNER
• Melty Blood: Type Lumina
• Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl
• Virtua Fighter 5: Ultimate Showdown

Best Family Game

For the best game appropriate for family play, irrespective of genre or platform.

• It Takes Two - WINNER
• Mario Party Superstars
• New Pokémon Snap
• Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury
• WarioWare: Get It Together!

Best Sports/Racing Game

For the best traditional and non-traditional sports and racing game.

• F1 2021
• Fifa 22
• Hot Wheels Unleashed
• Forza Horizon 5 - WINNER
• Riders Republic

Best SIM/Strategy Game

Best game focused on real time or turn-based simulation or strategy gameplay, irrespective of platform.

• Age of Empires IV - WINNER
• Evil Genius 2: World Domination
• Humankind
• Inscryption
• Microsoft Flight Simulator

Best Multiplayer Game

For outstanding online multiplayer gameplay and design, including co-op and massively multiplayer experiences, irrespective of game genre or platform.

• Back 4 Blood
• It Takes Two - WINNER
• Knockout City
• Monster Hunter Rise
• New World
• Valheim

Content Creator of the Year

For a streamer or content creator who has made an important and positive impact on the community in 2021.

• Dream - WINNER
• Fuslie
• Gaules
• Ibai
• TheGrefg

Best Esports Athlete

The esports athlete judged to be the most outstanding for performance and conduct in 2021, irrespective of game.

• Chris "Simp" Lehr
• Heo "ShowMaker" Su
• Magomed "Collapse" Khalilov
• Oleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev - WINNER
• Tyson "TenZ" Ngo

Best Esports Coach

The esports coach judged to be the most outstanding for performance and conduct in 2021.

• Airat "Silent" Gaziev
• Andrey "ENGH" Sholokhov
• Andrii "B1ad3" Horodenskyi
• James "Crowder" Crowder
• Kim "kkOma" Jeong-gyun - WINNER

Best Esports Event

Recognizing an event (across single or multiple days) that delivered a
best-of-class experience for participants and the broadcast audience.

• The International 2021
• 2021 League of Legends World Championship - WINNER
• Valorant Champions Tour: Stage 2 Masters
• PGL Major Stockholm 2021
• PUBG Mobile Global Championship 2020

Best Esports Game

For the game that has delivered the best overall esports experience to
players (inclusive of tournaments, community support and content
updates), irrespective of genre or platform.

• Call of Duty
• CS:GO
• DOTA2
• League of Legends - WINNER
• Valorant

Best Esports Team

Recognizing a specific esports team (not the full organization) judged the most outstanding for performance and conduct in 2021.

• Atlanta FaZe, Call of Duty
• DWG KIA, League of Legends
• Natus Vincere, CS:GO - WINNER
• Team Spirit, DOTA2
• Sentinels, Valorant

Most Anticipated Game

Recognizing an announced game that has demonstrably illustrated potential to push the gaming medium forward.

• Elden Ring - WINNER
• God of War: Ragnarok
• Horizon Forbidden West
• The Sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
• Starfield

Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

While The Game Awards 2021 looks forward by featuring some of the biggest announcements and reveals in the world of video games, it is also a time to celebrate the incredible games that this past year so special.

The Game Awards 2021 is taking place right now, and this page will be updated with all the winners of the night.

Game of the Year

Recognizing a game that delivers the absolute best experience across all creative and technical fields.

• Deathloop
• It Takes Two
• Metroid Dread
• Psychonauts 2
• Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
• Resident Evil Village

Best Game Direction

Awarded for outstanding creative vision and innovation in game direction and design.

• Deathloop
• It Takes Two
• Returnal
• Psychonauts 2
• Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart

Best Narrative

For outstanding storytelling and narrative development in a game.

• Deathloop
• It Takes Two
• Life is Strange: True Colors
• Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy - WINNER
• Psychonauts 2

Best Art Direction

For outstanding creative and/or technical achievement in artistic design and animation.

• Deathloop - WINNER
• Kena: Bridge of Spirits
• Psychonauts 2
• Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
• The Artful Escape

Best Score/Music

For outstanding music, inclusive of score, original song and/or licensed soundtrack.

• Cyberpunk 2077
• Deathloop
• Nier Replicant ver.1.22474487139 - WINNER
• Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy
• The Artful Escape

Best Audio Design

Recognizing the best in-game audio and sound design.

• Deathloop
• Forza Horizon 5 - WINNER
• Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
• Resident Evil Village
• Returnal

Best Performance

Awarded to an individual for voice-over acting, motion and/or performance capture.

• Erika Mori, Life is Strange
• Giancarlo Esposito, Far Cry 6
• Jason E. Kelley, Deathloop
• Maggie Robertson, Resident Evil Village - WINNER
• Ozioama Akagha, Deathloop

Games for Impact

For a thought-provoking game with a pro-social meaning or message.

• Before Your Eyes
• Boyfriend Dungeon
• Chicory: A Colorful Tale
• Life is Strange: True Colors - WINNER
• No Longer Home

Best Ongoing Game

Awarded to a game for outstanding development of ongoing content that evolves the player experience over time.

• Apex Legends
• Call of Duty: War Zone
• Final Fantasy XIV Online
• Fortnite
• Genshin Impact

Best Indie Game

For outstanding creative and technical achievement in a game made outside the traditional publisher system.

• 12 Minutes
• Death's Door
• Kena: Bridge of Spirits - WINNER
• Inscryption
• Loop Hero

Best Debut Indie Game

For the best debut game created by a new independent studio.

• Kena: Bridge of Spirits - WINNER
• Sable
• The Artful Escape
• The Forgotten City
• Valheim

Best Mobile Game

For the best game playable on a mobile device.

• Fantasian
• Genshin Impact - WINNER
• League of Legends
• MARVEL Future Revolution
• Pokemon Unite

Best Community Support

Recognizing a game for outstanding community support, transparency and responsiveness, inclusive of social media activity and game updates/patches.

• Apex Legends: Escape
• Destiny 2: Beyond Light
• Final Fantasy XIV Online
• Fortnite
• No Man's Sky

Best VR/AR Game

For the best game experience playable in virtual or augmented reality, irrespective of platform.

• Hitman III
• I Expect You to Die 2
• Lone Echo II
• Resident Evil 4
• Sniper Elite VR

Innovation in Accessibility

Recognizing software and/or hardware that is pushing the medium forward by adding
features, technology and content to help games be played and enjoyed by an even wider audience.

• Far Cry 6
• Forza Horizon 5
• Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy
• Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
• The Vale: Shadow of the Crown

Best Action Game

For the best game in the action genre focused primarily on combat.

• Back 4 Blood
• Chivalry II
• Deathloop
• Far Cry 6
• Returnal - WINNER

Best Action/Adventure Game

For the best action/adventure game, combining combat with traversal and puzzle solving.

• Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy
• Metroid Dread
• Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
• Resident Evil Village
• Psychonauts 2

Best RPG

For the best game designed with rich player character customization and progression, including massively multiplayer experiences.

• Cyberpunk 2077
• Monster Hunter Rise
• Scarlet Nexus
• Shin Megami Tensei V
• Tales of Arise - WINNER

Best Fighting Game

For the best game designed primarily around head-to-head combat.

• Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles
• Guilty Gear -Strive-
• Melty Blood: Type Lumina
• Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl
• Virtua Fighter 5: Ultimate Showdown

Best Family Game

For the best game appropriate for family play, irrespective of genre or platform.

• It Takes Two
• Mario Party Superstars
• New Pokémon Snap
• Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury
• WarioWare: Get It Together!

Best Sports/Racing Game

For the best traditional and non-traditional sports and racing game.

• F1 2021
• Fifa 22
• Hot Wheels Unleashed
• Forza Horizon 5
• Riders Republic

Best SIM/Strategy Game

Best game focused on real time or turn-based simulation or strategy gameplay, irrespective of platform.

• Age of Empires IV
• Evil Genius 2: World Domination
• Humankind
• Inscryption
• Microsoft Flight Simulator

Best Multiplayer Game

For outstanding online multiplayer gameplay and design, including co-op and massively multiplayer experiences, irrespective of game genre or platform.

• Back 4 Blood
• It Takes Two - WINNER
• Knockout City
• Monster Hunter Rise
• New World
• Valheim

Content Creator of the Year

For a streamer or content creator who has made an important and positive impact on the community in 2021.

• Dream - WINNER
• Fuslie
• Gaules
• Ibai
• TheGrefg

Best Esports Athlete

The esports athlete judged to be the most outstanding for performance and conduct in 2021, irrespective of game.

• Chris "Simp" Lehr
• Heo "ShowMaker" Su
• Magomed "Collapse" Khalilov
• Oleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev - WINNER
• Tyson "TenZ" Ngo

Best Esports Coach

The esports coach judged to be the most outstanding for performance and conduct in 2021.

• Airat "Silent" Gaziev
• Andrey "ENGH" Sholokhov
• Andrii "B1ad3" Horodenskyi
• James "Crowder" Crowder
• Kim "kkOma" Jeong-gyun - WINNER

Best Esports Event

Recognizing an event (across single or multiple days) that delivered a
best-of-class experience for participants and the broadcast audience.

• The International 2021
• 2021 League of Legends World Championship - WINNER
• Valorant Champions Tour: Stage 2 Masters
• PGL Major Stockholm 2021
• PUBG Mobile Global Championship 2020

Best Esports Game

For the game that has delivered the best overall esports experience to
players (inclusive of tournaments, community support and content
updates), irrespective of genre or platform.

• Call of Duty
• CS:GO
• DOTA2
• League of Legends
• Valorant

Best Esports Team

Recognizing a specific esports team (not the full organization) judged the most outstanding for performance and conduct in 2021.

• Atlanta FaZe, Call of Duty
• DWG KIA, League of Legends
• Natus Vincere, CS:GO - WINNER
• Team Spirit, DOTA2
• Sentinels, Valorant

Most Anticipated Game

Recognizing an announced game that has demonstrably illustrated potential to push the gaming medium forward.

• Elden Ring
• God of War: Ragnarok
• Horizon Forbidden West
• The Sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
• Starfield

Developing...

PUBG: Battlegrounds will move to a free-to-play structure on PC and consoles from January 12, 2022 – bringing it in line with most of the battle royale games that followed it.

Announced at The Game Awards 2021, from January 12, the game will feature two tiers: a free Basic Account that "offers access to most game features", and Battlegrounds Plus which offers more, including a Ranked mode, for a one-time $12.99 fee. Those who have paid for the game previously will automatically be a part of Battlegrounds Plus.

The full list of Battlegrounds Plus benefits are:

• Bonus 1,300 G-COIN
• Survival Masters XP + 100 percent boost
• Career - Medal tab
• Ranked Mode
• Custom Match functionality
• In-Game items, including the Captain’s Camo set, which includes hat, camo mask and camo gloves

Those upgraded to Plus having bought the game before will also receive a Special Commemorative Pack, incuding the Battle-Hardened costume skin set, the Shackle and Shanks Legacy Pan and the Battle-Hardened Legacy nameplate.

In the weeks leading up to the free-to-play switch, developer Krafton is opening a pre-registration website to try the new version of the game, as well as offering other activities that let you earn free in-game items.

PUBG was the first in the wave of wildly successful battle royale games that have dominated the gaming market in recent years. When it came out of early access, we awarded it a 9.5/10 review and it's since gone from strength to strength, spawning a universe that will include a horror game from the creator of Dead Space and a TV show from the producer of Netflix's Castlevania.

Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

Bokeh, the new studio from Silent Hill creator Keiichiro Toyama, has revealed its first game, entitled Slitterhead.

Shown off at The Game Awards 2021, we got a look at a truly upsetting trailer that appears to be set in Japan, where various people's heads -- and then their whole bodies -- get real messed up as they transform into loathesome creatures.

You appear to play as someone fighting these skeletal, messed up monsters, though it's hard to tell at this early stage exactly what the plot is beyond "everything is pretty messed up and trying to kill you." Apropos from the creator of Silent Hill.

Toyama set up Bokeh Game Studio after leaving Sony Japan alongside Junya Okura (Gravity Rush) and Kazunobu Sato (The Last Guardian). He went on to announce that the studio's first project would be a horror action-adventure and showed off some suitably grotesque concept art. Toyama will serve as the game's creative director, while Akira Yamaoka will be doing the music.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade is coming to PC, via the Epic Games Store.

The news was confirmed at The Game Awards 2021.

It will arrive on PC on December 16, 2021.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade was revealed earlier this year and arrived on PS5 in June. In May it was confirmed the game would be exclusive to PS5 for at least six months.

Luke is Games Editor at IGN's Sydney office. You can find him on Twitter every few days @MrLukeReilly.

A group of ex-Bioware devs including former GM Aaryn Flynn have announced Nightingale – a shared world survival crafting game with first-person combat and a fantastical Victorian setting.

Developed by Inflexion Games, published by Improbable, and arriving into PC early access next year, Nightingale has players take on the role of a Realmwalker – a character who's been cut off from their home and needs to use portals to make their way back across a number of dangerous areas.

Each realm promsies to be an open world, asking you to scavenge and craft to survive, and even seeing you build "estates, farms, and communities". The game can be played alone or with friends, and features first-person combat featuring guns, melee weapons, and magic – and Inflexion says they're infinitely replayable.

“From the beginning," wrote Flynn in a press release, "we knew we wanted to build an intricate fantasy setting as rich and full of history and life as anything we’ve worked on in the past. The realms of Nightingale are vast and have many secrets to uncover, and we cannot wait for players to start discovering them.”

The game will open closed betas ahead of its early access launch next year, and you can register to take part on the game's website.

Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

As promised, we got a brand new trailer for Sonic the Hedgehog 2: The Movie at The Game Awards this evening, in which we finally got a good look at Sonic's good buds Miles 'Tails' Prower and Knuckles the Echidna.

The trailer begins with Sonic overlooking Seattle, fully settled in as a crime-fighter. But with Jim Carrey's Robotnik back in action, Sonic has to team up with Tails to protect the Master Emerald. The trailer even shows off a good grip of Sonic's two-tailed friend but saved Knuckles for the very end. And Knuckles, *shock* is working with Robotnik.

Aside from the new faces, Jim Carrey will reprise his role as Dr. Robotnik and Ben Schwartz will once again lend his talent to voice Sonic.

There's been a lot of buzz around the Sonic sequel lately. We got a look at a movie poster just yesterday, and also recently learned that Tails voice actor Colleen O'Shaughnessey would be returning to voice Tails once again for the film alongside Idris Elba as Knuckles, who reassured everyone that he would not be characterizing Knucles as sexy. We've also gotten some leaks about a potential plot synopsis earlier this year.

Matt T.M. Kim is IGN's News Editor. You can reach him @lawoftd.

After over a decade, Remedy Entertainment has officially announced a sequel to Alan Wake at The Game Awards 2021.

During the show, Remedy premiered a briefly trailer officially announcing Alan Wake 2. We don't know much about the plot, but apparently the story will "eat you alive."

"We know this is going to be a pretty scary experience," Remedy's Sam Lake said at The Game Awards.

It will be Remedy's first ever survival horror game. The original had survival horror elements, but it was an action game, Lake said. Remedy will be going dark "for a while" and will be back when the studio is ready to show more.

Alan Wake is a critically-acclaimed adventure mystery game starring the eponymous Alan Wake, a writer who visits the small town of Bright Falls, Washington to cure his writer's block. While on the trip, his wife is kidnapped by a mysterious force and he must use the power of light to rescue her.

Remedy combined elements of Stephen King and Twin Peaks to create a memorable adventure, but aside from an arcade-style pseudo-sequel, Alan Wake's American Nightmare, the series became dormant as Remedy began work on games like Quantum Break and Control.

There were also some rights issues when Remedy confirmed in 2018 that Alan Wake requires Microsoft's permission as the publishing rights holder. But in 2019 Remedy confirmed it acquired the full rights to Alan Wake from Microsoft, opening the door for future releases.

This became apparent when Alan Wake, who was already referenced in Control's Case Files scattered around the map, was a main character in the post-launch DLC AWE. Remedy confirmed that Control and Alan Wake exist in a shared Remedy universe.

Check out IGN's Control review and why we chose Control as our 2019 game of the year.

Matt T.M. Kim is IGN's News Editor. You can reach him @lawoftd.

Lucasfilm Games has officially revealed a new Star Wars game: Star Wars Eclipse.

Announced at The Game Awards 2021, the first look at Star Wars Eclipse offers little clarity regarding its story but features heavy doses of lightsaber combat and plenty of glimpses of iconic Star Wars aliens and locations. The new official site for the game describes it as a "action-adventure, multiple-character branching narrative game set in the High Republic era of the iconic Star Wars galaxy."

It also notes it is "early in development."

We first heard rumours that Heavy Rain and Detroit developer Quantic Dream was making a Star Wars game back in September, but this is the first official confirmation.

Star Wars Eclipse marks another part of Disney's major expansion into building Star Wars games with multiple developers after recreating the Lucasfilm Games brand.

Luke is Games Editor at IGN's Sydney office. You can find him on Twitter every few days @MrLukeReilly.

WB Games and developer Monolith Productions has announced Wonder Woman, a new game from the Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and Shadow of War games.

No release date has been announced, but WB showcased a first teaser trailer cinematic, revealing its take on the classic DC hero.

According to the official description, Wonder Woman will be a single-player, open-world action game featuring an original story as players star as Diana in a "fight to unite her Amazon family and the humans from the modern world." WOnder Woman will use Monolith's Nemesis System from the Middle-earth games, and it appears the system will be used with both enemies and friendly characters in the world.

This is one of several DC-related games in the works at WB's suite of studios, including Rocksteady's Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, as well as Gotham Knights from WB Montreal. We last saw both games at DC Fandome, where we saw new story teases for Gotham Knights' Court of Owls, as well as a new story trailer for Suicide Squad. Kill the Justice League is also set for a new look at The Game Awards.

While we wait to hear more about Wonder Woman, check out everything announced at The Game Awards so far. And for more on Monolith's past work, be sure to check out IGN's Middle-earth Shadow of War review.