The big winners and the loser of The Game Awards

LOS ANGELES: Geoff Keighley’s yearly award show, The Game Awards, had its tenth rendition on Thursday, honouring 2024’s best video game releases. Here are the big winners of the night.

Astro Bot, Sony’s attempt to rival Nintendo’s Mario, was the big winner at The Game Awards. The platformer, developed by Team Asobi was already held in high regard, since it has a score of 94 on Metacritic. But, Sony’s newest mascot has now secured its place as arguably the years best title after winning big at the biggest award show of the year.

Astro Bot won four awards, including Best Family, Best Action Adventure, Best Game Direction, and last but definitely not least, Game of the Year (GOTY). Team Asobi’s masterpiece won four out of the seven awards it was nominated for, only missing out on Best Art Direction, Best Score, and Best Audio Design.

ASTRO BOT WINS: GOTY, BEST GAME DIRECTION, BEST ACTION ADVENTURE, BEST FAMILY.

Metaphor: ReFantazio was tied for the second biggest winner of the night, taking home three awards. The game developed by Studio Zero and Atlus sends players on a globe-trotting adventure set into motion with the death of the King. The player and his companions search for a way to cure the cursed prince, so he can take the throne before someone more malevolent does. Similarly, to Astro Bot, Metaphor sits at a 94 on Metacritic, and last night, its reputation grew even further, as it won Best Role Playing Game (RPG), Best Art Direction, and Best Narrative. It missed out on three other awards it was nominated for including GOTY, Best Game Direction, and Best Score and Music.

METAPHOR: REFANTAZIO WINS: BEST RPG, BEST ART DIRECTION, BEST NARRATIVE

Balatro, an indie title created bu a single developer, LocalThunk, shocked the world earlier this year when the nominees for The Game Awards was announced. The deck-building rogue-like was nominated for five awards, including GOTY. While it missed out the big prize, Balatro didn’t fail to impress, tying Metaphor’s success by taking home three awards. Best Independent Game, Best Debut Indie Game, and Best Mobile Game, all went to the addictive indie made by the a one man team.

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BALATRO WINS: BEST INDEPENDENT GAME, BEST DEBUT INDIE GAME, BEST MOBILE GAME

Black Myth: Wukong, developed by Game Science, was another title that fans had high expectations for. It was one of the first forays into triple A games by a Chinese developer, and while it received an 81 on Metacritic, a great score but still less than its contemporaries, the title had arguably the largest fan support out of every title nominated. And thus, Black Myth: Wukong took home he Players’ Voice award, which is given out solely based on fan voting. Game Science’s mega-hit also took home Best Action.

BLACK MYTH WUKONG WINS: PLAYERS’ VOICE, BEST ACTION

In contrast to the other aforementioned highly nominated titles, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth had a rather disappointing night. After being nominated for seven awards, tied for most with Astro Bot, the Square Enix RPG only managed to take home one. Rebirth won Best Score and Music, but missed out on the six others, including GOTY, Game Direction, Narrative, Audio Design, and Best RPG. However, director Naoki Hamaguchi made the most of his time on stage, announcing that Rebirth, previously a PS5 exvlusive, would be coming to PC in January 2025.

FINAL FANTASY VII REBIRTH WINS: BEST SCORE AND MUSIC

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