Last night, the contest for what may be the most prestigious honour in the gaming industry came to an end; the Game Awards’ Game of the Year award. The category this year was full of high-profile and record-breaking titles; 2018 has been a year of incredible titles, and several of the nominees broke sales and review score records for both their own franchises and even entire platforms. In the end, the award went to God of War.
God of War Wins 2018’s Game of the Year Award at the Game Awards
God of War faced stiff competition in the Game of the Year category. It was up against Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, Celeste, Marvel’s Spider-Man, Monster Hunter: World, and Red Dead Redemption 2. Although God of War was universally praised for its writing and story, it lost out on the earlier Best Narrative award to Red Dead Redemption 2. As such, there was much speculation that Rockstar’s latest title would be taking home the Game of the Year award as well. That was not to be, however. After a spectacular medley performance by the Game Awards Orchestra, conducted by Lorne Balfe, the winner was announced by Blizzard Vice President Jeff Kaplan as God of War.
GOTY! Thank you from every absolute piece of our heart #TheGameAwards #GodofWar pic.twitter.com/btuRsoKq4q
— Santa Monica Studio (@SonySantaMonica) December 7, 2018
The award was accepted by a veritable crowd from Sony Santa Monica Studios, including Game Director Cory Barlog. The acceptance speech was given by Shannon Studstill; VP of Product Development at PlayStation and head of Sony Santa Monica Studios. Studstill was the Executive Producer of God of War. During her speech, she thanked many of the people who worked on the game and led the team’s creative vision. Cory Barlog himself gave the closing words; “Every single game that was nominated up here is an absolute fricking masterpiece,” he said; “please give it up for all of them, and again please give it up for every creator, and that is creators of games, creators of movies, creators of comic books, creators of every single thing that enriches our lives; that makes us believe that magic is real.”
Holy shit!!!❤️ pic.twitter.com/a9vHaSDArk
— Cory Balrog 🎮 🎄#CREATE (@corybarlog) December 7, 2018
God of War Also Wins Best Game Direction
Prior to the announcement of Game of the Year, God of War also won in another category; that of Best Game Direction. In this category, God of War was up against A Way Out, Detroit: Become Human, Marvel’s Spider-Man, and Red Dead Redemption 2. Cory Barlog accepted the award, holding back tears as he thanked his family and the team at Santa Monica.