The Game Awards 2020 [Recap & Trailers Highlights]

The Game Awards took place virtually on almost all online platforms available in a lot of countries around the world. Running at a whopping 3.5 hours, it brought it a line of presenters with Keanu Reeves, Gal Gadot, Tom Holland, Nolan North, Troy Baker and ending with Christopher Nolan presenting the Game of the Year awards. Of course, there was also a ton of world premiere trailers which is what everyone sits through these few hours for in hope of finding some new games to look forward to in the coming few months. 

Here’s the list of the winners for The Game Awards:

Best Score/Music: Final Fantasy VII Remake
Best Action/Adventure Game: The Last of Us Part II
Best Family Game: Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Best Community Support: Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout
Best Debut Game: Phasmophobia
Best eSports Game: League of Legends
Best Performance: Laura Bailey (Abby – The Last of Us Part II)
Best Ongoing Game: No Man’s Sky
Best Art Direction: Ghost of Tsushima
Best Action Game: Hades
Best AR/VR Game: Half-Life: Alyx
Best Sports/Racing Game: Tony Hawk’s Pro Skate 1+2
Most Anticipated Game: Elden Ring
Best Narrative: The Last of Us Part 2
Games For Impact: Tell Me Why
Best Multiplayer: Among Us
Best Indie Game: Hades
Best Audio Design: The Last of Us Part II
Best Role Playing Game: Final Fantasy VII Remake
Best Simulation/Strategy Game: Microsoft Flight Simulator
Player’s Voice: Ghost of Tsushima
Best Fighting Game: Mortal Kombat 11 
Innovation in Accessibility: The Last of Us Part II
Best Mobile Game: Among Us
Best Game Direction: The Last of Us Part II
Game of the Year: The Last of Us Part II

And now for the trailers that caught our eye. Those not talked about will be listed at the bottom.

Shady Part of Me (Available Now)

Shady Part of Me reminiscent of Little Nightmares as its story’s protagonist is also a little girl who is caught in the dark with only her shadow as a companion as she traverses through this world, with the trailer revealing the little creatures and obstacles. It definitely looks a promising title and what’s better is that it’s available now on consoles, PC and Switch. 

NieR Replicant ver. 1.22474487139… (April 23, 2021) 

NieR Replicant ver. 12247487139… is the upgraded prequel of NieR: Automata originally released in 2010 exclusively for Playstation 3, (hence the crazy string of numbers at the back). After the fairly successful run for NieR: Automata which boasted some great combat and narrative, this game certainly comes with some anticipation. 

Remakes nowadays are absolutely everywhere but then, with the hype of NieR: Automata, it’s definitely breathed new life into this franchise so well worth a remake. 

Super Smash Bros Ultimate – Sephiroth (December 2020)

Just when you thought that they were done adding characters to the already stacked roster, Nintendo pulled out this surprise addition which will no doubt make both Smash and Final Fantasy fans alike very happy, even if at one point it looked like he’d impaled Mario on trademark blade.

Perfect Dark

After 2 years for the announcement of Xbox Studio’s The Initiative, their first project has been revealed as a dive into the Perfect Dark series, a secret agent thriller set in a near future world. The trailer is a cinematic trailer of following a surveillance diving through buildings until it reaches Agent Dark. Its world looks very pretty from the trailer but at the end of the day, it’s still a cinematic trailer and we will need to wait for the gameplay to see how the experience will be. 

Back 4 Blood (June 22, 2021)

If this brought to mind memories of Left 4 Dead then you won’t be surprised to learn that the team behind this zombie co-op shooter includes members of the Left 4 Dead team, while Turtle Rock Studios lets not forget also gave us the underappreciated Monster Hunter Evolve in which players played as either the monster being hunted or one of four hunters tasked with hunting it down. Needless to say if original developers have no interest in continuing the series this studio feels like a perfect second choice.

While we initially thought that we would only get to see the cinematic trailer which smacked off all the things which made Left 4 Dead such a fun title while playing as the much longed for spiritual sequel to the original games as we got the character banter, zombie mutants, fun weapons and locations as well as 20 foot monstrosity!!

Back 4 Blood closed Alpha starts on December 17th so sign up now – Back4Blood.com/Alpha

The Callisto Protocol (2022)

After years of remakes, Dead Space is a space horror game that has been anticipated. While The Callisto Protocol isn’t a Dead Space game, it is made by Dead Space creator Glen Schofield. The cinematic trailer is one that reminds us a lot of Dead Space right away. Its one that shows a lot of promise but then it’s got some big shoes to fill and one of the games that has a longer wait time as its set to release in 2022. 

Open Roads

The next game by Fullbright, the developers of Gone Home and Tacoma is Open Roads, a narrative story about a mother and daughter who goes on a road trip to trace clues left behind by the grandmother’s diary . The artwork looks beautiful and the story seems intriguing especially helmed by Fullbright who are rather good storytellers plus its voiced by Keri Russell & Kaitlyn Dever, which is definitely exciting. No release date yet but one to look out for. 

Season

In our pandemic times filled with lockdowns and solo activities, Scavenger Studios upcoming game Season is one that follows a bicycle road trip adventure game where it’s about exploring a new world and collecting memories and artifacts. It’s one that seems rather atmospheric and could be a touching little story depending on what the angle here is. It’s set for a PS5 release but thus far, no release date set yet. 

Ark II

Taking the unexpected stray away from the multiplayer game format that Ark is known for, Ark II showed a cinematic trailer with a CGI ripped Vin Diesel protecting his family while killing some dinosaurs. Vin Diesel and dinosaurs sounds like quite the combo and probably one of the big surprises of The Game Awards. The question now is what are the plans in terms of what this game will be: will there be multiplayer or is this a more ambitious single player game? It has no release date so far so we can only hope that more information will be dropped in future events about the direction it will choose to take. 

Paired with this announcement is an Ark: The Animated Series which is set to release in 2022 and lists a fantastic line-up of voice cast including Vin Diesel, Elliot Page, Michelle Yeoh, David Tennant, Karl Urban and Russell Crowe. That’s a pretty stellar line-up for an animated series. 

Returnal (PS5, March 19, 2021)

Despite the release being leaked before the show his third person shooter is a psychological horror about a woman stuck in a continuous loop forced to live, die, repeat not unlike it’s fellow Playstation stablemate Deathloop both of which will be exclusives for the console. 

Super Meat Boy Forever (December 23, 2020)

For years we have been eagerly awaiting a follow up to the breakout indie hit and now seemingly out of nowhere we finally might get to see the next chapter of the Meat Boy saga as rejoin our hero who since his last outing has settled down with Bandage girl to start a family. However when Dr. Fetus returns and abducts their child Nugget it’s time to leap back into action this time being joined by a host of new characters and abilities while maintaining the same frustrating and addictive gameplay as the original. 

It Takes Two (March 26, 2021)

Hazelight continue to be the studio to watch with their innovative game let alone their ongoing quest to revive the couch co-op as they follow up their prison break game A Way Out as this time you and a friend will play as either Cody or May. Two human-turned-dolls who while going through a rough patch in their marriage are forced to work together as they travel through a magical world to find a way to break the spell in a game which already looks set to blend different types of gameplay from platforming to puzzle solving. 

Evil West (2021)

A new title from developer Flying Wild Hog Studios who previously gave us Shadow Warriors and now return with a supernatural western with players taking control of Jesse Rentier one of the last agents of a secret vampire hunting organisation and with a dark force threatening the American frontier its down to him to stop it. 

Armed with the usual firepower of the old west, Jesse also has a multipurpose gauntlet which we got to see a couple of its abilities during the cinematic trailer including wolverine claws and even the ability to channel lightning. Over the course of the game you will be able to unlock new gadgets and perks with the option to play co-op makes it another title to watch out for. 

Scarlet Nexus (Summer 2021)

Originally revealed back in May, here we finally got to see more of the gameplay and story or should that be stories as players will get to experience the dual perspectives of Yuito and Kasane two new recruits psionic soldiers battling a supernatural threat called “The Others”.

Players will be able to move objects with their mind as well as borrow the abilities of your teammates with the action looking fast and frantic, which alongside the stunning graphics only makes us all the more excited to finally get to play this one. 

Ruined King: A League of Legends Game (2021)

Set in the League of Legends world, we finally got to see our first gameplay trailer for this single player spin off and while the plot might still be a mystery, the game will see you forming a team alongside three of the game champions all of which will bring different skills and attacks to your party in this turn based combat game. 

Mass Effect Untitled Sequel

While Mass Effect Andromeda might not have been the continuation to the massively popular original trilogy anybody wanted and that’s without going into the problematic ending of the original game, there was still that thrill in this cinematic trailer of seeing Liara again as she walked across a snowy planet ending with her picking up a piece of N7 Armour and ending with the promise that Mass Effect will continue. What this means in terms of the storyline is unclear at the moment and considering that Asari live for centuries we could be looking at a completely new timeline. Certainly consider us excited for this one.

Other titles announced at The Game Awards

• Loop Hero
• Tchia 
• Sea of Solitude: The Director’s Cut (Nintendo Switch)
• We are OFK (interactive series, Spring 2021)
• Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout – Season 3 (Dec 15)
• The Elder Scrolls Online: Gates of Oblivion (2021)
• Monster Hunter Rise (March 26, 2021) – Demo on January 2021
• Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War: Season One
• Among Us – New Map: The Airship (early 2021)
• Crimson Desert (MMO, Winter 2021)
• Dragonage
• Disco Elysium: The Final Cut (March 2021, free upgrade for all players)
• Overcooked: All You Can Eat – Swedish Chef (Available Now as Free Download)
• Elite Dangerous: Odyssey (Early 2021)
• F.I.S.T. Forged in Shadow Torch (Coming Spring 2021)
• Evil  Dead: The Game (Coming 2021) – looks like multiplayer
• Ghosts N Goblins Resurrection (Feb 25, 2021 Nintendo Switch)
• Endless Dungeon
• Scavengers – Closed Beta now – www.playscavengers.com
• Hoods: Outlaws & Legends (Play early May 7th)

That’s our highlights of The Game Awards 2020.
Did you watch The Game Awards?
What announcements caught your attention?