Elden Ring wins Game of the Year from NAVGTR^®

God of War Ragnarök wins record 17 awards

Baltimore (February 14, 2023) / NAVGTR CORP. – The National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers^®, a 501(c)(3) non-profit media organization of 1,207 media voters and 14,528 subscribers, has announced winners for its 22^nd annual awards program honoring video game design and programming.

The NAVGTR^® Awards honor 57 competitive categories recognizing achievement in animation, art direction, character design, controls, game design, game engineering, musical score, sound effects, writing, and more. Since its inception, the academy has recognized over 6,816 talented individuals.

Leading all winning games is God of War Ragnarök with a record 17 awards.  In 2018, the God of War installment won 16 awards, which was also a record setter at the time.

Elden Ring earned highest honors as Game of the Year.  With five awards, it led Vampire Survivors, Stray, and Metal: Hellsinger as the only original intellectual properties to win multiple awards.  Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge, Metal: Hellsinger, and Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course each won 3 awards.

Vampire Survivors, Stray, Moss: Book II, Bayonetta 3, and A Plague Tale: Requiem each won 2 awards.  Additional winners include Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration, Bonelab, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, Endling: Extinction is Forever, Pentiment, and Sifu.

Christopher Judge (Kratos in God of War Ragnarök) and Dave Fennoy (Rodin in Bayonetta 3) won their second NAVGTR awards this year, winning for Lead Performance in a Drama and Supporting Performance in a Comedy respectively.  Judge won previously for the same role in 2018.  Fennoy won previously for The Walking Dead.  With two awards, they join only three other performers who have multiple NAVGTR awards: Laura Bailey (two awards), Mark Hamill (two awards for playing the “Joker”), and Troy Baker (3 awards, with two for the same character).

On his third nomination, Bruce Campbell won for Evil Dead: The Game (Ash in Evil Dead: The Game).  In his previous categories, winners were Ray Liotta and Adam West.  Campbell joins two other actors who received their third nominations this year, Steve Blum and Elias Toufexis.  Troy Baker remains the most nominated performer with 7 nods.

Richard Schiff won the award for Outstanding Supporting Performance in a Drama (Odin in God of War Ragnarök).

Number of Awards Won per Game

17 God of War Ragnarök

05 Elden Ring

03 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge

03 Metal: Hellsinger

03 Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course

02 Vampire Survivors

02 Stray

02 Moss: Book II

02 Bayonetta 3

02 A Plague Tale: Requiem

Number of Awards Won per Development Studio

17 Santa Monica Studio

05 FromSoftware

03 Tribute Games Inc.

03 The Outsiders

03 StudioMDHR

02 Poncle Limited

02 Polyarc

02 Platinum Games

02 BlueTwelve Studio

02 Asobo Studio

Number of Awards Won per Publisher

17 Sony Interactive Entertainment

05 Bandai Namco

04 DotEmu SAS

03 StudioMDHR

03 Gamera Game

03 Funcom Oslo

02 Poncle Limited

02 Polyarc

02 Nintendo

02 Focus Entertainment

02 Annapurna Games

Number of Awards Won per Individual

04 Jon Burke

03 Stephen McAuley

03 Raf Grassetti

03 Michael Kent

03 Josh Hobson

02 Nathan Kennedy

02 Mihir Sheth

02 Luca Galante

02 Kevin Peterson

02 Jodie Kupsco

02 Hidetaka Miyazaki

02 Eric Williams

02 Eric Valdes

02 Dela Longfish

For a complete list of categories, nominees, and winners, please visit https://navgtr.org. Follow @navgtr on twitter.

Key Dates for NAVGTR^® Awards

November 20, 2023 – Entries due

January 30, 2024 – Nominations announced

February 14, 2024 – Late deadline for engraving credits

February 27, 2024 – Winners announced

MEDIA ASSETS

Press Kit: https://navgtr.org/press-kit/

All titles, characters, likenesses, and indicia are copyrights or trademarks of their respective owners. All rights reserved.

About NAVGTR CORP.

NAVGTR Corp.(TM) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation devoted to promoting and recognizing game developers.

The general voting body of reviewers, journalists, analysts, content creators, and writers includes contributors for Bitmob, CBS Interactive, Destructoid, EGM Now, Game Informer, Game Trailers, GamesIndustry.biz, Gamespot, Gamezone, IGN, Kotaku, Machinima, Mashable, Massively, MSNBC, Polygon, Retroware, The Koalition, Ten Ton Hammer, and Venture Beat.

Additional varied outlets include CNN, Futurenet, GamesRadar, Los Angeles Times, Moody’s, NBC, Nintendo World Report, PC Gamer, San Jose Mercury-News, Twinfinite, USA Today, Wired News, and hundreds more.

Outstanding Animation, Artistic

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare ll
Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course – WINNER
God of War Ragnarök
Pentiment
Sifu
Stray

Outstanding Animation, Technical

God of War Ragnarök – WINNER
Horizon Forbidden West
MLB® The Show™ 22
NBA 2K23
New Tales from the Borderlands
Stray

Outstanding Art Direction, Contemporary

Endling: Extinction is Forever
Norco
OlliOlli World
Rainbow Six Extraction
Rollerdrome
Stray – WINNER

Outstanding Art Direction, Fantasy

Bayonetta 3 – WINNER
Guild Wars 2: End of Dragons
Horizon Forbidden West
Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands
Total War: WARHAMMER III

Outstanding Art Direction, Period Influence

A Plague Tale: Requiem
Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course
Elden Ring – WINNER
New Tales from the Borderlands
Pentiment

Outstanding Camera Direction in a Game Engine

A Plague Tale: Requiem
God of War Ragnarök – WINNER
Hindsight
NBA 2K23
Sifu

Outstanding Character Design

Bayonetta 3
Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course
Elden Ring
Ghostwire: Tokyo
God of War Ragnarök – WINNER

Outstanding Control Design, 2D or Limited 3D

Anno: Mutationem
Rogue Legacy 2
Serial Cleaners
Tunic
Vampire Survivors – WINNER

Outstanding Control Design, 3D

Bayonetta 3
Elden Ring
God of War Ragnarök – WINNER
Kirby and the Forgotten Land
Sifu

Outstanding Control Design, VR

Bonelab
Cities VR
Moss: Book II – WINNER
Samurai Slaughter House
Tentacular

Outstanding Control Precision

Bayonetta 3
Elden Ring
God of War Ragnarök – WINNER
Kirby and the Forgotten Land
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge

Outstanding Costume Design

Bayonetta 3
God of War Ragnarök – WINNER
Gotham Knights
Horizon Forbidden West
Marvel’s Midnight Suns
Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands

Outstanding Direction in a Game Cinema

As Dusk Falls
The Dark Pictures: The Devil in Me
God of War Ragnarök – WINNER
Gotham Knights
New Tales from the Borderlands

Outstanding Direction in Virtual Reality

Among Us VR
Bonelab
Moss: Book II – WINNER
Red Matter 2
The Twilight Zone VR

Outstanding Engineering

Dwarf Fortress
Elden Ring
Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes
God of War Ragnarök – WINNER
Two Point Campus

Outstanding Gameplay Design, Franchise

God of War Ragnarök – WINNER
Marvel Snap
Multiversus
Splatoon 3
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge

Outstanding Gameplay Design, New IP

Cult of the Lamb
Elden Ring – WINNER
Grounded
Sifu
Vampire Survivors

Outstanding Game, Classic Revival

Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration – WINNER
Klonoa Phantasy Reverie Series
Live A Live
The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe
Sonic Origins

Outstanding Game, Franchise Action

Bayonetta 3
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II – WINNER
Shovel Knight Dig
Sniper Elite 5
Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands

Outstanding Game, Franchise Adventure

New Tales from the Borderlands
A Plague Tale: Requiem – WINNER
Return to Monkey Island
We Were Here Forever

Outstanding Game, Franchise Family

Blossom Tales II: The Minotaur Prince
Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course – WINNER
Kirby and the Forgotten Land
LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga
Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope

Outstanding Game, Franchise Fighting

Capcom Fighting Collection
The King of Fighters XV
River City Girls
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge – WINNER
WWE 2K22

Outstanding Game, Franchise Racing

F1 22
Need for Speed Unbound – WINNER
WRC Generations

Outstanding Game, Franchise Role Playing

Digimon Survive
Kingdom Hearts Integrum Masterpiece for Cloud
Marvel’s Midnight Suns – WINNER
Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin
Xenoblade Chronicles 3

Outstanding Game, Franchise Sports

Mario Strikers: Battle League
MLB® The Show™ 22
NBA 2K23
Out of the Park Baseball 23
Windjammers 2 – WINNER

Outstanding Game, Music or Performance-Based

Deemo II
Disney Twisted Wonderland
Metal: Hellsinger – WINNER
Taiko no Tatsujin: The Drum Master!
Trombone Champ

Outstanding Game, Original Action

Cult of the Lamb
Grounded
High on Life
Neon White
Rollerdrome
Vampire Survivors – WINNER

Outstanding Game, Original Adventure

As Dusk Falls
Ghostwire: Tokyo
The Longest Road on Earth
Pentiment – WINNER
Weird West

Outstanding Game, Original Family

Raft
Stray – WINNER
Tinykin
Tunic

Outstanding Game, Original Fighting

Boomerang Fu
Dawn of the Monsters
DNF Duel
Rumbleverse
Sifu – WINNER

Outstanding Game, Original Racing

Turbo Golf Racing – WINNER

Outstanding Game, Original Role Playing

Elden Ring – WINNER
Live A Live
Triangle Strategy
Voice of Cards: The Forsaken Maiden
The Waylanders

Outstanding Game, Original Sports

Nock
OlliOlli World – WINNER

Outstanding Game, Puzzle

Dorfromantik
Far: Changing Tides
Hatsune Miku Logic Paint S
Never Alone: Arctic Edition – WINNER
Serial Cleaners

Outstanding Game, Simulation

Disney Dreamlight Valley
Japanese Rail Sim: Journey to Kyoto – WINNER
Not For Broadcast
PowerWash Simulator
Two Point Campus

Outstanding Game, Special Class

Endling: Extinction is Forever – WINNER
Marvel Snap
Needy Streamer Overload
Norco
Vermillion

Outstanding Game, Strategy

Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes
Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope – WINNER
Master of Magic
Phobies
Total War: WARHAMMER III
Victoria 3

Outstanding Graphics, Technical

Bayonetta 3
God of War Ragnarök – WINNER
Horizon Forbidden West
NBA 2K23
Need for Speed Unbound
Splatoon 3

Outstanding Lighting/Texturing

Elden Ring
God of War Ragnarök – WINNER
Horizon Forbidden West
Somerville
Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands

Outstanding Original Dramatic Score, Franchise

A Plague Tale: Requiem – WINNER
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare ll
God of War Ragnarök
Honor of Kings – Alsahraa, Karaturam
Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands

Outstanding Original Dramatic Score, New IP

As Dusk Falls
Elden Ring – WINNER
Endling: Extinction is Forever
Ghostwire: Tokyo
Guild Wars 2: End of Dragons

Outstanding Original Light Mix Score, Franchise

Bayonetta 3
Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course – WINNER
Serial Cleaners
The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge

Outstanding Original Light Mix Score, New IP

Infernax
Live A Live
Metal: Hellsinger – WINNER
Stray
Triangle Strategy

Outstanding Performance in a Comedy, Lead

Evil Dead: The Game – Bruce Campbell as “Ash Williams” – WINNER
High on Life – Justin Roiland as “Kenny”
Neon White – Steve Blum as “Neon White”

Outstanding Performance in a Comedy, Supporting

Bayonetta 3 – Dave Fennoy as “Rodin” – WINNER
High on Life – J.B. Smoove as “Gus”
High on Life – David Herman as “Gene”
Return to Monkey Island – Jess Harnell as “LeChuck”
Return to Monkey Island – Adam Grimes as “Fishmonger”

Outstanding Performance in a Drama, Lead

A Plague Tale: Requiem – Charlotte McBurney and Robyn Wolf as “Amicia”
As Dusk Falls – Elias Toufexis as “Vince Walker”
God of War Ragnarök – Sunny Suljic as “Atreus”
God of War Ragnarök – Christopher Judge as “Kratos” – WINNER
Metal: Hellsinger – Troy Baker as “Paz”

Outstanding Performance in a Drama, Supporting

As Dusk Falls – Simon Hubbard as “Big Sam”
Ghostwire: Tokyo – Asami Seto and Anne Yatco as “Mari”
God of War Ragnarök – Alastair Duncan as “Mimir”
God of War Ragnarök – Adam J. Harrington as “Sindri”
God of War Ragnarök – Richard Schiff as “Odin” – WINNER

Outstanding Song Collection

Gran Turismo 7
Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope
Metal: Hellsinger – WINNER
Need for Speed Unbound
OlliOlli World

Outstanding Song, Original or Adapted

As Dusk Falls – God’s Gonna Cut You Down
As Dusk Falls – Hole in the Middle
God of War Ragnarök – Blood Upon The Snow
Metal: Hellsinger – Dissolution
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge – It’s a Pizza Party – WINNER

Outstanding Sound Editing in a Game Cinema

God of War Ragnarök – WINNER
Honor of Kings – Starry Sky
Marvel’s Midnight Suns
Sniper Elite 5
Tinykin

Outstanding Sound Effects

Elden Ring
God of War Ragnarök – WINNER
Grounded
Sifu
Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands

Outstanding Sound Mixing in Virtual Reality

Bonelab – WINNER
Moss: Book II
Red Matter 2
RUINSMAGUS
The Twilight Zone VR

Outstanding Use of Sound, Franchise

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare ll
God of War Ragnarök – WINNER
Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope
New Tales from the Borderlands
Total War: WARHAMMER III

Outstanding Use of Sound, New IP

As Dusk Falls
The Callisto Protocol – WINNER
Elden Ring
Sifu
Somerville

Outstanding Writing in a Comedy

High on Life
New Tales from the Borderlands
Not For Broadcast
Return to Monkey Island
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge – WINNER

Outstanding Writing in a Drama

As Dusk Falls
Ghostwire: Tokyo
God of War Ragnarök – WINNER
Norco
Pentiment

Outstanding Game of the Year

A Plague Tale: Requiem
Cursed to Golf
Elden Ring – WINNER
Endling: Extinction is Forever
God of War Ragnarök
Stray
Two Point Campus

By Game

17 God of War Ragnarök
05 Elden Ring
03 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge
03 Metal: Hellsinger
03 Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course
02 Vampire Survivors
02 Stray
02 Moss: Book II
02 Bayonetta 3
02 A Plague Tale: Requiem

Franchise History

The God of War franchise beats its own record (16) for number of wins (17).
Bayonetta 2 also won two awards, for Character Design and Original Light Mix Score, Franchise.
The original A Plague Tale: Innocence won four (4) awards.
The original Cuphead won six (6) awards in the annual program for 2017.
The original Cuphead won the most awards (6) in the Games of the Decade program.
The original Moss also won 2 awards.

By Developer

17 Santa Monica Studio
05 FromSoftware
03 Tribute Games Inc.
03 The Outsiders
03 StudioMDHR
02 Poncle Limited
02 Polyarc
02 Platinum Games
02 BlueTwelve Studio
02 Asobo Studio

By Publisher

17 Sony Interactive Entertainment
05 Bandai Namco
04 DotEmu SAS
03 StudioMDHR
03 Gamera Game
03 Funcom Oslo
02 Poncle Limited
02 Polyarc
02 Nintendo
02 Focus Entertainment
02 Annapurna Games

Persons with Multiple Wins

04 Jon Burke
03 Stephen McAuley
03 Raf Grassetti
03 Michael Kent
03 Josh Hobson
02 Nathan Kennedy
02 Mihir Sheth
02 Luca Galante
02 Kevin Peterson
02 Jodie Kupsco
02 Hidetaka Miyazaki
02 Eric Williams
02 Eric Valdes
02 Dela Longfish

All Individual Credits (per nomination)

Alex Previty
Antonio Revard
Axel Grossman
Bill Lane
Bruce Campbell
Bruno Velazquez
Chad Moldenhauer
Christopher Judge
Clara Perrissol
Colas Koola
Cory Barlog
Csaba Wagner
Dan Amrich
Dan Croucher
Dave Fennoy
Davide Soliani
Dela Longfish
Dela Longfish
Elvira Björkman
Eric Valdes
Eric Valdes
Eric Williams
Eric Williams
Erica Pinto
Erol Oksuz
Francois Hurtubise
Grant K. Roberts
Hanna Abi-Hanna
Hanna Fridén
Hidenori Sato
Hidetaka Miyazaki
Hidetaka Miyazaki
Jake Solomon
James Sweeney
Jared Moldenhauer
Jason McDonald
Javier Ramello
Jeremy Rogers
Jodie Kupsco
Jodie Kupsco
John Ribbins
Jon Burke
Jon Burke
Jon Burke
Jon Burke
Jonathan Lavigne
Jordan Layani
Jordi Asensio
Josh Hobson
Josh Hobson
Josh Hobson
Joshua Eric Sawyer
Joshua Stiksma
Kaikō Arima
Kevin Choteau
Kevin Peterson
Kevin Peterson
Kime Honma
Kristofer Maddigan
Luca Galante
Luca Galante
Markus Wolmerud
Matt Sophos
Maxim Dorokhov
Mega Ran
Michael Felice
Michael Kent
Michael Kent
Michael Kent
Mihir Sheth
Mihir Sheth
Nassim Ait-Kaci
Nathan Kennedy
Nathan Kennedy
Nick Tomassetti
Nicklas Hjertberg
Nicolas Millot
Olivier Derivière
Phil Wilkins
Raf Grassetti
Raf Grassetti
Raf Grassetti
Richard Gaubert
Richard Schiff
Sean LaValle
Sean Vesce
Simon Bennett
Sonia Coronado
Stepan Boev
Stephen McAuley
Stephen McAuley
Stephen McAuley
Thomas Hegarty
Tomoro Inaba
Vadim Slyusarev
Victor Cepeda
Vivien Mermet-Guyenet
Xavier Manzanares
Yannick Belzil
Yuka Kitamura
Yuki Suda