The Game Awards 2021 have been and gone, leaving the internet decimated with fresh trailers and newly announced games. Plus, of course, the winners of various accolades were confirmed.

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If you're for a handy list of all the major announcements with links to all the hot trailers, plus a full list of who won the actual awards, you've come to the right place for a recap.

So, which games showed up at host Geoff Keighley's annual gaming bonanza this year? Find out below with our whistle-stop tour of everything you need to know from last night's show.

The Game Awards 2021 trailers - all announced games

The Game Awards is always crammed full of trailers for upcoming games, and surprise reveals of hitherto unannounced titles, but which future games were shown at The Game Awards 2021?

Here's a list of all the major announcements from The Game Awards last night, with links to the trailers that you'll want to see as soon as possible:

The Game Awards 2021 winners

Most of the winners of The Game Awards 2021 were announced on the night, but there was one winner announced ahead of time.

The Game Awards 2021 website confirmed one winner in advance, telling the world that Halo Infinite won the Players' Voice award, which was voted for by gamers around the world.

This came as something of a surprise considering that the Halo Infinite campaign hadn't even come out when the vote took place, but at least voters had the Halo Infinite multiplayer to base their decision on. The rest of the winners and nominees are listed below, with the winners in bold!

Full list of The Game Awards 2021 nominees

Game of the Year

It Takes Two is our Game of the Week.
It Takes Two is the Game of the Year. EA Originals/Hazelight
  • Deathloop (Arkane Studios/Bethesda)
  • WINNER: It Takes Two (Hazelight Studios/EA)
  • Metroid Dread (Mercury Steam/Nintendo)
  • Psychonauts 2 (Double Fine/Xbox Game Studios)
  • Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (Insomniac Games/SIE)
  • Resident Evil Village (Capcom)

Best Game Direction

  • WINNER: Deathloop (Arkane Studios/Bethesda)
  • It Takes Two (Hazelight Studios/EA)
  • Returnal (Housemarque/SIE)
  • Psychonauts 2 (Double Fine/Xbox Game Studios)
  • Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (Insomniac Games/SIE)

Best Ongoing

  • Apex Legends (Respawn/EA)
  • Call of Duty: Warzone (Infinity Ward/Raven/Activision)
  • WINNER: Final Fantasy XIV Online (SQUARE ENIX)
  • Fortnite (Epic Games)
  • Genshin Impact (MiHoYo)

Best Indie

  • 12 Minutes (Luis Antonio/Annapurna Interactive)
  • Death’s Door (Acid Nerve/Devolver Digital)
  • WINNER: Kena: Bridge of Spirits (Ember Lab)
  • Inscryption (Daniel Mullins Games/Devolver Digital)
  • Loop Hero (Four Quarters/Devolver Digital)

Best Debut Indie

  • WINNER: Kena: Bridge of Spirits (Ember Lab)
  • Sable (Shedworks/Raw Fury)
  • The Artful Escape (Beethoven & Dinosaur/Annapurna)
  • The Forgotten City (Modern Storyteller/Dear Villagers)
  • Valheim (Iron Gate/Coffee Stain)

Best Narrative

Guardians of the Galaxy game outfits
The Guardians of the Galaxy game picked up a gong. Marvel/Square Enix
  • Deathloop (Arkane Studios/Bethesda)
  • It Takes Two (Hazelight Studios/EA)
  • Life Is Strange: True Colors (Deck Nine/SQUARE ENIX)
  • WINNER: Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy (Eidos Montreal/SQUARE ENIX)
  • Psychonauts 2 (Double Fine/Xbox Game Studios)

Best Art Direction

  • WINNER: Deathloop (Arkane Studios/Bethesda)
  • Kena: Bridge of Spirits (Ember Lab)
  • Psychonauts 2 (Double Fine/Xbox Game Studios)
  • Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (Insomniac Games/SIE)
  • The Artful Escape (Beethoven & Dinosaur/Annapurna)

Best Score and Music

  • Cyberpunk 2077 (Marcin Przybylowicz, Piotr T. Adamczyk, Composers)
  • Deathloop (Tom Salta, Composer)
  • WINNER: NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139 (Keiichi Okabe, Composer)
  • Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy (Richard Jacques, Composer)
  • The Artful Escape (Johnny Galvatron & Josh Abrahams, Composers)

Best Audio Design

  • Deathloop (Arkane Studios/Bethesda)
  • WINNER: Forza Horizon 5 (Playground Games/Xbox Game Studios)
  • Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (Insomniac Games/SIE)
  • Resident Evil Village (Capcom)
  • Returnal (Housemarque/SIE)

Best Performance

  • Erika Mori as Alex Chen, Life Is Strange: True Colors
  • Giancarlo Esposito as Anton Castillo, Far Cry 6
  • Jason E. Kelley as Colt Vahn, Deathloop
  • WINNER: Maggie Robertson as Lady Dimitrescu, Resident Evil Village
  • Ozioma Akagha as Julianna Blake, Deathloop

Games for Impact

life is strange true colours
Life is Strange: True Colours was praised for its inclusion. Square Enix
  • Before Your Eyes (GoodbyeWorld Games/Skybound Games)
  • Boyfriend Dungeon (Kitfox Games)
  • Chicory (Greg Lobanow, Alexis dean-Jones, Lena Raine, Madeline Berger, A Shell in the Pit/Finji)
  • WINNER: Life Is Strange: True Colors (Deck Nine/SQUARE ENIX)
  • No Longer Home (Humble Grove, Hana Lee, Cel Davison, Adrienne Lombardo, Eli Rainsberry/Fellow Traveler)

Best Community Support

  • Apex Legends (Respawn/EA)
  • Destiny 2 (Bungie)
  • WINNER: FINAL FANTASY XIV Online (SQUARE ENIX)
  • Fortnite (Epic Games)
  • No Man’s Sky (Hello Games)

Best Mobile Game, Presented by Verizon

  • Fantasian (Mistwalker)
  • WINNER: Genshin Impact (MiHoYo)
  • League of Legends: Wild Rift (Riot Games)
  • MARVEL Future Revolution (Netmarble)
  • Pokemon Unite (TiMi Studios/The Pokemon Company)

Best VR/AR

  • Hitman 3 (IO Interactive)
  • I Expect You To Die 2 (Schell Games)
  • Lone Echo II (Ready at Dawn/Oculus Studios)
  • WINNER: Resident Evil 4 (Armature Studio/Capcom/Oculus Studios)
  • Sniper Elite VR (Coatsink/Just Add Water/Rebellion Developments)

Best Action

  • Back 4 Blood (Turtle Rock/WB Games)
  • Chivalry II (Torn Banner Studios/Tripwire Interactive)
  • Deathloop (Arkane Studios/Bethesda)
  • Far Cry 6 (Ubisoft Toronto/Ubisoft)
  • WINNER: Returnal (Housemarque/SIE)

Best Action/Adventure

Read our Metroid Dread preview.
Metroid Dread won the best action/adventure game prize. Nintendo
  • Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy (Eidos Montreal/SQUARE ENIX)
  • WINNER: Metroid Dread (Mercury Steam/Nintendo)
  • Psychonauts 2 (Double Fine/Xbox Game Studios)
  • Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (Insomniac Games/SIE)
  • Resident Evil Village (Capcom)

Best Role Playing

  • Cyberpunk 2077 (CD Projekt Red)
  • Monster Hunter Rise (Capcom)
  • Scarlet Nexus (Bandai Namco)
  • Shin Megami Tensei V (Atlus/Sega)
  • WINNER: Tales of Arise (Bandai Namco)

Best Fighting

  • Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles (CyberConnect2/Sega)
  • WINNER: Guilty Gear -Strive- (Arc System Works)
  • Melty Blood: Type Lumina (French-Bread/Delightworks)
  • Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl (Ludosity/Fair Play Labs/GameMill)
  • Virtua Fighter 5: Ultimate Showdown (Sega)

Best Family

  • WINNER: It Takes Two (Hazelight Studios/EA)
  • Mario Party Superstars (NDcube/Nintendo)
  • New Pokémon Snap (Bandai Namco/The Pokémon Company/Nintendo)
  • Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury (Nintendo)
  • WarioWare: Get It Together! (Intelligent Systems/Nintendo)

Best Sports/Racing

  • F1 2021 (Codemasters/EA Sports)
  • FIFA 22 (EA Vancouver/EA Sports)
  • WINNER: Forza Horizon 5 (Playground Games/Xbox Game Studios)
  • Hot Wheels Unleashed (Milestone)
  • Riders Republic (Ubisoft Annecy/Ubisoft)

Best Sim/Strategy

  • WINNER: Age of Empires IV (Relic Entertainment/Xbox Game Studios)
  • Evil Genius 2: World Domination (Rebellion Developments)
  • Humankind (Amplitude Studios/Sega)
  • Inscryption (Daniel Mullins Games/Devolver)
  • Microsoft Flight Simulator (Asobo Studio/Xbox Game Studios)

Best Multiplayer

  • Back 4 Blood (Turtle Rock/WB Games)
  • WINNER: It Takes Two (Hazelight Studios/EA)
  • Knockout City (Velan Studios/EA)
  • Monster Hunter Rise (Capcom)
  • New World (Amazon Games)
  • Valheim (Iron Gate Studio/Coffee Stain)

Most Anticipated, Presented by Prime Gaming

  • WINNER: Elden Ring (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco)
  • God of War Ragnarök (Sony Santa Monica/SIE)
  • Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games/SIE)
  • Sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo)
  • Starfield (Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda)

Innovation in Accessibility, Presented by Chevrolet

Forza Horizon 5 made a plash at The Game Awards.
Forza Horizon 5 made a plash at The Game Awards. Playground Games
  • Far Cry 6 (Ubisoft Toronto/Ubisoft)
  • WINNER: Forza Horizon 5 (Playground Games/Xbox Game Studios)
  • Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy (Eidos Montreal/SQUARE ENIX)
  • Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (Insomniac Games/SIE)
  • The Vale: Shadow of the Crown (Creative Bytes Studios/Falling Squirrel)

Content Creator of the Year

  • WINNER: Dream
  • Fuslie
  • Gaules
  • Ibai
  • TheGrefg

Best Esports Game, Presented by Grubhub

  • Call of Duty (Activision)
  • CS:GO (Valve)
  • DOTA2 (Valve)
  • WINNER: League of Legends (Riot Games)
  • Valorant (Riot Games)

Best Esports Athlete

  • Chris “Simp” Lehr
  • Heo “ShowMaker” Su
  • Magomed “Collapse” Khalilov
  • WINNER: Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev
  • Tyson “TenZ” Ngo
  • Best Esports Team
  • Atlanta FaZe (COD)
  • DWG KIA (LOL)
  • Natus Vincere (CS:GO)
  • Sentinels (Valorant)
  • Team Spirit (DOTA2)

Best Esports Coach

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

Best Esports Event

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

When was The Game Awards 2021?

The Game Awards 2021 took place on Thursday 9th December 2021 for viewers in the USA.

Here in the UK, the time difference meant that The Game Awards 2021 actually started in the early hours of Friday 10th December 2021 from a British perspective.

What time is The Game Awards 2021?

In the USA, The Game Awards 2021 start times were 8pm EST and 5pm PST, depending on which coast you were on.

Here in the UK, The Game Awards 2021 started at 1am in the morning on Friday 10th December. You would've needed to pull a late one if you wanted to watch along live, then!

How to watch The Game Awards 2021 in the UK

The Game Awards 2021 were free to watch on the event's official YouTube, Twitch and Twitter accounts as well as streaming on Facebook Live, Steam and GameSpot.

The full live stream is still available on YouTube now, so you can click into the video above if you want to relive the action.

Who is The Game Awards 2021 host Geoff Keighley?

Geoff Keighley will once again host Gamescom Opening Night Live.
Geoff Keighley will once again host The Game Awards. Getty

Geoff Keighley was the host for The Game Awards 2021, which won't come as any surprise to returning viewers. He does host it every year, after all. If you're wondering who this guy is, here's a quick primer!

Geoff Keighley is a gaming journalist, TV presenter and event producer from Canada who founded The Game Awards in 2014 and has presented the live show every year since then.

Keighley previously produced the Spike Video Game Awards, and his writing work has been seen in such prestigious publications as Kotaku.

In 2020, Keighley cemented himself as a key player in the gaming media, hosting a string of online events under the banner Summer Game Fest, filling the gap left by cancelled events such as E3 and Gamescom.

How to vote for The Game Awards 2021

Voting is now closed for The Game Awards 2021. It all took place on the official Game Awards website, but you've missed your chance now if you haven't voted already.

If you have voted already, you should be pretty happy if your choices ended up winning! We'll see you back here next year to do it all again.

Visit our video game release schedule for all upcoming games on consoles. Swing by our hubs for more Gaming and Technology news.

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Authors

Joe JuliansEntertainment Journalist
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