The votes are in, and Ghost of Tsushima by Sucker Punch Productions has secured the Player's Voice award in the 2020 edition of The Game Awards. While the majority of the awards and the World Premiere trailers will make their debut this Thursday at the scheduled ceremony, the audience-voted Player's Voice award is an early preview of what fans were looking for in terms of their picks for the best games released in 2020. There was heavy contention with several contenders, including fellow PlayStation exclusive The Last of Us Part II, but the open-world samurai epic inched out the zombie tearjerker when all was said and done.
The annual Game Awards, put on each year as an industry celebration by gaming host Geoff Keighley, has been going on since 2014. It's an evolution of the VGAs, a similar awards show that Keighley hosted for years on Spike TV. Taking the show online has had its ups and downs, presenting players worldwide with everything from calls to arms against Hollywood to the sheer horror of Hydrobot. Through it all, while some decry its spot in the industry as just another E3-level marketing stage, there are just as many who get swept up in the entire industry coming together to remember the year that was.
With voting that occurred in the week leading up to The Game Awards, Ghost of Tsushima beat out the competition to take out one of the year's first awards. Sucker Punch's latest release is nominated in seven categories on the main broadcast ranging from Best Action/Adventure to Best Performance all the way to Game of the Year. In those categories, the game is competing with many of the same games it was going up against for Player's Voice, which also includes Doom Eternal, Hades, and Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales.
This year's Game Awards will likely be another eventful year for game reveals as well as awards, and the event is attracting some heavy hitters as presenters in its sixth year. From the world of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (and the upcoming Uncharted film), Tom Holland will be swinging in alongside Brie Larson. From the Distinguished Competition's cinematic efforts, Gal Gadot will be in attendance just before her newest film, Wonder Woman 1984, is set to premiere on both HBO Max and in cinemas. Outside of Hollywood, names ranging from Stephen A. Smith to Reggie Fils-Aime to Jacksepticeye will take the stage to present trophies to deserving developers.
It's great to see variety in awards season, which is why Ghost of Tsushima winning over GOTY favorite The Last of Us Part II is such a pleasant surprise. The fact that the top two contenders are also internal Sony products showcase just how good the PlayStation 4's exclusive lineup has been over the years, and what good footing Sony has going into the first full year of the PlayStation 5. While the hype around Cyberpunk 2077 makes it an early favorite for awards next year, it's possible that the PlayStation team could sweep everyone away with a surprise hit in 2021.
Ghost of Tsushima is available on PlayStation 4.
Source: The Game Awards