New York Game Awards 2023: Elden Ring Wins Two Awards as Phil Spencer Is Honored

ByNews Polite

The New York Game Awards 2023 have arrived and, alongside honoring CEO of Microsoft Gaming and head of Xbox Phil Spencer with the Andrew Yoon Legend Award, the show saw Elden Ring walk away victorious with the Game of the Year and the Best World awards.

The New York Video Game Critics Circle hosted the 12th annual New York Game Awards tonight, January 17, and it honored the best games, actors, esports athletes, and journalists of 2022.

Elden Ring was the only game to win multiple categories, meaning a ton of games were given the spotlight they deserve, including Vampire Survivors, God of War Ragnarok, Kirby and the Forgotten Land, Immortality, and more.

As we previously mentioned, Phil Spencer won the Andrew Yoon Legend Award at the show, and it is “presented by the New York Videogame Critics Circle to recognize people and organizations that have exhibited a significant, sustained body of work that shows exceptional artistic achievement and innovation.”

“Phil and I have been a part of this industry together for many years and I’ve always admired his ability to find new, creative ways to serve gamers,” said Reggie Fils-Aimé, former industry and COO and board member, NYVGCC. “Phil isn’t just an executive in games, he is a gamer himself and because of that he knows exactly what fans want when it comes to the Xbox brand. I am thrilled to have him join the prestigious ranks of Andrew Yoon Legend Award winners and look forward to celebrating his illustrious career at the New York Game Awards this January.”

Vanity Fair’s Justin Heckert won the Knickerbocker Award for Best Games Journalism in part for his work on “Jason Brassard Spent HIs Lifetime Collecting the Rarest Video Game. Until the Heist.” This is the same award IGN’s Rebekah Valentine won in 2022 for “her work investigating workplace misconduct at video game studios, and for elevating marginalized voices in her coverage of a game about the war in Iraq.”

The full list of winners from the New York Game Awards 2023 is as follows;

Big Apple Award for Best Game of the Year

  • A Plague Tale: Requiem
  • Cult of the Lamb
  • Elden Ring – WINNER
  • God of War Ragnarök
  • Immortality
  • Pentiment
  • Vampire Survivors
  • Xenoblade Chronicles 3

Off Broadway Award for Best Indie Game

  • Immortality
  • Neon White
  • Return to Monkey Island
  • Trombone Champ
  • Vampire Survivors – WINNER
  • Wordle
  • Wylde Flowers

Herman Melville Award for Best Writing in a Game

  • As Dusk Falls
  • Elden Ring
  • God of War Ragnarök – WINNER
  • Immortality
  • Norco
  • Return to Monkey Island
  • Roadwarden

Statue of Liberty Award for Best World

  • Elden Ring – WINNER
  • God of War Ragnarök
  • Horizon Forbidden West
  • Pentiment
  • Pokémon Legends: Arceus

Tin Pan Alley Award for Best Music in a Game

  • Elden Ring
  • God of War Ragnarök
  • Horizon Forbidden West
  • Metal: Hellsinger – WINNER
  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge
  • Trombone Champ

Great White Way Award for Best Acting in a Game

  • Alex Jarrett as Zoe Walker in As Dusk Falls
  • Ashly Burch as Aloy in Horizon Forbidden West
  • Christopher Judge as Kratos in God of War Ragnarök
  • Grace Zabriskie as Eliza Vorez in The Quarry
  • Justice Smith as Ryan Erzahler in The Quarry
  • Manon Gage as Marissa Marcel in Immortality – WINNER

Coney Island Dreamland Award for Best AR/VR Game

  • BONELAB
  • Lost Recipes
  • Moss: Book II – WINNER
  • RUINSMAGUS
  • The Last Clockwinder

Central Park Children’s Zoo Award for Best Kids Game

  • Harmony’s Odyssey
  • Kirby and the Forgotten Land – WINNER
  • Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope
  • Moss: Book II
  • Pokémon Legends: Arceus
  • Splatoon 3
  • Tunic

A-Train Award for Best Mobile Game

  • Desta: The Memories Between
  • Marvel Snap – WINNER
  • Poinpy
  • Railbound
  • Wylde Flowers

Freedom Tower Award for Best Remake

  • Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration
  • Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII – Reunion
  • Life is Strange Remastered Collection
  • Live A Live
  • The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe – WINNER

Joltin’ Joe Award for Best Esports Player of the Year

  • Arslan “Arslan Ash” Siddique (FATE Esports/Red Bull Esports) – Tekken 7
  • Bryan “pANcada” Luna (Sentinels, formerly with LOUD) – Valorant
  • Kim “Deft” Hyuk-kyu (DWG KIA) – League of Legends
  • Masaya “aMSa” Chikamoto (VGBootCamp/Red Bull Esports) – Super Smash Bros. Melee – WINNER
  • Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev (Natus Vincere) – Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
  • Yoo “smurf” Myeong-hwan (Boston Uprising) – Overwatch

Chumley’s Speakeasy Award for Best Hidden Gem

  • A Memoir Blue
  • Norco
  • Patrick’s Parabox
  • Perfect Tides
  • SIGNALIS – WINNER
  • Strange Horticulture
  • The Case of the Golden Idol
  • Wayward Strand

NYC GWB Award for Best DLC

  • Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: Dawn of Ragnarök
  • Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: Tombs of the Fallen Pt. 2
  • Bugsnax: The Isle of BIGsnax
  • Destiny 2: The Witch Queen – WINNER
  • Microsoft Flight Simulator: Top Gun Maverick DLC
  • Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak

Knickerbocker Award for Best Games Journalism

  • Justin Heckert, Vanity Fair

Elizabeth Jennings Graham Award for Best Educator

Andrew Yoon Legend Award Recipient

The New York Video Game Critics Circle is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit multicultural organization of “40 of the finest videogame critics, writers, reporters, and bloggers in the nation.” Members of the NYVGCC also give back by “providing scholarships, mentoring, and community outreach to NYC schools students.”

For more on the best of 2022, be sure to check out IGN’s picks for the best game of last year and every 10 IGN gave last year in the world of gaming and entertainment.

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Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.