In the world of gaming, audio and sound design is incredibly important, and can often elevate a game to something greater. Always looking forward, gaming companies like PlayStation are looking to innovate with audio immersion and audio technology already. The 19th Annual G.A.N.G. Awards recently aired to celebrate the best in gaming audio and sound, revealing winners in over 30 categories.

The Game Audio Network Guild, or G.A.N.G., was founded in 2002 to celebrate those in the game audio industry and help professionals improve their craft. Every year, they host an awards show to honor the best of the best in categories such as sound design, dialogue, voice performance, accessibility and more. The Last of Us Part 2, Ghost of Tsushima, and Hades have been regular stars this awards season, so it was no surprise to see these three games leading in nominations going into the night. Leading in nominations was The Last of Us Part 2 with 15, Ghost of Tsushima with 14, Hades with 12, and Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales with 11.

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Naughty Dog's The Last of Us Part 2 already broke records for most Game of the Year wins this awards season, so many were expecting the game to once again sweep up several wins. At the end of the night, The Last of Us Part 2 nabbed eight wins, the most of any game during the ceremony. It was the winner of categories such as Audio of the Year, Best Ensemble Cast Performance, and Excellence in Audio Accessibility. The other big winner of the night was Ghost of Tsushima, which picked up five wins in categories such as Best Game Foley and Best Vocal Performance. As both games were in part developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, no doubt Sony was very happy with both games' wins.

The popular roguelike Hades picked up a few wins in specific indie categories for Best Sound, Best Audio, and Best Dialogue. Other wins went to Nintendo for Animal Crossing, which picked up Best Main Theme for its catchy tune, and Best UI/Objective Sound Design. Strangely enough, even though Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales had 11 nominations going into the night, it wasn't able to pick up the win in any category.

All in all, the ceremony was a great celebration of all the hard work audio engineers, composers, and sound designers put into their work. Below is the full list of all winners and nominees for the 19th Annual G.A.N.G. Awards:

Screenshot from The Last of Us 2 showing Ellie playing guitar in the woods.
the-last-of-us-2-ellie

Audio Of The Year

  • Cyberpunk 2077 — CD Projekt Red
  • Ghost of Tsushima — Sucker Punch Productions, Sony Interactive Entertainment
  • Hades — Supergiant Games
  • Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales — Insomniac Games, Sony Interactive Entertainment
  • Ori and the Will of the Wisps — Moon Studios, Xbox Game Studios
  • The Last of Us Part II — Naughty Dog, Sony Interactive Entertainment (WINNER)

Music Of The Year

  • Animal Crossing: New Horizons — Music by Yasuaki Iwata, Yumi Takahashi, Shinobu Nagata, Sayako Doi, & Masato Ohashi (Nintendo)
  • Final Fantasy VII Remake — Music by Masashi Hamauzu, Mitsuto Suzuki, & Nobuo Uematsu (Square Enix)
  • Hades — Music by Darren Korb (Supergiant Games)
  • Metamorphosis — Music by Mikolai Stroinski and Garry Schyman (Ovid Works, All In! Games)
  • Ori and the Will of the Wisps — Music by Gareth Coker (Moon Studios, Xbox Game Studios)
  • Star Wars: Squadrons — Music by Gordy Haab (Motive, Electronic Arts) (WINNER)

Sound Design Of The Year

  • Ghost of Tsushima — Sucker Punch Productions, Sony Interactive Entertainment (WINNER - TIE)
  • Half-Life: Alyx — Valve
  • Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales — Insomniac Games, Sony Interactive Entertainment
  • Ori and the Will of the Wisps — Moon Studios, Xbox Game Studios
  • Paper Mario: The Origami King — Intelligent Systems, Nintendo
  • The Last of Us Part II — Naughty Dog, Sony Interactive Entertainment (WINNER - TIE)

Dialogue Of The Year

  • Ghost of Tsushima — Sucker Punch Productions, Sony Interactive Entertainment
  • Hades — Supergiant Games
  • Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales — Insomniac Games, Sony Interactive Entertainment
  • The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope — Supermassive Games, Bandai Namco
  • The Last of Us Part II — Naughty Dog, Sony Interactive Entertainment (WINNER)
  • Cyberpunk 2077 — CD Projekt Red

Best Audio For An Indie Game

  • Evergate — Stone Lantern Games
  • Hades — Supergiant Games (WINNER)
  • Lost Words: Beyond The Page — Sketchbook Games, Fourth State, Modus Games
  • No Straight Roads — Metronomik
  • The Pathless — Giant Squid, Annapurna Interactive
  • Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem — Wolcen Studio
the pathless protagonist
the pathless protagonist

Best Music For An Indie Game

  • Evergate — Music by M.R. Miller (Stone Lantern Games)
  • Hades — Music by Darren Korb (Supergiant Games)
  • Metamorphosis — Music by Garry Schyman & Mikolai Stroinski (Ovid Works, All In! Games)
  • Mythgard — Music by John Robert Matz (Rhino Games)
  • The Pathless — Music by Austin Wintory (Giant Squid, Annapurna Interactive) (WINNER)
  • Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem — Music by Jean-Gabriel Raynaud & Cedric Baravaglio (Wolcen Studio)

Best Sound Design For An Indie Game

  • Hades — Supergiant Games (WINNER)
  • Liquidators — 1986 CL3
  • Carrion — Phobia Game Studio, Devolver Digital
  • Mortal Shell — Cold Symmetry, Playstack
  • Risk of Rain 2 — Hopoo Games, PlayEveryWare
  • Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem — Wolcen Studio

Best Dialogue For An Indie Game

  • 3 out of 10 — Terrible Posture Games
  • Bugsnax — Young Horses
  • Hades — Supergiant Games (WINNER)
  • Lost Words: Beyond The Page — Sketchbook Games, Fourth State, Modus Games
  • Mortal Shell — Cold Symmetry, Playstack
  • The Red Lantern — Timberline Studio

Creative And Technical Achievement In Music

  • A Total War Saga: Troy — Creative Assembly
  • Ghost of Tsushima — Sucker Punch Productions, Sony Interactive Entertainment (WINNER)
  • Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales — Insomniac Games, Sony Interactive Entertainment
  • Sackboy: A Big Adventure — Sumo Digital, Sony Interactive Entertainment
  • The Last of Us Part II — Naughty Dog, Sony Interactive Entertainment
  • The Pathless — Giant Squid, Annapurna Interactive

Best Main Theme

  • Animal Crossing: New Horizons: “Main Theme” — Music by Kazumi Totaka (Nintendo) (WINNER)
  • Biped: “Biped Theme” — Music by Thomas Parisch (NExT Studios, META Publishing, Bilibili)
  • Ghost of Tsushima: “The Way of the Ghost (feat. Clare Uchima)” — Music by Ilan Eshkeri (Sucker Punch Productions, Sony Interactive Entertainment)
  • Lost Words: Beyond The Page — Music by David Housden (Sketchbook Games, Fourth State, Modus Games)
  • Star Wars: Squadrons: “Main Theme” — Music by Gordy Haab (Motive, Electronic Arts)
  • The Pathless: “None Have Returned” — Music by Austin Wintory (Giant Squid, Annapurna Interactive)