DreamHack wrapped up the annual awards season with the inaugural “The Dreamies” Award Show today, Sunday, February 23, live at DreamHack Anaheim.
What makes this awards show different is the creation of 18 categories gamers will understand and connect with. It’s great to reward impressive visuals or best design — but those aren’t the only reasons we play games. It’s also about what made us laugh so hard we fall on the floor … or yell at the screen and nearly smash a $100 keyboard.
In addition to the judge’s panel, the public was also able to vote for favorite nominees, offering an opportunity for fans to have their voices heard during the decision process. The judging panel was composed of senior leadership from DreamHack and industry professionals.
“This was such a great first year for The Dreamies Awards Show,” said DreamHack Global Creative Director Justin Burnham. “We strive to bring the best experiences to our fans, and this new awards show in Anaheim was another opportunity to celebrate the tremendous community of gamers we are connected to. We thank all of our nominees, as well as the thousands of people who voted — and, of course, we offer our sincere congratulations to this year’s winners.”
Here’s a rundown of the winners from the show:
| CATEGORY | DESCRIPTION | WINNERS |
| Historically Altered | The fun of taking historical events, periods, or locations and putting a spin on them never gets old. Definitely a more fun way to visit history than an actual history class. | TITLE: A Plague Tale: Innocence DEVELOPER: Asobo Studio PUBLISHER: Focus Home Interactive |
| Painfully Cute | Games that are so kawaii they give you a headrush when you see the trailer—are totally amazing. | TITLE: Planet Zoo DEVELOPER/PUBLISHER: Frontier Developments |
| Daily Commute | Be it your car, bike, spaceship, or even mech, the vechicular rush is irreplaceable. Ways to get from here to there have never been more fun. | TITLE: Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled DEVELOPER:Beenox PUBLISHER: Activision |
| Try Not to Laugh | The funniest games to bring to a party, watch streamers play, or have great comedic writing are usually riddled with hilarious moments that you’ll always remember. | TITLE: Untitled Goose Game DEVELOPER: House House PUBLISHER: Panic Inc. |
| You Look Familiar | Sequels, remakes, or spiritual successors aren’t easy to make—you have to recapture the magic from the original source. So when it’s done right, it’s amazing. | TITLE: Resident Evil 2 DEVELOPER/PUBLISHER:Capcom |
| Scared Witless | One option is to play with the lights on in the family room. Either way, we know you were so disturbed you didn’t sleep well afterwards. | TITLE: Resident Evil 2 DEVELOPER/PUBLISHER:Capcom |
| Dynamic Duo | The Batman and Robin of games can be the team that works well together that helps us power through tough moments. | TITLE: Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order DEVELOPER: Respawn PUBLISHER: Electric Arts |
| Actual Good Loot | Rewarding loot is like a piñata on Christmas. It should feel satisfying to get and the loot definitely needs to be valuable. | TITLE: Borderlands 3 DEVELOPER: Gearbox Software PUBLISHER: 2K |
| Hours Clocked | You’ve probably put in more hours with your game than you’ve spent on…anything else. But that’s cool, we don’t judge. | TITLE: Dauntless DEVELOPER/PUBLISHER: Phoenix Labs |
| That’s Pretty Clever | Gimmicks have a bad rep but can sometimes be the reason the game is so good! | TITLE: Untitled Goose Game DEVELOPER: House House PUBLISHER: Panic Inc. |
| Rage Quit | For those who actually beat challenging games, good for you. Most of us don’t and we end up throwing a tantrum. | TITLE: Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice DEVELOPER: FromSoftware PUBLISHER: Activision |
| Worth the Wait | It was supposed to come out a while ago or you’ve been waiting for an awesome entry… and it finally happened in 2019. But you’re a die-hard fan and it was worth waiting for. | TITLE: Devil May Cry 5 DEVELOPER/PUBLISHER: Capcom |
| Ultimate Bayhem | The building jump, the explosions, the absolutely necessary slow-walking away from said explosions, and so on. | TITLE: Devil May Cry 5 DEVELOPER/PUBLISHER: Capcom |
| Tearjerker | It doesn’t matter if you cried or not, these titles rocked your world. | TITLE: A Plague Tale: Innocence DEVELOPER: Asobo Studio PUBLISHER: Focus Home Interactive |
| Mind Blown | The experiences that are totally off the wall or the twist that left our mouth agape. These games leave us making up theories about the meaning until the end of time. | TITLE: Control DEVELOPER: Remedy Entertainment PUBLISHER: 505 Games |
| Pushing Boundaries | Some games are over the top with edgy content or they touch on subjects most are afraid to. They let us live the rush or emotion of that experience. | TITLE: Eliza DEVELOPER/PUBLISHER: Zachtronics |
| Leap of Faith | Developers that dare to cross genres, or put a new twist on an overdone concept, have guts. | TITLE: Disco Elysium DEVELOPER/PUBLISHER: ZA/UM |
| Sleeper Hit | Titles that come out of nowhere are a nice surprise. You didn’t have it on your wishlist before release, but now you can’t stop talking about how awesome the game is. | TITLE: Disco Elysium DEVELOPER/PUBLISHER: ZA/UM |
