The results are in for the Webby Awards — and this year’s awards are celebrating some of the top video games of 2025 and 2026.
The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences’ Webby Awards have celebrated Internet culture leaders since 1996, but gaming was a relatively late addition to the awards’ slate. The Webbys launched its inaugural group of dedicated gaming nominees in 2018, although it occasionally honored game makers in other categories in preceding years. 2026 marks the ninth edition of the Webbys — and gaming is here to stay at the awards, according to Webby Awards executive director Jesse Feister in an interview with GamesBeat.
“What you see here are games that have sort of transcended into internet culture at large,” Feister said. “What you see represented here are games that have broken through — games that people know and love beyond the specific niches of what I would consider ‘gaming culture.’”
The 2026 Webby Awards’ gaming category is split into two categories: Games Excellence, which honors excellence in the craft and innovation of game-making across different areas of development, and Games General, which honors outstanding games across all platforms, broken down by genre. Each category has two winners: the Webby Award winner, determined by a poll of International Academy of Arts and Sciences members, and the People’s Voice winner, determined by a public vote. GamesBeat has the exclusive on both winners for both categories — so without further ado, here they are:
Games Excellence
Best Art Direction – Webby Award: Split Fiction
Best Art Direction – People’s Voice: Death Stranding 2: On the Beach (Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe)
Best Community Experience – Webby Award: Pokémon GO
Best Community Experience – People’s Voice: Phasmophobia (Swipe Right)
Best Game Design – Webby Award: Split Fiction
Best Game Design – People’s Voice: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Best Music/Sound Design – Webby Award: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Best Music/Sound Design – People’s Voice: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Best Narrative and Storytelling – Webby Award: The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered
Best Narrative and Storytelling – People’s Voice: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Technical Achievement – Webby Award: Keeper (Double Fine Productions)
Technical Achievement – People’s Voice: The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered
Games General
Action and Adventure – Webby Award: Split Fiction
Action and Adventure – People’s Voice: Split Fiction
Independent Creator – Webby Award: Bye Sweet Carole (Little Sewing Machine SRL)
Independent Creator – People’s Voice: Escape From Duckov (Bilibili Game)
Kids and Family – Webby Award: LEGO® Party! (Fictions)
Kids and Family – People’s Voice: Hello Kitty Island Adventure
Puzzle, Trivia, Card and Word Games – Webby Award: Scrabble GO
Puzzle, Trivia, Card and Word Games – People’s Voice: Block Blast! (Hungry Studio)
Social Impact and Public Service – Webby Award: Virtual Donors (AKQA Brussels)
Social Impact and Public Service – People’s Voice: Witness to Mass Incarceration (Witness to Mass Incarceration Inc.)
The 2026 Webby Awards ceremony is slated to take place on Monday, May 11, in New York City, and will be hosted by comedian Josh Johnson. In addition to honoring game makers — who often send members of their marketing teams to accept the awards, per Feister — the Webby Awards highlights leaders across categories like websites, podcasts, creators and AI. Webby Awards ceremonies are notable for their stipulation that winners limit their speeches to up to five words; when Pokémon Go won an award in 2017, Niantic global marketing lead Archit Bhargava accepted with the speech “This summer will be legendary.”
“It’s an amazing constraint that was ahead of its time,” Feister said. “We’ve been around for 30 years, and short-form content is a thing now in a way that it wasn’t then. But five words is brevity, and it’s been a part of the Webby experience since day one.”