The sixth annual Canadian Game Awards wrapped up last night in Toronto, and Compulsion Games’ South of Midnight had one hell of a night. The Montreal-based studio’s Deep South-set action-adventure walked away with six game awards plus the Studio of the Year prize, including Game of the Year. Hosts Jennifer Hale and Mark Meer, better known as the female and male Commander Shepards from Mass Effect, presided over the evening at the John W.H. Bassett Theatre.
South of Midnight took home Game of the Year, Best Art Direction, Best Narrative, Best Score/Soundtrack, Best Audio Design, and Best Console Game. The two categories it was nominated in and didn’t win were Best Game Design, which went to Rogue Factor’s Hell is Us, and Best in Accessibility, which Assassin’s Creed Shadows took as its only win of the night. Hell is Us also got Best Performance for Elias Toufexis as Rémi.
Wanderstop’s Best Indie Game win is bittersweet given that developer Ivy Road announced it was shutting down just weeks before the ceremony. Lost Records: Bloom & Rage from Don’t Nod Montreal took the inaugural ESAC Fan Choice Award, while Victor Lucas of Electric Playground received the first-ever Game Changer Award.
The ceremony also featured “first look” reveals for Toronto-based Cococucumber’s Echo Generation 2 (releasing May 27), Halifax-based Paracosm’s Dagger Woods VR, and a new trailer for Montreal-based Heartloop Games’ Poly Fighter.
See the full list of winners and nominees below.
Best Art Direction
- Winner: South of Midnight (Compulsion Games)
- Eternal Strands (Yellow Brick Games)
- Lost Records: Bloom & Rage (Don’t Nod Montreal)
- Marvel Cosmic Invasion (Tribute Games)
- 33 Immortals (Thunder Lotus Games)
Best Game Design
- Winner: Hell is Us (Rogue Factor)
- Assassin’s Creed Shadows (Ubisoft Quebec)
- Battlefield 6 (Battlefield Studios, includes Montreal’s Motive)
- Eternal Strands (Yellow Brick Games)
- South of Midnight (Compulsion Games)
Best Score / Soundtrack
- Winner: South of Midnight (Olivier Derivière)
- Assassin’s Creed Shadows (The Flight and Montreal’s Teke: Teke)
- Eternal Strands (Austin Wintory)
- Lost Records: Bloom & Rage (Montreal’s Milk & Bone and Ruth Radelet)
- Marvel Cosmic Invasion (Tee Lopes)
Best Narrative
- Winner: South of Midnight (Compulsion Games)
- Assassin’s Creed Shadows (Ubisoft Quebec)
- Hell is Us (Rogue Factor)
- Lost Records: Bloom & Rage (Don’t Nod Montreal)
- Wanderstop (Ivy Road)
Best Performance
- Winner: Elias Toufexis as Rémi in Hell is Us
- Erica Luttrell as Melissa Mills in Battlefield 6
- Olivia Lepore as Swann Holloway in Lost Records: Bloom & Rage
- Momona Tamada as Oni-yuri in Assassin’s Creed Shadows
- Peter Shinkoda as Fujibayashi Nagato in Assassin’s Creed Shadows
Best Audio Design
- Winner: South of Midnight (Compulsion Games)
- Assassin’s Creed Shadows (Ubisoft Quebec)
- Battlefield 6 (Battlefield Studios, includes Montreal’s Motive)
- Eternal Strands (Yellow Brick Games)
- Hell is Us (Rogue Factor)
Best PC Game
- Winner: Battlefield 6 (Battlefield Studios, includes Montreal’s Motive)
- Aloft (Astrolabe Interactive)
- Ambrosia Sky: Act One (Soft Rains)
- Eternal Strands (Yellow Brick Games)
- Foundation (Polymorph Games)
Best Console Game
- Winner: South of Midnight (Compulsion Games)
- Assassin’s Creed Shadows (Ubisoft Quebec)
- Battlefield 6 (Battlefield Studios, includes Montreal’s Motive)
- Hell is Us (Rogue Factor)
- Marvel Cosmic Invasion (Tribute Games)
Best Indie Game
- Winner: Wanderstop (Ivy Road)
- Ambrosia Sky: Act One (Soft Rains)
- Ctrl Alt Deal (Only By Midnight)
- Fresh Tracks (Buffalo Buffalo)
- Marvel Cosmic Invasion (Tribute Games)
Best Mobile Game
- Winner: Rainbow Six Mobile (Ubisoft Montreal)
- EA Sports FC 26 Mobile (EA Canada)
- Elsewhere Electric (Games by Stitch)
- LHEA and the Word Spirit (Soul Fuel Games)
Best VR / AR Game
- Winner: Elsewhere Electric (Games by Stitch)
- Chronostrike (Pentachromatic Games)
- Fruit Golf (Coal Car Studio)
- Prison Boss Prohibition (Trebuchet)
- Verse VR (Lofty Sky Entertainment)
Best in Accessibility
- Winner: Assassin’s Creed Shadows (Ubisoft Quebec)
- EA Sports FC 26 (EA Vancouver)
- South of Midnight (Compulsion Games)
- Squeakross: Home Squeak Home (Alblune)
- Wanderstop (Ivy Road)
Best Esports Player
- Winner: Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken
- Adam “mada” Pampuch
- Brandon “Dashy” Otell
- Keith “NAF” Markovic
- Troy “Canadian” Jaroslawski
Best Esports Coach
- Winner: Loic “Effys” Sauvageau
- Antonin “AEC” Tran
- Kurtis “Aui_2000” Ling
- Mervin-Angelo “Dayos” Lachica
- Shaun Byrne
Best Esports Organization
- Winner: Shopify Rebellion
- Raptors GC
- Toronto Ultra/KOI/OverActive Media
- Vancouver Surge
Best Esports Event
- Winner: Raptors GC Tournament
- Battle of BC 7
- Call of Duty Champs
- Electric Clash 2025
- Valorant Masters Toronto 2025
Best Content Creator / Show
- Winner: Victor Lucas/Electric Playground
- Alex “Vansilli” Nguyen
- Ashley Roboto
- Nicholas “NickEh30” Amyoony
- Stef Sanjati
Game of the Year
- Winner: South of Midnight (Compulsion Games)
- Assassin’s Creed Shadows (Ubisoft Quebec)
- Hell is Us (Rogue Factor)
- Lost Records: Bloom & Rage (Don’t Nod Montreal)
- Wanderstop (Ivy Road)
Studio of the Year
- Winner: Compulsion Games (Montreal, Que.)
- Digital Extremes (London, Ont.)
- Rogue Factor (Montreal, Que.)
- Tribute Games (Montreal, Que.)
- Yellow Brick Games (Quebec City, Que.)
Fan Choice of the Year (ESAC)
- Winner: Lost Records: Bloom & Rage (Don’t Nod Montreal)
