Nearly four years since its release, Rockstar’sRed Dead Redemption 2is still managing to take home awards of all kinds. At this year’s London Games Festival, one fan with an artistic eye was awarded Virtual Photographer of the Year, part of Nvidia Studio’s Virtual Photo Challenge, thanks to a very well composedRed Dead Redemption 2screenshot.
Since 2016 the London Games Festival has been a yearly celebration of the video game medium featuring multiple events such as the EGX Expo and theBAFTA Game Awards, with events running from April 1 to April 10. One of the most exciting festival events is the Virtual Photo Challenge which takes submissions from around the world via social media. The London Games Festival proudly displays the highest-ranking photographs in London’s Trafalgar Square. Photography submissions this year featured games such asGhostwire: Tokyo,NieR Automata,Ghost of Tsushima,andRed Dead Redemption 2.
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The winner for Virtual Photographer of the Year was announced on April 7, with the grand prize being a GeForce 3080 Ti-powered Studio Laptop to empower aspiring artists. This year’s winning submission, found below, comes from virtual photographer Joe Meizies for hisRed Dead Redemption 2screenshot depicting a lone cowboy riding a horse at sundown. The photograph features some great composition, colorwork, and excellent use of lighting. Undoubtedly, all factored into the panel’s decision to award Meizies for his work. Meizies also submitted an impressive screenshot of Lara Croft from theTomb Raiderseries, which also managed to make it into the discussion for the best screenshot. All submissions are in a Google Drive folder which can be foundhere.
Red Dead Redemption 2is widely praised for its beautiful landscapes, highly detailed world design, and masterful use of baked-in lighting, all of which are on full display with this excellent screenshot. Even though Rockstar’s award-winning cowboy drama is approaching its fourth birthday, fans are stillcapturingRed Dead Redemption 2’s beautyeither through in-game screenshots or fan-created illustrations. Joe Meizies’ recent win at the London Game Awards is fitting, given the massive community of fans still being swept away byRed Dead 2’s jaw-dropping vistas.
Even thoughRed Dead Redemption 2was the winning screenshot for the Virtual Photographer of the Year award, this year’s competition was stiff. Submissions featured a variety of games with older titles likeBatman: Arkham Knightstanding toe to toe withGhost of Tsushima, a game that feels worthy of a screenshot at every turn. Modern video game graphics have looked great for a long time, and in an era where so many games look great, art direction and design are where games make their mark. The Virtual Photographer of the Year competition excellently highlights the hard work that goes into making these games look so good in the first place. The London Games Festival Virtual Photo Challenge will return in 2023.
Red Dead Redemption 2is available now for PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One.
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