geemu ha hikiwakeke de owatta.

は marks ゲーム as the topic of the sentence.

So the sentence is basically saying:

• As for the game, it ended in a draw.

This does not mean ゲーム is the grammatical subject in the same way English uses subjects. It just sets up the game as the thing being talked about.

A very natural translation is:

• The game ended in a draw.

In this sentence, で shows the state/result/manner in which something ended.

So:

• 引き分けで終わった = ended as a draw / ended in a draw

You can think of it as describing the outcome at the point the game ended.

This use of で often appears with 終わる:

• 成功で終わる = to end in success
• 失敗で終わる = to end in failure
• 引き分けで終わる = to end in a draw

So here, で is not the location marker. It is marking the condition or result.

引き分け is read ひきわけ.

It means a draw or a tie, especially in games, matches, or competitions.

Literally, the word is made from:

• 引き from 引く
• 分け from 分ける

But as a set expression, you should just learn 引き分け as the standard noun meaning draw/tie.

So in this sentence:

• 引き分けで = in a draw / as a draw

終わった is the past form of 終わる, which means to end.

• dictionary form: 終わる
• past plain form: 終わった

Since the sentence is describing a completed event, Japanese uses the past tense:

• ゲームは引き分けで終わった。
• The game ended in a draw.

If you used the non-past form 終わる, it would sound more like a general statement or something that has not happened yet, depending on context.

Here, 終わる is intransitive.

That means it describes something that ends by itself:

• ゲームが終わる = the game ends

The transitive counterpart is 終える:

• 試合を終える = to finish the match

In your sentence, the game is the thing that ended, so 終わる is the correct verb.

Yes, ゲームが引き分けで終わった is possible, but the nuance changes.

• ゲームは引き分けで終わった

  • As for the game, it ended in a draw
  • more topic-based, neutral, common in explanation or narration

• ゲームが引き分けで終わった

  • puts more focus on the game itself as the subject
  • can sound more like identifying which thing ended in a draw

In many contexts, は is the more natural choice if you are simply talking about the game and what happened to it.

Both can often be translated as ended in a draw or became a draw, but the nuance is a little different.

• 引き分けで終わった

  • focuses on how the game ended
  • emphasizes the final outcome at the end

• 引き分けになった

  • focuses on the result becoming a draw
  • often sounds a little more direct about the outcome itself

For example:

• 試合は引き分けで終わった。

  • The match ended in a draw.

• 試合は引き分けになった。

  • The match ended up being a draw.

In many everyday situations, both are natural.

ゲーム is a loanword from English game, so it is normally written in katakana.

Katakana is commonly used for:

• loanwords
• foreign names
• sound effects
• emphasis in some cases

So ゲーム is the standard way to write game in Japanese.

Depending on context, Japanese might also use native words like:

• 試合 for a match or contest
• 競技 for a competition/event

But ゲーム is very common, especially for sports, video games, and casual contexts.

Not in this sentence.

You might expect something like 引き分けだ, but here 引き分け is followed by で, not by だ.

That is because 引き分けで is functioning as a phrase meaning:

• as a draw
• in a draw
• with the result of a draw

So the structure is not:

• 引き分けだ + 終わった

Instead, it is more like:

• 引き分けで + 終わった

This is a normal and natural pattern.

A natural breakdown is:

• ゲームは = as for the game
• 引き分けで = in a draw / as a draw
• 終わった = ended

So the whole sentence means:

• The game ended in a draw.

A slightly more literal understanding would be:

• As for the game, it ended with the result of a draw.

That literal sense can help explain why で is used.