The Game Awards Announce Nominees, Voting Open Until December 6
The year is wrapping up quickly and with the Golden Joysticks Awards merely two days gone, the next awards ceremony is already on the horizon. Geoff Keighley’s The Game Awards announced the nominees for the 31 fan-voted categories today. Unsurprisingly, Larian Studio’s Baldur’s Gate 3 is again a hot contender with eight nominations by itself. With equal chances for glory comes the recently released horror sequel Alan Wake II from Remedy. Both Ben Starr and Masayoshi Soken are nominated for their work on Final Fantasy XVI, with Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis, and Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth and Final Fantasy XIV getting nominations as well.
Following are some of the categories and their nominations. You can find a full list and start voting on them right now until December 6 at 6pm PST right here.
Game of the Year
- Alan Wake 2
- Baldur’s Gate 3
- Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
- Resident Evil 4
- Super Mario Bros. Wonder
- The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Best Game Direction
- Alan Wake 2
- Baldur’s Gate 3
- Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
- Super Mario Bros. Wonder
- The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Best Narrative
- Alan Wake 2
- Baldur’s Gate 3
- Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty
- Final Fantasy XVI
- Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
Best Art Direction
- Alan Wake 2
- Hi-Fi Rush
- Lies of P
- Super Mario Bros. Wonder
- The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Best Score and Music
- Alan Wake 2 (Petri Alanko)
- Baldur’s Gate 3 (Borislav Slavov)
- Final Fantasy XVI (Masayoshi Soken)
- Hi-Fi Rush (Shuichi Kobori)
- The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo Sound Team)
Best Audio Design
- Alan Wake 2
- Dead Space
- Hi-Fi Rush
- Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
- Resident Evil 4
Best Performance
- Ben Starr (Final Fantasy XVI)
- Cameron Monaghan (Star Wars Jedi: Survivor)
- Melanie Liburd (Alan Wake 2)
- Neil Newbon (Baldur’s Gate 3)
- Yuri Lowenthal (Marvel’s Spider-Man 2)
Innovation in Accessibility
- Diablo IV
- Forza Motorsport
- Hi-Fi Rush
- Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
- Mortal Kombat 1
- Street Fighter 6
Games for Impact
- A Space for the Unbound
- Chants of Sennaar
- Goodbye Volcano High
- Tchia
- Terra Nil
- Venba
Best Ongoing
- Apex Legends
- Cyberpunk 2077
- Final Fantasy XIV
- Fortnite
- Genshin Impact
Best Community Support
- Baldur’s Gate 3
- Cyberpunk 2077
- Destiny 2
- Final Fantasy XIV
- No Man’s Sky
Best Independent Game
- Cocoon
- Dave the Diver
- Dredge
- Sea of Stars
- Viewfinder
Best Debut Indie Game
- Cocoon
- Dredge
- Pizza Tower
- Venba
- Viewfinder
Best Mobile Game
- Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis
- Hello Kitty Island Adventure
- Honkai: Star Rail
- Monster Hunter Now
- Terra Nil
Best VR / AR
- Gran Turismo 7
- Horizon Call of the Mountain
- Humanity
- Resident Evil Village VR Mode
- Synapse
Best Action Game
- Armored Core VI: Fire of Rubicon
- Dead Island 2
- Ghostrunner 2
- Hi-Fi Rush
- Remnant 2
Best Action / Adventure
- Alan Wake 2
- Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
- Resident Evil 4
- Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
- The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Best RPG
- Baldur’s Gate 3
- Final Fantasy XVI
- Lies of P
- Sea of Stars
- Starfield
Best Fighting
- God of Rock
- Mortal Kombat 1
- Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2
- Pocket Bravery
- Street Fighter 6
Best Family
- Disney Illusion Island
- Party Animals
- Pikmin 4
- Sonic Superstars
- Super Mario Bros. Wonder
Best Sim / Strategy
- Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp
- Cities: Skylines II
- Company of Heroes 3
- Fire Emblem Engage
- Pikmin 4
Best Sports / Racing
- EA Sports FC 24
- F1 23
- Forza Motorsport
- Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged
- The Crew Motorfest
Best Multiplayer
- Baldur’s Gate 3
- Diablo IV
- Party Animals
- Street Fighter 6
- Super Mario Bros. Wonder
Best Adaptation
- Castlevania: Nocturne
- Gran Turismo
- The Last of Us
- The Super Mario Bros. Movie
- Twisted Metal
Most Anticipated Game
- Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth
- Hades II
- Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth
- Star Wars Outlaws
- Tekken 8
Content Creator of the Year
- Ironmouse
- PeopleMakeGames
- Quackity
- Spreen
- Sypherpk
Best esports Game
- Counter-Strike 2
- DOTA 2
- League of Legends
- PUBG Mobile
- Valorant
Best esports Athlete
- Lee “Faker” Sang-Hyeok
- Mathieu “Zywoo” Herbaut
- Max “Demon1” Mazanov
- Paco “Hydra” Rusiewiez
- Park “Ruler” Jae-Hyuk
- Phillip “ImperialHal” Dosen
Best esports Team
- Evil Geniuses
- Fnatic
- Gaimin Gladiators
- JD Gaming
- Team Vitality
Best esports Coach
- Christine “Potter” Chi
- Danny “Zonic” Sorensen
- Jordan “Gunba” Graham
- Remy “XTQZZZ” Quoniam
- Yoon “Homme” Sung-Young
Best esports Event
- 2023 League of Legends World Championship
- Blast.tv Paris Major 2023
- EVO 2023
- The International DOTA 2 Championships 2023
- Valorant Champions 2023
Today’s announcement came with its fair share of critique. Recent layoffs of thousands in the industry means that some nominees may win awards, only to be without a job during the award ceremony itself. One of those examples is Destiny 2 which is nominated for the Best Community Team Award after several of their team members were laid off just two weeks ago. Related, a post on X (formerly known as Twitter) from the official Game Awards account advertising the cooperation with a generative AI company has led to backlash from both the gaming community as well as developers, as generative AI is anticipated to lead to even more layoffs in the industry.
Nevertheless, these awards are a testament to the teams’ hard and often under-appreciated work and each and every developer – past and current – deserves their nomination and the honor of being at The Game Awards. We wish all nominated teams the best and look forward to all the announcements, trailers, and surprises Geoff Keighley has in store for us.
All images courtesy of The Game Awards.