The Game Awards Nominees Revealed - Check the List!

Nominees for the 6th Game Awards ceremony have been revealed! The show will take place on the 8th of December in the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, but will also be available via streaming. There’s a total of 31 categories this year, so let’s see which games have made a splash in 2022!

The Big Leagues

Now, we’ve taken the liberty of dividing the 31 categories into three big, well, bigger categories, decided through the extremely sophisticated and complex strategy of looking at the important-sounding names and classic subjective opinions. Here’s the big leagues:

Game of the Year

Recognizing a game that delivers the absolute best experience across all creative and technical fields.

A Plague Tale: Requiem
Elden Ring
God of War Ragnarok
Horizon Forbidden West
Stray
Xenoblade Chronicles 3

Editor’s comment: Interesting to see the new God of War, barely released, make it on this list. I wonder how much time the jury had to play it and form an opinion! Nonetheless, this seems like a pretty solid list of contenders.

Best Game Direction

Awarded for outstanding creative vision and in game direction and design.

Elden Ring
God of War Ragnarok
Horizon Forbidden West
Immortality
Stray

Best Narrative

For outstanding storytelling and narrative development in a game.

A Plague Tale: Requiem
Elden Ring
God of War Ragnarok
Horizon Forbidden West
Immortality

Best Art Direction

For outstanding creative and/or technical achievement in artistic design and animation.

Elden Ring
God of War Ragnarok
Horizon Forbidden West
Scorn
Stray

Best Score and Music

For outstanding music, inclusive of score, original song and/or licensed soundtrack.

A Plague Tale: Requiem
Elden Ring
God of War Ragnarok
Metal: Hellsinger
Xenoblade Chronicles 3

Best Audio Design

Recognizing the best in-game audio and sound design.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II
Elden Ring
God of War Ragnarok
Gran Turismo 7
Horizon Forbidden West

Best Performance

Awarded for an individual for voice-over acting, motion and/or performance capture.

Ashly Burch (Horizon Forbidden West)
Charlotte McBurney (A Plague Tale: Requiem)
Christopher Judge (God of War Ragnarok)
Manon Gage (Immortality)
Sunny Suljic (God of War Ragnarok)

Best Ongoing

Awarded to a game for outstanding development of outgoing content that evolves the player experience over time.

Apex Legends
Destiny 2
Final Fantasy XIV
Fortnite
Genshin Impact

Best Indie

For outstanding creative and technical achievement in a game made outside the traditional publishing system.

Cult of the Lamb
Neon White
Sifu
Stray
Tunic

Best Mobile Game

For the best game playable on a mobile device.

Apex Legends Mobile
Diablo Immortal
Genshin Impact
Marvel Snap
Tower of Fantasy

Editor’s comment: We expected Diablo Immortal to show up on this list, even with all the controversy surrounding its predatory monetization system, but we doubt it’ll take home the prize.

Best Debut Indie

For the best debut game created by a new independent studio.

Neon White
Norco
Stray
Tunic
Vampire Survivors

The Genre Awards

Awards for all the genre categories and a couple more:

Best VR / AR

For the best game experience playable in virtual or augmented reality, irrespective of platform.

After the Fall
Among Us VR
Bonelab
Moss: Book II
Red Matter II

Best Action Game

For the best game in the action genre focused primarily on combat.

Bayonetta 3
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II
Neon White
Sifu
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge

Best Action / Adventure

For the best action/adventure game, combining combat with traversal and puzzle solving.

A Plague Tale: Requiem
God of War Ragnarok
Horizon Forbidden West
Stray
Tunic

Best Role Playing

For the best game designed with rich player character customization and progression, including massively multiplayer experiences.

Elden Ring
Live a Live
Pokemon Legends: Arceus
Triangle Strategy
Xenoblade Chronicles 3

Best Fighting

For the best game designed primarily around head-to-head combat.

DNF Duel
JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle R
The King of Fighters XV
Multiversus
Sifu

Best Family

For the best game appropriate for family play, irrespective of genre or platform.

Kirby and the Forgotten Land
LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga
Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope
Nintendo Switch Sports
Splatoon 3

Best Sim / Strategy

Best game focused on real time or turn-based simulation or strategy gameplay, irrespective of platform.

Dune: Spice Wars
Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope
Total War: Warhammer III
Two Point Campus
Victoria III

Best Sports / Racing

For the best traditional and non-traditional sports and racing game.

F1 22
FIFA 23
NBA 2K23
Gran Turismo 7
Olliolli World

Best Multiplayer

For outstanding multiplayer gameplay and design, including co-op and massively multiplayer experiences, irrespective of game genre or platform.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II
Multiversus
Overwatch 2
Splatoon 3
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge

The Other Stuff

For awards given for more community-centric achievements, among others:

Games for Impact

For a thought-provoking game with a pro-social meaning or message.

A Memoir Blue
As Dusk Falls
Citizen Sleeper
Endling – Extinction is Forever
Hindsight
I Was a Teenage Exocolonist

Best Community Support

Recognizing a game for outstanding community support, transparency and responsiveness, inclusive of social media activity and game updates/patches.

Apex Legends
Destiny 2
Final Fantasy XIV
Fortnite
No Man’s Sky

Innovation in Accessibility

Recognizing software and/or hardware that is pushing the medium forward by adding features, technology and content to help games be played and enjoyed by an even wider audience.

As Dusk Falls
God of War Ragnarok
Return to Monkey Island
The Last of Us Part I
The Quarry

Content Creator of the Year

For a streamer or content creator who has made an important and positive impact on the community in 2022.

Karl Jacobs
Ludwig
Nibellion
Nobru
Qtcinderella

Best Adaptation

Recognizing outstanding creative work that faithfully and authentically adapts a video game to another entertainment medium.

Arcane: League of Legends
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners
The Cuphead Show!
Sonic the Hedgehog 2
Uncharted

Most Anticipated Game

Recognizing an announced game that has demonstrably illustrated potential to push the gaming medium forward.

Final Fantasy XVI
Hogwarts Legacy
Resident Evil 4
Starfield
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Editor’s comment: We’re not sure why this category exists!

Best Esports Game

For the game that has delivered the best overall esports experience to players (inclusive of tournaments, community support and content updates), irrespective of genre or platform.

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
DOTA 2
League of Legends
Rocket League
Valorant

Best Esports Athlete

The esports athlete judged to be the most outstanding for performance and conduct in 2022, irrespective of game.

Jeong “Chovy” Ji-Hoon
Lee “Faker” Sang-Hyeok
Finn “Karrigan” Andersen
Oleksandr “S1mple” Kostyliev
Jacob “Yay” Whiteaker

Best Esports Team

Recognizing a specific esports team (not the full organization) judged the most outstanding for performance and conduct in 2022.

Darkzero Esports (Apex Legends)
Faze Clan (CS: GO)
Gen.g (League of Legends)
La Thieves (Call of Duty)
Loud (Valorant)

Best Esports Coach

The esports coach judged to be the most outstanding for performance and conduct in 2022.

Andrii “B1ad3” Horodenskyi (Natus Vincere, CS: GO)
Matheus “Bzka” Tarasconi (Loud, Valorant)
Erik “Doombros” Sandgren (FPX, Valorant)
Robert “Robban” Dahlstrom (Faze Clan, CS: GO)
Go “Score” Dong-Bin (Gen.g, League of Legends)

Best Esports Event

Recognizing an event (across single or multiple days) that delivered a best-of-class experience for participants and the broadcast audience.

EVO 2022
2022 League of Legends World Championship
PGL Major Antwerp 2022
The 2022 Mid-Season Invitational
Valorant Champions 2022

That’s all the categories and nominees for The Game Awards! We’ll start drafting up our lists of predictions / votes, so stay tuned for our thoughts on all the nominations later this week!

What’s your opinion on the nominations? Let us know in the comments below!