Image: The Game Awards
Baldur’s Gate 3 and Tears of the Kingdom lead the nominations in a very competitive year for The Game Awards.
The Game Awards 2023 has officially made its nominations public, celebrating the best games and creators in the games industry this year. Alan Wake 2 and Baldur’s Gate 3 lead the nominations with eight nods each, including in the highly-coveted Game of the Year category. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 was the third-most nominated game with seven nods, followed by The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Super Mario Bros. Wonder with five each, and Resident Evil 4 with three in total.
All of the above games were also nominated for the highly-coveted Game of the Year award, which will likely be a nail-bitingly close call given how competitive the category is shaping up to be this year. The newly-introduced Best Adaptation category looks equally competitive, with Castlevania: Nocturne, Gran Turismo, The Last of Us, Twisted Metal and The Super Mario Bros. Movie all picking up nominations. Five Nights at Freddy’s got snubbed for Best Adaptation, however, which is sure to create some healthy discourse online.
Nintendo came out of this year’s Game Awards with the most number of nominations: 15 in total. Sony PlayStation came in second at 13, Xbox at 10 and Epic Games at nine. In Epic’s case, most of its nominations were attributed to Alan Wake 2. On the esports side of things, EVO 2023, the 2023 League of Legends World Championship, VALORANT Champions 2023, Blast.tv Paris Major 2023 and The International Dota 2 Championships 2023 were all nominated for Best Esports Event.
The Game Awards 2023 will stream live on December 7, 2023, revealing the winners of each category while also delivering announcements and previews from all manner of upcoming games like usual. As far as snubs go, it’s interesting that Starfield and Final Fantasy 16 missed out on Game of the Year nominations - with the former only getting one nomination in total.
Here’s the full list of nominees:
Game of the Year
- Alan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing)
- Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
- Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games/SIE)
- Resident Evil 4 (Capcom)
- Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
- The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
Best Game Direction
- Alan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing)
- Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
- Marvel’s Spider-Man 2(Insomniac Games/SIE)
- Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
- The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
Best Adaptation
- Castlevania: Nocturne (Powerhouse Animation/Netflix)
- Gran Turismo (PlayStation Productions/Sony Pictures)
- The Last of Us (PlayStation Productions/HBO)
- The Super Mario Bros. Movie (Illumination/Nintendo/Universal Pictures)
- Twisted Metal (PlayStation Productions/Peacock)
Best Narrative
- Alan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing)
- Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
- Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty (CD Projekt Red)
- Final Fantasy XVI (Square Enix)
- Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games/SIE)
Best Art Direction
- Alan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing)
- Hi-Fi Rush (Tango Gameworks/Bethesda Softworks)
- Lies of P (Round8 Studio/Neowiz Games)
- Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
- The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
Best Score and Music
- Alan Wake 2, Composer Petri Alanko (Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing)
- Baldur’s Gate 3, Composer Borislav Slavov (Larian Studios)
- Final Fantasy XVI, Composer Masayoshi Soken (Square Enix)
- Hi-Fi Rush, Audio Director Shuichi Kobori (Tango Gameworks/Bethesda Softworks)
- The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Composed by Nintendo Sound Team (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
Best Audio Design
- Alan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing)
- Dead Space (Motive Studio/EA)
- Hi-Fi Rush (Tango Gameworks/Bethesda Softworks)
- Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games/SIE)
- Resident Evil 4 (Capcom)
Best Performance
- Ben Starr, Final Fantasy XVI
- Cameron Monaghan, STAR WARS Jedi: Survivor
- Idris Elba, Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty
- Melanie Liburd, Alan Wake 2
- Neil Newbon, Baldur’s Gate 3
- Yuri Lowenthal, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
Innovation in Accessibility
- Diablo IV (Blizzard Entertainment)
- Forza Motorsport (Turn 10 Studios/Xbox Game Studios)
- Hi-Fi Rush (Tango Gameworks/Bethesda Softworks)
- Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games/SIE)
- Mortal Kombat 1 (NetherRealm Studios/WB Games)
- Street Fighter 6 (Capcom)
Games for Impact
- A Space for the Unbound (Mojiken Studio/Toge Productions/Chorus)
- Chants of Sennaar (Rundisc/Focus Entertainment)
- Goodbye Volcano High (KO_OP)
- Tchia (Awaceb/Kepler Interactive)
- Terra Nil (Free Lives/Devolver Digital/Netflix)
- Venba (Visai Games)
Best Ongoing Game
- Apex Legends (Respawn Entertainment/EA)
- Cyberpunk 2077 (CD Projekt Red)
- Final Fantasy XIV (Square Enix)
- Fortnite (Epic Games)
- Genshin Impact (HoYoverse)
Best Community Support
- Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
- Cyberpunk 2077 (CD Projekt Red)
- Destiny 2 (Bungie)
- Final Fantasy XIV (Square Enix)
- No Man’s Sky (Hello Games)
Best Independent Game
- Cocoon (Geometric Interactive/Annapurna Interactive)
- Dave the Diver (MINTROCKET)
- Dredge (Black Salt Games/Team 17)
- Sea of Stars (Sabotage Studio)
- Viewfinder (Sad Owl Studios/Thunderful Publishing)
Best Debut Indie Game
- Cocoon (Geometric Interactive/Annapurna Interactive)
- Dredge (Black Salt Games/Team 17)
- Pizza Tower (Tour de Pizza)
- Venba (Visai Games)
- Viewfinder (Sad Owl Studios/Thunderful Publishing)
Best Mobile Game
- Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis (Applibot/Square Enix)
- Honkai: Star Rail (HoYoverse)
- Hello Kitty Island Adventure (Sunblink Entertainment)
- Monster Hunter Now (Niantic/Capcom)
- Terra Nil (Free Lives/Devolver/Netflix)
Best VR/AR Game
- Gran Turismo 7 (Polyphony Digital/SIE)
- Humanity (tha LTD/Enhance Games)
- Horizon Call of the Mountain (Guerrilla Games/Firesprite/SIE)
- Resident Evil Village VR Mode (Capcom)
- Synapse (nDreams)
Best Action Game
- Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco)
- Dead Island 2 (Dambuster Studios/Deep Silver)
- Ghostrunner 2 (One More Level/505 Games)
- Hi-Fi Rush (Tango Gameworks/Bethesda Softworks)
- Remnant 2 (Gunfire Games/Gearbox Publishing)
Best Action/Adventure Game
- Alan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing)
- Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games/SIE)
- Resident Evil 4 (Capcom)
- Star Wars Jedi: Survivor (Respawn Entertainment/EA)
- The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
Best RPG
- Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
- Final Fantasy XVI (Square Enix)
- Lies of P (Round8 Studio/Neowiz Games)
- Sea of Stars (Sabotage Studio)
- Starfield (Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda Softworks)
Best Fighting Game
- God of Rock (Modus Studios Brazil/Modus Games)
- Mortal Kombat 1 (NetherRealm Studios/WB Games)
- Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 (Ludosity/Fair Play Labs/GameMill Entertainment)
- Pocket Bravery (Statera Studio/PQube)
- Street Fighter 6 (Capcom)
Best Family Game
- Disney Illusion Island (Dlala Studios/Disney)
- Party Animals (Recreate Games)
- Pikmin 4 (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
- Sonic Superstars (Arzest/Sonic Team/Sega)
- Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
Best Sim/Strategy Game
- Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp (WayForward/Nintendo)
- Cities: Skylines II (Colossal Order/Paradox Interactive)
- Company of Heroes 3 (Relic Entertainment/Sega)
- Fire Emblem Engage (Intelligent Systems/Nintendo)
- Pikmin 4 (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
Best Sports/Racing
- EA Sports FC 24 (EA Vancouver/EA Romania/EA Sports)
- F1 23 (Codemasters/EA Sports)
- Forza Motorsport (Turn 10 Studios/Xbox Game Studios)
- Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged (Milestone)
- The Crew Motorfest (Ubisoft Ivory Tower/Ubisoft)
Best Multiplayer Presented by Discord
- Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
- Diablo IV (Blizzard Entertainment)
- Party Animals (Recreate Games)
- Street Fighter 6 (Capcom)
- Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
Most Anticipated Game
- Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (Square Enix)
- Hades II (Supergiant Games)
- Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth (Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio/Sega)
- Star Wars Outlaws (Massive Entertainment/Ubisoft)
- Tekken 8 (Bandai Namco/Arika)
Content Creator of the Year
- IronMouse
- PeopleMakeGames
- Quackity
- Spreen
- SypherPK
Best Esports Game
- Counter-Strike 2 (Valve)
- Dota 2 (Valve)
- League of Legends (Riot Games)
- PUBG Mobile (LightSpeed Studios/Tencent Games)
- Valorant (Riot Games)
Best Esports Athlete
- Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok (League of Legends)
- Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut (CS:GO)
- Max “Demon1” Mazanov (Valorant)
- Paco “HyDra” Rusiewiez (Call of Duty)
- Park “Ruler” Jae-hyuk (League of Legends)
- Phillip ”ImperialHal” Dosen (Apex Legends)
Best Esports Team
- Evil Geniuses (Valorant)
- Fnatic (Valorant)
- Gaimin Gladiators (Dota 2)
- JD Gaming (League of Legends)
- Team Vitality (Counter-Strike)
Best Esports Coach
- Christine “potter” Chi (Evil Geniuses – Valorant)
- Danny “zonic” Sorensen (Team Falcons – Counter-Strike)
- Jordan “Gunba” Graham (Florida Mayhem – Overwatch)
- Remy “XTQZZZ” Quoniam (Team Vitality – Counter-Strike)
- Yoon “Homme” Sung-young (JD Gaming – League of Legends)
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