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Nominees for the annual Game Awards have been announced, and unsurprisingly, the 2022 pack is led by heavyweight blockbusters God of War Ragnarok at 10 nominations, while Elden Ring and Horizon Forbidden West have 7 nominations each.
In a big surprise, Stray has the third-largest number of nominations for a single game, with this indie title having earned 6 nominations in total. Overall, Sony has games with a combined total of 20 nominations, Annapurna Interactive and Nintendo share second place with 11 nominations each, and Bandai Namco’s games have an impressive 8 nominations across the 30 award categories.
The Game Awards will once again be hosted by Geoff Keighley, and like previous shows, it will feature more than just the titular awards. The event has become a showcase for game reveals, with each award category usually bookended by new games making their debut and updates on highly anticipated titles before they release. The return of Crash Bandicoot has been teased for the 2022 Game Awards, and the show launched its own Discord server ahead of the main event.
GAME OF THE YEAR
A Plague Tale: Requiem (Asobo Studio/Focus Entertainment)Elden Ring (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco)God of War Ragnarök (Sony Santa Monica/SIE)Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games/SIE)Stray (BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna)Xenoblade Chronicles 3 (Monolith Soft/Nintendo)
BEST GAME DIRECTION
Elden Ring (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco)God of War Ragnarök (Sony Santa Monica/SIE)Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games/SIE)Immortality (Half Mermaid)Stray (BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna)
BEST NARRATIVE
A Plague Tale: Requiem (Asobo Studio/Focus Entertainment)Elden Ring (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco)God of War Ragnarök (Sony Santa Monica/SIE)Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games/SIE)Immortality (Half Mermaid)
BEST ART DIRECTION
Elden Ring (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco)God of War Ragnarök (Sony Santa Monica/SIE)Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games/SIE)Scorn (Ebb Software/Kepler Interactive)Stray (BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna)
BEST SCORE AND MUSIC
Olivier Deriviere, A Plague Tale: RequiemTsukasa Saitoh, Elden RingBear McCreary, God of War RagnarökTwo Feathers, Metal: HellsingerYasunori Mitsuda, Xenoblade Chronicles 3
BEST AUDIO DESIGN
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (Infinity Ward/Activision)Elden Ring (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco)God of War Ragnarök (Sony Santa Monica/SIE)Gran Turismo 7 (Polyphony/SIE)Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games/SIE)
BEST PERFORMANCE
Ashly Burch, Horizon Forbidden WestCharlotte McBurney, A Plague Tale: RequiemChristopher Judge, God of War RagnarökManon Gage, ImmortalitySunny Suljic, God of War Ragnarök
GAMES FOR IMPACT
A Memoir Blue (Cloisters Interactive/Annapurna)As Dusk Falls (Interior Night/Xbox Game Studios)Citizen Sleeper (Jump Over The Age/Fellow Traveller)Endling – Extinction is Forever (Herobeat Studios/HandyGames)Hindsight (Team Hindsight/Annapurna)I Was a Teenage Exocolonist (Northway Games/Finji)
BEST ONGOING GAME
Apex Legends (Respawn/EA)Destiny 2 (Bungie)FINAL FANTASY XIV (Square Enix)Fortnite (Epic Games)Genshin Impact (HoYoverse)
BEST INDIE
Cult of the Lamb (Massive Monster / Devolver Digital)Neon White (Angel Matrix/Annapurna)Sifu (Sloclap)Stray (BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna)TUNIC (TUNIC Team/Finji)
BEST DEBUT INDIE
Neon White (Angel Matrix/Annapurna Interactive)NORCO (Geography of Robots/Raw Fury)Stray (BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna)TUNIC (TUNIC Team/Finji)Vampire Survivors (poncle)
BEST COMMUNITY SUPPORT
Apex Legends (Respawn/EA)Destiny 2 (Bungie)FINAL FANTASY XIV (Square Enix)Fortnite (Epic Games)No Man’s Sky (Hello Games)
BEST MOBILE
Apex Legends Mobile (Lightspeed & Quantum/Respawn/EA)Diablo Immortal (Blizzard/NetEase)Genshin Impact (HoYovese)MARVEL SNAP (Second Dinner Studios/Nuverse)Tower of Fantasy (Hotta Studio/Perfect World/Level Infinite)
BEST VR/AR
After the Fall (Vertigo Games)Among Us VR (Schell Games/InnerSloth)BONELAB (Stress Level Zero)Moss: Book II (Polyarc)Red Matter 2 (Vertical Robot)
BEST ACTION
Bayonetta 3 (Platinum Games/Nintendo)Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (Infinity Ward/Activision)Neon White (Angel Matrix/Annapurna)Sifu (Sloclap)Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge (Tribute Games/Dotemu)
BEST ACTION/ADVENTURE
A Plague Tale: Requiem (Asobo Studio/Focus Entertainment)God of War Ragnarök (Sony Santa Monica/SIE)Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games/SIE)Stray (BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna)TUNIC (TUNIC Team/Finji)
BEST ROLE PLAYING
Elden Ring (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco)Live a Live (Square Enix/Nintendo)Pokémon Legends: Arceus (Game Freak/Nintendo/TPCI)Triangle Strategy (Artdink/Square Enix)Xenoblade Chronicles 3 (Monolith Soft/Nintendo)
BEST FIGHTING
DNF Duel (Arc System Works/EIGHTING/NEOPLE/NEXON)JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle R (CyberConnect 2 Co. Ltd/Bandai Namco)The King of Fighters XV (SNK/Plaion)MultiVersus (Player First Games/WB Games)Sifu (Sloclap)
BEST FAMILY
Kirby and the Forgotten Land (HAL Laboratory / Nintendo)LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga (Traveller’s Tales/WB Games)Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope (Ubisoft Milan/Paris/Ubisoft)Nintendo Switch Sports (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)Splatoon 3 (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
BEST SIM/STRATEGY
Dune: Spice Wars (Shiro Games/Funcom)Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope (Ubisoft Milan/Paris/Ubisoft)Total War: WARHAMMER III (Creative Assembly/Sega)Two Point Campus (Two Point Studios/Sega)Victoria 3 (Paradox Development Studio/Paradox Interactive)
BEST SPORTS/RACING
F1 22 (Codemasters/EA Sports)FIFA 23 (EA Vancouver/Romania/EA Sports)NBA 2K23 (Visual Concepts/2K Sports)Gran Turismo 7 (Polyphony Digital/SIE)OlliOlli World (Roll 7/Private Division)
BEST MULTIPLAYER
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (Infinity Ward/Activision)MultiVersus (Player First Games/WB Games)Overwatch 2 (Blizzard)Splatoon 3 (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge (Tribute Games/Dotemu)
MOST ANTICIPATED
FINAL FANTASY XVI (Square Enix)Hogwarts Legacy (Avalanche Software/WB Games)Resident Evil 4 (Capcom)Starfield (Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda)The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
CONTENT CREATOR OF THE YEAR
Karl JacobsLudwigNibellionNobruQTCinderella
BEST ADAPTATION
Arcane: League of Legends (Fortiche/Riot Games/Netflix)Cyberpunk: Edgerunners (Studio Trigger/CD Projekt, Netflix)The Cuphead Show! (Studio MDHR/King Features Syndicate/Netflix)Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Sega Sammy Group/Paramount Pictures)Uncharted (PlayStation Productions/Sony Pictures)
INNOVATION IN ACCESSIBILITY
As Dusk Falls (Interior Night/Xbox Game Studios)God of War Ragnarök (Sony Santa Monica/SIE)Return to Monkey Island (Terrible Toybox/Devolver Digital)The Last Of Us Part I (Naughty Dog/SIE)The Quarry (Supermassive Games/2K)
BEST ESPORTS GAME
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (Valve)DOTA 2 (Valve)League of Legends (Riot Games)Rocket League (Psyonix)VALORANT (Riot Games)
BEST ESPORTS ATHLETE
Jeong “Chovy” Ji-hoon (Gen.G, LOL)Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok (T1, LOL)Finn “karrigan” Andersen ( (FaZe Clan – CS:GO)Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev (Natus Vincere, CS:GO)Jacob “Yay” Whiteaker (Cloud9, Valorant)
BEST ESPORTS TEAM
DarkZero Esports (Apex Legends)FaZe Clan (CS:GO)Gen.G (League of Legends)LA Thieves (Call of Duty)LOUD (Valorant)
BEST ESPORTS COACH
Andrii “B1ad3” Horodenskyi (Natus Vincere, CS:GO)Matheus “bzkA” Tarasconi (LOUD, VALORANT)Erik “d00mbr0s” Sandgren (FPX, VALORANT)Robert “RobbaN” Dahlström (FaZe Clan, CS:GO)Go “Score” Dong-bin (Gen.G, LOL)
BEST ESPORTS EVENT
EVO 20222022 League of Legends World ChampionshipPGL Major Antwerp 2022The 2022 Mid-Season InvitationalVALORANT Champions 2022
The Game Awards 2022 will take place on December 8, live from Los Angeles, and will feature a new category for best adaptation. Last year saw games such as It Takes Two take top honors, while game reveals for Monolith’s Wonder Woman, Alan Wake 2, and the first-ever gameplay for Hellblade 2: Senua’s Saga were shown off.
The judging includes input from outlets all over the world, including GameSpot and Giant Bomb on the jury.
The Game Awards 2021 Nominees: Game Of The Year And More
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