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Geoff Keighley, host and creator of the annual Game Awards, has announced the nominees for the 2021 Game Awards, which will broadcast live from Los Angeles on December 9.
The six games nominated for Game of the Year include Deathloop, Psychonauts 2, It Takes Two, Resident Evil: Village, Metroid Dread, and Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart.
Arkane Studios’ Deathloop leads all games with 9 nominations, including Game of the Year and Best Game Direction. It Takes Two from Electronic Arts and Hazelight is tied for second-most at five nominations with Double Fine’s Psychonauts 2.
The 14 combined noms for Deathloop and Psychonauts are a major factor in Xbox/Bethesda leading all other publishers with 20 nominations at this year’s show. Sony Interactive Entertainment is second with 11 nominations, while Square Enix and EA are tied for third with 10 each.
The 2021 Game Awards kicks off Thursday, December 9 at 4 PM Pacific Time / 7 PM Eastern Time. Host Geoff Keighley has already teased 40-50 world premiere game announcements to go along with the awards presentations.
The full list of nominees for The Game Awards 2021 is below:
Game of the Year
Deathloop (Arkane Studios/Bethesda)It Takes Two (Hazelight Studios/EA)Metroid Dread (Mercury Steam/Nintendo)Psychonauts 2 (Double Fine/Xbox Game Studios)Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (Insomniac Games/SIE)Resident Evil Village (Capcom)
Best Game Direction
Deathloop (Arkane Studios/Bethesda)It Takes Two (Hazelight Studios/EA)Returnal (Housemarque/SIE)Psychonauts 2 (Double Fine/Xbox Game Studios)Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (Insomniac Games/SIE)
Best Ongoing
Apex Legends (Respawn/EA)Call of Duty: Warzone (Infinity Ward/Raven/Activision)Final Fantasy XIV Online (Square Enix)Fortnite (Epic Games)Genshin Impact (MiHoYo)
Best Indie
12 Minutes (Luis Antonio/Annapurna Interactive)Death’s Door (Acid Nerve/Devolver Digital)Kena: Bridge of Spirits (Ember Lab)Inscryption (Daniel Mullins Games/Devolver Digital)Loop Hero (Four Quarters/Devolver Digital)
Best Debut Indie
Kena: Bridge of Spirits (Ember Lab)Sable (Shedworks/Raw Fury)The Artful Escape (Beethoven & Dinosaur/Annapurna)The Forgotten City (Modern Storyteller/Dear Villagers)Valheim (Iron Gate/Coffee Stain)
Best Narrative
Deathloop (Arkane Studios/Bethesda)It Takes Two (Hazelight Studios/EA)Life is Strange: True Colors (Deck Nine/SQUARE ENIX)Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy (Eidos Montreal/SQUARE ENIX)Psychonauts 2 (Double Fine/Xbox Game Studios)
Best Art Direction
Deathloop (Arkane Studios/Bethesda)Kena: Bridge of Spirits (Ember Lab)Psychonauts 2 (Double Fine/Xbox Game Studios)Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (Insomniac Games/SIE)The Artful Escape (Beethoven & Dinosaur/Annapurna)
Best Score and Music
Cyberpunk 2077 (Marcin Przybylowicz, Piotr T. Adamczyk, Composers)Deathloop (Tom Salta, Composer)NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139 (Keiichi Okabe, Composer)Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy (Richard Jacques, Composer)The Artful Escape (Johnny Galvatron & Josh Abrahams, Composers)
Best Audio Design
Deathloop (Arkane Studios/Bethesda)Forza Horizon 5 (Playground Games/Xbox Game Studios)Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (Insomniac Games/SIE)Resident Evil Village (Capcom)Returnal (Housemarque/SIE)
Best Performance
Erika Mori as Alex Chen, Life is Strange: True ColorsGiancarlo Esposito as Anton Castillo, Far Cry 6Jason E. Kelley as Colt Vahn, DeathloopMaggie Robertson as Lady Dimitrescu, Resident Evil VillageOzioma Akagha as Julianna Blake, Deathloop
Games for Impact
Before Your Eyes (GoodbyeWorld Games/Skybound Games)Boyfriend Dungeon (Kitfox Games)Chicory (Greg Lobanow, Alexis dean-Jones, Lena Raine, Madeline Berger, A Shell in the Pit/Finji)Life is Strange: True Colors (Deck Nine/SQUARE ENIX)No Longer Home (Humble Grove, Hana Lee, Cel Davison, Adrienne Lombardo, Eli Rainsberry/Fellow Traveler)
Best Community Support
Apex Legends (Respawn/EA)Destiny 2 (Bungie)Final Fantasy XIV Online (Square Enix)Fortnite (Epic Games)No Man’s Sky (Hello Games)
Best Mobile Game
Fantasian (Mistwalker)Genshin Impact (MiHoYo)League of Legends: Wild Rift (Riot Games)Marvel Future Revolution (Netmarble)Pokemon Unite (TiMi Studios/The Pokemon Company)
Best VR/AR
Hitman 3 (IO Interactive)I Expect You To Die 2 (Schell Games)Lone Echo II (Ready at Dawn/Oculus Studios)Resident Evil 4 (Armature Studio/Capcom/Oculus Studios)Sniper Elite VR (Coatsink/Just Add Water/Rebellion Developments)
Best Action
Back 4 Blood (Turtle Rock/WB Games)Chivalry II (Torn Banner Studios/Tripwire Interactive)Deathloop (Arkane Studios/Bethesda)Far Cry 6 (Ubisoft Toronto/Ubisoft)Returnal (Housemarque/SIE)
Best Action/Adventure
Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy (Eidos Montreal/SQUARE ENIX)Metroid Dread (Mercury Steam/Nintendo)Psychonauts 2 (Double Fine/Xbox Game Studios)Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (Insomniac Games/SIE)Resident Evil Village (Capcom)
Best Role Playing
Cyberpunk 2077 (CD Projekt Red)Monster Hunter Rise (Capcom)Scarlet Nexus (Bandai Namco)Shin Megami Tensei V (Atlus/Sega)Tales of Arise (Bandai Namco)
Best Fighting
Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles (CyberConnect2/Sega)Guilty Gear -Strive- (Arc System Works)Melty Blood: Type Lumina (French-Bread/Delightworks)Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl (Ludosity/Fair Play Labs/GameMill)Virtua Fighter 5: Ultimate Showdown (Sega)
Best Family
It Takes Two (Hazelight Studios/EA)Mario Party Superstars (NDcube/Nintendo)New Pokémon Snap (Bandai Namco/The Pokémon Company/Nintendo)Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury (Nintendo)WarioWare: Get It Together! (Intelligent Systems/Nintendo)
Best Sports/Racing
F1 2021 (Codemasters/EA Sports)FIFA 22 (EA Vancouver/EA Sports)Forza Horizon 5 (Playground Games/Xbox Game Studios)Hot Wheels Unleashed (Milestone)Riders Republic (Ubisoft Annecy/Ubisoft)
Best Sim/Strategy
Age of Empires IV (Relic Entertainment/Xbox Game Studios)Evil Genius 2: World Domination (Rebellion Developments)Humankind (Amplitude Studios/Sega)Inscryption (Daniel Mullins Games/Devolver)Microsoft Flight Simulator (Asobo Studio/Xbox Game Studios)
Best Multiplayer
Back 4 Blood (Turtle Rock/WB Games)It Takes Two (Hazelight Studios/EA)Knockout City (Velan Studios/EA)Monster Hunter Rise (Capcom)New World (Amazon Games)Valheim (Iron Gate Studio/Coffee Stain)
Most Anticipated Game
Elden Ring (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco)God of War Ragnarök (Sony Santa Monica/SIE)Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games/SIE)Sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo)Starfield (Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda)
Innovation in Accessibility, Presented by Chevrolet
Far Cry 6 (Ubisoft Toronto/Ubisoft)Forza Horizon 5 (Playground Games/Xbox Game Studios)Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy (Eidos Montreal/SQUARE ENIX)Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (Insomniac Games/SIE)The Vale: Shadow of the Crown (Creative Bytes Studios/Falling Squirrel)
Content Creator of the Year
DreamFuslieGaulesIbaiTheGrefg
Best Esports Game
Call of Duty (Activision)CS:GO (Valve)DOTA2 (Valve)League of Legends (Riot Games)Valorant (Riot Games)
Best Esports Athlete
Chris “Simp” LehrHeo “ShowMaker” SuMagomed “Collapse” KhalilovOleksandr “s1mple” KostylievTyson “TenZ” Ngo
Best Esports Team
Atlanta FaZe (COD)DWG KIA (LOL)Natus Vincere (CS:GO)Sentinels (Valorant)Team Spirit (DOTA2)
Best Esports Coach
Airat “Silent” GazievAndrey “ENGH” SholokhovAndrii “B1ad3” HorodenskyiJames “Crowder” CrowderKim “kkOma” Jeong-gyun
Best Esports Event
2021 League of Legends World ChampionshipPGL Major Stockholm 2021PUBG Mobile Global Championship 2020The International 2021Valorant Champions Tour: Stage 2 Masters
