Baldur's Gate 3 and Alan Wake 2 lead The Game Awards with 8 nominations each
The nominees for The Game Awards 2023 have been announced and Alan Wake 2 and Baldur's Gate 3 are tied for the most nominations, with eight each from 31 total categories. They're both up for the main Game of the Year award, but are also competing for Best Game Direction, Best Narrative, Best Score and Music, among others.
Right behind them in award-winning potential is Spider-Man 2 with seven nominations. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Super Mario Bros Wonder, and Hi-Fi Rush are all up for five awards each, while Cyberpunk 2077 and Final Fantasy 16 are each up for four. Triple-nominees Resident Evil 4 and Street Fighter 6 round out the main multi-nominations pack.
The big contest in any year is of course the main Game of the Year award, with six nominees—all sequels or parts of an established series, interestingly
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
As an enjoyer of RPGs and defender of turn-based combat, it's great to see Baldur's Gate 3 hold its own in every corner this year. Larian's CEO Swen Vincke already left one awards show with an armful of trophies, and this could be yet another.
What sticks out to me is that Starfield is only nominated in a single category: Best RPG, where it has some pretty serious competition, so it's entirely possible that a major Bethesda RPG goes home with nothing this year. It feels like the right amount of recognition, honestly, which isn't something I could have imagined saying at the beginning of this year.
Otherwise, the big categories are dominated by those star performers: Baldur's Gate, Alan Wake, Spider-Man, Zelda, and Mario. It's interesting that Tango Gameworks' surprise release Hi-Fi Rush is getting so many nods. It's a bit disappointing though that there's so much overlap between Best Independent game and Best Debut Indie though: Cocoon, Dredge, and Viewfinder are all nominated in both categories.
The Games Awards 2023 will premiere on Thursday, December 7 at 4:30 pm Pacific/7:30 pm Eastern on YouTube, Twitch, TikTok and other social media. Voting is now open to the public on The Game Awards website and in its official Discord server (or Bilibili and WeChat for fans in China) until Wednesday, December 6 at 6 pm Pacific.
Here is the full list of nominees in each category:
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 16
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 (Composer Petri Alanko)
Baldur's Gate 3 (Composer Borislav Slavov)
Final Fantasy 16 (Composer Masayoshi Soken)
Hi-Fi Rush (Audio Director Shuichi Kobori)
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Composed by 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 16)
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 4
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 16
Fortnite
Genshin Impact
Best Community Support
Baldur's Gate 3
Cyberpunk 2077
Destiny 2
Final Fantasy 16
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 7: 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 6: Fires 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 16
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 2
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 4
Party Animals
Street Fighter 6
Super Mario Bros. Wonder
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)
Most Anticipated Game
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
Hades 2
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 (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