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 2Baldur’s Gate 3Marvel’s Spider-Man 2Resident Evil 4Super Mario Bros. WonderThe 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 2Baldur’s Gate 3Marvel’s Spider-Man 2Super Mario Bros. WonderThe Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Best Narrative
Alan Wake 2Baldur’s Gate 3Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom LibertyFinal Fantasy 16Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
Best Art Direction
Alan Wake 2Hi-Fi RushLies of PSuper Mario Bros. WonderThe 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 2Dead SpaceHi-Fi RushMarvel’s Spider-Man 2Resident 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 4Forza MotorsportHi-Fi RushMarvel’s Spider-Man 2Mortal Kombat 1Street Fighter 6
Games For Impact
A Space For The UnboundChants of SennaarGoodbye Volcano HighTchiaTerra NilVenba
Best Ongoing
Apex LegendsCyberpunk 2077Final Fantasy 16FortniteGenshin Impact
Best Community Support
Baldur’s Gate 3Cyberpunk 2077Destiny 2Final Fantasy 16No Man’s Sky
Best Independent Game
CocoonDave The DiverDredgeSea of StarsViewfinder
Best Debut Indie Game
CocoonDredgePizza TowerVenbaViewfinder
Best Mobile Game
Final Fantasy 7: Ever CrisisHello Kitty Island AdventureHonkai: Star RailMonster Hunter NowTerra Nil
Best VR/AR
Gran Turismo 7Horizon Call of The MountainHumanityResident Evil Village VR modeSynapse
Best Action Game
Armored Core 6: Fires of RubiconDead Island 2Ghostrunner 2Hi-Fi RushRemnant 2
Best Action/Adventure
Alan Wake 2Marvel’s Spider-Man 2Resident Evil 4Star Wars Jedi: SurvivorThe Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Best RPG
Baldur’s Gate 3Final Fantasy 16Lies of PSea of StarsStarfield
Best Fighting
God of RockMortal Kombat 1Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2Pocket BraveryStreet Fighter 6
Best Family
Disney Illusion IslandParty AnimalsPikmin 4Sonic SuperstarsSuper Mario Bros. Wonder
Best Sim/Strategy
Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot CampCities: Skylines 2Company of Heroes 3Fire Emblem EngagePikmin 4
Best Sports/Racing
EA Sports FC 24F1 23Forza MotorsportHot Wheels Unleashed 2: TurbochargedThe Crew Motorfest
Best Multiplayer
Baldur’s Gate 3Diablo 4Party AnimalsStreet Fighter 6Super 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 RebirthHades 2Like A Dragon: Infinite WealthStar Wars OutlawsTekken 8
Content Creator of the Year
IronmousePeopleMakeGamesQuackitySpreenSypherPK
Best Esports Game
Counter-Strike 2DOTA 2League of LegendsPUBG MobileValorant
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 ChampionshipBlast.TV Paris Major 2023EVO 2023The International DOTA 2 Championships 2023Valorant Champions 2023
