The 2021 Game Awards nominations for all categories (including Game of the Year) include Metroid Dread and It Takes Two.
Applications for The Game Awards 2021The game of the year prize includes Terror Metroid and It takes two, with the full list of nominations revealed ahead of the December 9 awards show. After going digital only last year, the Game Awards 2021 in-person event returns to Los Angeles, California’s Microsoft Theater on December 9, but viewers will still be able to watch online as before.
At the Game Awards 2020, The Last of Us Part II swept through six categories and won the coveted GOTY award, and the PlayStation exclusive became the most award-winning video game in history during last year’s awards season. Other games like Ghost of Tsushima, Underworld, and Animal crossing: new horizons was also recognized at the previous industry celebration of host and organizer Geoff Keighley, but the awards themselves began to trump the true star of the annual show: the game trailers. . Expected titles like that of BioWare Mass effect 4 and Dragon Age 4 has made some high-profile appearances between the winners’ announcements, and this year’s Game Award nominees will likely be significant reveals in the same way.
Geoff Keighley revealed the 2021 Game Awards nominations in a stream Tuesday, and Death loop, It takes two, Terror Metroid, Psychonauts 2, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, and Resident Evil Village are the hopes of the game of the year. The list of games was decided by a media panel, and each release is therefore among the most critically acclaimed titles of the year to be released during the eligible period. The Game of the Year is just one of 30 categories for the 2021 Game Awards, so you can find the full list of nominees below.
The list of games nominated for the Game Awards 2021
Game of the Year
- Death Loop (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)
Better direction of play
- Death Loop (Arkane Studios / Bethesda)
- It takes two (Hazelight Studios / EA)
- Return (Housemarque / SIE)
- Psychonauts 2 (Double Fine / Xbox Game Studios)
- Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (Insomniac Games / SIE)
Best in progress
- 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)
- The Door of Death (Acid Nerve / Digital Devolver)
- Kena: Spirit Bridge (Ember Lab)
- Encryption (Daniel Mullins Games / Devolver Digital)
- Loop Hero (Four Quarters / Devolver Digital)
Best indie debut
- Kena: Spirit Bridge (Ember Lab)
- Sand (Shedworks / Raw Fury)
- The artistic escape (Beethoven & Dinosaur / Annapurna)
- The forgotten city (Modern storyteller / Dear villagers)
- Valheim (iron gate / coffee stain)
Best story
- Death Loop (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 artistic direction
- Death Loop (Arkane Studios / Bethesda)
- Kena: Spirit Bridge (Ember Lab)
- Psychonauts 2 (Double Fine / Xbox Game Studios)
- Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (Insomniac Games / SIE)
- The artistic 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 artistic escape (Johnny Galvatron & Josh Abrahams, composers)
Better audio design
- Death Loop (Arkane Studios / Bethesda)
- Forza Horizon 5 (Playground Games / Xbox Game Studios)
- Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (Insomniac Games / SIE)
- Resident Evil Village (Capcom)
- Return (Housemarque / SIE)
Best performance
- Erika Mori as Alex Chen, Life is Strange: True Colors
- Giancarlo Esposito as Anton Castillo, Far Cry 6
- Jason E. Kelley as Colt Vahn, Deathloop
- Maggie Robertson as Lady Dimitrescu, Resident Evil Village
- Ozioma Akagha as Julianna Blake, Deathloop
Impact games
- Before Your Eyes (Goodbye World Games / Skybound Games)
- Dungeon Boyfriend (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)
Better 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, Presented by Verizon
- Fantasian (Mistwalker)
- Genshin Impact (MiHoYo)
- League of Legends: Wild Rift (Riot Games)
- MARVEL Future Revolution (Netmarble)
- Pokémon Unite (TiMi Studios / The Pokémon Company)
Best VR / AR
- Hitman 3 (Interactive IO)
- I expect you to die 2 (Schell games)
- Lone Echo II (Loan to 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)
- Death Loop (Arkane Studios / Bethesda)
- Far Cry 6 (Ubisoft Toronto / Ubisoft)
- Return (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 game
- Cyberpunk 2077 (Project Red CD)
- Monster Hunter Rise (Capcom)
- Scarlet Nexus (Bandai Namco)
- Shin Megami Tensei V (Atlus / Sega)
- Tales of Arise (Bandai Namco)
Best fight
- Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Chronicles of Hinokami (CyberConnect2 / Sega)
- Guilty Gear -Strength- (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: unite! (Smart systems / Nintendo)
Best sport / race
- 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)
- Humanity (Amplitude Studios / Sega)
- Encryption (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)
The Most Anticipated, brought to you by Prime Gaming
- Ring of Elden (FromSoftware / Bandai Namco)
- God of War Ragnarök (Sony Santa Monica / SIE)
- Horizon forbidden to the west (Guerrilla Games / SIE)
- Sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo)
- Starfield (Bethesda Game Studios / Bethesda)
Innovation in accessibility, brought to you 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
- Dream
- Fuslie
- Gauls
- Ibai
- LeGrefg
Best Esports Game, Presented By Grubhub
- Call of Duty (Activision)
- CS: GO (Valve)
- DOTA2 (Valve)
- League of Legends (Riot Games)
- Valorant (Riot Games)
Best esport athlete
- Chris “Simp” Lehr
- Heo “ShowMaker” Su
- Magomed “Collapse” Khalilov
- Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev
- Tyson “TenZ” Ngo
Best esports team
- Atlanta FaZe (COD)
- DWG KIA (LOL)
- Natus Vincere (CS: GO)
- Sentinels (Valorant)
- Team spirit (DOTA2)
Best sports coach
- Airat “Silent” Gaziev
- Andrey “ENGH” Cholokhov
- Andrii “B1ad3” Horodenskyi
- James “Crowder” Crowder
- Kim “kkOma” Jeong-gyun
Best Esports Event
- 2021 League of Legends World Championship
- PGL Major Stockholm 2021
- PUBG Mobile World Championship 2020
- The International 2021
- Valorant Champions Tour: Stage 2 Masters
In addition to the dozens of games showcased at the Game Awards 2021, viewers will also witness the outcome of an ongoing competition in the gaming industry by the end of the night. A trace Game rewards tweet highlights which publishers are leading the way in terms of nominations so far, and Xbox / Bethesda has so far garnered the most nominations in the first season of Publisher Shared Awards since acquiring Bethesda, with a total of 20. The big winner of The Game Awards 2021, Sony Interactive Entertainment, is second with 11 nominations, followed by EA and Square Enix tied for third place. Despite Xbox’s current lead, it’s unclear which publisher will eventually come out on top in terms of awards won.
Since the Game Awards 2021 eligibility period includes games released and reviewed between November 21, 2020 and November 19, 2021, some major releases like Battlefield 2042 and Infinite halo will not be taken into account until next year’s show. As a result, the Game of the Year 2022 pool will be a tough crowd to stand out between these and titles like Ancient ring and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2. Judges and viewers’ decisions on the GOTY and Player’s Voice awards at the 2021 Game Awards will be relatively easier to make despite the many nominees of the year.
Source: The Game Awards / YouTube, The Game Awards / Twitter (1, 2)
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