The Game Awards 2023 Nominees Announced: Baldur’s Gate 3, Alan Wake 2 Lead the Pack

The Game Awards 2023 nominations are now out in the wild. Two of the biggest titles this year, Baldur’s Gate 3 and the more recent Alan Wake II lead the pack with a whopping eight nods each, including Game of the Year. Despite being considered one of the best years for gaming, the show host and organiser Geoff Keighley is sticking to his rule of including only six names for the prestigious award. The remaining GOTY contenders include Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, Super Mario Bros. Wonder, Resident Evil 4 remake, and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. The latter two were big hits during the first half of the year, with Zelda players showing off their mechanical creations in the lands of Hyrule, while the RE4 PC players messed around with sultry mods.

HBO’s The Last of Us series was a no-brainer inclusion in the Best Adaptation category, thanks to a very faithful adaptation that focused on the humane aspects of a post-apocalyptic universe, in a way that resonated with both the new TV audience and fans of the original video game. The $1.36 billion (about Rs. 11,321) grossing The Super Mario Bros. Movie also competes in that field, alongside the Twisted Metal Peacock show, Netflix’s Castlevania: Nocturne, and the David Harbour-led Gran Turismo movie. Now that the actors’ strike is over, the performers will also be present at The Game Awards show, with my personal favourite Neil Newbon earning a Best Performance nod for his portrayal of Astarion the Vampire Spawn in Baldur’s Gate 3. We’ve also got Cameron Monaghan for Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, Ben Starr for Final Fantasy XVI, and Idris Elba for Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty amongst others.

Baldur’s Gate 3 Review

It’s odd that Cyberpunk 2077 got nominated as the Best Ongoing Game, considering Phantom Liberty was simply post-launch expansion content and not a live-service experience. Over a 100 different games are spread across the list for The Game Awards 2023, with Nintendo emerging as the most-nominated publisher this year with 15 nominations.

As usual, the event will play host to countless game reveals and trailers, live musical performances, and its dedicated on-stage orchestra conducted by returning composer Lorne Balfe. The winners will be announced on December 7 (December 8 in India, running from 6am to 9:30am IST), live from the Peacock Theatre in Los Angeles. It will be available to stream across YouTube, Twitch, Twitter, Facebook Live, Instagram Live, and Kick. Fans can cast their votes until D-day through the official TGA website.

With that, here’s the full list of nominees for The Game Awards 2023:

Game of the Year

Alan Wake II (Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing)
Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games/SIE)
Resident Evil 4 remake (Capcom)
Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)

Best Game Direction

Alan Wake II
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 II
Baldur’s Gate 3
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty (CD Projekt Red)
Final Fantasy XVI (Square Enix)
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2

Best Art Direction

Alan Wake 2
Hi-Fi Rush (Tango Gameworks/Bethesda Softworks)
Lies of P (Round8 Studio/Neowiz Games)
Super Mario Bros. Wonder
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Best Score and Music

Petri Alanko, Alan Wake 2
Borislav Slavov, Baldur’s Gate 3
Masayoshi Soken, Final Fantasy XVI
Shuichi Kobori, Hi-Fi Rush
Nintendo Sound Team, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

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)

Best Audio Design

Alan Wake 2
Dead Space (Motive Studio/EA)
Hi-Fi Rush
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
Resident Evil 4

Resident Evil 4 Review

Best Performance

Ben Starr, Final Fantasy XVI
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 IV (Blizzard Entertainment)
Forza Motorsport (Turn 10 Studios/Xbox Game Studios)
Hi-Fi Rush
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
Mortal Kombat 1 (NetherRealm Studios/WB Games)
Street Fighter 6 (Capcom)

Best Ongoing Game

Apex Legends (Respawn Entertainment/EA)
Cyberpunk 2077
Final Fantasy XIV
Fortnite (Epic Games)
Genshin Impact (HoYoverse)

Games for Impact

A Space for the Unbound (Mojiken Studio/Toge Productions/Chorus)
Chants of Sennaar (Rundisc/Focus Entertainment)
Goodbye Volcano High (KO_OP)
Tchia (Awaceb/Kepler Interactive)
Terra Nil (Free Lives/Devolver Digital/Netflix)
Venba (Visai Games)

Best Community Support

Baldur’s Gate 3
Cyberpunk 2077
Destiny 2 (Bungie)
Final Fantasy XIV
No Man’s Sky (Hello Games)

Best Independent Game

Cocoon (Geometric Interactive/Annapurna Interactive)
Dave the Diver (MINTROCKET)
Dredge (Black Salt Games/Team 17)
Sea of Stars (Sabotage Studio)
Viewfinder (Sad Owl Studios/Thunderful Publishing)

Best Debut Indie Game

Cocoon
Dredge
Pizza Tower (Tour de Pizza)
Venba
Viewfinder

Best Mobile Game

Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis (Applibot/Square Enix)
Honkai: Star Rail
Hello Kitty Island Adventure (Sunblink Entertainment)
Monster Hunter Now (Niantic/Capcom)
Terra Nil

Best VR/AR Game

Gran Turismo 7 (Polyphony Digital/SIE)
Humanity (tha LTD/Enhance Games)
Horizon Call of the Mountain (Guerrilla Games/Firesprite/SIE)
Resident Evil Village VR Mode (Capcom)
Synapse (nDreams)

Best Action Game

Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco)
Dead Island 2 (Dambuster Studios/Deep Silver)
Ghostrunner 2 (One More Level/505 Games)
Hi-Fi Rush
Remnant 2 (Gunfire Games/Gearbox Publishing)

Best Action/Adventure Game

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 XVI
Lies of P
Sea of Stars
Starfield (Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda Softworks)

Starfield Review

Best Fighting Game

God of Rock (Modus Studios Brazil/Modus Games)
Mortal Kombat 1
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 (Ludosity/Fair Play Labs/GameMill Entertainment)
Pocket Bravery (Statera Studio/PQube)
Street Fighter 6

Best Family Game

Disney Illusion Island (Dlala Studios/Disney)
Party Animals (Recreate Games)
Pikmin 4 (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
Sonic Superstars (Arzest/Sonic Team/Sega)
Super Mario Bros. Wonder

Best Sim/Strategy Game

Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp (WayForward/Nintendo)
Cities: Skylines II (Colossal Order/Paradox Interactive)
Company of Heroes 3 (Relic Entertainment/Sega)
Fire Emblem Engage (Intelligent Systems/Nintendo)
Pikmin 4

Best Sports/Racing

EA Sports FC 24 (EA Vancouver/EA Romania/EA Sports)
F1 23 (Codemasters/EA Sports)
Forza Motorsport
Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged (Milestone)
The Crew Motorfest (Ubisoft Ivory Tower/Ubisoft)

Best Multiplayer

Baldur’s Gate 3
Diablo IV
Party Animals
Street Fighter 6
Super Mario Bros. Wonder

Most Anticipated Game

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (Square Enix)
Hades II (Supergiant Games)
Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth (Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio/Sega)
Star Wars Outlaws (Massive Entertainment/Ubisoft)
Tekken 8 (Bandai Namco/Arika)

Content Creator of the Year

IronMouse
PeopleMakeGames
Quackity
Spreen
SypherPK

Best Esports Game

Counter-Strike 2 (Valve)
Dota 2 (Valve)
League of Legends (Riot Games)
PUBG Mobile (LightSpeed Studios/Tencent Games)
Valorant (Riot Games)

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

---