The Game Awards announced its 2021 nominees with Deathloop, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, It Takes Two, and Psychonauts 2 leading nominations. Spotlighting the leading games, studios and creatives from 2020-2021 that propelled the games industry forward, this year’s impressive list of nominees includes 107 different games, individuals, teams and events spanning across a multitude of gaming genres and platforms.
In 2020, The Game Awards saw a record-setting 83 million livestreams, up 84 per cent year-over-year. After taking a fully virtual format last year, The Game Awards will return as a live, in-person ceremony at the Microsoft Theater on Thursday, December 9 2021, including the return of The Game Awards Orchestra, conducted by Lorne Valfe. The Game Awards will once again be distributed as a free global 4K UHD livestream to fans around the world across more than 40 global video, social and gaming platforms. More details on additional musical performances, presenters and the show’s biggest-ever world premiere slate will be announced in the coming weeks.
This year’s Game of the Year nominees are Deathloop (Arkane Studios/Bethesda), It Takes Two (Hazelight Studios/EA), Metroid Dream (Mercury Steam/Nintendo), Psychonauts 2 (Double FIne/Xbox Game Studios), Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (Insomniac Games/SIE), and Resident Evil Village (Capcom).
In the gender-neutral Best Performance category, a diverse group of actors will compete for the industry’s highest honor. The nominees include Giancarlo Esposito of Far Cry 6, Jason E. Kelley and Ozioma Akagha of Deathloop, Erika Mori of Life is Strange: True Colors, and Maggie Robertson of Resident Evil Village.
This year, the newly combined Xbox Game Studios and Bethesda is the most nominated publisher with 20 nominations across its combined portfolio of games, followed by Sony Interactive Entertainment with 11 nominations, and SQUARE ENIX and Electronic Arts with 10 nominations each. The nominees for The Game Awards are selected by a global jury of more than 100 media publications and influencer outlets.
Following the nomination announcement, fans will be able to help choose the winners in all categories via authenticated online voting at the official site. In China, fans can vote for their favorites on Bilibili. Additionally, fans will determine the “Best Esports Team” category via The Game Awards’ Twitter DMs and share the vote to their timelines, as well as vote via The Game Awards Discord server.
The Game Awards is executive produced by Geoff Keighley and Kimmie Kim. LeRoy Bennett is creative director, and Richard Preuss is director.
NOMINEES
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 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
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, Presented by Verizon
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, Presented by Prime Gaming
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
Dream
Fuslie
Gaules
Ibai
TheGrefg
Best Esports Game, Presented by Grubhub
Call of Duty (Activision)
CS:GO (Valve)
DOTA2 (Valve)
League of Legends (Riot Games)
Valorant (Riot Games)
Best Esports 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 Esports Coach
Airat “Silent” Gaziev
Andrey “ENGH” Sholokhov
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 Global Championship 2020
The International 2021
Valorant Champions Tour: Stage 2 Masters