The Game Awards 2023: Alan Wake 2, Baldur's Gate 3, and Marvel's Spider-Man 2 Vie for Game of the Year

It's hard to believe, but it's time for me to talk about the nominees for The Game Awards again. Leading the pack are Alan Wake 2 and Baldur's Gate 3 (or Alan Wake II and Baldur's Gate III, if you're fancy) with eight nominations each.

Alan Wake 2 is nominated for Game of the Year, Best Game Direction, Best Narrative, Best Art Direction, Best Score and Music, Best Sound Design, Best Performance (for Melanie Liburd's role as Saga Anderson), and Best Action/Adventure Game.

Baldur's Gate 3's nominations include Game of the Year, Best Game Direction, Best Narrative, Best Score and Music, Best Performance (for Neil Newbon's role as Astarion), Best Community Support, Best RPG, and Best Multiplayer.

Rounding out the podium are Marvel's Spider-Man 2, with seven nominations; Hi-Fi Rush, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, and Super Mario Bros. Wonder, with five each; Cyberpunk 2077 and Final Fantasy 16, with four nominations each; and Resident Evil 4 Remake and Street Fighter 6, with three nominations each.

As far as the most nominated publishers go, Nintendo leads the pack with 15 nominations, PlayStation comes in second place with 13 nominations, Xbox/Activision/Blizzard comes in third place with ten nominations, Epic received nine nominations, Capcom, Larian Studios, and Square Enix all received eight nominations, EA received six nominations, and both CD Projekt Red and Riot Games received four nominations.

The categories and nominations for The Game Awards 2023 are as follows.

Game of the Year

Recognizing a game that delivers the absolute best experience across all creative and technical fields.

• Alan Wake 2

• Baldur's Gate 3

• Marvel's Spider-Man 2

• Resident Evil 4 Remake

• Super Mario Bros. Wonder

• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Best Game Direction

Awarded for outstanding creative vision and innovation in game direction and design.

• 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

For outstanding storytelling and narrative development in a game.

• Alan Wake 2

• Baldur's Gate 3

• Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty

• Final Fantasy 16

• Marvel's Spider-Man 2

Best Art Direction

For outstanding creative and/or technical achievement in artistic design and animation.

• Alan Wake 2

• Hi-Fi Rush

• Lies of P

• Super Mario Bros. Wonder

• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Best Score/Music

For outstanding music, inclusive of score, original song and/or licensed soundtrack.

• Alan Wake 2

• Baldur's Gate 3

• Final Fantasy 16

• Hi-Fi Rush

• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Best Audio Design

Recognizing the best in-game audio and sound design.

• Alan Wake 2

• Dead Space Remake

• Hi-Fi Rush

• Marvel's Spider-Man 2

• Resident Evil 4 Remake

Best Performance

Awarded to an individual for voice-over acting, motion and/or performance capture.

• 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

Games for Impact

For a thought-provoking game with a pro-social meaning or message.

• A Space for the Unbound

• Chants of Sennaar

• Goodbye Volcano High

• Tchia

• Terra Nil

• Venba

Best Ongoing Game

Awarded to a game for outstanding development of ongoing content that evolves the player experience over time.

• Apex Legends

• Cyberpunk 2077

• Final Fantasy 16

• Fortnite

• Genshin Impact

Best Indie Game

For outstanding creative and technical achievement in a game made outside the traditional publisher system.

• Cocoon

• Dave the Diver

• Dredge

• Sea of Stars

• Viewfinder

Best Debut Indie Game

For the best debut game created by a new independent studio.

• Cocoon

• Dredge

• Pizza Tower

• Venba

• Viewfinder

Best Mobile Game

For the best game playable on a mobile device.

• Final Fantasy 7: Ever Crisis

• Honkai: Star Rail

• Hello Kitty Island Adventure

• Monster Hunter Now

• Terra Nil

Best Community Support

Recognizing a game for outstanding community support, transparency and responsiveness, inclusive of social media activity and game updates/patches.

• Baldur's Gate 3

• Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty

• Destiny 2

• Final Fantasy 16

• No Man's Sky

Best VR/AR Game

For the best game experience playable in virtual or augmented reality, irrespective of platform.

• Gran Turismo 7

• Humanity

• Horizon: Call of the Mountain

• Resident Evil Village

• Synapse

Innovation in Accessibility

Recognizing software and/or hardware that is pushing the medium forward by adding features, technology and content to help games be played and enjoyed by an even wider audience.

• Diablo 4

• Forza Motorsport

• Hi-Fi Rush

• Marvel's Spider-Man 2

• Mortal Kombat 1

• Street Fighter 6

Best Action Game

For the best game in the action genre focused primarily on combat.

• Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon

• Dead Island 2

• Ghostrunner 2

• Hi-Fi Rush

• Remnant 2

Best Action/Adventure Game

For the best action/adventure game, combining combat with traversal and puzzle solving.

• 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

For the best game designed with rich player character customization and progression, including massively multiplayer experiences.

• Baldur's Gate 3

• Final Fantasy 16

• Lies of P

• Sea of Stars

• Starfield

Best Fighting Game

For the best game designed primarily around head-to-head combat.

• God of Rock

• Mortal Kombat 1

• Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2

• Pocket Bravery

• Street Fighter 6

Best Family Game

For the best game appropriate for family play, irrespective of genre or platform.

• Disney Illusion Island

• Party Animals

• Pikmin 4

• Sonic Superstars

• Super Mario Bros. Wonder

Best Sports/Racing Game

For the best traditional and non-traditional sports and racing game.

• EA Sports FC 24

• F1 23

• Forza Motorsport

• Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged

• The Crew Motorfest

Best SIM/Strategy Game

Best game focused on real time or turn-based simulation or strategy gameplay, irrespective of platform.

• Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp

• Cities: Skylines 2

• Company of Heroes 3

• Fire Emblem Engage

• Pikmin 4

Best Multiplayer Game

For outstanding online multiplayer gameplay and design, including co-op and massively multiplayer experiences, irrespective of game genre or platform.

• Baldur's Gate 3

• Diablo 4

• Party Animals

• Street Fighter 6

• Super Mario Bros. Wonder

Content Creator of the Year

For a streamer or content creator who has made an important and positive impact on the community in 2021.

• IronMouse

• PeopleMakeGames

• Quackity

• Spreen

• SypherPK

Best Esports Athlete

The esports athlete judged to be the most outstanding for performance and conduct in 2021, irrespective of game.

• Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok

• Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut

• Max “Demon1” Mazanov

• Paco “HyDra” Rusiewiez

• Park “Ruler” Jae-hyuk

• Phillip ”ImperialHal” Dosen

Best Esports Coach

The Esports coach judged to be the most outstanding for performance and conduct in 2021.

• Christine "potter" Chi

• Danny “zonic” Sorensen

• Jordan "Gunba" Graham

• Remy “XTQZZZ” Quoniam

• Yoon "Homme" Sung-young

Best Esports Event

Recognizing an event (across single or multiple days) that delivered a best-of-class experience for participants and the broadcast audience.

• 2023 League of Legends World Championship

• Blast.tv Paris Major 2023

• EVO 2023

• The International Dota 2 Championships 2023

• VALORANT Champions 2023

Best Esports Game

For the game that has delivered the best overall esports experience to players (inclusive of tournaments, community support and content updates), irrespective of genre or platform.

• Counter-Strike 2

• Dota 2

• League of Legends

• PUBG Mobile

• Valorant

Best Esports Team

Recognizing a specific esports team (not the full organization) judged the most outstanding for performance and conduct in 2021.

• Evil Geniuses

• Fnatic

• Gaimin

• JD Gaming

• Team Vitality

Most Anticipated Game

Recognizing an announced game that has demonstrably illustrated potential to push the gaming medium forward.

• Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth

• Hades 2

• Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth

• Star Wars Outlaws

• Tekken 8

Best Adaptation

Celebrating game-inspired projects across entertainment including TV, movies, comics, and more.

• Castlevania: Nocturne

• Gran Turismo

• The Last of Us

• The Super Mario Bros. Movie

• Twisted Metal

The public can now vote for the nominees in each category on The Game Awards website. The Game Awards ceremony will take place on December 7.

At last year's ceremony, Elden Ring won multiple awards, including Game of the Year, while God of War: Ragnarök picked up basically everything else.

While predominantly an awards ceremony, The Game Awards includes many reveal trailers and new game announcements. Last year's ceremony announced the release date of Final Fantasy 16, Death Stranding 2, Hades II, and more.

Who do you want to win? Comment below or discuss it on the following social media platforms: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Bluesky⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Mastodon⁠⁠, ⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Threads⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠X⁠⁠.

Until next time!