The Game Awards 2023 Nominations Are Here, Gamers React

Source: The Game Awards / The Game Awards 2023

Hip-Hop enthusiasts have the XXL Freshman cover, cinephiles have the Academy Awards, music fans have The Grammys, and gamers have the Game Awards. What do all three have in common? They spark a whole lot of discourse on social media. Monday, Geoff Keighley set the video game section of the internet ablaze when he dropped the long-awaited nominees for this year’s edition of The Game Awards.

2023 was a stacked year for gaming that left many wondering who would grab nominations. Two highly anticipated sequels, Remedy Entertainment’s Alan Wake 2 and Larian Studios’ RPG Baldur’s Gate 3, earned eight nominations, including Game of the Year nods, and have the most nominations. Rounding out the Game of The Year category includes Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 from Insomniac Games, Capcom’s remake of Resident Evil 4, and Nintendo’s Super Mario Bros. Wonder and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of The Kingdom. Noticeably missing from the GOTY discussion is Bethesda’s epic space RPG, Starfield, but it did land a Best RPG nomination. As a publisher, Nintendo has the most nominations with 15, Sony Interactive Entertainment/PlayStation is right behind them with 13, Xbox 10, and Epic Games with nine.

Of Course, There Is Discourse

With the nominations, there are plenty of thoughts about them, who was snubbed, and whether or not a game deserved to be nominated in the category it’s in. One game that people are bringing up is Hogwarts Legacy and its massive snubbing despite being one of the biggest releases of the year. The game was mired in controversy due to Harry Potter’s creator, J.K. Rowling’s controversial comments about the transgender community, which led to the game being blacklisted by video game writers and some of the community. But should Hogwarts Legacy’s developers be punished for Rowling’s comments? Because that’s what seems to be the case.

Another “controversy” is that Dave The Diver was nominated for Best Independent Game because many accurately state that MINTROCKET is not an indie studio.

Interesting. The Game Awards will stream live from the Peacock Theater in L.A. on Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023, across over 30 platforms, including YouTube, Twitch, Facebook, TikTok Live and X (aka Twitter). You can see a complete list of nominees and reactions in the gallery below.

Best Game Direction

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

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 Narrative

Alan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing) Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios) Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty (CD Projekt Red) Final Fantasy XVI (Square Enix) Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games/SIE)

Best Art Direction

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

Best Score and Music

Alan Wake 2, Composer Petri Alanko (Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing) Baldur’s Gate 3, Composer Borislav Slavov (Larian Studios) Final Fantasy XVI, Composer Masayoshi Soken (Square Enix) Hi-Fi Rush, Audio Director Shuichi Kobori (Tango Gameworks/Bethesda Softworks) The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Composed by Nintendo Sound Team (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)

Best Audio Design

Alan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing) Dead Space (Motive Studio/EA) Hi-Fi Rush (Tango Gameworks/Bethesda Softworks) Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games/SIE) Resident Evil 4 (Capcom)

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 (Tango Gameworks/Bethesda Softworks) Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games/SIE) Mortal Kombat 1 (NetherRealm Studios/WB Games) Street Fighter 6 (Capcom)

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 Ongoing Game

Apex Legends (Respawn Entertainment/EA) Cyberpunk 2077 (CD Projekt Red) Final Fantasy XIV (Square Enix) Fortnite (Epic Games) Genshin Impact (HoYoverse)

Best Community Support

Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios) Cyberpunk 2077 (CD Projekt Red) Destiny 2 (Bungie) Final Fantasy XIV (Square Enix) 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 (Geometric Interactive/Annapurna Interactive) Dredge (Black Salt Games/Team 17) Pizza Tower (Tour de Pizza) Venba (Visai Games) Viewfinder (Sad Owl Studios/Thunderful Publishing)

Best Mobile Game

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

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 (Tango Gameworks/Bethesda Softworks) Remnant 2 (Gunfire Games/Gearbox Publishing)

Best Action/Adventure Game

Alan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing) Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games/SIE) Resident Evil 4 (Capcom) Star Wars Jedi: Survivor (Respawn Entertainment/EA) The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)

Best RPG

Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios) Final Fantasy XVI (Square Enix) Lies of P (Round8 Studio/Neowiz Games) Sea of Stars (Sabotage Studio) Starfield (Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda Softworks)

Best Fighting Game

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

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 (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)

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 (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)

Best Sports/Racing

EA Sports FC 24 (EA Vancouver/EA Romania/EA Sports) F1 23 (Codemasters/EA Sports) Forza Motorsport (Turn 10 Studios/Xbox Game Studios) Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged (Milestone) The Crew Motorfest (Ubisoft Ivory Tower/Ubisoft)

Best Multiplayer Presented by Discord

Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios) Diablo IV (Blizzard Entertainment) Party Animals (Recreate Games) Street Fighter 6 (Capcom) Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)

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