The Nominees For The Game Awards 2021 Have Been Announced

Geoff Keighley has announced the nominees for The Game Awards 2021, with a total of 30 categories making up the field.

In a stacked year, Deathloop has received the most nominations overall, being in the mix for nine separate categories including the coveted Game of the Year. Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart has taken out the second-most nominations with six, with It Takes Two rounding out the podium with a total of five nominations.

Voting is now open to the public, with the results being announced during The Game Awards of December 9.

Here are the nominees:

Game of the Year

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

• Deathloop
• It Takes Two
• Metroid Dread
• Psychonauts 2
• Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
• Resident Evil Village

Best Game Direction

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

• Deathloop
• It Takes Two
• Returnal
• Psychonauts 2
• Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart

Best Narrative

For outstanding storytelling and narrative development in a game.

• Deathloop
• It Takes Two
• Life Is Strange: True Colors
• Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy
• Psychonauts 2

Best Art Direction

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

• The Artful Escape
• Deathloop
• Kena: Bridge of Spirits
• Psychonauts 2
• Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart

Best Score And Music

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

• The Artful Escape
• Cyberpunk 2077
• Deathloop
• Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy
• NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139

Best Audio Design

Recognizing the best in-game audio and sound design.

• Deathloop
• Forza Horizon 5
• Ratchet & CLank: Rift Apart
• Resident Evil Village
• Returnal

Best Performance

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

• Erika Mori as Alex Chan (Life Is Strange: True Colors)
• Giancarlo Esposito as Anton Castillo (Far Cry 6)
• Jason Kelley as Cole Vahn (Deathloop)
• Maggie Robertson as Lady Dimitrescu (Resident Evil Village)
• Ozioma Akagha as Juliana Blake (Deathloop)

Games For Impact

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

• Before Your Eyes
• Boyfriend Dungeon
• Chicory: A Colorful Tale
• Life Is Strange: True Colors
• No Longer Home

Best Ongoing

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

• Apex Legends
• Final Fantasy XIV Online
• Fortnite
• Genshin Impact
• Call of Duty: Warzone

Best Indie

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

• 12 Minutes
• Death’s Door
• Inscryption
• Kena: Bridge of Spirits
• Loop Hero

Best Mobile Game

For the best game playable on a mobile device.

• Fantasian
• Genshin Impact
• League of Legends: Wild Rift
• Marvel Future Revolution
• Pokémon Unite

Best Community Support

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

• Apex Legends
• Destiny 2
• Final Fantasy XIV Online
• Fotnite
• No Man’s Sky

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.

• Far Cry 6
• Forza Horizon 5
• Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy
• Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
• The Vale: Shadow of the Crown

Best VR/AR

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

• Hitman 3
• I Expect You To Die 2
• Lone Echo II
• Resident Evil 4
• Sniper Elite VR

Best Action Game

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

• Back 4 Blood
• Chivalry II
• Deathloop
• Far Cry 6
• Returnal

Best Action/Adventure Game

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

• Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy
• Metroid Dread
• Psychonauts 2
• Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
• Resident Evil Village

Best Role-Playing Game

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

• Cyberpunk 2077
• Monster Hunter Rise
• Scarlet Nexus
• Shi Megami Tensei V
• Tales of Arise

Best Fighting Game

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

• Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles
• Guilty Gear -Strive-
• Melty Blood: Type Lumina
• Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl
• Virtua Fighter 5: Ultimate Showdown

Best Family Game

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

• It Takes Two
• Mario Party Superstars
• New Pokémon Snap
• Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury
• Warioware: Get It Together!

Best Sim/Strategy Game

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

• Age of Empires IV
• Evil Genius 2: World Domination
• Humankind
• Inscryption
• Microsoft Flight Simulator

Best Sports/Racing Game

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

• F1 2021
• FIFA 22
• Forza Horizon 5
• Hot Wheels Unleashed
• Riders Republic

Best Multiplayer Game

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

• Back 4 Blood
• Knockout City
• It Takes Two
• Monster Hunter Rise
• New World
• Valheim

Content Creator Of The Year

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

• Dream
• Fuslie
• Gaules
• Ibai
• Grefg

Best Debut Indie Game

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

• The Artful Escape
• The Forgotten City
• Kena: Bridge of Spirits
• Sable
• Valheim

Most Anticipated Game

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

• Elden Ring
• God of War Ragnarök
• Horizon Forbidden West
• Legend of Zelda: Breathe of the Wild 2
• Starfield

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.

• Call of Duty
• Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
• DOTA 2
• League of Legends
• Valorant

Best Esports Athelete

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

• Chris “Simp” Lehr
• Heo “Showmaker” Su
• Magomed “Collapse” Khalilov
• Oleksandr “S1mple” Kostyliev
• Tyson “Tenz” Ngo

Best Esports Team

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

• Atlanta Faze (Call of Duty)
• DWG KIA (League of Legends)
• Natus Vincere (Counter-Strike: Global Offensive)
• Sentinals (Valorant)
• Team Spirit (DOTA 2)

Best Esports Coach

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

• Airat “Silent” Gaziev
• Andrey “Engh” Sholokhov
• Andrii “B1AD3” Horodenskyi
• James “Crowder” Crowder
• Kim “KKOMA” Jeong-Gyun

Best Esports Event

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

• 2021 League of Legends World Championship
• The Internationals 2021
• PGL Major Stockholm 2021
• PUBG Mobile Global Championship 2020
• Valorant Champions Tour: Stage 2 Masters

There they are, the nominees for The Game Awards 2021. The award show itself will be livestreaming on December 9, so be sure to watch to see who takes home a beautiful winged statue. You can head over to The Game Awards website right now to cast your votes and have your say. I can’t help but feel that Returnal should be in the conversation for GOTY, but hey, that’s just some personal opinion for you.

Do you agree with these nominations? Are there any games that feel have been left out in the cold? Let us know in the comments or on our social media.