Baldur's Gate 3 and Alan Wake 2 lead The Game Awards with 8 nominations each

The nominees for The Game Awards 2023 have been announced and Alan Wake 2 and Baldur's Gate 3 are tied for the most nominations, with eight each from 31 total categories. They're both up for the main Game of the Year award, but are also competing for Best Game Direction, Best Narrative, Best Score and Music, among others.

Right behind them in award-winning potential is Spider-Man 2 with seven nominations. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Super Mario Bros Wonder, and Hi-Fi Rush are all up for five awards each, while Cyberpunk 2077 and Final Fantasy 16 are each up for four. Triple-nominees Resident Evil 4 and Street Fighter 6 round out the main multi-nominations pack.

The big contest in any year is of course the main Game of the Year award, with six nominees—all sequels or parts of an established series, interestingly

• Alan Wake 2
• Baldur's Gate 3
• Marvel's Spider-Man 2
• Resident Evil 4
• Super Mario Bros. Wonder
• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

As an enjoyer of RPGs and defender of turn-based combat, it's great to see Baldur's Gate 3 hold its own in every corner this year. Larian's CEO Swen Vincke already left one awards show with an armful of trophies, and this could be yet another. 

What sticks out to me is that Starfield is only nominated in a single category: Best RPG, where it has some pretty serious competition, so it's entirely possible that a major Bethesda RPG goes home with nothing this year. It feels like the right amount of recognition, honestly, which isn't something I could have imagined saying at the beginning of this year.

Otherwise, the big categories are dominated by those star performers: Baldur's Gate, Alan Wake, Spider-Man, Zelda, and Mario. It's interesting that Tango Gameworks' surprise release Hi-Fi Rush is getting so many nods. It's a bit disappointing though that there's so much overlap between Best Independent game and Best Debut Indie though: Cocoon, Dredge, and Viewfinder are all nominated in both categories.

The Games Awards 2023 will premiere on Thursday, December 7 at 4:30 pm Pacific/7:30 pm Eastern on YouTube, Twitch, TikTok and other social media. Voting is now open to the public on The Game Awards website and in its official Discord server (or Bilibili and WeChat for fans in China) until Wednesday, December 6 at 6 pm Pacific.

Here is the full list of nominees in each category:

Best Game Direction

• 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 

• Alan Wake 2
• Baldur's Gate 3
• Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty
• Final Fantasy 16
• Marvel's Spider-Man 2

Best Art Direction

• Alan Wake 2
• Hi-Fi Rush
• Lies of P
• Super Mario Bros. Wonder
• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Best Score and Music 

• Alan Wake 2 (Composer Petri Alanko)
• Baldur's Gate 3 (Composer Borislav Slavov)
• Final Fantasy 16 (Composer Masayoshi Soken)
• Hi-Fi Rush (Audio Director Shuichi Kobori)
• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Composed by Nintendo Sound Team)

Best Audio Design 

• Alan Wake 2
• Dead Space
• Hi-Fi Rush
• Marvel's Spider-Man 2
• Resident Evil 4

Best Performance 

• 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)

Innovation in Accessibility 

• Diablo 4
• Forza Motorsport
• Hi-Fi Rush
• Marvel's Spider-Man 2
• Mortal Kombat 1
• Street Fighter 6

Games For Impact 

• A Space For The Unbound
• Chants of Sennaar
• Goodbye Volcano High
• Tchia
• Terra Nil
• Venba

Best Ongoing 

• Apex Legends
• Cyberpunk 2077
• Final Fantasy 16
• Fortnite
• Genshin Impact

Best Community Support 

• Baldur's Gate 3
• Cyberpunk 2077
• Destiny 2
• Final Fantasy 16
• No Man's Sky

Best Independent Game 

• Cocoon
• Dave The Diver
• Dredge
• Sea of Stars
• Viewfinder

Best Debut Indie Game 

• Cocoon
• Dredge
• Pizza Tower
• Venba
• Viewfinder

Best Mobile Game

• Final Fantasy 7: Ever Crisis
• Hello Kitty Island Adventure
• Honkai: Star Rail
• Monster Hunter Now
• Terra Nil

Best VR/AR 

• Gran Turismo 7
• Horizon Call of The Mountain
• Humanity
• Resident Evil Village VR mode
• Synapse

Best Action Game 

• Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon
• Dead Island 2
• Ghostrunner 2
• Hi-Fi Rush
• Remnant 2

Best Action/Adventure 

• 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 16
• Lies of P
• Sea of Stars
• Starfield

Best Fighting 

• God of Rock
• Mortal Kombat 1
• Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2
• Pocket Bravery
• Street Fighter 6

Best Family 

• Disney Illusion Island
• Party Animals
• Pikmin 4
• Sonic Superstars
• Super Mario Bros. Wonder

Best Sim/Strategy 

• Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp
• Cities: Skylines 2
• Company of Heroes 3
• Fire Emblem Engage
• Pikmin 4

Best Sports/Racing 

• EA Sports FC 24
• F1 23
• Forza Motorsport
• Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged
• The Crew Motorfest

Best Multiplayer 

• Baldur's Gate 3
• Diablo 4
• Party Animals
• Street Fighter 6
• Super Mario Bros. Wonder

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)

Most Anticipated Game 

• Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
• Hades 2
• Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth
• Star Wars Outlaws
• Tekken 8

Content Creator of the Year 

• Ironmouse
• PeopleMakeGames
• Quackity
• Spreen
• SypherPK

Best Esports Game 

• Counter-Strike 2
• DOTA 2
• League of Legends
• PUBG Mobile
• Valorant

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