The nominees for The Game Awards 2022 have been announced, and God of War: Ragnarok leads the way with 10 nominations, including for Best Narrative, Best Performance, Best Action/Adventure, and—of course—Game of the Year.
Two games share second place in the noms-getting department, Elden Ring and Horizon Forbidden West, with seven each, while third place unexpectedly goes to BlueTwelve's cyber-kitty sim Stray, which drew six nominations. A Plague Tale: Requiem followed with five noms, while Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Immortality, Neon White, Sifu, Tunic, and Xenoblade Chronicles 3 round out the pack with three nominations each.
Here's a look at the most nominated games for #TheGameAwards on December 8. pic.twitter.com/4LoAOlzJIaNovember 14, 2022
As is usually the case with award shows, there are some 'interesting' choices amidst the nominees. Elden Ring, for instance, is up for Best Narrative, which is absolutely bizarre given what an incomprehensibly directionless mess it is, while the critically acclaimed Immortality has nods for Best Direction, Best Narrative, and Best Performance, but got overlooked for Best Indie Game. I also find it a little weird that Elden Ring is up for the Best Role Playing award, but that unavoidably leads into quibbles about what is and is not a roleplaying game versus an action game, and so I won't press it.
I will, however, say that it is weird to see Dune: Spice Wars, Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope, Total War: Warhammer 3,Two Point Campus, and Victoria 3 together in the same category of Best Sim/Strategy. I get that there's an element of arbitrariness inherent in the categorization of videogames, but if you're lumping the Rabbids in with a zany management sim and a Paradox grand strategy game, maybe it's time to step back and reconsider.
The 2022 Game Awards will also feature a new category, Best Adaptation, which honors "game-inspired projects across entertainment." Three of the nominees in the category come from Netflix, while the other two are theatrical releases:
- Arcane: League of Legends
- Cyberpunk: Edgerunners
- The Cuphead Show
- Sonic the Hedgehog 2
- Uncharted
The Game Awards 2022 will take place on December 8, beginning at 4:30 pm PT/7:30 pm ET, and will be livestreamed on Twitch, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and pretty much any other streaming platform you care to name. Voting for the awards will be open until 6 pm PT/9 pm ET on December 7: You can cast your ballot at thegameawards.com or the official Game Awards Discord server, or if you're in China, through the Bilibili social network. The full list of nominees is below:
Game of the Year
- A Plague Tale: Requiem (Asobo Studio/Focus Entertainment)
- Elden Ring (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco)
- God of War Ragnarök (Sony Santa Monica/SIE)
- Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games/SIE)
- Stray (BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna)
- Xenoblade Chronicles 3 (Monolith Soft/Nintendo)
Best Game Direction
- Elden Ring (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco)
- God of War Ragnarök (Sony Santa Monica/SIE)
- Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games/SIE)
- Immortality (Half Mermaid)
- Stray (BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna)
Best Narrative
- A Plague Tale: Requiem (Asobo Studio/Focus Entertainment)
- Elden Ring (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco)
- God of War Ragnarök (Sony Santa Monica/SIE)
- Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games/SIE)
- Immortality (Half Mermaid)
Best Art Direction
- Elden Ring (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco)
- God of War Ragnarök (Sony Santa Monica/SIE)
- Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games/SIE)
- Scorn (Ebb Software/Kepler Interactive)
- Stray (BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna)
Best Score and Music
- Olivier Deriviere, A Plague Tale: Requiem
- Tsukasa Saitoh, Elden Ring
- Bear McCreary, God of War Ragnarök
- Two Feathers, Metal: Hellsinger
- Yasunori Mitsuda, Xenoblade Chronicles 3
Best Audio Design
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (Infinity Ward/Activision)
- Elden Ring (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco)
- God of War Ragnarök (Sony Santa Monica/SIE)
- Gran Turismo 7 (Polyphony/SIE)
- Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games/SIE)
Best Performance
- Ashly Burch, Horizon Forbidden West
- Charlotte McBurney, A Plague Tale: Requiem
- Christopher Judge, God of War Ragnarök
- Manon Gage, Immortality
- Sunny Suljic, God of War Ragnarök
Games for Impact
- A Memoir Blue (Cloisters Interactive/Annapurna)
- As Dusk Falls (Interior Night/Xbox Game Studios)
- Citizen Sleeper (Jump Over The Age/Fellow Traveller)
- Endling - Extinction is Forever (Herobeat Studios/HandyGames)
- Hindsight (Team Hindsight/Annapurna)
- I Was a Teenage Exocolonist (Northway Games/Finji)
Best Ongoing Game
- Apex Legends (Respawn/EA)
- Destiny 2 (Bungie)
- Final Fantasy 14 (Square Enix)
- Fortnite (Epic Games)
- Genshin Impact (HoYoverse)
Best Indie Game
- Cult of the Lamb (Massive Monster / Devolver Digital)
- Neon White (Angel Matrix/Annapurna)
- Sifu (Sloclap)
- Stray (BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna)
- Tunic (Tunic Team/Finji)
Best Debut Indie Game
- Neon White (Angel Matrix/Annapurna Interactive)
- Norco (Geography of Robots/Raw Fury)
- Stray (BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna)
- Tunic (Tunic Team/Finji)
- Vampire Survivors (poncle)
Best Community Support, Presented By Discord
- Apex Legends (Respawn/EA)
- Destiny 2 (Bungie)
- Final Fantasy 14 (Square Enix)
- Fortnite (Epic Games)
- No Man’s Sky (Hello Games)
Best Mobile Game
- Apex Legends Mobile (Lightspeed & Quantum/Respawn/EA)
- Diablo Immortal (Blizzard/NetEase)
- Genshin Impact (HoYovese)
- Marvel Snap (Second Dinner Studios/Nuverse)
- Tower of Fantasy (Hotta Studio/Perfect World/Level Infinite)
Best VR/AR Game
- After the Fall (Vertigo Games)
- Among Us VR (Schell Games/InnerSloth)
- Bonelab (Stress Level Zero)
- Moss: Book II (Polyarc)
- Red Matter 2 (Vertical Robot)
Best Action Game
- Bayonetta 3 (Platinum Games/Nintendo)
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (Infinity Ward/Activision)
- Neon White (Angel Matrix/Annapurna)
- Sifu (Sloclap)
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge (Tribute Games/Dotemu)
Best Action/Adventure Game
- A Plague Tale: Requiem (Asobo Studio/Focus Entertainment)
- God of War Ragnarök (Sony Santa Monica/SIE)
- Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games/SIE)
- Stray (BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna)
- Tunic (Tunic Team/Finji)
Best Role Playing Game
- Elden Ring (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco)
- Live a Live (Square Enix/Nintendo)
- Pokémon Legends: Arceus (Game Freak/Nintendo/TPCI)
- Triangle Strategy (Artdink/Square Enix)
- Xenoblade Chronicles 3 (Monolith Soft/Nintendo)
Best Fighting Game
- DNF Duel (Arc System Works/EIGHTING/NEOPLE/NEXON)
- JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle R (CyberConnect 2 Co. Ltd/Bandai Namco)
- The King of Fighters XV (SNK/Plaion)
- MultiVersus (Player First Games/WB Games)
- Sifu (Sloclap)
Best Family Game
- Kirby and the Forgotten Land (HAL Laboratory / Nintendo)
- Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga (Traveller’s Tales/WB Games)
- Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope (Ubisoft Milan/Paris/Ubisoft)
- Nintendo Switch Sports (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
- Splatoon 3 (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
Best Sim/Strategy Game
- Dune: Spice Wars (Shiro Games/Funcom)
- Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope (Ubisoft Milan/Paris/Ubisoft)
- Total War: Warhammer 3 (Creative Assembly/Sega)
- Two Point Campus (Two Point Studios/Sega)
- Victoria 3 (Paradox Development Studio/Paradox Interactive)
Best Sports/Racing Game
- F1 22 (Codemasters/EA Sports)
- FIFA 23 (EA Vancouver/Romania/EA Sports)
- NBA 2K23 (Visual Concepts/2K Sports)
- Gran Turismo 7 (Polyphony Digital/SIE)
- OlliOlli World (Roll 7/Private Division)
Best Multiplayer Game
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (Infinity Ward/Activision)
- MultiVersus (Player First Games/WB Games)
- Overwatch 2 (Blizzard)
- Splatoon 3 (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge (Tribute Games/Dotemu)
Most Anticipated Game
- Final Fantasy 16 (Square Enix)
- Hogwarts Legacy (Avalanche Software/WB Games)
- Resident Evil 4 (Capcom)
- Starfield (Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda)
- The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
Content Creator of the Year
- Karl Jacobs
- Ludwig
- Nibellion
- Nobru
- QTCinderella
Best Adaptation
- Arcane: League of Legends (Fortiche/Riot Games/Netflix)
- Cyberpunk: Edgerunners (Studio Trigger/CD Projekt, Netflix)
- The Cuphead Show! (Studio MDHR/King Features Syndicate/Netflix)
- Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Sega Sammy Group/Paramount Pictures)
- Uncharted (PlayStation Productions/Sony Pictures)
Innovation in Accessibility
- As Dusk Falls (Interior Night/Xbox Game Studios)
- God of War Ragnarök (Sony Santa Monica/SIE)
- Return to Monkey Island (Terrible Toybox/Devolver Digital)
- The Last Of Us Part I (Naughty Dog/SIE)
- The Quarry (Supermassive Games/2K)
Best Esports Game
- Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (Valve)
- Dota 2 (Valve)
- League of Legends (Riot Games)
- Rocket League (Psyonix)
- Valorant (Riot Games)
Best Esports Athlete
- Jeong "Chovy" Ji-hoon (Gen.G, LOL)
- Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok (T1, LOL)
- Finn "karrigan" Andersen ( (FaZe Clan - CS:GO)
- Oleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev (Natus Vincere, CS:GO)
- Jacob “Yay” Whiteaker (Cloud9, Valorant)
Best Esports Team
- DarkZero Esports (Apex Legends)
- FaZe Clan (CS:GO)
- Gen.G (League of Legends)
- LA Thieves (Call of Duty)
- LOUD (Valorant)
Best Esports Coach
- Andrii "B1ad3" Horodenskyi (Natus Vincere, CS:GO)
- Matheus “bzkA” Tarasconi (LOUD, VALORANT)
- Erik “d00mbr0s” Sandgren (FPX, VALORANT)
- Robert "RobbaN" Dahlström (FaZe Clan, CS:GO)
- Go "Score" Dong-bin (Gen.G, LOL)
Best Esports Event
- EVO 2022
- 2022 League of Legends World Championship
- PGL Major Antwerp 2022
- The 2022 Mid-Season Invitational
- Valorant Champions 2022
