The official nominees for The Game Awards have finally been announced, and it’s a really diverse bunch of games that is being represented this year. Death Stranding, Hideo Kojima’s new, divisive magnum opus, leads the pack in terms of nominations, followed by Control. Given how Control failed to gain traction with the masses, this is good news for it, at least.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has a fair few nominations too—and while it is a 2018 game, its release actually made it eligible for the 2019 ballot, which is why it’s here. Sadly, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and Pokemon Sword/Shield both appear to have missed the cut, since neither has any nomination. Gears 5 and Fire Emblem: Three Houses seem to have been similarly snubbed,
Which is a shame, but on the whole, we have a diverse group of games on display here. You can see the full list of nominees below:
Game of The Year
- Control (Remedy/505 Games)
- Death Stranding (Kojima Productions/SIE)
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Bandai-Namco/Sora/Nintendo)
- Resident Evil 2 (Capcom/Capcom)
- Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (From Software/Activision)
- The Outer Worlds (Obsidian/Private Division)
Best Game Direction
- Control (Remedy/505 Games)
- Death Stranding (Kojima Productions/SIE)
- Resident Evil 2 (Capcom/Capcom)
- Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (From Software/Activision)
- Outer Wilds (Mobius Digital/Annapurna)
Best Narrative
- A Plague Tale: Innocence (Asobo/Focus Home)
- Control (Remedy/505)
- Death Stranding (Kojima Productions/SIE)
- Disco Elysium (ZA/UM)
- The Outer Worlds (Obsidian/Private Division)
Best Art Direction
- Control (Remedy/505)
- Death Stranding (Kojima Productions/SIE)
- Gris (Nomada Studio/Devolver)
- Sayonara Wild Hearts (Simogo/Annapurna)
- Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (From Software/Activision)
- The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening (Grezzo/Nintendo)
Best Score/Music
- Cadence of Hyrule (Brace Yourself Games/Nintendo)
- Death Stranding (Kojima Productions/SIE)
- Devil May Cry 5 (Capcom)
- Kingdom Hearts III (Square Enix)
- Sayonara Wild Hearts (Simogo/Annapurna)
Best Audio Design
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (Infinity Ward/Activision)
- Control (Remedy/505)
- Death Stranding (Kojima Productions/SIE)
- Gears 5 (The Coalition/Xbox Game Studios)
- Resident Evil 2 (Capcom)
- Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (From Software/Activision)
Best Performance
- Ashly Burch as Parvati Holcomb, The Outer Worlds
- Courtney Hope as Jesse Faden, Control
- Laura Bailey as Kait Diaz, Gears 5
- Mads Mikkelsen as Cliff, Death Stranding
- Matthew Porretta as Dr. Casper Darling, Control
- Norman Reedus as Sam Porter Bridges, Death Stranding
Games for Impact
- Concrete Genie (Pixelopus/SIE)
- Gris (Nomada Studio/Devolver)
- Kind Words (Popcannibal)
- Life is Strange 2 (Dontnod/Square Enix)
- Sea of Solitude (Jo-Mei Games/EA)
Best Ongoing Game
- Apex Legends (Respawn)
- Destiny 2 (Bungie)
- Final Fantasy XIV (Square Enix)
- Fortnite (Epic Games)
- Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft)
Best Independent Game
- Baba Is You (Hempuli)
- Disco Elysium (ZA/UM)
- Katana ZERO (Askiisoft/Devoler)
- Outer Wilds (Mobius Digital/Annapurna)
- Untitled Goose Game (House House/Panic)
Best Mobile Game
- Call of Duty: Mobile (TiMi Studios/Activision)
- Grindstone (Capybara Games)
- Sayonara Wild Hearts (Simogo/Annapurna)
- Sky: Children of Light (Thatgamecompany)
- What the Golf? (Tribland)
Best Community Support
- Apex Legends (Respawn/EA)
- Destiny 2 (Bungie)
- Final Fantasy XIV (Square Enix)
- Fortnite (Epic Games)
- Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft)
Best VR/AR Game
- Asgard’s Wrath (Sanzaru Games/Oculus Studios)
- Blood & Truth (SIE London Studio/SIE)
- Beat Saber (Beat Games)
- No Man’s Sky (Hello Games)
- Trover Saves the Universe (Squanch Games)
Best Action Game
- Apex Legends (Respawn/EA)
- Astral Chain (Platinum Games/Nintendo)
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (Infinity Ward/Activision)
- Devil May Cry 5 (Capcom/Capcom)
- Gears 5 (The Coalition/Xbox Game Studios)
- Metro Exodus (4A Games/Deep Silver)
Best Action-Adventure Game
- Borderlands 3 (Gearbox/2K)
- Control (Remedy/505 Games)
- Death Stranding (Kojima Productions/SIE)
- Resident Evil 2 (Capcom)
- The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening (Grezzo/Nintendo)
- Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (From Software/Activision)
Best RPG
- Disco Elysium (ZA/UM)
- Final Fantasy XIV (Square Enix)
- Kingdom Hearts III (Square Enix)
- Monster Hunter World: Iceborne (Capcom)
- The Outer Worlds (Obsidian/Private Division)
Best Fighting Game
- Dead or Alive 6 (Team Ninja/Koei Tecmo)
- Jump Force (Spike Chunsoft/Bandai Namco)
- Mortal Kombat 11 (NetherRealm/WBIE)
- Samurai Showdown (SNK/Athlon)
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Bandai Namco/Sora/Nintendo)
Best Family Game
- Luigi’s Mansion 3 (Next Level Games/Nintendo)
- Ring Fit Adventure (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
- Super Mario Maker 2 (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Bandai Namco/Sora/Nintendo)
- Yoshi’s Crafted World (Good-Feel/Nintendo)
Best Strategy Game
- Age of Wonders: Planetfall (Triumph Studios/Paradox)
- Anno 1800 (Blue Byte/Ubisoft)
- Fire Emblem: Three Houses (Intelligent Systems/Koei Tecmo/Nintendo)
- Total War: Three Kingdoms (Creative Assembly/Sega)
- Tropico 6 (Limbic Entertainment/Kalypso Media)
- Wargroove (Chucklefish)
Best Sports/Racing Game
- Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled (Beenox/Activision)
- DiRT Rally 2.0 (Codemasters)
- eFootball Pro Evolution Soccer 2020 (PES Productions/Konami)
- F1 2019 (Codemasters)
- FIFA 20 (EA Sports)
Best Multiplayer Game
- Apex Legends (Respawn/EA)
- Borderlands 3 (Gearbox/2K)
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (Infinity Ward/Activision)
- Tetris 99 (Arika/Nintendo)
- Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 (Massive Entertainment/Ubisoft)
Fresh Indie Game Developer
- ZA/UM for Disco Elysium
- Nomada Studio for Gris
- DeadToast Entertainment for My Friend Pedro
- Mobius Digital for Outer Wilds
- Mega Crit for Slay the Spire
- House for Untitled Goose Game
Content Creator of the Year
- Courage – Jack Dunlop
- Dr. Lupo – Benjamin Lupo
- Ewok – Soleil Wheeler
- Grefg – David Martínez
- Shroud – Michael Grzesiek
Esports Awards
Best Esports Game
- Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (Valve)
- DOTA2 (Valve)
- Fortnite (Epic Games)
- League of Legends (Riot Games)
- Overwatch (Blizzard)
Best Esports Player
- Kyle ‘Bugha’ Giersdorf (Immortals, Fortnite)
- Lee ‘Faker’ Sang-hyeok (SK Telecom, League of Legends)
- Luka ‘Perkz’ Perkovic (G2 Esports, League of Legends)
- Oleksandr ‘S1mple’ Kostyliev (Natus Vincere, CSGO)
- Jay ‘Sinatraa’ Won (SF Shock, Overwatch)
Best Esports Team
- Astralis (CS:GO)
- G2 Esports (LOL)
- OG (DOTA2)
- San Francisco Shock (OWL)
- Team Liquid (CS:GO)
Best Esports Event
- 2019 Overwatch League Grand Finals
- EVO 2019
- Fortnite World Cup
- IEM Katowice 2019
- League of Legends World Championship 2019
- The International 2019
Best Esports Coach
- Eric ‘adreN’ Hoag (Team Liquid, CS:GO)
- Nu-ri ‘Cain’ Jang (Team Liquid, LOL)
- Fabian ‘GrabbZ’ Lohmann (G2 Esports, LOL)
- Kim ‘Kkoma’ Jeong-gyun (SK Telecom T1, LOL)
- Titouan ‘Sockshka’ Merloz (OG, DOTA2)
- Danny ‘Zonic’ Sørensen (Astralis, CSGO)
Best Esports Host
- Eefje “Sjokz” Depoortere
- Alex “Machine” Richardson
- Paul “Redeye” Chaloner
- Alex “Goldenboy” Mendez
- Duan “Candice” Yu-Shuang
