Today, the Game Developers Conference revealed the finalists for nominations for the Game Developers Choice Awards. The winners will be chosen at the CDGA ceremony, which will take place at the Game Developers Conference on Wednesday, July 1st at 4:30 PM in conjunction with the Independent Game Festival 2021.

The nominations, picked by developers, are led by a three way tie between Supergiant Games’ Hades, Super Punch Productions’ Ghost of Tsushima, and Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us Part 2. Valve’s Half-Life: Alyx came in second with five nominations. All four are nominated for Game of the Year. The other games up for more than one award are Nintendo’s Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Media Molecule’s Dreams.

Hades was nominated for Best Audio, Best Design, Innovation, Best Narrative, Best Visual Art and Game of the Year; Ghost of Tsushima was nominated for Best Audio, Best Design, Best Narrative, Best Technology, Best Visual Art and Game of the Year; The Last of Us Part 2 was nominated for Best Audio, Best Design, Best Narrative, Best Technology, Best Visual Art and Game of the Year.

It’s a good list, though there are some notable snubs. DOOM Eternal was only nominated for Best Sound Design, which is baffling given the game’s technical and design prowess. Final Fantasy 7 Remake was also only nominated for Best Sound Design, which is an odd choice given the sheer bravery of the game’s narrative. Ori and the Will of the Wisps, another snub, only received a nomination for Best Visual Design.

My money’s on either Hades or The Last of Us Part 2 to take home Game of the Year given how other awards shows we’ve seen have worked out, but we’ll have to wait until July to be sure.

You can check out the rest of the nominees and the honorable mentions here.

One of the first major conference cancellations this year due to the COVID pandemic was the Game Developers Conference (GDC). It was one of the first indications that the virus was going to have a pretty major impact on the industry. Ultimately, they did end up holding a digital event earlier this month, and for next year the plan is to mix a bit of both.

The event’s organizers, Informa Tech, announced the plans in a press release. The plan is to do a physical event alongside what they are call a “robust virtual offering”, though it’s unclear what exactly that means. It will take place in San Francisco.

One thing to note is that the event will take place much later than usual, running from July 19th to the 23rd. This is much farther out then the traditional March time frame it’s held, most likely trying in hopes that things will be more normalized then as opposed to the relatively early month in March. Let’s all keep our fingers crossed that will be the case.