It's the "Oscars for gaming"—the annual The Game Awards offers up the best of the best.

The Game Awards isn't the only award show or annual celebration in the videogame industry, but it is a huge one. Last year, 45.2 million individual livestreams tuned in to watch Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice take home Game of the Year, among other awards for a variety of games.

Though 2020 has been tough for many things, it's been a year of economic upturn and inspiring art in games. This year was also the tail-end for a console generation and game studios really demonstrated their mastery of developing for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

This year, The Game Awards will be broadcast internationally from Tokyo on December 10. A committee of more than 90 media outlets and industry figures have nominated games for the following categories, and gamers everywhere are encouraged to vote on the Game of the Year. The final decisions weigh both public and committee votes.

Here are this year's categories and nominations:

Game of the Year

  • Animal Crossing: New Horizons
  • DOOM Eternal
  • Final Fantasy VII Remake
  • Ghost of Tsushima
  • Hades
  • The Last of Us Part II

The Last of Us, game of the year nominees
The Last of Us Part II, Courtesy Naughty Dog

Best Game Direction

  • Final Fantasy VII Remake
  • Ghost of Tsushima
  • Hades
  • Half-Life: Alyx
  • The Last of Us Part II

Best Narrative

  • 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim (George Kamitani)
  • Final Fantasy VII Remake (Kazushige Nojima, Motomu Toriyama, Hiroki Iwaki, Sachie Hirano)
  • Ghost of Tsushima (Ian Ryan, Liz Albl, Patrick Downs, Jordan Lemos)
  • Hades (Greg Kasavin)
  • The Last of Us Part II (Neil Druckmann, Halley Gross)

Ghosts, game of the year nominees
Ghost of Tsushima, Courtesy Sucker Punch Productions

Best Art Direction

  • Final Fantasy VII Remake (Square Enix)
  • Ghost of Tsushima (Sucker Punch/SIE)
  • Hades (Supergiant Games)
  • Ori and the Will of the Wisps (Moon Studios/Xbox Game Studios)
  • The Last of Us Part II (Naughty Dog/SIE)

Best Score and Music

  • DOOM Eternal (Mick Gordon)
  • Final Fantasy VII Remake (Nobuo Uematsu, Masahi Hamauzu, Mitsuto Suzuki)
  • Hades (Darren Korb)
  • Ori and the Will of the Wisps (Gareth Coker)
  • The Last of Us Part II (Gustavo Santaolala, Mac Quale)

Hades, game of the year nominees
Hades, Courtesy Supergiant Games

Best Audio Design

  • DOOM Eternal (id Software/Bethesda)
  • Half-Life: Alyx (Valve)
  • Ghost of Tsushima (Sucker Punch/SIE)
  • Resident Evil 3 (Capcom)
  • The Last of Us Part 2 (Naughty Dog/SIE)

Best Performance

  • Ashley Johnson as Ellie, The Last of Us Part II
  • Laura Bailey as Abby, The Last of Us Part II
  • Daisuke Tsuji as Jin Sakai, Ghost of Tsushima
  • Logan Cunningham as Hades, Hades
  • Nadji Jeter as Miles Morales, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales

Games for Impact

  • If Found … (DREAMFEEL/Annapurna Interactive)
  • Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition (Cardboard Computer/Annapurna Interactive)
  • Spiritfarer (Thunder Lotus Games)
  • Tell Me Why (Dontnod Entertainment/Xbox Game Studios)
  • Through the Darkest of Times (Paintbucket Games)

Best Ongoing

  • Apex Legends (Respawn/EA)
  • Destiny 2 (Bungie)
  • Call of Duty Warzone (Infinity Ward/Activision)
  • Fortnite (Epic Games)
  • No Man’s Sky (Hello Games)

No Man's Sky, game of the year nominees
No Man's Sky, Courtesy Hello Games

Best Indie

  • Carrion (Phobia Game Studio)
  • Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout (Mediatonic/Devolver)
  • Hades (Supergiant Games)
  • Spelunky 2 (Mossmouth)
  • Spiritfarer (Thunder Lotus Games)

Best Mobile, Presented by LG WING, Powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon

  • Among Us (InnerSloth)
  • Call of Duty Mobile (TiMi Studios/Activision)
  • Genshin Impact (miHoYo)
  • Legends of Runeterra (Riot Games)
  • Pokémon Café Mix (Genius Sonority)

Best Community Support

  • Apex Legends (Respawn/EA)
  • Destiny 2 (Bungie)
  • Fall Guys (Mediatonic/Devolver)
  • Fortnite (Epic Games)
  • No Man’s Sky (Hello Games)
  • Valorant (Riot Games)

Innovation in Accessibility

  • Assassin’s Creed Valhalla (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft)
  • Grounded (Obsidian/Xbox Game Studios)
  • HyperDot (Tribe Games)
  • The Last of Us Part II (Naughty Dog/SIE)
  • Watch Dogs Legion (Ubisoft Toronto/Ubisoft)

Best VR/AR

  • Dreams (Media Molecule/SIE)
  • Half-Life: Alyx (Valve)
  • MARVEL’s Iron Man VR (Camoflaj/SIE)
  • STAR WARS: Squadrons (Motive Studios/EA)
  • The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners (Skydance Interactive)

Best Action

  • DOOM Eternal (id Software/Bethesda)
  • Hades (Supergiant Games)
  • Half-Life: Alyx (Valve)
  • Nioh 2 (Team Ninja)
  • Streets of Rage 4 (DotEmu)

Doom, game of the year nominees
DOOM Eternal, Courtesy id Software and Bethesda

Best Action/Adventure

  • Assassin’s Creed Valhalla (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft)
  • Ghost of Tsushima (Sucker Punch/SIE)
  • MARVEL’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales (Insomniac Games/SIE)
  • Ori and the Will of the Wisps (Moon Studios/Xbox Game Studios)
  • Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (Respawn/EA)
  • The Last of Us Part II (Naughty Dog/SIE)

Best Role Playing

  • Final Fantasy VII Remake (Square Enix)
  • Genshin Impact (miHoYo)
  • Persona 5 Royal (Atlus, P Studios)
  • Wasteland 3 (inXile Entertainment/Koch)
  • Yakuza: Like a Dragon (Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio/Sega)

Best Fighting

  • Granblue Fantasy: Versus (Arc System Works/Cygames)
  • Mortal Kombat 11/Ultimate (NetherRealm Studios/WB Games)
  • Street Fighter V: Champion Edition (Dimps/Capcom)
  • One Punch Man: A Hero Nobody Knows (Spike Chunsoft/Bandai-Namco)
  • UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH Exe: Late[cl-r] (French Bread/Arc System Works)

Best Family

  • Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Nintendo)
  • Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time (Toys for Bob/Activision)
  • Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout (Mediatonic/Devolver)
  • Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit (Velan Studios/Nintendo)
  • Minecraft Dungeons (Mojang/Double Eleven/Xbox Game Studios)
  • Paper Mario: The Origami King (Intelligent Systems/Nintendo)

Bandicoot, game of the year nominees
Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time, Courtesy Toys for Bob and Activision

Best Sim/Strategy

  • Crusader Kings III (Paradox Development Studio/Paradox)
  • Desperados III (Mimimi Games/THQN)
  • Gears Tactics (Splash Damage/The Coalition/Xbox Game Studios)
  • Microsoft Flight Simulator (Asobo/Xbox Game Studios)
  • XCOM: Chimera Squad (Firaxis/2K)

Best Sports/Racing

  • Dirt 5 (Codemasters Cheshire/Codemasters)
  • F1 2020 (Codemasters Birmingham /Codemasters)
  • FIFA 21 (EA Vancouver/EA Sports)
  • NBA 2K21 (Visual Concepts/2K)
  • Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 (Vicarious Visions/Activision)

Best Multiplayer

  • Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Nintendo)
  • Among Us (InnerSloth)
  • Call of Duty: Warzone (Infinity Ward/Raven/Activision)
  • Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout (Mediatonic/Devolver)
  • Valorant (Riot Games)

Among us, game of the year nominees
Among Us, Courtesy InnerSloth

Best Debut Game

  • Carrion (Phobia Game Studio/Devolver)
  • Mortal Shell (Cold Symmetry/Playstack)
  • Raji: An Ancient Epic (Nodding Heads Games)
  • Röki (Polygon Treehouse/CI Games)
  • Phasmophobia (Kinetic Games)

Content Creator of the Year, Presented by Adobe

  • Alanah Pearce
  • NickMercs
  • TimtheTatman
  • Jay Ann Lopez
  • Valkyrae

Best Esports Game

  • Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (Infinity Ward/Raven/Activision)
  • Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (Valve)
  • Fortnite (Epic Games)
  • League of Legends (Riot Games)
  • Valorant (Riot Games)

Best Esports Athlete

  • Ian “Crimsix” Porter / Call of Duty
  • Heo “Showmaker” Su / League of Legends
  • Kim “Canyon” Geon-bu / League of Legends
  • Anthony “Shotzzy” Cuevas-Castro / Call of Duty
  • Matthieu “ZywOo” Herbaut / CS:GO

Best Esports Team

  • DAMWON Gaming / League of Legends
  • Dallas Empire / Call of Duty
  • San Francisco Shock / Overwatch League
  • G2 Esports / League of Legends
  • Team Secret / DOTA2

Overwatch, game of the year nominees
Overwatch, Courtesy Blizzard Entertainment

Best Esports Event

  • BLAST Premier: Spring E2020 European Finals (CS:GO)
  • Call of Duty League Championship 2020
  • IEM Katowice 2020 (CS:GO)
  • League of Legends World Championship 2020
  • Overwatch League Grand Finals 2020

Best Esports Host

  • Eefje “Sjokz” Depoortere
  • Alex “Machine” Richardson
  • Alex “Goldenboy” Mendez
  • James “Dash” Patterson
  • Jorien “Sheever” van der Heijden

Quite a lineup this year. Have any strong opinions? What do you think the best game of the year was, and why was it The Last of Us Part II? Leave a comment!

Jared Burton
Recent transplant to DC metro area, originally from the purple mountain majesty of Colorado. Jared chases stories, leads, lore, jokes, anecdotes, and legends—and would love nothing more than to discuss that book, movie, or game you just consumed and loved.
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