Earlier today, Geoff Keighley revealed the list of nominees for the 2023 Game Awards airing on December 7. And as always, the list of games are dominated by juggernauts that released closer to the start of the year and as recent as last month.
In the vaunted Game of the Year category, the hopefuls include Larian's Baldur's Gate 3, Insomniac Games' Marvel's Spider-Man 2, Remedy's Alan Wake II, and both Super Mario Bros. Wonder and Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom from Nintendo. Each game has also been nominated in other categories like Best Direction, Action Game, and Narrative.
Interestingly, Mintrocket's Dave the Diver received a nomination for Best Indie Game. However, it's worth noting that the game's categorization is misplaced: prior to the game's release, Mintrocket argued it wasn't an indie developer, as it's a subsidiary of MapleStory publisher Nexon.
Likewise, while Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty was put into the "Best Ongoing Game" category, it isn't a live service game like fellow nominees Final Fantasy XIV and Fortnite. These two instances speak to the odd categorization that games can sometimes inhabit when awards season rolls out.
Both Baldur's and Alan Wake II have the most nominees at 8 overall. Marvel's Spider-Man 2 trails slightly behind at 7 nominations. A selection of nominees can be seen below, and the full list can be read (and voted on) here.
Game of the Year
- Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo)
- Marvel's Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games)
- Baldur's Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
- Alan Wake II (Remedy Entertainment)
- Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Nintendo)
- Resident Evil 4 (2023) (Capcom)
Best Game Direction
- Alan Wake II (Remedy Entertainment)
- Marvel's Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games)
- Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo)
- Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Nintendo)
- Baldur's Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
Best Narrative
- Alan Wake II (Remedy)
- Final Fantasy XVI (Square Enix)
- Marvel's Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games)
- Baldur's Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
- Cyberpunk 2077: The Phantom Liberty (CD Projekt Red)
Games for Impact
- A Space for the Unbound (Mojiken)
- Chants of Senaar (Runedisc)
- Goodbye Volcano High (KO_OP)
- Tchia (Awaceb)
- Venba (Visai Games)
- Terra Nil (Free Lives)
Innovation in Accessibility
- Diablo IV (Blizzard Entertainment)
- Hi-Fi Rush (Tango Gameworks)
- Marvel's Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games)
- Forza Motorsport (2023) (Turn 10 Studios)
- Mortal Kombat 1 (NetherRealm)
- Street Fighter 6 (Capcom)
Best Performance
- Melanie Liburd as Saga Anderson (Alan Wake II)
- Idris Elba as Solomon Reed (Cyberpunk 2077: The Phantom Liberty)
- Yuri Lowenthal as Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Marvel's Spider-Man 2)
- Neil Newbon as Asterion (Baldur's Gate 3)
- Ben Starr as Clive Rosfield (Final Fantasy XVI)
- Cameron Monaghan as Cal Kestis (Star Wars Jedi Survivor)