The race for the 2021 Game Awards has begun.
Producer and host, Geoff Keighley, announced the field of nominees for all 30 award categories in a livestream presentation on Nov. 16.
Before tuning in to the official ceremony next month, here are the surprise submissions, big developments, and candidates for the most important night in gaming.
Game of the Year
It Takes Two - Hazelight Studios and Electronic Arts
Deathloop - Arkane Studios and Bethesda
Psychonauts 2 - Double Fine and Xbox Game Studios
Metroid Dread - Mercury Steam and Nintendo
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart - Insomniac Games and Sony Interactive Entertainment
Resident Evil Village - Capcom
Best Action/Adventure
Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy
Metroid Dread
Psychonauts 2
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
Resident Evil Village
Best Game Direction
Deathloop - Dinga Bakaba
Psychonauts 2 - Tim Schafer
Returnal - Harry Krueger
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart - Marcus Smith and Mike Daly
It Takes Two - Josef Fares
Best Narrative
It Takes Two - Hazelight Studios
Life is Strange: True Colors - Deck Nine
Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy - Eidos Montreal
Psychonauts 2 - Double Fine
Deathloop - Arkane Studios
Best Performance
Erika Mori - Alex Chen (Life is Strange: True Colors)
Giancarlo Esposito - Anton Castillo (Far Cry 6)
Jason Kelley - Colt Vahn (Deathloop)
Maggie Robertson - Lady Dimitrescu (Resident Evil Village)
Ozioma Akagha - Julianna Blake (Deathloop)
Best Ongoing Game
Apex
Warzone
Final Fantasy XIV Online
Genshin Impact
Fortnite
Best Score and Music
Cyberpunk 2077 - Marcin Przybyłowicz and Piotr T. Adamczyk
Deathloop - Tom Salta
NieR Replicant ver. 1.22474487139 - Keiichi Okabe
Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy - Richard Jacques
The Artful Escape - Johnny Galvatron & Josh Abrahams
Best Indie Game
12 Minutes
Kena: Bridge of Spirits
Inscryption
Loop Hero
Death’s Door
Games for Impact
Life is Strange: True Colors
Boyfriend Dungeon
Before Your Eyes
Chicory: A Colorful Tale
No Longer Home
Innovation in Accessibility
Far Cry 6
Forza Horizon 5
Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
The Vale: Shadow of the Crown
Most Anticipated Game
Elden Ring
Horizon Forbidden West
The Sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Starfield
God of War Ragnarök
Frontrunners
Deathloop (8 Nominations)
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (6 Nominations)
Psychonauts 2 (5 Nominations)
It Takes Two (5 Nominations)
Storylines
Image from TGA
For the fifth year in a row, the “Content Creator of the Year” award is dominated by full-time streamers. Brazilian Counter-Strike: Global Offensive commentator “gAuLeS,” Spanish League of Legends commentator Ibai, American 100 Thieves streamer “Fuslie,” previously nominated Spanish Fortnite streamer “Grefg” and Minecraft YouTuber Dream are nominated.
Image from Bethesda
While the 2020 ceremony only had one publisher reach double-digit nominations—Sony Interactive Entertainment—in 2021, two more join the fray. Xbox Game Studios, and recently acquired Bethesda, lead with 20 nominations, S.I.E. is in second with 11, and Electronic Arts is tied with Square Enix in third with 10 apiece.
Image from Shedworks
Since release schedules picked back up this year after plenty of titles were delayed, there are a few notable games that fans will find missing from ballots this year in multiple categories: No More Heroes 3 and Persona 5 Strikers for Best Action, Axiom Verge 2 for Best Indie, Mario Golf Super Rush for Best Sports/Racing or Best Family Game, and Immortals Fenyx Rising and Outriders for Best Action Adventure.
Furthermore, while Shedworks and Raw Fury were nominated for Best Debut Indie with Sable, it was passed over for Best Art Direction.
In terms of viewership, 2020’s livestream marked the sixth consecutive year of growth for “the Oscars for the gaming world.” The Game Awards ceremony last year was streamed live over 83 million times, and peak concurrent viewers hit more than 8.3 million globally. Furthermore, fan voting in categories like Most Anticipated Game and Player’s Choice doubled with 18.3 million ballots cast by gamers across all platforms.
Even with that exponential rise, Keighley is still focused on keeping game announcements and world premieres front and center. In a recent interview with Epic Games, Keighley mentioned that this year’s ceremony will feature 40 to 50 games “someway or another,” whether that be new titles or updates to existing ones, just with less special guest presenters from outside the industry.
“You know, it's great to have celebrities, it's great to have music, but I think focusing really on games is important,” said Keighley. Last year featured presenters and special guests, such as Brie Larson, Christopher Nolan and Eddie Vedder.
Fan voting is now available online and on Bilibili if you are voting from China, until Dec. 8. This year, The Game Awards return to the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on Thursday, Dec. 9.
Images: Bethesda, The Game Awards, Shedworks
Sources: The Game Awards, Epic Games
