The Game Awards 2024 nominees have been revealed, and there’s drama

Geoff Keighley, you’ve done it again. The Game Awards 2024 is just a few weeks away, and we expect it to have big announcements, exciting reveals and a healthy dose of Kojima. It also might even feature some video game awards (TBC).

Even so, The Game Awards have released their list of nominations for this year, and as always is a hot topic for debate. Notably, the nominations for Game of the Year include a DLC for the very first time; Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree. The news broke over the weekend that The Game Awards would be open to having a DLC across all categories, and unsurprisingly, the expansion to the former winner of Game of the Year 2022 is officially in the mix, alongside Astro Bot, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Metaphor ReFantazio, Blayk Myth: Wukong and indie darling Balatro.

Astro Bot and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth came away with seven nominations each, while Metaphor: ReFantazio has six, and Balatro and Silent Hill 2 get five a piece. In other categories, it’s great to see Aussie indie The Plucky Squire in the mix for Best Debut Indie and Best Family Game, while Best Performance is full of wonderful options, including Luke Roberts, for his take on James in Silent Hill 2, and Melina Juergens, who did some incredibly heavy lifting with the intensity of Senua in Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2.

Circling back for a moment, Black Myth Wukong is another controversial entry in the Game of the Year stakes; while seemingly loved by certain fans online, the game itself only has a Metacritic score of 81, making it look like an imposter amongst the other GOTY nominees that all registered in the mid-90s. Not to mention prior news of sexually explicit comments by the CEO of Game Science, underscoring a wider problem in the gaming industry that is seemingly being ignored here. With both Black Myth and Elden Ring being in the mix for an award they probably don’t deserve, it does seem like the “Geoff and his mates” popularity contest is in full force.

And annoyingly, we’ll all watch it, waiting for the next World Premier, the next random kid to jump on the stage, the next strange celebrity tie-in because they have a movie coming out soon, and whatever other drama unfolds on the biggest video game stage in the industry.

Here’s the full list of nominees for The Game Awards 2024:

GAME OF THE YEAR

• Astro Bot
• Balatro
• Black Myth: Wukong
• Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree
• Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
• Metaphor: ReFantazio

BEST GAME DIRECTION

• Astro Bot
• Balatro
• Black Myth: Wukong
• Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree
• Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
• Metaphor: ReFantazio

BEST NARRATIVE

• Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
• Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
• Metaphor: ReFantanzio
• Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II
• Silent Hill 2

BEST ART DIRECTION

• Astro Bot
• Black Myth: Wukong
• Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree
• Metaphor: ReFantazio
• Neva

BEST SCORE AND MUSIC

• Astro Bot
• Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
• Metaphor: ReFantazio
• Silent Hill 2
• Stellar Blade

BEST AUDIO DESIGN

• Astro Bot
• Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
• Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
• Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2
• Silent Hill 2

BEST PERFORMANCE

• Briana White, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
• Hannah Telle, Life is Strange: Double Exposure
• Humberly González, Star Wars Outlaws
• Luke Roberts, Silent Hill 2
• Melina Juergens, Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2

INNOVATION IN ACCESSIBILITY

• Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
• Diablo 4
• Dragon Age: The Veilguard
• Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
• Star Wars Outlaws

GAMES FOR IMPACT

• Closer the Distance
• Indika
• Neva
• Life is Strange: Double Exposure
• Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II
• Tales of Kenzera: Zau

BEST ONGOING

• Destiny 2
• Diablo 4
• Final Fantasy XIV
• Fortnite
• Helldivers 2

BEST COMMUNITY SUPPORT

• Baldur’s Gate 3
• Final Fantasy XIV
• Fortnite
• Helldivers 2
• No Man’s Sky

BEST INDEPENDENT GAME

• Animal Well
• Balatro
• Lorelei and the Laser Eyes
• Neva
• UFO 50

BEST DEBUT INDIE GAME

• Animal Well
• Balatro
• Manor Lords
• Pacific Drive
• The Plucky Squire

BEST MOBILE GAME

• AFK Journey
• Balatro
• Pokemon Trading Card Game Pocket
• Wuthering Waves
• Zenless Zone Zero

BEST VR/AR

• Arizona Sunshine Remake
• Asgard’s Wrath 2
• Batman: Arkham Shadow
• Metal: Hellsinger VR
• Metro Awakening

BEST ACTION GAME

• Black Myth: Wukong
• Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
• Helldivers 2
• Stellar Blade
• Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2

BEST ACTION/ADVENTURE GAME

• Astro Bot
• Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
• Silent Hill 2
• Star Wars Outlaws
• The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom

BEST RPG

• Dragon’s Dogma 2
• Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree
• Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
• Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
• Metaphor: ReFantazio

BEST FIGHTING

• Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO
• Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising
• Marvel vs Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics
• MultiVersus
• Tekken 8

BEST FAMILY

• Astro Bot
• Princess Peach: Showtime!
• Super Mario Party Jamboree
• The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
• The Plucky Squire

BEST SIM / STRATEGY

• Age of Mythology: Retold
• Frostpunk 2
• Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess
• Manor Lords
• Unicorn Overlord

BEST SPORTS / RACING

• F1 24
• EA Sports FC 25
• NBA 2K25
• Top Spin 2K25
• WWE 2K24

BEST MULTIPLAYER

• Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
• Helldivers 2
• Super Mario Party Jamboree
• Tekken 8
• Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2

BEST ADAPTATION

• Arcane
• Fallout
• Knuckles
• Like a Dragon: Yakuza
• Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft

MOST ANTICIPATED GAME

• Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
• Ghost of Yōtei
• Grand Theft Auto 6
• Metroid Prime 4: Beyond
• Monster Hunter Wilds

CONTENT CREATOR OF THE YEAR

• CaseOh
• IlloJuan
• Techo Gamerz
• TypicalGamer
• Usada Pekora

BEST ESPORTS GAME

• Counter-Strike 2
• DOTA 2
• League of Legends
• Mobile Legends: Bang Bang
• Valorant

BEST ESPORTS ATHLETE

• 33 – Neta Shapira
• Aleksib – Aleksi Virolainen
• Chovy – Jeong Ji-hoon
• Faker – Lee Sang-hyeok
• ZyWoO – Mathieu Herbaut
• ZmjjKk – Zheng Yongkang

BEST ESPORTS TEAM

• Bilibili Gaming (League of Legends)
• Gen.G (League of Legends)
• NAVI (Counter-Strike)
• T1 (League of Legends)
• Team Liquid (DOTA 2)

The Game Awards 2024 will take place on December 12 (for Australia, that’s Friday, December 13, 11:30am – 3:00pm (AEDT).