Full list of 2021 Game Awards nominations

Each year, The Game Awards host and creator Geoff Keighley reveals which were the best games of the year. And while we won’t know the winners until the show airs on December 9, the full list of nominations for the 2021 Game Awards has been revealed.

Although there are several categories, the biggest is always Game of the Year. There are six nominees for that honor, including Deathloop, It Takes Two, Psychonauts 2, Metroid Dread, Resident Evil: Village, and Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart.

While these are all great games, Deathloop and Psychonauts 2 look ready to blow the show away. Deathloop was nominated for nine different awards this year and Psychonauts was nominated for five.

Fans can vote for the winners in each category on the official Game Awards website until December 8 at 6 p.m. PT / 9 p.m. ET. The fan vote will count in 10% of the winners’ scores, with 90% determined by an official voting jury.

The show is returning in an in-person live format this year, broadcast from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.

Below is the complete list of nominees for the 2021 Game Awards.

Game of the year

• Deathloop (Arkane Studios / Bethesda)
• It takes two (Hazelight Studios / EA)
• Metroid Dread (Mercury Steam / Nintendo)
• Psychonauts 2 (Double Fine / Xbox Game Studios)
• Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (Insomniac Games / SIE)
• Resident Evil Village (Capcom)

The best going on

• Apex Legends (Respawn / EA)
• Call of Duty: Warzone (Infinity Ward / Raven / Activision)
• Final Fantasy XIV Online (Square Enix)
• Fortnite (epic games)
• Genshin Impact (MiHoYo)

Best Game Direction

• Deathloop (Arkane Studios / Bethesda)
• It takes two (Hazelight Studios / EA)
• Return (Housemarque / SIE)
• Psychonauts 2 (Double Fine / Xbox Game Studios)
• Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (Insomniac Games / SIE)

Best Independent Debut

• Kena: Bridge of Spirits (Ember Lab)
• Sable (Shedworks / Raw Fury)
• The Artful Escape (Beethoven & Dinosaur / Annapurna)
• The Forgotten City (Modern Narrator / Dear Villagers)
• Valheim (iron gate / coffee stain)

Best Indie

• 12 minutes (Luis Antonio / Annapurna Interactive)
• Gate of Death (Acid Nerve / Devolver Digital)
• Kena: Bridge of Spirits (Ember Lab)
• Cryptography (Daniel Mullins Games / Devolver Digital)
• Loop Hero (Four Quarters / Digital Devolver)

Best art direction

• Deathloop (Arkane Studios / Bethesda)
• Kena: Bridge of Spirits (Ember Lab)
• Psychonauts 2 (Double Fine / Xbox Game Studios)
• Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (Insomniac Games / SIE)
• The Artful Escape (Beethoven & Dinosaur / Annapurna)

Best Fiction

• Deathloop (Arkane Studios / Bethesda)
• It takes two (Hazelight Studios / EA)
• Life is Strange: True Colors (Deck Nine / SQUARE ENIX)
• Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy (Eidos Montreal / SQUARE ENIX)
• Psychonauts 2 (Double Fine / Xbox Game Studios)

Best audio design

• Deathloop (Arkane Studios / Bethesda)
• Forza Horizon 5 (playground games / Xbox Game Studios)
• Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (Insomniac Games / SIE)
• Resident Evil Village (Capcom)
• Return (Housemarque / SIE)

Best Soundtrack and Music

• Cyberpunk 2077 (Marcin Przybylowicz, Piotr T. Adamczyk, Composers)
• Deathloop (Tom Salta, Composer)
• NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139 (Keiichi Okabe, Composer)
• Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy (Richard Jacques, Composer)
• The Artful Escape (Johnny Galvatron & Josh Abrahams, Composers)

The best performance

• Erika Mori as Alex Chen, Life is Strange: True Colors
• Giancarlo Esposito in the role of Anton Castillo, Far Cry 6
• Jason E. Kelley as Colt Vahn, Deathloop
• Maggie Robertson as Lady Dimitrescu, Resident Evil Village
• Ozioma Akagha as Julianna Blake, Deathloop

Best community support

• Apex Legends (Respawn / EA)
• Destiny 2 (Bungie)
• Final Fantasy XIV Online (Square Enix)
• Fortnite (epic games)
• No Man’s Sky (Hello Games)

Games for impact

• Before your eyes (GoodbyeWorld Games / Skybound Games)
• Boyfriend’s Dungeon (Kitfox Games)
• Chicory (Greg Lobanow, Alexis Dean-Jones, Lena Raine, Madeline Berger, A Shell in the Pit / Finji)
• Life is Strange: True Colors (Deck Nine / SQUARE ENIX)
• No Longer Home (Humble Grove, Hana Lee, Cel Davison, Adrienne Lombardo, Eli Rainsberry / Travel Companion)

Best VR / AR

• Hitman 3 (Interactive IO)
• I expect you to die 2 (Schell games)
• Lone Echo II (Ready at Dawn / Oculus Studios)
• Resident Evil 4 (Armor Studio / Capcom / Oculus Studios)
• Sniper Elite VR (Sink / Add Water Only / Rebellion Developments)

Best mobile game

• Fantasian (Mistwalker)
• Genshin Impact (MiHoYo)
• League of Legends: Wild Rift (Riot Games)
• Marvel Future Revolution (Netmarble)
• Pokemon Unite (TiMi Studios / The Pokemon Company)

Best Action / Adventure

• Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy (Eidos Montreal / SQUARE ENIX)
• Metroid Dread (Mercury Steam / Nintendo)
• Psychonauts 2 (Double Fine / Xbox Game Studios)
• Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (Insomniac Games / SIE)
• Resident Evil Village (Capcom)

Best action

• Back 4 Blood (Turtle Rock / WB Games)
• Cavalry II (Torn Banner Studios / Tripwire Interactive)
• Deathloop (Arkane Studios / Bethesda)
• Far Cry 6 (Ubisoft Toronto / Ubisoft)
• Return (Housemarque / SIE)

Best fight

• Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Chronicles of Hinokami (CyberConnect2 / Sega)
• Guilty Gear -Strive- (Arc System Works)
• Melty Blood: Type Lumina (French Bread / Delightworks)
• Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl (Ludosity / Fair Play Labs / GameMill)
• Virtua Fighter 5: Ultimate Showdown (Sega)

Best RPG

• Cyberpunk 2077 (CD Project Red)
• Monster Hunter Rise (Capcom)
• Scarlet Nexus (Bandai Namco)
• Shin Megami Tensei V (Atlus / Sega)
• Tales of Arise (Bandai Namco)

The best sports / racing

• F1 2021 (Codemasters / EA Sports)
• FIFA 22 (EA Vancouver / EA Sports)
• Forza Horizon 5 (playground games / Xbox Game Studios)
• Hot Wheels unleashed (milestone)
• Republic of the Knights (Ubisoft Annecy / Ubisoft)

The best family

• It takes two (Hazelight Studios / EA)
• Mario Party Superstar (NDcube / Nintendo)
• New Pokémon Snap (Bandai Namco / The Pokémon Company / Nintendo)
• Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury (Nintendo)
• WarioWare: Put it together! (Intelligent Systems / Nintendo)

Best Multiplayer

• Back 4 Blood (Turtle Rock / WB Games)
• It takes two (Hazelight Studios / EA)
• Knockout City (Velan Studios / EA)
• Monster Hunter Rise (Capcom)
• New World (Amazon Games)
• Valheim (Iron Gate Studio / Coffee Stain)

Best Sim / Strategy

• Age of Empires IV (Relic Entertainment / Xbox Game Studios)
• Evil Genius 2: World Domination (Rebellion Developments)
• Humanity (Amplitude Studios / Sega)
• Cryptography (Daniel Mullins Games / Devolver)
• Microsoft Flight Simulator (Asobo Studio / Xbox Game Studios)

Innovation in accessibility, presented by Chevrolet

• Far Cry 6 (Ubisoft Toronto / Ubisoft)
• Forza Horizon 5 (playground games / Xbox Game Studios)
• Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy (Eidos Montreal / SQUARE ENIX)
• Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (Insomniac Games / SIE)
• The Vale: Shadow of the Crown (Creative Bytes Studios / Falling Squirrel)

The most anticipated game

• Elden Ring (FromSoftware / Bandai Namco)
• God of War Ragnarök (Sony Santa Monica / SIE)
• Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games / SIE)
• Sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo)
• Starfield (Bethesda Game Studios / Bethesda)

Best Esports Game

• Call of Duty (activity)
• CS: GO (valve)
• DOTA2 (valve)
• League of Legends (riot games)
• Valorant (Riot Games)

Content Creator of the Year

• To dream
• Fuslie
• Gauls
• Ibai
• The Gregg

Best Esports Athlete

• Chris “Simp” Lehr
• Heo “ShowMaker” Up
• Magomed “Collapse” Khalilov
• Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev
• Tyson “TenZ” Ong

Best Esports Coach

• Airat “Silent” Gaziev
• Andrey “ENGH” Sholochov
• Andrii “B1ad3” Horodenskyi
• James “Crowder” Crowder
• Kim “kkOma” Jeong-gyun

The best eSports team

• Atlanta FaZe (COD)
• DWG KIA (LOL)
• Natus Vincente (CS: GO)
• Sentinels (Valorante)
• Team spirit (DOTA2)

Best Esports Event

• 2021 League of Legends World Championship
• PGL Major Stockholm 2021
• PUBG Mobile Global Championship 2020
• The International 2021
• Valorant Champions Tour: Stage 2 Masters

Want to see who wins each category? Be sure to tune in to The 2021 Game Awards on December 9 at 4 p.m. PT / 7 p.m. ET on all major streaming services. Come to the awards ceremony and stay for the announcement of up to 50 new game titles!