The Game Awards 2022 nominees announced

    Sony Interactive Entertainment games lead nominations.

    The Game Awards has announced its nominees for 2022, as selected by a global jury of more than 100 media publications and influencer outlets.

    This year’s nominees are led bySony Interactive Entertainment, who is the most nominated publisher with 20 nominations across its portfolio of games, followed byAnnapurna Interactive andNintendo with 11 nominations each,Bandai Namco Entertainment with eight, andRiot Games with six nominations.

    Users can vote now in all categories via authenticated online voting onofficial website, as well via the official The Game Awards Voting Bot onDiscord. Voting will end onDecember 7 at 6:00 p.m. PT / 9:00 p.m. ET.

    The Game Awards 2022 will air live on December 8 across more than 40 global video platforms.

    Get the full list of nominees below.

    Game of the Year

    Recognizing a game that delivers the absolute best experience across all creative and technical fields.

    Best Game Direction

    Awarded for outstanding creative vision and innovation in game direction and design.

    • Elden Ring (FromSoftware / Bandai Namco Entertainment)
    • God of War Ragnarok (Santa Monica Studio / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
    • Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
    • IMMORTALITY (Half Mermaid)
    • STRAY (BlueTwelve Studio / Annapurna Interactive)

    Best Narrative

    For outstanding storytelling and narrative development in a game.

    • A Plague Tale: Requiem (Asobo Studio / Focus Entertainment)
    • Elden Ring (FromSoftware / Bandai Namco Entertainment)
    • God of War Ragnarok (Santa Monica Studio / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
    • Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
    • IMMORTALITY (Half Mermaid)

    Best Art Direction

    For outstanding creative and/or technical achievement in artistic design and animation.

    • Elden Ring (FromSoftware / Bandai Namco Entertainment)
    • God of War Ragnarok (Santa Monica Studio / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
    • Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
    • Scorn (Ebb Software /Kepler Interactive)
    • STRAY (BlueTwelve Studio / Annapurna Interactive)

    Best Score and Music

    For outstanding music, inclusive of score, original song and/or licensed soundtrack.

    • A Plague Tale: Requiem (Olivier Deriviere, Composer)
    • Elden Ring (Tsukasa Saitoh, Composer)
    • God of War Ragnarok (Bear McCreary, Composer)
    • Metal: Hellsinger (Two Feathers, Composer)
    • Xenoblade Chronicles 3 (Yasunori Mitsuda, Composer)

    Best Audio Design

    Recognizing the best in-game audio and sound design.

    Best Performance

    Awarded to an individual for voice-over acting, motion and/or performance capture.

    • Ashly Burch (Horizon Forbidden West)
    • Charlotte McBurney (A Plague Tale: Requiem)
    • Christopher Judge (God of War Ragnarok)
    • Manon Gage(IMMORTALITY)
    • Sunny Suljic (God of War Ragnarok)

    Games for Impact

    For a thought-provoking game with a pro-social meaning or message.

    Best Ongoing Game

    Awarded to a game for outstanding development of ongoing content that evolves the player experience over time.

    Best Indie

    For outstanding creative and technical achievement in a game made outside the traditional publisher system.

    BestMobile Game

    For the best game playable on a mobile device.

    Best Community Support

    Recognizing a game for outstanding community support, transparency and responsiveness, inclusive of social media activity and game updates / patches.

    • Apex Legends (Respawn Entertainment / Electronic Arts)
    • Destiny 2 (Bungie)
    • Final Fantasy XIV (Creative Business Unit III / Square Enix)
    • Fortnite (Epic Games)
    • No Man’s Sky (Hello Games)

    Innovation in Accessibility

    Recognizing software and / or hardware that is pushing the medium forward by adding features, technology and content to help games be played and enjoyed by an even wider audience.

    BestVirtual Reality / Augmented Reality

    For the best game experience playable in virtual or augmented reality, irrespective of platform.

    BestAction Game

    For the best game in the action genre focused primarily on combat.

    Best Action / Adventure

    For the best action /adventure game, combining combat with traversal and puzzle solving.

    • A Plague Tale: Requiem (Asobo Studio / Focus Entertainment)
    • God of War Ragnarok (Santa Monica Studio / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
    • Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
    • STRAY (BlueTwelve Studio / Annapurna Interactive)
    • TUNIC (TUNIC Team / Finji)

    Best Role-Playing

    For the best game designed with rich player character customization and progression, including massively multiplayer experiences.

    Best Fighting

    For the best game designed primarily around head-to-head combat.

    Best Family

    For the best game appropriate for family play, irrespective of genre or platform.

    BestSimulation / Strategy

    Best game focused on real time or turn-based simulation orstrategy gameplay, irrespective of platform.

    BestSports /Racing

    For the best traditional and non-traditional sports and racing game.

    Best Multiplayer

    For outstanding onlinemultiplayer gameplay and design, includingco-op and massively multiplayer experiences, irrespective of game genre or platform.

    • Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (Infinity Ward / Activision)
    • MultiVersus (Player First Games / WB Games)
    • Overwatch 2 (Blizzard)
    • Splatoon 3 (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)
    • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge (Tribute Games / Dotemu)

    Content Creator of the Year

    For a streamer or content creator who has made an important and positive impact on the community in 2021.

    • Karl Jacobs
    • Ludwig
    • Nibellion
    • Nobru
    • QTCinderella

    Best Debut Indie

    For the best debut game created by a new independent studio.

    • Neon White (Angel Matrix / Annapurna Interactive)
    • NORCO (Geography of Robots /Raw Fury)
    • STRAY (BlueTwelve Studio / Annapurna Interactive)
    • TUNIC (TUNIC Team / Finji)
    • Vampire Survivors (poncle)

    Best Adaptation

    Recognizing outstanding creative work that faithfully and authentically adapts a video game to another entertainment medium.

    Most Anticipated

    Recognizing an announced game that has demonstrably illustrated potential to push the gaming medium forward.

    Best eSports Game

    For the game that has delivered the best overall esports experience to players (inclusive of tournaments, community support and content updates), irrespective of genre or platform.

    • Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (Valve)
    • DOTA 2 (Valve)
    • League of Legends (Riot Games)
    • Rocket League (Psyonix / Epic Games)
    • VALORANT (Riot Games)

    Best eSports Athlete

    The eSports athlete judged to be the most outstanding for performance and conduct in 2021, irrespective of game.

    • Jeong “Chovy” Ji-hoon (Gen.G,League of Legends)
    • Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok (T1,League of Legends)
    • Finn “karrigan” Andersen ( (FaZe Clan,Counter-Strike: Global Offensive)
    • Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev (Natus Vincere,Counter-Strike: Global Offensive)
    • Jacob “Yay” Whiteaker (Cloud9,VALORANT)

    Best eSports Team

    Recognizing a specific eSports team (not the full organization) judged the most outstanding for performance and conduct in 2021.

    • DarkZero Esports (Apex Legends)
    • FaZe Clan (Counter-Strike: Global Offensive)
    • Gen.G (League of Legends)
    • LA Thieves (Call of Duty)
    • LOUD (VALORANT)

    Best eSports Coach

    The eSports coach judged to be the most outstanding for performance and conduct in 2021.

    • Andrii “B1ad3” Horodenskyi (Natus Vincere,Counter-Strike: Global Offensive)
    • Matheus “bzkA” Tarasconi (LOUD,VALORANT)
    • Erik “d00mbr0s” Sandgren (FPX,VALORANT)
    • Robert “RobbaN” Dahlström (FaZe Clan,Counter-Strike: Global Offensive)
    • Go “Score” Dong-bin (Gen.G,League of Legends)

    Best eSports Event

    Recognizing an event (across single or multiple days) that delivered a best-of-class experience for participants and the broadcast audience.

    • EVO 2022
    • 2022League of Legends World Championship
    • PGL Major Antwerp 2022
    • The 2022 Mid-Season Invitational
    • VALORANT Champions 2022