The Game Award Nominations 2023

It’s that time again; the game awards are here, and it’s our pleasure to flag the nominees and those who didn’t cut it while giving you the lowdown on what’s hot and what’s a complete flop, so double down, strap in and turn on. It’s going to be an exhilarating read!

The Game Awards streams live a week or so after Thanksgiving on Thursday, December 7, 2023, from the illustrious Peacock Theater in LA. It’s free to watch on all primary streaming services, with the opening act (yet to be announced) starting at 7:30 ET (4:30 PT). 

According to YouTube, the nominees for Game of the Year at the awards are Alan Wake 2, developed by Remedy Games & Entertainment; Resident Evil 4 from Capcom; Baldur’s Gate 3 from Belgium’s Larion Studios; Marvel Spider-Man 2 from Insomniac Games (Playstation Studio); Super Mario Brothers Wonder from Nintendo, and The Legend of Zelda’s tears of the Kingdom from Nintendo.

It’s the big names looking for a win that dominates the headlines. Nominees for most awards categories are chosen by an international jury of over 100 global media and influencer outlets, selected for their critical video game evaluation history.

Specialized panels meet for other categories, including esports, accessibility, and best adaptation. Each voting outlet completes a confidential, unranked ballot based on its editorial staff’s collective and diverse opinion, listing its top five choices in each category.

Game Awards producer Geoff Keighley (Canadian video game journalist and television presenter) is not a jury member and does not vote on the nominees. Similarly, the advisory board for the event has no involvement in the awards process.

While the big boys are taking over, how the nominees are chosen says much about who gets a look in. A blended vote chooses winners between the voting jury (90%) and public fan voting (10%). Fans can vote for their favourite games on all the usual platforms, but fans vote for the winners in China via Bilibili and WeChat.

A 10% fan vote is not much, which might signify why there are no small developers in the nominee running. The game selected as the year’s best game will follow the 2022 winner Elden Ring (BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Inc), which beat God of War Ragnarök (Santa Monica Studio), Stray, A Plague Tale: Requiem (Asobo Studio), and Xenoblade Chronicles 3 by Monolith Soft for Nintendo. 

Another category that interests us is Best Art Direction; the nominees are listed below, plus our view on their chance of winning. 

• Alan Wake 2 - Remedy Entertainment - 30% chance of winning. 

• Hi-Fi Rush - Tango Gameworks - should win but has a 40% chance.

• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom - Nintendo - 10% and is lucky to have that.

• Lies of P - Round8 Studio & Neowiz Games - 90% will probably win.

• Super Mario Bros. Wonder -Nintendo - 0% and that’s generous.

Please, Super Mario Bros, not again, and definitely not for this category. It has to be Hi-Fi Rush - Tango Gameworks, and here’s why... It’s Old Skool and yet relevant. Giving big 90s vibes, early Pokemon, with power rangers energy - it POWS!

The best innovation in accessibility nominations are…

• Diablo 4 - Blizzard Entertainment

• Forza Motorsport -Turn 10 Studios

• Hi-Fi Rush - Tango Gameworks

• Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 - Insomniac Games

• Mortal Kombat 1 - NetherRealm Studios

• Street Fighter 6 - Capcom

The award is for software and hardware pushing gaming forward by adding features, technology, and content to help a wider audience enjoy gameplay. In theory, this is commendable, but Diablo 4 - Blizzard Entertainment! Really? Okay, it’s better than 3; that was a complete flop, but this title shouldn’t be on the leaderboard.

If we had to choose, it would be…… nope, they all don’t make the cut. Where’s Motive Studio’s brilliant remake of the original Dead Space? This is your winner, or it would be if it were on the list, and as we all know, if you’re not on the list, you can’t come in!

Finally, we will be watching out for the best indie game. And the nominees are….

• Cocoon - Geometric Interactive

• Dave the Diver- MINTROCKET

• Dredge - Black Salt Games

• Sea of Stars - Sabotage Studio

• Viewfinder - Sad Owl Studios

The best debut indie games list is as follows…

• Cocoon - Geometric Interactive

• Dredge - Black Salt Games

• Pizza Tower - Tour de Pizza

• Venba -Visai Games

• Viewfinder -Sad Owl Studios

The indie game category is always an indicator of where gaming is going; check the indie charts and see the future - however, there’s one humdinger that needs a shout-out and nomination for the worst indie game, a right rotten tomato, and that’s…..Pizza Tower - Tour de Pizza!

If that’s not a play on the nation’s favourite food, I don’t know what it is - lack of imagination and not a pineapple in sight!