It’s the biggest awards ceremony in the world of video games, and this year the Game Awards is returning as a live ceremony taking place in Los Angeles, California.
And while the lucky thousands filling in the seats of L.A.’s Microsoft Theatre will get a chance to watch the proceedings live, the rest of the world will also be able to watch via livestream on the major social, gaming and video platforms.
The ceremony will take place on December 9 and will be hosted once again by video game personality Geoff Keighley.
“We are very excited to return to the Microsoft Theater for a special night to celebrate the past, present and future of video games”, said Keighley in a press release.
Meanwhile, the nominees were announced recently, with more than 100 games competing in more than two dozen categories for the awards.
Leading the nominees is Deathloop, the latest game by French outfit Arkane Studios. Arkane is behind other top-notch games like Dishonored, and seems to have scored another hit with Deathloop, which is vying for a total of 9 awards at this year’s Game Awards ceremony.
The game takes place on a mysterious island where two rival assassins are fighting to break out of an endless time loop, and has been hailed as one of the most original and fun games in years by the critics.
Deathloop is one of the nominees in the Game of the Year category at the Game Awards. It will be competing with Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, the latest entry in the long-running Ratchet & Clank series. This platform game is one of the top-rated PS5 exclusives to date, and also a strong candidate to bag the top prize at this year’s Game Awards.
The other Game of the Year nominees are: It Takes Two, a co-op game which has received much praise, the Nintendo Switch game Metroid Dread, Resident Evil Village and Psychonauts 2.
Resident Evil Village is another solid entry in Capcom’s world-famous survival horror series, while Psychonauts 2 is the sequel to the very original first game (which was released way back in 2005), and might as well win the Game of the Year award if Deathloop doesn’t.
Regarding the other categories besides Game of the Year, the Game Awards 2021 will include a “Best Performer” category as has been the case since the awards began back in 2014.
This makes a lot of sense taking into account that the Game Awards have been hailed by some as the Oscars of the gaming world, and the top actors and actresses playing characters in video games (via voice acting and/or motion capture) will be honored again this year.
Deathloop has two nominees in this category: Jason E. Kelley and Ozioma Akagha, who play the game’s protagonists Colt Vahn and Julianna Blake respectively.
Ubisoft’s blockbuster game Far Cry 6 has earned a nomination in this category thanks to the work of Breaking Bad actor Giancarlo Esposito as the game’s villain Antón Castillo.
The other two nominees are Erika Mori, who plays Alex Chen (the protagonist of Life is Strange: True Colors) and Maggie Robertson, who provided the voice of the menacing vampire Lady Dimitrescu in Capcom’s Resident Evil Village.
Here follows the full list of nominees for the 2021 Game Awards (via thegameawards.com).
Note: The Game Awards 2021 ceremony took place on December 9, 2021. The list below was updated to highlight the winner in each category.
Game Awards 2021 nominees
Game of the Year
- Deathloop
- It Takes Two
- Metroid Dread
- Psychonauts 2
- Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
- Resident Evil Village
Best Game Direction
- Deathloop
- It Takes Two
- Returnal
- Psychonauts 2
- Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
Best Ongoing
- Apex Legends
- Call of Duty: Warzone
- FINAL FANTASY XIV Online
- Fortnite
- Genshin Impact
Best Indie
- 12 Minutes
- Death’s Door
- Kena: Bridge of Spirits
- Inscryption
- Loop Hero
Best Debut Indie
- Kena: Bridge of Spirits
- Sable
- The Artful Escape
- The Forgotten City
- Valheim
Best Narrative
- Deathloop
- It Takes Two
- Life is Strange: True Colors
- Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy
- Psychonauts 2
Best Art Direction
- Deathloop
- Kena: Bridge of Spirits
- Psychonauts 2
- Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
- The Artful Escape
Best Score and Music
- Cyberpunk 2077
- Deathloop
- NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139
- Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy
- The Artful Escape
Best Audio Design
- Deathloop
- Forza Horizon 5
- Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
- Resident Evil Village
- Returnal
Best Performance
- Erika Mori (Alex Chen), Life is Strange: True Colors
- Giancarlo Esposito (Antón Castillo), Far Cry 6
- Jason E. Kelley (Colt Vahn), Deathloop
- Maggie Robertson (Lady Dimitrescu), Resident Evil Village
- Ozioma Akagha (Julianna Blake), Deathloop
Games for Impact
- Before Your Eyes
- Boyfriend Dungeon
- Chicory
- Life is Strange: True Colors
- No Longer Home
Best Community Support
- Apex Legends
- Destiny 2
- FINAL FANTASY XIV Online
- Fortnite
- No Man’s Sky
Best Mobile Game
- Fantasian
- Genshin Impact
- League of Legends: Wild Rift
- MARVEL Future Revolution
- Pokemon Unite
Best VR/AR
- Hitman 3
- I Expect You To Die 2
- Lone Echo II
- Resident Evil 4
- Sniper Elite VR
Best Action
- Back 4 Blood
- Chivalry II
- Deathloop
- Far Cry 6
- Returnal
Best Action/Adventure
- Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy
- Metroid Dread
- Psychonauts 2
- Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
- Resident Evil Village
Best Role Playing
- Cyberpunk 2077
- Monster Hunter Rise
- Scarlet Nexus
- Shin Megami Tensei V
- Tales of Arise
Best Fighting
- Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles
- Guilty Gear -Strive-
- Melty Blood: Type Lumina
- Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl
- Virtua Fighter 5: Ultimate Showdown
Best Family
- It Takes Two
- Mario Party Superstars
- New Pokémon Snap
- Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury
- WarioWare: Get It Together!
Best Sports/Racing
- F1 2021
- FIFA 22
- Forza Horizon 5
- Hot Wheels Unleashed
- Riders Republic
Best Sim/Strategy
- Age of Empires IV
- Evil Genius 2: World Domination
- Humankind
- Inscryption
- Microsoft Flight Simulator
Best Multiplayer
- Back 4 Blood
- It Takes Two
- Knockout City
- Monster Hunter Rise
- New World
- Valheim
Most Anticipated
- Elden Ring
- God of War Ragnarök
- Horizon Forbidden West
- Sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
- Starfield
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
Content Creator of the Year
- Dream
- Fuslie
- Gaules
- Ibai
- TheGrefg
Best Esports Game
- Call of Duty
- CS:GO
- DOTA2
- League of Legends
- Valorant
Best Esports Athlete
- Chris “Simp” Lehr
- Heo “ShowMaker” Su
- Magomed “Collapse” Khalilov
- Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev
- Tyson “TenZ” Ngo
Best Esports Team
- Atlanta FaZe, Call of Duty
- DWG KIA, League of Legends
- Natus Vincere, CS:GO
- Sentinels, Valorant
- Team Spirit, DOTA2
Best Esports Coach
- Airat “Silent” Gaziev
- Andrey “ENGH” Sholokhov
- Andrii “B1ad3” Horodenskyi
- James “Crowder” Crowder
- Kim “kkOma” Jeong-gyun
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