The Game Awards 2023 Nominees and Predictions

It’s that time of year, The Game Awards 2023 nominees have been revealed and the internet is in an uproar talking about everything from which games deserve the honors to the games that got snubbed. With just one week until showtime, we wanted to throw together the list of nominees, and as a bonus, Sri and I have offered our predictions as to how the categories will shake out.

Game of the Year

Alan Wake 2
Baldur’s Gate 3
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
Resident Evil 4
Super Mario Bros. Wonder
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

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SRI: Baldur’s Gate 3

NICK: The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Writer’s Note: Baldur’s Gate seems to be the fan favorite, but our industry certainly loves some Zelda…)

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Best Game Direction

Alan Wake 2
Baldur’s Gate 3
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
Super Mario Bros. Wonder
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

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SRI: Alan Wake 2

NICK: Alan Wake 2

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Best Adaptation

Castlevania: Nocturne
Gran Turismo
The Last of Us
The Super Mario Bros. Movie
Twisted Metal

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SRI: The Last of Us

NICK: The Last of Us

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Best Narrative

Alan Wake 2
Baldur’s Gate 3
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty
Final Fantasy XVI
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2

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SRI: Alan Wake 2

NICK: Alan Wake 2

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Best Art Direction

Alan Wake 2
Hi-Fi Rush
Lies of P
Super Mario Bros. Wonder
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

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SRI: Alan Wake 2

NICK: Alan Wake 2

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Best Score and Music

Alan Wake 2
Baldur’s Gate 3
Final Fantasy XVI
Hi-Fi Rush
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

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SRI: Final Fantasy XVI

NICK: Final Fantasy XVI

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Best Audio Design

Alan Wake 2
Dead Space
Hi-Fi Rush
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
Resident Evil 4

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SRI: Spider-Man 2

NICK: Hi-Fi Rush (Writer’s Note: if Hi-Fi doesn’t win this category, society has failed)

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Best Performance

Ben Starr, Final Fantasy XVI
Cameron Monaghan, STAR WARS Jedi: Survivor
Idris Elba, Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty
Melanie Liburd, Alan Wake 2
Neil Newbon, Baldur’s Gate 3
Yuri Lowenthal, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2

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SRI: Ben Starr

NICK: Idris Elba

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Innovation in Accessibility

Diablo IV
Forza Motorsport
Hi-Fi Rush
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
Mortal Kombat 1
Street Fighter 6

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SRI: Spider-Man 2

NICK: Spider-Man 2

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Games for Impact

A Space for the Unbound
Chants of Sennaar
Goodbye Volcano High
Tchia
Terra Nil
Venba

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SRI: Goodbye Volcano High

NICK: Terra Nil

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Best Ongoing Game

Apex Legends
Cyberpunk 2077
Final Fantasy XIV
Fortnite
Genshin Impact

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SRI: Cyberpunk 2077

NICK: Final Fantasy XIV

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Best Community Support

Baldur’s Gate 3
Cyberpunk 2077
Destiny 2
Final Fantasy XIV
No Man’s Sky

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SRI: Baldur’s Gate 3 (Writer’s Note: Winner aside, who thought it was a good idea to nominate a game with a history of sunsetting content that just recently laid off a large number of employees, some of which were in the community facing.)

NICK: Cyberpunk 2077

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Best Independent Game

Cocoon
Dave the Diver
Dredge
Sea of Stars
Viewfinder

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SRI: Sea of Stars

NICK: Dredge

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Best Debut Indie Game

Cocoon
Dredge
Pizza Tower
Venba
Viewfinder

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SRI: COCOON

NICK: Dredge

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Best Mobile Game

Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis
Honkai: Star Rail
Hello Kitty Island Adventure
Monster Hunter Now
Terra Nil

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SRI: Honkai Star Rail

NICK: Honkai Star Rail (Writer’s Note: Don’t bet against anime.)

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Best VR/AR Game

Gran Turismo 7
Humanity
Horizon Call of the Mountain
Resident Evil Village VR Mode
Synapse

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SRI: Horizon Call of the Mountain

NICK: Horizon Call of the Mountain

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Best Action Game

Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon
Dead Island 2
Ghostrunner 2
Hi-Fi Rush
Remnant 2

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SRI: Armored Core 6 (Writer’s Note: I’m not foolish enough to bet against FromSoft but I do hope Hi-Fi Rush takes this home.)

NICK: Hi-Fi Rush

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Best Action/Adventure Game

Alan Wake 2
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
Resident Evil 4
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

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SRI: Spider-Man 2

NICK: The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

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Best RPG

Baldur’s Gate 3
Final Fantasy XVI
Lies of P
Sea of Stars
Starfield

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SRI: Baldur’s Gate 3

NICK: Baldur’s Gate 3 (Writer’s Note: As a big Bethesda fan, at least Starfield is getting some recognition, we take what we can.)

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Best Fighting Game

God of Rock
Mortal Kombat 1
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2
Pocket Bravery
Street Fighter 6

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SRI: Street Fighter 6

NICK: Street Fighter 6

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Best Family Game

Disney Illusion Island
Party Animals
Pikmin 4
Sonic Superstars
Super Mario Bros. Wonder

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SRI: Super Mario Bros. Wonder

NICK: Super Mario Bros. Wonder

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Best Sim/Strategy Game

Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp
Cities: Skylines II
Company of Heroes 3
Fire Emblem Engage
Pikmin 4

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SRI: Cities: Skyline II (Writer’s Note: They didn’t render every civilian’s teeth to not take this award.)

NICK: Fire Emblem Engage (Writer’s Note: What did I just say about anime?)

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Best Sports/Racing

EA Sports FC 24
F1 23
Forza Motorsport
Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged
The Crew Motorfest

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SRI: Forza Motorsport

NICK: The Crew Motorfest

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Best Multiplayer (Presented by Discord)

Baldur’s Gate 3
Diablo IV
Party Animals
Street Fighter 6
Super Mario Bros. Wonder

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SRI: Super Mario Bros. Wonder

NICK: Street Fighter 6

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Most Anticipated Game

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
Hades II
Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth
Star Wars Outlaws
Tekken 8

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SRI: Final Fantasy VII Rebirth

NICK: Final Fantasy VII Rebirth

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Writer’s Note: If I can come clean for a second, I won’t speak for Sri but I don’t follow the world of Esports closely if at all. So in honor of full transparency, the following choices for myself were made purely on the names alone. Apologies if these are some truly awful picks.

Content Creator of the Year

IronMouse
PeopleMakeGames
Quackity
Spreen
SypherPK

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SRI: PeopleMakeGames

NICK: Quackity

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Best Esports Game

Counter-Strike 2
Dota 2
League of Legends
PUBG Mobile
Valorant

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SRI: Counter-Strike 2

NICK: Valorant

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Best Esports Athlete

Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok
Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut
Max “Demon1” Mazanov
Paco “HyDra” Rusiewiez
Park “Ruler” Jae-hyuk
Phillip ”ImperialHal” Dosen

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SRI: Ruler

NICK: Faker

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Best Esports Team

Evil Geniuses
Fnatic
Gaimin Gladiators
JD Gaming
Team Vitality

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SRI: Evil Geniuses

NICK: Team Vitality

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Best Esports Coach

Christine “potter” Chi
Danny “zonic” Sorensen
Jordan “Gunba” Graham
Remy “XTQZZZ” Quoniam
Yoon “Homme” Sung-young

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SRI: Potter

NICK: XTQZZZ

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Best Esports Event

2023 League of Legends World Championship
Blast.tv Paris Major 2023
EVO 2023
The International Dota 2 Championships 2023
Valorant Champions 2023

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SRI: EVO 2023

NICK: EVO 2023

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And those are the 2023 nominees for The Game Awards along with our predictions. This time of year is a time for celebration revolving around the world of video games, so try and keep that in mind when carrying yourself in online discourse. If you would like to cast your votes, you are able to do so in a variety of ways, but the main option would be heading over to the official Game Awards website. And you can find out the results during The Game Awards 2023 Broadcast which is streamed live on Thursday, December 7th just about anywhere online.