The Game Awards 2024 nominations are officially here, with Astro Bot, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, and Metaphor: ReFantazio all in line to take home major hardware.
Topping the list are the Game of the Year nominees, which as expected include Astro Bot, Balatro, Black Myth: Wukong, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Metaphor: ReFantazio, and Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree. The last game has already sparked some debate among fans about whether an expansion should be considered for the GOTY category. Here's The Game Awards' official criteria.
The Game Awards aims to recognize the best creative and technical work each year, irrespective of the format of that content’s release. Expansion packs, new game seasons, DLCs, remakes and remasters are eligible in all categories, if the jury deems the new creative and technical work to be worthy of a nomination. Factors such as the newness of the content and its price/value should be taken into consideration.
Astro Bot and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth led the way with seven nominations, while Metaphor followed with six. PlayStation games received 16 nods, making it the most nominated publisher. You can read the complete list of nominees below.
Game of the Year
- Astro Bot
- Balatro
- Black Myth: Wukong
- Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree
- Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
- Metaphor: ReFantazio
Best Game Direction
- Astro Bot
- Balatro
- Black Myth: Wukong
- Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree
- Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
- Metaphor: ReFantazio
Best Narrative
- Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
- Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
- Metaphor: ReFantanzio
- Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II
- Silent Hill 2
Best Art Direction
- Astro Bot
- Black Myth: Wukong
- Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree
- Metaphor: ReFantazio
- Neva
Best Score and Music
- Astro Bot
- Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
- Metaphor: ReFantazio
- Silent Hill 2
- Stellar Blade
Best Audio Design
- Astro Bot
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
- Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
- Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2
- Silent Hill 2
Best Performance
- Hannah Telle, Life is Strange: Double Exposure
- Briana White, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
- Humberly González, Star Wars Outlaws
- Luke Roberts, Silent Hill 2
- Melina Juergens, Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2
Innovation in Accessibility
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
- Diablo IV
- Dragon Age: The Veilguard
- Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
- Star Wars Outlaws
Games for Impact
- Closer the Distance
- Indika
- Neva
- Life is Strange: Double Exposure
- Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II
- Tales of Kenzera: Zau
Best Ongoing Game
- Destiny 2
- Diablo IV
- Final Fantasy XIV
- Fortnite
- Helldivers 2
Best Community Support
- Baldur’s Gate 3
- Final Fantasy XIV
- Fortnite
- Helldivers 2
- No Man’s Sky
Best Independent Game
- Animal Well
- Balatro
- Lorelei and the Laser Eyes
- Neva
- UFO 50
Best Debut Indie Game
- Balatro
- Animal Well
- Manor Lords
- Pacific Drive
- The Plucky Squire
Best Mobile Game
- AFK Journey
- Balatro
- Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket
- Wuthering Waves
- Zenless Zone Zero
Best VR/AR Game
- Arizona Sunshine Remake
- Asgard’s Wrath 2
- Batman: Arkham Shadow
- Metal: Hellsinger VR
- Metro Awakening
Best Action Game
- Black Myth: Wukong
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 - Helldivers 2
- Stellar Blade
- Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2
Best Action/Adventure Game
- ASTRO BOT
- Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
- Silent Hill 2
- Star Wars Outlaws
- The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
Best RPG
- Dragon’s Dogma 2
- Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree
- Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
- Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
- Metaphor: ReFantazio
Best Fighting Game
- Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising (Arc System Works/Cygames)
- Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO (Spike Chunsoft/Bandai Namco)
- Marvel vs Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics (Capcom)
- MultiVersus (Player First Games/WB Games)
- Tekken 8 (Bandai Namco)
Best Family Game
- Princess Peach: Showtime!
- Astro Bot
- Super Mario Party Jamboree
- The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
- The Plucky Squire
Best Sim/Strategy Game
- Frostpunk 2 (11 Bit Studios)
- Age of Mythology: Retold (World’s Edge/Forgotten Empires/Xbox Game Studios)
- Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess (Capcom)
- Manor Lords (Slavic Magic/Hooded Horse)
- Unicorn Overlord (Vanillaware/Sega/Atlus)
Best Sports/Racing Game
- F1 24
- EA Sports FC 25
- NBA 2K25
- Top Spin 2K25
- WWE 2K24
Best Multiplayer Game
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
- Helldivers 2
- Super Mario Party Jamboree
- Tekken 8
- Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2
Best Adaptation
- Arcane
- Fallout
- Knuckles
- Like a Dragon: Yakuza
- Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft
Most Anticipated Game
- Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
- Ghost of Yotei
- Grand Theft Auto VI
- Metroid Prime 4: Beyond
- Monster Hunter Wilds
Content Creator of the Year
- CaseOh
- IlloJuan
- Techno Gamerz
- TypicalGamer
- Usada Pekora
Best Esports Game
- DOTA 2
- Counter-Strike 2
- League of Legends
- Mobile Legends: Bang Bang
- Valorant
Best Esports Athlete
- 33 – Neta Shapira
- Aleksib – Aleksi Virolainen
- Chovy – Jeong Ji-hoon
- Faker – Lee Sang-hyeok
- ZyWoO – Mathieu Herbaut
- ZmjjKk – Zheng Yongkang
Best Esports Team
- Bilibili Gaming (League of Legends)
- Gen.G (League of Legends)
- NAVI (Counter-Strike)
- T1 (League of Legends)
- Team Liquid (DOTA 2)
Kat Bailey is IGN's News Director as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.
-- Source: https://www.ign.com/articles/the-game-awards-2024-complete-list-of-nominees-goty
