Tis the award season. With the end of the year now far closer than the start, it’s time to commence the fan air of another year of video games. The Game Awards are, of course, returning, and with ’em now doubt the usual gusto we’ve come to expect. No doubt, Hideo Kojima will tease us with what he’s up to while other movie stars roll through the ceremony. And that’s before the spruiking about game announcements begins. Now in its 10th year, the show hosted by Geoff Keighley will be returning, with the ceremony streaming for Australians on Friday, December 13, from 11:30 am (AEDT). The Game Awards 2024 nominations have been revealed today, sparking some debate.
The Game Awards voting jury features just four Australian publications – GamesHub, Press Start, Skill Up and Stevivor. Together, each outlet’s staff complete an unranked ballot, listing out their top five choices in each category. You can find out more about The Game Awards judging process here.
It’s a huge nomination list, with many shocked at the inclusion of DLC in this year’s categories. Seeing Elden Ring’s Shadow of the Erdtree expansion up for GOTY feels strange, even if it far exceeded critic and fan expectations (we gave it a 10/10). Last year’s ceremony saw a deserving Baldur’s Gate 3 scoring the coveted gong, but does a DLC really fit the bill, given that Elden Ring already walked away with GOTY back in 2022? Many feel it’s double dipping, while others see the DLC as warranting its own category among the thirty-odd awards.
Leading the nominations are Astro Bot and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, which each earned 7 nominations each.
It is exciting to see The Plucky Squire up for Best Debut Indie Game and Best Family Game in the 2024 nominations. The last Australian game nominated was Cult Of The Lamb back in 2022, also published by Devolver Digital.
The Game Awards 2024 nominees are…
Game of the Year
- ASTRO BOT (Team Asobi/SIE)
- Balatro (LocalThunk/Playstack)
- Black Myth: Wukong (Game Science)
- Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco)
- Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (Square Enix)
- Metaphor: ReFantazio (Studio Zero/Atlus/Sega)
Best Game Direction
- ASTRO BOT (Team Asobi/SIE)
- Balatro (LocalThunk/Playstack)
- Black Myth: Wukong (Game Science)
- Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco)
- Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (Square Enix)
- Metaphor: ReFantazio (Studio Zero/Atlus/Sega)
Best Narrative
- Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (Square Enix)
- Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth (Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio/Sega)
- Metaphor: ReFantanzio (Studio Zero/Atlus/Sega)
- Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II (Ninja Theory/Xbox Game Studios)
- Silent Hill 2 (Bloober Team/Konami)
Best Art Direction
- ASTRO BOT (Team Asobi/SIE)
- Black Myth: Wukong (Game Science)
- Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco)
- Metaphor: ReFantazio (Studio Zero/Atlus/Sega)
- Neva (Nomada Studio/Devolver)
Best Score and Music
- ASTRO BOT (Team Asobi/SIE)
- Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (Square Enix)
- Metaphor: ReFantazio (Studio Zero/Atlus/Sega)
- Silent Hill 2 (Bloober Team/Konami)
- Stellar Blade (Shift Up/SIE)
Best Audio Design
- ASTRO BOT (Team Asobi/SIE)
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 (Treyarch/Raven/Activision/Xbox)
- Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (Square Enix)
- Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 (Ninja Theory/Xbox Game Studios)
- Silent Hill 2 (Bloober Team/Konami)
Best Performance
- Briana White, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
- Hannah Telle, Life is Strange: Double Exposure
- 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 (Treyarch/Raven/Activision/Xbox)
- Diablo IV (Blizzard/Xbox)
- Dragon Age: The Veilguard (BioWare/EA)
- Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown (Ubisoft Montpellier/Ubisoft)
- Star Wars Outlaws (Massive Entertainment/Ubisoft)
Games for Impact
- Closer the Distance (Osmotic Studios/Skybound Games)
- Indika (Odd Meter/11 Bit Studios)
- Neva (Nomada Studio/Devolver)
- Life is Strange: Double Exposure (Deck Nine/Square Enix)
- Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II (Ninja Theory/Xbox Game Studios)
- Tales of Kenzera: Zau (Surgent Studios/EA)
Best Ongoing Game
- Destiny 2 (Bungie/SIE)
- Diablo IV (Blizzard/Xbox)
- Final Fantasy XIV (Square Enix)
- Fortnite (Epic Games)
- Helldivers 2 (Arrowhead Game Studios/SIE)
Best Community Support
- Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian)
- Final Fantasy XIV (Square Enix)
- Fortnite (Epic Games)
- Helldivers 2 (Arrowhead Game Studios/SIE)
- No Man’s Sky (Hello Games)
Best Independent Game
- Animal Well (Shared Memory/Bigmode)
- Balatro (LocalThunk/Playstack)
- Lorelei and the Laser Eyes (Simogo/Annapurna Interactive)
- Neva (Nomada Studio/Devolver)
- UFO 50 (Mossmouth)
Best Debut Indie Game
- Animal Well (Shared Memory/Bigmode)
- Balatro (LocalThunk/Playstack)
- Manor Lords (Slavic Magic/Hooded Horse)
- Pacific Drive (Ironwood Studios/Kepler Interactive)
- The Plucky Squire (All Possible Futures/Devolver)
Best Mobile Game
- AFK Journey (FARLIGHT/Lilith Games)
- Balatro (LocalThunk/Playstack)
- Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket (Creatures Inc/TPCI)
- Wuthering Waves (Kuro Games)
- Zenless Zone Zero (miHoYo)
Best VR/AR Game
- Arizona Sunshine Remake (Vertigo Games)
- Asgard’s Wrath 2 (Sanzaru Games/Oculus Studios)
- Batman: Arkham Shadow (Camouflaj/Oculus Studios)
- Metal: Hellsinger VR (Lab 42/The Outsiders/Funcom)
- Metro Awakening (Vertigo Games)
Best Action Game
- Black Myth: Wukong (Game Science)
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 (Treyarch/Raven/Activision/Xbox)
- Helldivers 2 (Arrowhead Game Studios/SIE)
- Stellar Blade (Shift Up/SIE)
- Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 (Saber Interactive/Focus Entertainment)
Best Action/Adventure Game
- ASTRO BOT (Team Asobi/SIE)
- Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown (Ubisoft Montpellier/Ubisoft)
- Silent Hill 2 (Bloober Team/Konami)
- Star Wars Outlaws (Massive Entertainment/Ubisoft)
- The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom (Grezzo/Nintendo)
Best RPG
- Dragon’s Dogma 2 (Capcom)
- Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco)
- Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (Square Enix)
- Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth (Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio/Sega)
- Metaphor: ReFantazio (Studio Zero/Atlus/Sega)
Best Fighting Game
- Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO (Spike Chunsoft/Bandai Namco)
- Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising (Arc System Works/Cygames)
- Marvel vs Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics (Capcom)
- MultiVersus (Player First Games/WB Games)
- Tekken 8 (Bandai Namco)
Best Family Game
- ASTRO BOT (Team Asobi/SIE)
- Princess Peach: Showtime! (Good-Feel/Nintendo)
- Super Mario Party Jamboree (Nintendo Cube/Nintendo)
- The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom (Grezzo/Nintendo)
- The Plucky Squire (All Possible Futures/Devolver)
Best Sim/Strategy Game
- Age of Mythology: Retold (World’s Edge/Forgotten Empires/Xbox Game Studios)
- Frostpunk 2 (11 Bit 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 (Codemasters/EA Sports)
- EA Sports FC 25 (EA Vancouver/EA Romania/EA Sports)
- NBA 2K25 (Visual Concepts/2K)
- Top Spin 2K25 (Hangar 13/2K)
- WWE 2K24 (Visual Concepts/2K)
Best Multiplayer Game
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 (Treyarch/Raven/Activision/Xbox)
- Helldivers 2 (Arrow Game Studios/SIE)
- Super Mario Party Jamboree (Nintendo Cube/Nintendo)
- Tekken 8 (Bandai Namco)
- Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 (Saber Interactive/Focus Entertainment)
Best Adaptation
- Arcane (Riot/Fortiche/Netflix)
- Fallout (Bethesda/Kilter Films/Amazon MGM Studios)
- Knuckles (Sega/Paramount)
- Like a Dragon: Yakuza (Sega/Amazon MGM Studios)
- Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft (Crystal Dynamics/Legendary/Netflix)
Most Anticipated Game
- Death Stranding 2: On the Beach (Kojima Productions/SIE)
- Ghost of Yōtei (Sucker Punch Productions/SIE)
- Grand Theft Auto VI (Rockstar Games)
- Metroid Prime 4: Beyond (Retro Studios/Nintendo)
- Monster Hunter Wilds (Capcom)
Content Creator of the Year
- CaseOh
- IlloJuan
- Techno Gamerz
- TypicalGamer
- Usada Pekora
Best Esports Game
- Counter-Strike 2 (Valve)
- DOTA 2 (Valve)
- League of Legends (Riot Games)
- Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (Moonton)
- Valorant (Riot Games)
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)
Players’ Voice
- Nominees to be announced 3 December
What we do know is this is bound to be another wild year for The Game Awards. 10 years is a lifetime in the industry and we’ve certainly seen it’s stumbles across the board. It does feel like this is less an award show for the achievement of developers and more based on individual acclaim for the games. The Game Awards could be much more for developers while also educating players on the industry they support. With thousands of layoffs across the last two years it does lead to concerns that this year’s show will be a similar run of trailers while developers are hurried off stage. Previous years have shown there is so much potential, with music performances and dev soundbites enriching the excitement for games.
There also hasn’t been any mention of the Future Class this year, leading to growing concerns that this has been scrapped. In the lead-up to last year’s ceremony, Future Class Members advocated for Gaza with little response leading to concerns that the program wasn’t being taken seriously.
The Game Awards will be live-streamed and viewable for Australians on Friday, December 13, from 11:30 am (AEDT).
