by Conan Simmons – December 8, 2020 – 7:29 am
It’s December and awards season is already in gear following the Emmy’s last month. Now it’s time for video games to get their spotlight with the Game Awards streaming live on December 10 at 6pm EST / 3pm PST across multiple platforms including (but not limited to) Twitch, Youtube, Twitter and TikTok. It’s a free digital livestream event produced by Geoff Keighley that can be seen around the world.
The Game Awards, started in 2014, this year will be mostly virtual due to the pandemic. A live link hookup will connect hosts from Los Angeles, Tokyo and London as they hand out awards. This years presenters will include Academy Award winner Brie Larson (‘Captain Marvel’), Gal Gadot (‘Wonder Woman 1984’), Tom Holland (‘Spider-Man: Far From Home’) and John David Washington (‘Tenet’), with a performance by Eddie Vedder.
The London Philharmonic Orchestra will also be performing music from nominated games live from Abbey Road Studios. They will be led by composer Lorne Balfe (‘Mission Impossible: Fallout’).
There will be a preshow hosted by Sydnee Goodman prior to the awards. (Check your preferred platform for it.) The Game Awards trophy was designed by WETA Workshop, the effects studio that became famous with ‘The Lord of the Rings’ trilogy.
This year the action-adventure game ‘The Last of Us Part II’ leads the nominees with 10 nominations, including two for Best Performance. Last years winner for Best Performance went to Danish actor Mads Mikkelson (‘Casino Royale’) for his work on the game ‘Death Stranding’.
NOMINEES – GAME OF THE YEAR –
Doom Eternal – ID Software/Bethesda
Final Fantasy VII Remake – Square Enix
Ghost of Tsushima – Sucker Punch/SIE
Hades – Supergiant Games
Animal Crossing: New Horizons – Nintendo
The Last of Us Part II – Naughty Dog/SIE
BEST GAME DIRECTION –
Final Fantasy VII Remake – Square Enix
Ghost of Tsushima – Sucker Punch/SIE
Hades – Supergiant Games
Half-Life: Alyx – Valve
The Last of Us Part II – Naughty Dog/SIE
BEST NARRATIVE –
13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim – written by George Kamitani
Final Fantasy VII Remake – written by Kazushige Nojima, Motomu Toriyama, Hiroaki Iwaki and Sachie Hirano
Ghost of Tsushima – writers Ian Ryan, Liz Albl, Patrick Downs, Jordan Lemos and Nate Fox
Hades – written by Greg Kasavin
The Last of Us Part II – writers Neil Druckmann and Halley Gross
BEST ART DIRECTION –
Final Fantasy VII Remake – Square Enix
Ghost of Tsushima – Sucker Punch/SIE
Hades – Supergiant Games
Ori and the Will of the Wisps – Moon Studios/Xbox Game Studios
The Last of Us Part II – Naughty Dog/SIE
BEST SCORE AND MUSIC –
Doom Eternal – composed by Mick Gordon
Final Fantasy VII Remake – composed by Nouo Uematsu, Masashi Hamauzu and Mitsuto Suzuki
Hades – composed by Darren Korb
Ori and the Will of the Wisps – composed by Gareth Coker
The Last of Us Part II – composed by Gustavo Santaolalla, additional music by Mac Quayle
BEST AUDIO DESIGN –
Doom Eternal – ID Software/Bethesda
Half-Life: Alyx – Valve
Ghost of Tsushima – Sucker Punch/SIE
Resident Evil 3 – Capcom
The Last of Us Part II – Naughty Dog/SIE
BEST PERFORMANCE –
Ashley Johnson as Ellie – The Last of Us Part II
Laura Bailey as Abby – The Last of Us Part II
Daisuke Tsuji as Jin Sakai – Ghost of Tsushima
Logan Cunningham as Hades – Hades
Nadji Jeter as Miles Morales – Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales
GAMES FOR IMPACT –
If Found… – Dreamfeel
Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition – Cardboard Computer
Spiritfarer – Thunder Lotus Games
Tell Me Why – Dontnod Entertainment/Xbox Game Studios
Through the Darkest of Times – Paintbucket Games
BEST ONGOING –
Apex Legends – Respawn/EA
Destiny 2 – Bungie
Call of Duty: Warzone – Infinity Ward/Activision/Raven Software
Fortnite – Epic Games
No Man’s Sky – Hello Games
BEST INDIE –
Carrion – Phobia Game Studio/Devolver
Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout – Mediatonic/Devolver
Hades – Supergiant Games
Spelunky 2 – Mossmouth, LLC
Spiritfarer – Thunder Lotus Games
BEST MOBILE GAME –
Among Us – Innersloth
Call of Duty Mobile – Timi Studios/Activision
Genshin Impact – Mihoyo
Legends of Runeterra – Riot Games
Pokemon Cafe Mix – Genius Sonority
BEST COMMUNITY SUPPORT –
Apex Legends – Respawn/EA
Destiny 2 – Bungie
Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout – Mediatonic/Devolver
Fortnite – Epic Games
No Man’s Sky – Hello Games
Valorant – Riot Games
BEST VR/AR –
Dreams – Media Molecule/SIE
Half-Life: Alyx – Valve
Marvel’s Iron Man VR – Camouflaj/SIE
Star Wars: Squadrons – Motive Studios/EA
The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners – Skydance Interactive
INNOVATION IN ACCESSIBILITY –
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla – Ubisoft Montreal
Grounded – Obsidian Entertainment
Hyperdot – Tribe Games
The Last of Us Part II – Naughty Dog/SIE
Watch Dogs Legion – Ubisoft Toronto
BEST ACTION –
Doom Eternal – ID Software/Bethesda
Hades – Supergiant Games
Half-Life: Alyx – Valve
Nioh 2 – Team Ninja
Streets of Rage 4 – Dotemu
BEST ACTION/ADVENTURE –
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla – Ubisoft Montreal
Ghost of Tsushima – Sucker Punch/SIE
Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales – Insomniac Games/SIE
Ori and the Will of the Wisps -Moon Studios/Xbox Game Studios
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order – Respawn/EA
The Last of Us Part II – Naughty Dog/SIE
BEST ROLE PLAYING –
Final Fantasy VII Remake – Square Enix
Genshin Impact – Mihoyo
Persona 5 Royal – Atlus/P Studio/Sega
Wasteland 3 – Inxile/Deep Silver
Yakuza: Like a Dragon – Ryu Ga Gotoku/Sega
BEST FIGHTING –
Granblue Fantasy: Versus – Arc System Works/Cygames/Xseed
Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate – Netherrealm Studios/WB Games
Street Fighter V Champion Edition – Dimps/Capcom
One Punch Man: A Hero Nobody Knows – Spike Chunsoft/Bandai Namco
Under Night In-Birth Exe: Late[CL-R] – French Bread/Arc System Works/Aksys
BEST FAMILY –
Animal Crossing: New Horizons – Nintendo
Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time – Toys for Bob/Activision
Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout – Mediatonic/Devolver
Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit – Velan Studios/Nintendo
Minecraft Dungeons – Mojang/Double Eleven/Xbox Game Studios
Paper Mario: The Origami King – Intelligent Systems/Nintendo
BEST SIM/STRATEGY –
Crusader Kings III – Paradox Development Studio/Paradox
Desperados III – Mimimi Games/Thqn
Gears Tactics – Splash Damage/The Coalition/Xbox Game Studios
Microsoft Flight Simulator – Asobo/Xbox Games Studios
Xcom: Chimera Squad – Firaxis/2k
BEST SPORTS/RACING –
Dirt 5 – Codemasters Cheshire/Codemasters
F1 2020 – Codemasters Birmingham/Codemasters
FIFA 21 – EA Vancouver/EA Romania
NBA 2K21 – Visual Concepts/2K
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 – Vicarious Visions/Activision
BEST MULTIPLAYER –
Animal Crossing: New Horizons – Nintendo
Among Us – Innersloth
Call of Duty: Warzone – Infinity Ward/Activision/Raven Software
Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout – Mediatonic/Devolver
Valorant – Riot Games
CONTENT CREATOR OF THE YEAR –
Alanah Pearce
Jay Ann Lopez
Nickmercs
Timthetatman
Valkyrae
BEST DEBUT GAME –
Carrion – Phobia Game Studio/Devolver
Mortal Shell – Cold Symmetry/Playstack
Raji: An Ancient Epic – Nodding Heads Games
Roki – Polygon Treehouse
Phasmophobia – Kinetic Games
BEST ESPORTS ATHLETE –
Ian “Crimsix” Porter – Call of Duty
Heo “Showmaker” Su – League of Legends
Kim “Canyon” Geon-Bu – League of Legends
Anthony “Shotzzy” Cuevas-Castro – Call of Duty
Matthieu “Zywoo” Herbaut – CSGO
BEST ESPORTS COACH –
Danny “Zonic” Sorensen – CSGO
Dae-Hee “Crusty” Park – Owl
Fabian “Grabbz” Lohmann – Lol
Lee “Zefa” Jae-Min – Lol
Raymond “Rambo” Lussier – COD
BEST ESPORTS EVENT –
Blast Premier: Spring 2020 European Finals – CS:Go
Call of Duty League Championship 2020 – Call of Duty
IEM Katowice 2020 – CS:Go
League of Legends World Championship 2020 – League of Legends
Overwatch League Grand Finals 2020 – Overwatch
BEST ESPORTS GAME –
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare – Infinity Ward/Raven/Activision
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive – Valve
Fortnite – Epic Games
League of Legends – Riot Games
Valorant – Riot Games
BEST ESPORTS HOST –
Alex “Goldenboy” Mendez
Alex “Machine” Richardson
Eefje “Sjokz” Depoortere
James “Dash” Patterson
Jorien “Sheever” van der Heijden
BEST ESPORTS TEAM –
Damwon Gaming – League of Legends
Dallas Empire – Call of Duty
G2 Esports – League of Legends
San Francisco Shock – Overwatch League
Team Secret – Dota2