Last Thursday, November 12th, The Game Awards 2015 announced their chosen Nominees for each category. Hosted annually, this years’ event takes place December 3rd in Los Angeles, California, beginning 6PM PST. Tickets are currently selling at $25.oo USD.

This year the competition for Game of the Year appears particularly fierce–but before we get into the nitty-gritty, here are this year’s’ respective nominees for 2015’s Game of the Year:

 Bloodborne

(FromSoftware/Sony Computer Entertainment)

Fallout 4
(Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda Softworks)

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
(Kojima Productions/Konami)

Super Mario Maker
(Nintendo)

The Witcher 3: The WIld Hunt
(CD Projekt Red/Warner Bro. Interactive Entertainment)

Overall, it appears to be (excuse the pun) anyone’s game. With MGSV being Kojima’s final collaboration with Konami, the raging success seen by Witcher 3’s release, Fallout 4’s current grip over the market, industry, and internet, it really will be interesting to see how this all plays out–unlike the award for Best Independent Game, which seems irrelevant with Undertale mixed in the nominations. But, hey, stranger things have happened!

Nominees for The Game Awards 2015 were handpicked by a jury of “32 international media” which sounds globally diverse, but is stacked with US representatives (most likely due to the large North American market). Meanwhile, esteemed publications Mary Sue and Huffington Post have rebuked the Game Awards’ jury choice on its gender imbalance, seeing as there is only one female jury member. Both publications emphasized the hypocrisy in such a choice, given the Game Awards’ mission statement: “The Game Awards highlights the cultural significance of video games with awards, world premieres, musical performances and other surprises.”

In some cases, the jury was supplied with advanced copies of upcoming games in order to meet the Game Awards judging deadlines. It was requirement that games were “commercially released by Tuesday, November 24” in order to be eligible for nomination.

No matter the circumstance, this year’s’ lineup is enthralling to say the least. The event will be streamed for free, and if you are in the So Cal area around December 3rd, you should consider picking up a ticket!