It’s that time of the year again as Geoff Keighley and the organizers behind Summer Game Fest and The Game Awards have revealed the nominees for The Game Awards 2024.

A total of 96 different games are a part of this year’s list of nominees with Astro Bot and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth leading this year’s nominees with 7 nominations each. Both are also vying for the covted Game of Year award along with Black Myth: Wukong, Elden Ring: Shadow of  the Erdtree, Metaphor ReFantazio, and Balatro.

Going into the specifics, Best Ongoing is all about the games that have outstanding development of ongoing content that evolves the player experience over time. Each of the nominees in this category do that in different ways. With Diablo IV and Destiny 2, players saw an injection of adrenaline both with the release of major expansions. The Final Shape finally brought the end of Destiny’s current narrative and set things up for the future. Vessel of Hatred for Diablo IV brought in a new class. Both Fortnite and Final Fantasy XIV have released new content as well that has added a wealth of content to the game. Helldivers II is unique in that the ongoing experience is dictated by the players on how everything unfolds throughout the battles in Helldivers’ universe.

The Best Performance category highlights an individual for voice-acting, motion, and/or performance capture. The nominees this year are all featured in richly-crafted, varied, character-focused stories that span a variety of genres. Briana White was nominated in her return as Aerith in her pivotal arc with Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. Humberly Gonzalez introduced a new outlaw in the world of Star Wars. Melina Juergens continued the trial and tribulations of Senua in Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II. Lastly, Hannah Telle made her return as the main character from the beloved Life is Strange series Max Caufield as she deals with a new mystery and abilities while struggling with all the issues that one does while transitioning from a child to an adult.

The Best Mobile Game is awarded to the best game playable on a mobile device. There are thousands, no, more like hundreds of thousands of different mobile games that get played and released throughout a year. However, AFK Journey, Balatro, Pokemon Trading Card Game Pocket, Wuthering Waves, and Zenless Zone Zero were each nominated for doing things in their own unique way that you may not see in the over-saturated mobile market.

Best Art Direction is given to the game for outstanding creative and/or technical achievement in artistic design and animation. Astro Bot, Black Myth: Wukong, Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, Metaphor ReFantazio, and Neva were all nominated because they each have their own unique vision for both disciplines that popped when the game is being played.

Best Score & Music will likely go down as one of the biggest battles amongst the nominees because each of the games nominated have outstanding music, inclusive of score, original song, and/or licensed soundtrack that not only elevates the gaming experience but can go toe-to-toe with some of the best music from the year, maybe even surpass it.

In a similar vein, Best Audio Design recognizes the best in-game audio and sound design and each of the nominees elevated their gaming experiences in a unique way that when taken away would drastically change the game.

The Best Adaptation award recognizes outstanding creative work that faithfully and authentically adapts a video game to another entertainment medium. Arcane, Fallout, Knuckles, Like a Dragon: Yakuza, and Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft were all nominated because each project feels like their original video game counterpart but has been elevated in a way only the medium they were adapted to can do.

Best Narrative highlights the games that had outstanding storytelling and narrative development in a game. Games for Impact is a special category that highlights the games that are thought-provoking with a pro-social meaning or message. Best Community Support recognizes a game for outstanding community support, transparency and responsiveness, inclusive of social media activity and game updates/patches.

The Best Multiplayer category highlights the games that have outstanding online multiplayer gameplay and design, including co-op and massively multiplayer experiences, irrespective of game genre or platform. The Best Independent Game is awarded to the game for outstanding creative and technical achievement in a game made outside the traditional publisher system. The Best Debut Indie Game is given to the best debut game created by a new independent studio.

The Best VR / AR award is given to the best game experience playable in virtual or augmented reality, irrespective of platform. Best Action/Adventure is awarded to the game for the best action/adventure game, combining combat with traversal and puzzle solving. The Best Roleplaying Game is awarded to the best game designed with rich player character customization and progression, including massively multiplayer experiences.

The Best Fighting award is given to the best game designed primarily around head-to-head combat. The Best Action Game category is focused on games in the action genre that are focused primarily on combat. Innovation in Accessibility recognizes software and/or hardware that is pushing the medium forward by adding features, technology and content to help games be played and enjoyed by an even wider audience, something that has gotten better and better over the past few years.

Best Family Game is awarded to the best game appropriate for family play, irrespective of genre or platform. Best Sim / Strategy is given to the best game focused on real-time or turn-based simulation or strategy gameplay, irrespective of platform. The Best Sports / Racing award is for the best traditional and non-traditional sports and racing game.

Best Game Direction is awarded for outstanding creative vision and innovation in game direction and design. Game of the Year recognizes a game that delivers the absolute best experience across all creative and technical fields.

The most nominated publisher this year is Sony Interactive Entertainment with 16. Square Enix and Xbox follow behind with 12 each, and Sega with 11.

The Game Awards 2024 takes place on December 12 and will once again stream for free acr across more than 30 digital video platforms including Twitch, YouTube, Steam, X (formerly known as Twitter), Facebook, TikTok Live and many more.

The Full list of nominees are as followed:

Best Performance

• Briana White – Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
• Hannah Telle – Life is Strange Double Exposure
• Humberly Gonzalez – Star Wars Outlaws
• Luke Roberts – Silent Hill 2
• Melina Juergens – Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II

Best On-Going Game

• Diablo IV
• Fortnite
• Final Fantasy XIV
• Helldivers II
• Destiny 2

Best Multiplayer

• Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
• Helldivers II
• Super Mario Party Jamboree
• Tekken 8
• Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine II

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
• Silent Hill 2
• Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
• Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II

Best Adaptation

• Arcane
• Fallout
• Knuckles
• Like a Dragon: Yakuza
• Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft

Best Narrative

• Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
• Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
• Metaphor ReFantazio
• Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II
• Silent Hill 2

Games For Impact

• Closer the Distance
• Tales of Kenzera: Zau
• Indika
• Neva
• Life is Strange: Double Exposure
• Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II

Best Indie

• Animal Well
• Balatro
• Neva
• Lorelei and The Laser Eyes
• UFO 50

Best Mobile Game

• AFK Journey
• Balatro
• Pokemon Training Card Game Pocket
• Wuthering Waves
• Zenless Zone Zero

Best Community Support

• Baldur’s Gate III
• Fortnite
• Final Fantasy XIV 
• Helldivers II
• No Man’s Sky

Best Debut Indie Game

• Animal Well
• Balatro
• The Plucky Squire
• Manor Lords
• Pacific Drive

Best VR/AR Game

• Arizona Sunshine Remake
• Metro Awakening
• Asguard’s Wrath II
• Batman: Arkham Shadow
• Metal Hellsinger VR

Best Content Creator

• Caseoh
• Techno Gamerz
• Illojuan
• Typical Gamer
• Usada Pekora

Most Anticipated Game

• Death Stranding 2: On The Beach
• Ghost of Yotei
• Grand Theft Auto VI
• Metroid Prime 4: Beyond
• Monster Hunter Wilds

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 II
• Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
• Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree
• Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
• Metaphor ReFantazio

Best Fighting Game

• Dragon Ball Sparking Zero
• Marvel vs. Capcom: Fighting Collection Arcade Classics
• Granblue Fantasy: Versus Rising
• MultiVersus
• Tekken 8

Best Action Game

• Black Myth: Wukong
• Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
• Helldivers II
• Stellar Blade
• Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine II

Innovation and Accessibility

• Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
• Diablo IV
• Dragon Age The Veilguard
• Star Wars Outlaws
• Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown

Best Family Game

• Astro Bot
• The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
• Princess Peach: Showtime!
• Super Mario Party Jamboree
• The Plucky Squire

Best Sim/Strategy Game

• Age of Mythology: Retold
• Manor Lords
• Unicorn Overlord
• Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess
• Frostpunk 2

Best Sports/Racing Game

• F1 24
• EA Sports FC 25
• NBA 2K25
• Top Spin 2K25
• WWE 2K24

Best Esports Game

•  Counter-Strike 2
• Dota 2
• League of Legends
• Mobile Legends: Bang Bang
• Valorant

Best E-Sports Athlete

• 33 – Neta Shapira
• Aleksib – Aleksi Virolainen
• Faker – Lee Sang-hyeok
• ZyWoO – Mathieu Herbaut
• ZmjjKk – Zheng Yongkang

Best Esports Team

• Bilibili Gaming – League of Legends
• Gen.G – League of Legends
• T1 – League of Legends
• Team Liquid – Dota 2
• NAVI – Counter-Strike

Best Game Direction

• Astro Bot
• Balatro
• Black Myth: Wukong
• Metaphor ReFantazio
• Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
• Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree

Game Of The Year

• Astro Bot
• Balatro
• Black Myth: Wukong
• Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
• Metaphor ReFantazio
• Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree