GOD OF WAR and RED DEAD REDEMPTION 2 LEAD WITH 8 NOMINATIONS EACH FOR VIDEO GAMES’ BIGGEST NIGHT: THE GAME AWARDS

The Game Awards, the video game industry’s biggest celebration, has revealed this year’s nominees, which include a wide variety of titles that cover all corners of gaming across PC, console, mobile, VR/AR, esports and content creators/streamers. The nominees will be honored at The Game Awards on Thursday, December 6 at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles at 9 PM ET / 6 PM PT.

Leading the pack with 8 nominations each, Sony Santa Monica’s God of War and Rockstar Games’ Red Dead Redemption 2 are both nominated for Game of the Year, alongside four other titles: Assassin’s Creed Odyssey (Ubisoft, 4 nominations); the independent Celeste from Matt Makes Games (4 nominations); Marvel’s Spider-Man (7 nominations), Monster Hunter: Worldfrom Capcom (3 nominations). Other notable multi-nominees include Epic Games’ Fortnite (4 nominations, including Best Ongoing Game, Best Esports Game, Best Mobile and Best Multiplayer), and a trio of games with 3 nominations each: TreyArch’s Call of Duty Black Ops 4, Destiny 2: Forsaken from Bungie, and Detroit: Become Human from Quantic Dream. Nominated content creators and streamers include Ninja, Pokimane, Dr. Lupo, Myth and Willyrex. Nominees were selected by a global panel of 68 leading media outlets across enthusiast and mainstream media.

Reaching over 18 million viewers in 2017 and hailed as “the Oscars of the gaming world” by the New York Times, The Game Awards will bring together game industry creators, esports champions, digital influencers and Hollywood names for a night of awards, exclusive game world premieres, new game announcements and musical performances, including The Game Awards Orchestra. The Game Awards is available to watch for free across almost every major mobile, desktop and console devices used to play video games.

INNOVATIVE GAMERS’ CHOICE VOTING

Fans can help choose the winners in all categories via online voting across several digital and social platforms, including on TheGameAwards.com. Certain award categories can also be voted on directly via Facebook Messenger and Twitter Direct Message. Fans can talk to Amazon Alexa to vote for specific categories, and also use their voice to vote via The Game Awards action, which works with the Google Assistant.

In an industry-first, gamers will be able to help select the winners in all categories of The Game Awards by voting for their favorites in the official The Game Awards Discord server (discord.gg/thegameawards). The server, which is open for fans to join now, will be the place to get show info before, during and after the awards. Voting will officially open in-server on November 13 and run to December 5.

DISTRIBUTION DETAILS

Platforms that will air The Game Awards live on December 6 include YouTube (in 4K UHD resolution), Twitch, Twitter, Facebook, Mixer, Steam TV, PlayStation 4, Xbox Live, IGN, GameSpot, Polygon, MLG and Caffeine.tv - with more to be announced.

Internationally, The Game Awards will air live with translation on multiple platforms, including more than a dozen platforms live in China. Content creators on select platforms will also be able to co-stream the show and share it with their audience in real-time.

BEST SCORE / SOUNDTRACK CATEGORY PRESENTED BY SPOTIFY

This year, The Game Awards is teaming up with Spotify, the official sponsor of the Best Score / Soundtrack category, for a six episode podcast series. Co-produced by Spotify and The Game Awards, Geoff Keighley, creator and executive producer of The Game Awards, will take listeners inside the creative process behind the music in video games. Looking back at the history and growth of music in gaming, and into the future of music and gaming through the five games nominated for best score/soundtrack at The Game Awards 2018, Keighley will speak to the composers and artists behind these titles and break down their creative process. The podcast will unearth the unheard stories behind the music, and play previously unheard rough drafts and stems from their scores.

NOMINEES

The full list of nominees can be found below, with winners set to be announced live at The Game Awards on December 6.GAME OF THE YEAR

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey (Ubisoft Quebec / Ubisoft)

Celeste (Matt Makes Games)

God of War (Sony Santa Monica / SIE)

Marvel’s Spider-Man (Insomniac Games / SIE)

Monster Hunter: World (Capcom)

Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)

BEST ONGOING GAME

Destiny 2 (Bungie / Activision)

Fortnite (Epic Games)

No Man’s Sky (Hello Games)

Overwatch (Blizzard)

Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege (Ubisoft Montreal / Ubisoft)

BEST GAME DIRECTION

A Way Out (Hazelight Studios / EA)

Detroit: Become Human (Quantic Dream / SIE)

God of War (Sony Santa Monica / SIE)

Marvel’s Spider-Man (Insomniac Games / SIE)

Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)

BEST NARRATIVE

Detroit: Become Human (Quantic Dream / SIE)

God of War (Sony Santa Monica / SIE)

Life is Strange 2: Episode 1 (Dontnod Entertainment / Square Enix)

Marvel’s Spider-Man (Insomniac Games / SIE)

Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)

BEST ART DIRECTION

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey (Ubisoft Quebec / Ubisoft)

God of War (Sony Santa Monica / SIE)

Octopath Traveler (Square Enix / Acquire / Nintendo)

Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)

Return of Obra Din (3909 LLC)

BEST SCORE/MUSIC PRESENTED BY SPOTIFY

Celeste (Lena Raine)

God of War (Bear McCreary)

Marvel’s Spider-Man (John Paesano)

Ni No Kuni II (Joe Hisaishi)

Octopath Traveler (Yasunori Nishiki)

Red Dead Redemption 2 (Woody Jackson)

BEST AUDIO DESIGN PRESENTED BY DOLBY

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 (Treyarch Studios / Activision)

Forza Horizon 4 (Playground Games / Turn 10 Studios / Microsoft Studios)

God of War (Sony Santa Monica / SIE)

Marvel’s Spider-Man (Insomniac Games / SIE)

Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)

BEST PERFORMANCE

Bryan Dechart as Connor, Detroit: Become Human

Christopher Judge as Kratos, God of War

Melissanthi Mahut as Kassandra, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey

Roger Clark as Arthur Morgan, Red Dead Redemption 2

Yuri Lowenthal as Peter Parker, Marvel’s Spider-Man

GAMES FOR IMPACT

11-11 Memories Retold (Digixart / Aardman Animations / BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment)

Celeste (Matt Makes Games)

Florence (Mountains / Annapurna Interactive)

Life is Strange 2: Episode 1 (Dontnod Entertainment / Square Enix)

The Missing: JJ Macfield and the Island of Memories (White Owls / Arc System Works)

BEST INDEPENDENT GAME

Celeste (Matt Makes Games)

Dead Cells (Motion Twin)

Into the Breach (Subset Games)

Return of the Obra Dinn (3909 LLC)

The Messenger (Sabotage Studio)

BEST MOBILE

Donut County (Ben Esposito / Annapurna Interactive)

Florence (Mountains / Annapurna Interactive)

Fortnite (Epic Games)

PUBG MOBILE (Lightspeed & Quantum / Tencent Games)

Reigns: Game of Thrones (Nerial / Developer Digital)

BEST VR/AR Game

ASTRO BOT Rescue Mission (SIE Japan Studio / SIE)

Beat Saber (Beat Games)

Firewall Zero Hour (First Contact Entertainment / SIE)

Moss (Polyarc Games)

Tetris Effect (Resonair / Enhance, Inc)

BEST ACTION GAME

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 (Treyarch / Activision)

Dead Cells (Motion Twin)

Destiny 2: Forsaken (Bungie / Activision)

Far Cry 5 (Ubisoft Montreal / Ubisoft)

Mega Man 11 (Capcom)

BEST ACTION/ADVENTURE GAME

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey (Ubisoft Quebec / Ubisoft)

God of War (Sony Santa Monica / SIE)

Marvel’s Spider-Man (Insomniac Games / SIE)

Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)

Shadow of the Tomb Raider (Eidos Montreal / Crystal Dynamics / Square Enix)

BEST ROLE PLAYING GAME

Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age (Square Enix / Square Enix)

Monster Hunter: World (Capcom)

Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom (Level 5 / BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment)

Octopath Traveler (Square Enix / Acquire / Nintendo)

Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire (Obsidian Entertainment / Versus Evil)

BEST FIGHTING

BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle (Arc System Works)

Dragon Ball FighterZ (Arc System Works / BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment)

Soul Calibur VI (Bandai Namco Studios / BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment)

Street Fighter V Arcade (Dimps / Capcom)

BEST FAMILY GAME

Mario Tennis Aces (Camelot Software Planning / Nintendo)

Nintendo Labo (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)

Overcooked 2 (Ghost Town Games / Team 17)

Starlink: Battle for Atlas (Ubisoft Toronto / Ubisoft)

Super Mario Party (NDCube / Nintendo)

BEST STRATEGY GAME

BATTLETECH (Harebrained Schemes / Paradox Interactive

Frostpunk (11 bit studios)

Into the Breach (Subset Games)

The Banner Saga 3 (Stoic Studio / Versus Evil)

Valkyria Chronicles 4 (Sega CS3 / Sega)

BEST SPORTS/RACING

FIFA 19 (EA Vancouver / EA Sports)

Forza Horizon 4 (Playground Games / Turn 10 Studios / Microsoft Studios)

Mario Tennis Aces (Camelot Software Planning / Nintendo)

NBA 2K19 (Visual Concepts / 2K Sports)

Pro Evolution Soccer 2019 (PES Productions / Konami)

BEST MULTIPLAYER GAME

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 (Treyarch / Activision)

Destiny 2: Forsaken (Bungie / Activision)

Fortnite (Epic Games)

Monster Hunter: World (Capcom)

Sea of Thieves (Rare / Microsoft Studios)

BEST STUDENT GAME

Combat 2018 (Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences – Norway)

Dash Quasar (UC Santa Cruz)

JERA (Digipen Bilbao, Spain)

LIFF (ISTART Digital – France)

RE: Charge (MIT)

BEST DEBUT INDIE GAME

Donut County (Ben Esposito / Annapurna Interactive)

Florence (Mountains / Annapurna Interactive)

Moss (Polyarc Games)

The Messenger (Sabotage Studio)

Yoku’s Island Express (Villa Gorilla)

ESPORTS AWARDS

BEST ESPORTS GAME

CSGO

DOTA2

Fortnite

League of Legends

Overwatch

BEST ESPORTS PLAYER PRESENTED BY OMEN BY HP

Dominique "SonicFox" McLean (Echo Fox)

Hajime "Tokido" Taniguchi

Jian "Uzi" Zi-Hao (Royal Never Give Up)
Oleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev (Natus Vincere)

Sung-hyeon "JJoNak" Bang (New York Excelsior)

BEST ESPORTS TEAM

Astralis (CSGO)

Cloud9 (LOL)

Fnatic (LOL)

London Spitfire (OWL)

OG (DOTA2)

BEST ESPORTS COACH

Bok "Reapered" Han-gyu (Cloud9)

Cristian "ppasarel" Bănăseanu (OG)

Danny "zonic" Sørensen (Astralis)

Dylan Falco (Fnatic)

Jakob "YamatoCannon" Mebdi (Team Vitality)

Janko “YNk” Paunovic (MiBR)

BEST ESPORTS EVENT

ELEAGUE Major: Boston 2018

EVO 2018

League of Legends World Championship

Overwatch League Grand Finals

The International 2018

BEST ESPORTS HOST

Alex "Goldenboy" Mendez
Alex “Machine” Richardson

AndersBlume
Eefje “Sjokz” Depoortere

Paul “RedEye” Chaloner

BEST ESPORTS MOMENT

C9 Comeback Win In Triple OT vs FAZE (ELEAGUE)
KT vs IG Base Race (LOL Worlds)
G2 Beating RNG (LOL Worlds)

OG’s Massive Upset of LGD (DOTA 2 Finals)

SonicFox Side Switch Against Go1 in DBZ (EVO)

COMMUNITY AWARD

CONTENT CREATOR OF THE YEAR

Dr. Lupo

Myth

Ninja

Pokimane

Willyrex


Tickets to attend The Game Awards are now on sale for purchase via AXS.com, including a special VIP package with a pre-show reception.

For more information and to stay up to date on the latest announcements, please visit www.thegameawards.com