The gaming industry is gearing up for one of its most anticipated events, The Game Awards 2023, set to air live from the Peacock Theater on December 7. This year's event, hosted by Geoff Keighley, promises an evening filled with excitement, recognizing the creative and technical excellence in the global video gaming industry.

An Overview of the Most Anticipated Categories

Game of the Year

The Game of the Year category is always the highlight of the event, featuring titles that have set themselves apart in the gaming community. This year’s nominees are:

• "Alan Wake 2"
• "Baldur’s Gate 3"
• "Marvel’s Spider-Man 2"
• "Resident Evil 4"
• "Super Mario Bros. Wonder"
• "The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom"

Each of these games has made a significant impact in 2023, offering unique experiences and pushing the boundaries of gaming creativity and technology.

Best Game Direction

This category celebrates games that exhibit outstanding creative vision and innovation in game direction and design. The nominees for Best Game Direction are:

• "Alan Wake 2"
• "Baldur’s Gate 3"
• "Marvel’s Spider-Man 2"
• "Super Mario Bros. Wonder"
• "The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom"

Best Narrative

Storytelling in games has become increasingly sophisticated and immersive. The Best Narrative category honors games with compelling storytelling and narrative development. The nominees include:

• "Alan Wake 2"
• "Baldur’s Gate 3"
• "Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty"
• "Final Fantasy XVI"
• "Marvel’s Spider-Man 2"

Best Art Direction

Visual artistry and design in games can elevate the gaming experience to new heights. The Best Art Direction category recognizes games that are visually stunning and artistically innovative. The nominees for this category are:

• "Alan Wake 2"
• "Hi-Fi Rush"
• "Lies of P"
• "Super Mario Bros. Wonder"
• "The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom"

Other Nominated Categories Include:

Best Adaptation

• Castlevania: Nocturne (Powerhouse Animation/Netflix)
• Gran Turismo (PlayStation Productions/Sony Pictures)
• The Last of Us (PlayStation Productions/HBO)
• The Super Mario Bros. Movie (Illumination/Nintendo/Universal Pictures)
• Twisted Metal (PlayStation Productions/Peacock)

Best Narrative

• Alan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing)
• Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
• Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty (CD Projekt Red)
• Final Fantasy XVI (Square Enix)
• Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games/SIE)

Best Art Direction

• Alan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing)
• Hi-Fi Rush (Tango Gameworks/Bethesda Softworks)
• Lies of P (Round8 Studio/Neowiz Games)
• Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)

Best Score and Music

• Alan Wake 2, Composer Petri Alanko (Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing)
• Baldur’s Gate 3, Composer Borislav Slavov (Larian Studios)
• Final Fantasy XVI, Composer Masayoshi Soken (Square Enix)
• Hi-Fi Rush, Audio Director Shuichi Kobori (Tango Gameworks/Bethesda Softworks)
• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Composed by Nintendo Sound Team (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)

Best Audio Design

• Alan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing)
• Dead Space (Motive Studio/EA)
• Hi-Fi Rush (Tango Gameworks/Bethesda Softworks)
• Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games/SIE)
• Resident Evil 4 (Capcom)

Best Performance

• Ben Starr, Final Fantasy XVI
• Cameron Monaghan, STAR WARS Jedi: Survivor
• Idris Elba, Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty
• Melanie Liburd, Alan Wake 2
• Neil Newbon, Baldur’s Gate 3
• Yuri Lowenthal, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2

Innovation in Accessibility

• Diablo IV (Blizzard Entertainment)
• Forza Motorsport (Turn 10 Studios/Xbox Game Studios)
• Hi-Fi Rush (Tango Gameworks/Bethesda Softworks)
• Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games/SIE)
• Mortal Kombat 1 (NetherRealm Studios/WB Games)
• Street Fighter 6 (Capcom)

Games for Impact

• A Space for the Unbound (Mojiken Studio/Toge Productions/Chorus)
• Chants of Sennaar (Rundisc/Focus Entertainment)
• Goodbye Volcano High (KO_OP)
• Tchia (Awaceb/Kepler Interactive)
• Terra Nil (Free Lives/Devolver Digital/Netflix)
• Venba (Visai Games)

Best Ongoing Game

• Apex Legends (Respawn Entertainment/EA)
• Cyberpunk 2077 (CD Projekt Red)
• Final Fantasy XIV (Square Enix)
• Fortnite (Epic Games)
• Genshin Impact (HoYoverse)

Best Community Support

• Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
• Cyberpunk 2077 (CD Projekt Red)
• Destiny 2 (Bungie)
• Final Fantasy XIV (Square Enix)
• No Man’s Sky (Hello Games)

Best Independent Game

• Cocoon (Geometric Interactive/Annapurna Interactive)
• Dave the Diver (MINTROCKET)
• Dredge (Black Salt Games/Team 17)
• Sea of Stars (Sabotage Studio)
• Viewfinder (Sad Owl Studios/Thunderful Publishing)

Best Debut Indie Game

• Cocoon (Geometric Interactive/Annapurna Interactive)
• Dredge (Black Salt Games/Team 17)
• Pizza Tower (Tour de Pizza)
• Venba (Visai Games)
• Viewfinder (Sad Owl Studios/Thunderful Publishing)

Best Mobile Game

• Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis (Applibot/Square Enix)
• Honkai: Star Rail (HoYoverse)
• Hello Kitty Island Adventure (Sunblink Entertainment)
• Monster Hunter Now (Niantic/Capcom)
• Terra Nil (Free Lives/Devolver/Netflix)

Best VR/AR Game

• Gran Turismo 7 (Polyphony Digital/SIE)
• Humanity (tha LTD/Enhance Games)
• Horizon Call of the Mountain (Guerrilla Games/Firesprite/SIE)
• Resident Evil Village VR Mode (Capcom)
• Synapse (nDreams)

Best Action Game

• Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco)
• Dead Island 2 (Dambuster Studios/Deep Silver)
• Ghostrunner 2 (One More Level/505 Games)
• Hi-Fi Rush (Tango Gameworks/Bethesda Softworks)
• Remnant 2 (Gunfire Games/Gearbox Publishing)

Best Action/Adventure Game

• Alan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing)
• Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games/SIE)
• Resident Evil 4 (Capcom)
• Star Wars Jedi: Survivor (Respawn Entertainment/EA)
• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)

Best RPG

• Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
• Final Fantasy XVI (Square Enix)
• Lies of P (Round8 Studio/Neowiz Games)
• Sea of Stars (Sabotage Studio)
• Starfield (Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda Softworks)

Best Fighting Game

• God of Rock (Modus Studios Brazil/Modus Games)
• Mortal Kombat 1 (NetherRealm Studios/WB Games)
• Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 (Ludosity/Fair Play Labs/GameMill Entertainment)
• Pocket Bravery (Statera Studio/PQube)
• Street Fighter 6 (Capcom)

Best Family Game

• Disney Illusion Island (Dlala Studios/Disney)
• Party Animals (Recreate Games)
• Pikmin 4 (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
• Sonic Superstars (Arzest/Sonic Team/Sega)
• Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)

Best Sim/Strategy Game

• Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp (WayForward/Nintendo)
• Cities: Skylines II (Colossal Order/Paradox Interactive)
• Company of Heroes 3 (Relic Entertainment/Sega)
• Fire Emblem Engage (Intelligent Systems/Nintendo)
• Pikmin 4 (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)

Best Sports/Racing

• EA Sports FC 24 (EA Vancouver/EA Romania/EA Sports)
• F1 23 (Codemasters/EA Sports)
• Forza Motorsport (Turn 10 Studios/Xbox Game Studios)
• Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged (Milestone)
• The Crew Motorfest (Ubisoft Ivory Tower/Ubisoft)

Best Multiplayer Presented by Discord

• Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
• Diablo IV (Blizzard Entertainment)
• Party Animals (Recreate Games)
• Street Fighter 6 (Capcom)
• Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)

Most Anticipated Game

• Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (Square Enix)
• Hades II (Supergiant Games)
• Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth (Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio/Sega)
• Star Wars Outlaws (Massive Entertainment/Ubisoft)
• Tekken 8 (Bandai Namco/Arika)

Content Creator of the Year

• IronMouse
• PeopleMakeGames
• Quackity
• Spreen
• SypherPK

Best Esports Game

• Counter-Strike 2 (Valve)
• Dota 2 (Valve)
• League of Legends (Riot Games)
• PUBG Mobile (LightSpeed Studios/Tencent Games)
• Valorant (Riot Games)

Best Esports Athlete

• Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok (League of Legends)
• Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut (CS:GO)
• Max “Demon1” Mazanov (Valorant)
• Paco “HyDra” Rusiewiez (Call of Duty)
• Park “Ruler” Jae-hyuk (League of Legends)
• Phillip ”ImperialHal” Dosen (Apex Legends)

Best Esports Team

• Evil Geniuses (Valorant)
• Fnatic (Valorant)
• Gaimin Gladiators (Dota 2)
• JD Gaming (League of Legends)
• Team Vitality (Counter-Strike)

Best Esports Coach

• Christine “potter” Chi (Evil Geniuses – Valorant)
• Danny “zonic” Sorensen (Team Falcons – Counter-Strike)
• Jordan “Gunba” Graham (Florida Mayhem – Overwatch)
• Remy “XTQZZZ” Quoniam (Team Vitality – Counter-Strike)
• Yoon “Homme” Sung-young (JD Gaming – League of Legends)

Best Esports Event

• 2023 League of Legends World Championship
• Blast.tv Paris Major 2023
• EVO 2023
• The International Dota 2 Championships 2023
• VALORANT Champions 2023

The Game Awards 2023 is more than just an awards ceremony; it's a celebration of the art and craft of video gaming. It brings together developers, players, and industry leaders to honor the best in gaming. As fans eagerly anticipate the event, they can participate in the excitement by voting for their favourite games on the Game Awards’ website.