Game Awards nominations announced, with Deathloop leading the way

news7g11/16/2021

9 5 minutes read

Game Awards nominations announced, with Deathloop leading the way

The Games Awards, Geoff Keighley’s annual reason to invite friends, have announced this year’s nominees. The nominees for the Game Of The Year award include Deathloop, It Takes Two, Psychonauts 2 and Resident Evil Village. Deathloop leads the nominations with nine.

Nominees are chosen by a jury of game media publications and “influencers”. Disclosure: Years ago, RPS was asked to participate many times, but none of us could bother filling out our ballots. The real winners are chosen through public voting, and Voting is now open if you want to participate.

Among the more interesting nominations below is Cyberpunk 2077, which was released late last year and much mocked for its bugs and slow performance, especially on consoles. It was nominated for Best Score and Best Role Playing. Inscryption was also recently nominated for “Best Indie”, although it is notable that (at least RPS) Wildermyth is absent from all categories.

Over the past few years, I’ve come to enjoy the Game Awards, or at least the conversation surrounding them. The ceremony itself is always an awkward live stream consisting mostly of trailers for unreleased games, with prizes alternating, but it’s one of the few times per year when the Internet reliably put together in real time about something virtually innocuous.

Here is the full list of candidates:

Game of the year

Deathloop (Arkane Studios / Bethesda)
It Takes Two (Hazelight Studios / EA)
Metroid Dread (Mercury Steam / Nintendo)
Psychonauts 2 (Double Fine / Xbox Game Studios)
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (Insomniac / SIE Game)
Resident Evil Village (Capcom)

The best game direction

Deathloop (Arkane Studios / Bethesda)
It Takes Two (Hazelight Studios / EA)
Returns (Housemarque / SIE)
Psychonauts 2 (Double Fine / Xbox Game Studios)
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (Insomniac / SIE Game)

Going on the best

Apex Legends (Remake / EA)
Call of Duty: Warzone (Infinity Ward / Raven / Activision)
FINAL FANTASY XIV Online (SQUARE ENIX)
Fortnite (Epic Game)
Genshin Impact (MiHoYo)

Best Indie

12 Minutes (Luis Antonio / Annapurna Interactive)
Door of Death (Acid Nerve / Devolver Digital)
Kena: Bridge of Spirits (Ember Laboratories)
Coding (Game by Daniel Mullins / Devolver Digital)
Loop Hero (Four Quarters / Devolver Digital)

The best Indie debut song

Kena: Bridge of Spirits (Ember Laboratories)
Sable (Shedworks / Raw Fury)
The Artistic Escape (Beethoven & Dinosaur / Annapurna)
The Forgotten City (Modern Storyteller / Dear Villager)
Valheim (Iron Gate / Coffee Stain)

Best narration

Deathloop (Arkane Studios / Bethesda)
It Takes Two (Hazelight Studios / EA)
Life is Strange: True Colors (Deck Nine / SQUARE ENIX)
Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy (Eidos Montreal / SQUARE ENIX)
Psychonauts 2 (Double Fine / Xbox Game Studios)

Best Art Direction

Deathloop (Arkane Studios / Bethesda)
Kena: Bridge of Spirits (Ember Laboratories)
Psychonauts 2 (Double Fine / Xbox Game Studios)
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (Insomniac / SIE Game)
The Artistic Escape (Beethoven & Dinosaur / Annapurna)

The best music and music

Cyberpunk 2077 (Marcin Przybylowicz, Piotr T. Adamczyk, Composer)
Deathloop (Tom Salta, Composer)
NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139 (Keiichi Okabe, Composer)
Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy (Richard Jacques, Composer)
The Artful Escape (Johnny Galvatron & Josh Abrahams, composers)

Best sound design

Deathloop (Arkane Studios / Bethesda)
Forza Horizon 5 (Playground Games / Xbox Game Studios)
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (Insomniac / SIE Game)
Resident Evil Village (Capcom)
Returns (Housemarque / SIE)

Best performance

Erika Mori as Alex Chen, Life is Strange: True Colors
Giancarlo Esposito as Anton Castillo, Far Cry 6
Jason E. Kelley as Colt Vahn, Deathloop
Maggie Robertson as Lady Dimitrescu, Resident Evil Village
Ozioma Akagha as Julianna Blake, Deathloop

Games for Impact

Before Your Eyes (GoodbyeWorld Games / Skybound Games)
Boyfriend Dungeon (Kitfox Game)
Chicory (Greg Lobanow, Alexis dean-Jones, Lena Raine, Madeline Berger, A Shell in the Pit / Finji)
Life is Strange: True Colors (Deck Nine / SQUARE ENIX)
No Home (Humble Grove, Hana Lee, Cel Davison, Adrienne Lombardo, Eli Rainsberry / Fellow Traveler)

The best community support