For gamers, the top nominees for the 2018 Game Awards shouldn’t be much of a surprise. Overall,God of WarandRed Dead Redemption 2tied for the most nominations (8), withMarvel’s Spider-Mancoming in just behind them (with 7). All three titles are nominated for Game of the Year, alongsideAssassin’s Creed Odyssey,Monster Hunter: World, andCeleste, the latter being the only independent title nominated for that distinction.
Elsewhere,Detroit: Become Humangot nods for Best Game Direction as well as Best Narrative, whileFortniteandPUBGwere nominated for best mobile game (Fortnitealso received noms for Best Mobile and Best Ongoing Game). There aren’t many surprises in the list overall, includingDestiny 2,Overwatch, andNo Man’s Sky’s inclusion in Best Ongoing Games, but there are a few nice additions likeDonut Countyin Best Mobile. It’s also great to seeMelissanthi Mahutnominated specifically for her voice work as Kassandra inAssassin’s Creed Odyssey, which was so lauded by fans.
Check out the list of nominees below, and let us know which of your favorites you’re happy to see nominated, and which titles you think were snubbed:
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)
BEST NARRATIVE
Life is Strange 2: Episode 1 (Dontnod Entertainment / Square Enix)
BEST ART DIRECTION
Octopath Traveler (Square Enix / Acquire / Nintendo)
Return of Obra Din (3909 LLC)
BEST SCORE/MUSIC
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
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 (Treyarch Studios / Activision)
Forza Horizon 4 (Playground Games / Turn 10 Studios / Microsoft Studios)
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)
Florence (Mountains / Annapurna Interactive)
The Missing: JJ Macfield and the Island of Memories (White Owls / Arc System Works)
BEST INDEPENDENT GAME
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)
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)
Destiny 2: Forsaken (Bungie / Activision)
Far Cry 5 (Ubisoft Montreal / Ubisoft)
Mega Man 11 (Capcom)
BEST ACTION/ADVENTURE GAME
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)
Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom (Level 5 / BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment)
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)
The Banner Saga 3 (Stoic Studio / Versus Evil)
Valkyria Chronicles 4 (Sega CS3 / Sega)
BEST SPORTS/RACING
FIFA 19 (EA Vancouver / EA Sports)
NBA 2K19 (Visual Concepts / 2K Sports)
Pro Evolution Soccer 2019 (PES Productions / Konami)
BEST MULTIPLAYER GAME
