The nominations for The Game Awards 2018 have been announced, with two blockbuster games leading the way with eight nominations each: God of War and Red Dead Redemption 2. Neither are available on PC, though, so it's hard to be too excited for them.
Other multi-nominated games that we can more easily get behind include the indie platformer Celeste, Assassin's Creed: Odyssey, and of course Fortnite, with four nominations each, and Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 and Destiny 2, with three.
The full list of contenders, which among other highlights has Dead Cells, Mega Man 11, and Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 competing against one another in the same category, is below the "recommended for you" video:
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)
Here's a look at the top nominees for #TheGameAwards. Vote now at https://t.co/9kiptu92wd pic.twitter.com/FS6en0k8AUNovember 13, 2018
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 Roleplaying 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 (ISART 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 have been expanded for 2018, and have their own separate categories:
Best Esports Game:
- CSGO
- DOTA2
- Fortnite
- League of Legends
- Overwatch
Best Esports Player Presented by Omen by HP:
- "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)
The "Trending Gamer" award is out for 2018; instead, there's a community award for Content Creator of the Year:
Your nominees for Content Creator of the Year #TheGameAwards: @ninja @pokimanelol @drlupo @tsm_myth and @willrex pic.twitter.com/HPCcC8gx6SNovember 13, 2018
Gamers can vote on all categories at thegameawards.com or on the Game Awards Discord server. Voting on the server will open on November 13 and run until December 5. The Game Awards get underway at 6 pm PT/9 pm ET on December 6, and will be livestreamed on Twitch, YouTube, Facebook, Steam, and a multitude of other platforms.
