The biggest night in gaming is back, live from Los Angeles, and we finally know the list of nominees who are set to be honored at the ceremony. Airing on Dec. 8, The Game Awards 2022 will see the industry come together to celebrate the latest and greatest the year had to offer, from the big AAAs that dominated the sales charts to the smaller indie hits that captivated us. In fact, it’s a particularly big year for indie darlings competing in the Game of the Year category.
Unsurprisingly, God of War: Ragnarok and Elden Ring lead the nominations, and are both favorites to win Game of the Year. The former, with 10 nominations, is a critically-acclaimed sequel to what is Santa Monica Studio’s action-adventure masterpiece, which also happened to win GOTY in 2018. The other is the latest Soulsborne title from FromSoftware, who most recently won GOTY in 2019 with Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. Both have massive studios and names attached, with Game of Thrones creator George R.R. Martin lending his storytelling talents to Elden Ring, which has been nominated in seven categories, including Best Narrative.
Joining those two massive titles on the list of GOTY nominees this year are Horizon Forbidden West (another PlayStation exclusive) and Xenoblade Chronicles 3 from Nintendo. But it’s the indie titles tapped for nomination that provide the biggest revelation about the state of gaming in 2022. For the first time in the show’s history, two smaller-budget indie titles have been nominated in the category: cat-themed dystopian adventure game Stray, from BlueTwelve Studio and published by Annapurna, and A Plague Tale: Requiem, Asobo and Focus Entertainment’s dark survival horror game set during the French Inquisition.
Best of all, these nominations come on the heels of another indie title being named last year’s GOTY, Hazelight Studios’ cooperative action-adventure It Takes Two, which beat out big AAAs like Metroid Dread, Resident Evil Village, and Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart for the award. It’s a clear sign of how indie games continue to break through at The Game Awards, a show that was once better known for lauding big-name studios and big-budget hits. Some would even argue that a third indie title deserved to be nominated in the category, Sam Barlow’s brilliant interactive game Immortality, showing just how strong the year was in indie offerings.
It’ll be interesting to see if either Stray or A Plague Tale: Requiem can pull off the upset against the two clear favorites of the show, but either way, it’s great to see indie representation grow on the show’s high-profile stage.
Here is the complete list of nominees for The Game Awards 2022:
Game of the Year
- A Plague Tale: RequiemElden RingGod of War RagnarokHorizon Forbidden WestStrayXenoblade Chronicles 3
Best Game Direction
- Elden RingGod of War RagnarokHorizon Forbidden WestImmortalityStray
Best Narrative
- A Plague Tale: RequiemElden RingGod of War RagnarokHorizon Forbidden WestImmortality
Best Art Direction
- Elden RingGod of War: RagnarokHorizon: Forbidden WestScornStray
Best Score/Music
- Olivier Deriviere – A Plague Tale: RequiemTsukasa Saitoh – Elden RingBear McCreary – God of War: RagnarokTwo Feathers – Metal HellsingerYasunori Mitsuda
Best Audio Design
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2Elden RingGod of War RagnarokGran Turismo 7Horizon Forbidden West
Best Performance
- Ashly Birch – Horizon: Forbidden WestCharlotte McBurney – A Plague Tale: RequiemChristopher Judge – God of War: RagnarokManon Gage – ImmortalitySunny Suljic – God of War: Ragnarok
Games for Impact
- A Memoir BlueAs Dusk FallsCitizen SleeperEndling – Extinction is ForeverHindsightI Was a Teenage Exocolonist
Best Ongoing Game
- Apex LegendsDestiny 2Final Fantasy 14 OnlineFortniteGenshin Impact
Best Indie Game
- Cult of the LambNeon WhiteSifuStrayTUNIC
Best Debut Indie Game
- Neon WhiteNORCOStrayTUNICVampire Survivors
Best Mobile Game
- Apex Legends MobileDiablo ImmortalGenshin ImpactMarvel SnapTower of Fantasy
Best Community Support
- Apex LegendsDestiny 2Final Fantasy 14 OnlineFortniteNo Man’s Sky
Best VR/AR Game
- After the FallAmong Us VRBONELABMoss: Book IIRed Matter 2
Innovation in Accessibility
- As Dusk FallsGod of War: RagnarokReturnalReturn to Monkey IslandThe Last of Us Part 1The Quarry
Best Action Game
- Bayonetta 3Call of Duty: Modern Warfare IINeon WhiteSifuTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge
Best Action/Adventure Game
- A Plague Tale: RequiemGod of War RagnarokHorizon Forbidden WestStrayTUNIC
Best RPG
- Elden RingLive a LivePokémon Legends: ArceusTriangle StrategyXenoblade Chronicles 3
Best Fighting Game
- DNF DuelJoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle RThe King of Fighters 15MultiVersusSifu
Best Family Game
- Kirby and the Forgotten LandLEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker SagaMario + Rabbids Sparks of HopeNintendo Switch SportsSplatoon 3
Best Sports/Racing Game
- F1 22FIFA 23NBA 2K23Gran Turismo 7OlliOlli World
Best SIM/Strategy Game
- Dune: Spice WarsMario + Rabbids Sparks of HopeTotal War: WARHAMMER 3Two Point CampusVictoria 3
Best Multiplayer Game
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2MultiversusOverwatch 2Splatoon 3Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge
Content Creator of the Year
- Karl JacobsLudwigNibellionNobruQTCinderella
Best Esports Athlete
- Jeong “Chovy” Ji-hoon (Gen.G, LOL)Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok (T1, LOL)Finn “karrigan” Andersen ( (FaZe Clan – CS:GO)Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev (Natus Vincere, CS:GO)Jacob “Yay” Whiteaker (Cloud9, Valorant)
Best Esports Coach
- Andrii “B1ad3” Horodenskyi (Natus Vincere, CS:GO)Matheus “bzkA” Tarasconi (LOUD, VALORANT)Erik “d00mbr0s” Sandgren (FPX, VALORANT)Robert “RobbaN” Dahlström (FaZe Clan, CS:GO)Go “Score” Dong-bin (Gen.G, LOL)
Best Esports Event
- EVO 20222022 League of Legends World ChampionshipPGL Major Antwerp 2022The 2022 Mid-Season InvitationalVALORANT Champions 2022
Best Esports Game
- Counter-Strike: Global OffensiveDOTA 2League of LegendsRocket LeagueVALORANT
Best Esports Team
- DarkZero Esports (Apex Legends)FaZe Clan (CS:GO)Gen.G (League of Legends)LA Thieves (Call of Duty)LOUD (Valorant)
Most Anticipated Game
- Final Fantasy 16Hogwarts LegacyResident Evil 4StarfieldThe Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Best Adaptation
- Arcane: League of LegendsCyberpunk: EdgerunnersThe Cuphead Show!Sonic the Hedgehog 2Uncharted
