Game Awards 2021 nominees revealed, led by Xbox and Bethesda

Game Awards (Image credit: Game Awards)

What you need to know

The 2021 Game Awards nominees have been announced.
Xbox and Bethesda saw the most nominations, with 20 awards across the two publishers of the Xbox first-party family.
Games like Deathloop, Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart and Psychonauts 2 were the most-awarded.

Despite the many game delays of 2021, there's still a lot of different games that players have enjoyed over the last several months. The nominees for the 2021 Game Awards, hosted by Geoff Keighley, have been revealed, with Xbox Game Studios and Bethesda Softworks seeing 20 nominations combined, the most of any publishers at the event. Voting is live right now, so players can take part in determining which of the dozens of games get awarded.

There's several highlights, with games such as Deathloop and Psychonauts 2 being heavily awarded.

Here's the full list of nominees:

Game of the Year

Deathloop - Arkane Studios, Bethesda Softworks
It Takes Two - Hazelight, EA
Metroid Dread - MercurySteam, Nintendo
Psychonauts 2 - Double Fine, Xbox Game Studios
Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart - Insomniac Games, PlayStation Studios
Resident Evil Village - Capcom

Best Performance

Giancarlo Esposito - Far Cry 6
Jason E. Kelley - Deathloop
Ozioma Akagha - Deathloop
Erika Mori - Life is Strange: True Colors
Maggie Robertson - Resident Evil Village.

Best Action-Adventure

Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy - Eidos Montreal, Square Enix
Metroid Dread - MercurySteam, Nintendo
Psychonauts 2 - Double Fine, Xbox Game Studios
Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart - Insomniac Games, PlayStation Studios
Resident Evil Village - Capcom

Games for Impact

Before Your Eyes - Goodbyeworld Games, Skybound Games
Boyfriend Dungeon - Kitfox Games
Chicory: A Colorful Tale - Greg Lobanov, Finji
Life is Strange: True Colors - Deck Nine, Square Enix
No Longer Home - Humble Grove

Best Audio Design

Deathloop - Arkane Studios, Bethesda Softworks
Forza Horizon 5 - Playground Games, Xbox Game Studios
Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart - Insomniac Games, PlayStation Studios
Resident Evil Village - Capcom
Returnal - Housemarque, PlayStation Studios

Best Action Game

Back 4 Blood - Turtle Rock, WB Games
Chivalry 2 - Torn Banner Studios, Tripwire Interactive
Deathloop - Arkane Studios, Bethesda Softworks
Far Cry 6 - Ubisoft Toronto, Ubisoft
Returnal - Housemarque, PlayStation Studios

Best Art Direction

Deathloop - Arkane Studios, Bethesda Softworks
Kena: Bridge of Spirits - Ember Lab
Psychonauts 2 - Double Fine, Xbox Game Studios
Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart - Insomniac Games, PlayStation Studios
The Artful Escape - Beethoven & Dinosaur, Annapurna Interactive

Best Family Game

It Takes Two - Hazelight, EA
Mario Party Superstars - Nocube, Nintendo
New Pokémon Snap - Bandai Namco/The Pokémon Company, Nintendo
Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury - Nintendo
Warioware: Get it Together! - Intelligent Systems, Nintendo

Best Game Direction

Deathloop - Arkane Studios, Bethesda Softworks
It Takes Two - Hazelight, EA
Returnal - Housemarque, PlayStation Studios
Psychonauts 2 - Double Fine, Xbox Game Studios
Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart - Insomniac Games, PlayStation Studios

Best Multiplayer

Back 4 Blood - Turtle Rock, WB Games
It Takes Two - Hazelight, EA
Knockout City - Velant, EA
Monster Hunter Rise - Capcom
New World - Amazon Games
Valheim - Iron Gate Studios, Coffee Stain

Best Narrative

Deathloop - Arkane Studios, Bethesda Softworks
It Takes Two - Hazelight, 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 Ongoing

Apex Legends - Respawn Entertainment, EA
Call of Duty: Warzone - Infinity Ward/Raven Software, Activision
Final Fantasy 14 - Square Enix
Genshin Impact - Mihoyo
Fortnite - Epic Games

Best Role-Playing

Cyberpunk 2077 - CD Projekt Red
Monster Hunter Rise - Capcom
Scarlet Nexus - Bandai Namco
Shin Magami Tensei V - Atlus, Sega
Tales of Arise - Bandai Namco

Best Score and Music

Cyberpunk 2077 - P. T. Adamczyk, Marcin Przybyłowicz, Paul Leonard-Morgan
Deathloop - Tom Salta
Nier Replicant - Keichii Okabe
Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy - Richard Jacques
The Artful Escape - Johnny Galvatron, Josh Abrahams

Best Sim and Strategy

Age of Empires 4 - Relic Entertainment/World's Edge, Xbox Game Studios
Evil Genius 2 - Rebellion Developments
Humankind - Amplitude Studios, Sega
Inscryption - Daniel Mullins Games, Devolver Digital
Microsoft Flight Simulator - Asobo Studio, Xbox Studio Studios

Best Sports and Racing

F1 2021 - Codemasters, EA
FIFA 22 - EA Vancouver, EA
Forza Horizon 5 - Playground Games, Xbox Game Studios
Hot Wheels Unleahed - Milestone
Riders Republic - Ubisoft Annecy, Ubisoft

Best Mobile

Fantasian
Genshin Impact
League of Legends: Wild Rift
Marvel Future Revolution
Pokémon Unite

Innovation in Accessibility

Far Cry 6 - Ubisoft Toronto, Ubisoft
Forza Horizon 5 - Playground Games, Xbox Game Studios
Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy - Eidos Montreal, Square Enix
Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart - Insomniac Games, PlayStation Studios
The Vale: Shadow of the Crown - Creative Bytes Studios, Falling Squirrel

Most Anticipated Game

Elden Ring - FromSoftware, Bandai Namco
God of War: Ragnarok - Sony Santa Monica, PlayStation Studios
Horizon Forbidden West- Guerrilla Games, PlayStation Studios
Sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - Nintendo
Starfield - Bethesda Game Studios, Bethesda Softworks

Best VR and AR

Hitman 3 - IO Interactive
I Expect You to Die 2 - Schell Games
Lone Echo 2 - Ready at Dawn, Oculus Games
Resident Evil 4 - Armature Studios/Capcom, Oculus Studios
Sniper Elite 4 - Coatsink/Just Add Water, Rebellion Developments

Best Esports team

Atlanta Faze
DWG KIA
Natus Vincere
Team Spirit
Sentinels

Best Esports event

2021 League of Legends Championship
PGL Major Stockholm 2021
PUBG Mobile Global Championship
The International 2021
Valorant Champions Tour: Stage 2 Masters

Content Creator of the Year

Dream
Fuslie
Gaules
Ibai
Grefg