The Game Awards is an annual awards ceremony honoring the biggest achievements in the video game industry. It is often described as the Oscar of video games. The event will be streamed live on December 9, 2021. In this article, we are going to list out all nominations in The Game Awards 2021 to see which are the best games this year.

The Game Awards
The Game Awards is the biggest event in the gaming industry every year.

About The Game Awards 2021

The nominees are chosen by a jury of games media publications and "influencer outlets." The winners of the award are chosen based on a public vote, however. Players can vote for their favorite games on The Game Award's Official Page.

Besides the awards, Host Geoff Keighley has also teased 40-50 world premiere game announcements. The Game Awards 2019 and The Game Awards 2020 were not nearly as big.

Game of the year 2021

This is the main category that focuses on the best games released this 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 Games/SIE)
  • Resident Evil Village (Capcom)
Top 6 games of the year
Top 6 games of the year on PC and consoles

What are the best games 2021?

Currently, Deathloop leads the board with nine nominations, including Game of the Year and Best Game Direction. It Takes Two and Psychonauts 2 are tied for second place, each with five nominations.

Deathloop
Deathloop is the perfect blend of Dishonored, Hitman, Dark Souls...

Overall, Xbox/Bethesda is leading this year, with over 14 combined nominations for Deathloop and Psychonauts. Sony comes second with 11 while Square Enix and EA are tied for 3rd place with 10 each.

Psychonauts 2
Psychonauts 2 is a pretty trippy experience, with a vibrant colorful world.

In other categories, we have miHoYo's Genshin Impact leading the Best Mobile Award. Last year's biggest dumpster fire Cyberpunk 2077 somehow managed to get nominations in Best Score and Best Role Playing.

Other categories nominations at The Game Awards 2021

Best Game Direction 

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

Best Ongoing Game

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

Best Indie Game

  • 12 Minutes (Luis Antonio/Annapurna Interactive)
  • Death’s Door (Acid Nerve/Devolver Digital)
  • Kena: Bridge of Spirits (Ember Lab)
  • Inscryption (Daniel Mullins Games/Devolver Digital)
  • Loop Hero (Four Quarters/Devolver Digital)

Best Debut Indie Game

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

Best Narrative 

  • 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 Lab)
  • Psychonauts 2 (Double Fine/Xbox Game Studios)
  • Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (Insomniac Games/SIE)
  • The Artful Escape (Beethoven & Dinosaur/Annapurna)

Best Score and Music

  • Cyberpunk 2077 (Marcin Przybylowicz, Piotr T. Adamczyk, Composers)
  • 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 Audio Design 

  • Deathloop (Arkane Studios/Bethesda)
  • Forza Horizon 5 (Playground Games/Xbox Game Studios)
  • Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (Insomniac Games/SIE)
  • Resident Evil Village (Capcom)
  • Returnal (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 Games)
  • 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 Longer Home (Humble Grove, Hana Lee, Cel Davison, Adrienne Lombardo, Eli Rainsberry/Fellow Traveler)

Best Community Support 

  • Apex Legends (Respawn/EA)
  • Destiny 2 (Bungie)
  • FINAL FANTASY XIV Online (SQUARE ENIX)
  • Fortnite (Epic Games)
  • No Man’s Sky (Hello Games)

Best Mobile Game

  • Fantasian (Mistwalker)
  • Genshin Impact (MiHoYo)
  • League of Legends: Wild Rift (Riot Games)
  • MARVEL Future Revolution (Netmarble)
  • Pokemon Unite (TiMi Studios/The Pokemon Company)

Best VR/AR Game

  • Hitman 3 (IO Interactive)
  • I Expect You To Die 2 (Schell Games)
  • Lone Echo II (Ready at Dawn/Oculus Studios)
  • Resident Evil 4 (Armature Studio/Capcom/Oculus Studios)
  • Sniper Elite VR (Coatsink/Just Add Water/Rebellion Developments)

Best Action Game

  • Back 4 Blood (Turtle Rock/WB Games)
  • Chivalry II (Torn Banner Studios/Tripwire Interactive)
  • Deathloop (Arkane Studios/Bethesda)
  • Far Cry 6 (Ubisoft Toronto/Ubisoft)
  • Returnal (Housemarque/SIE)

Best Action/Adventure Game

  • Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy (Eidos Montreal/SQUARE ENIX)
  • Metroid Dread (Mercury Steam/Nintendo)
  • Psychonauts 2 (Double Fine/Xbox Game Studios)
  • Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (Insomniac Games/SIE)
  • Resident Evil Village (Capcom)

Best Role Playing Game

  • Cyberpunk 2077 (CD Projekt Red)
  • Monster Hunter Rise (Capcom)
  • Scarlet Nexus (Bandai Namco)
  • Shin Megami Tensei V (Atlus/Sega)
  • Tales of Arise (Bandai Namco)

Best Fighting Game

  • Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles (CyberConnect2/Sega)
  • Guilty Gear -Strive- (Arc System Works)
  • Melty Blood: Type Lumina (French-Bread/Delightworks)
  • Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl (Ludosity/Fair Play Labs/GameMill)
  • Virtua Fighter 5: Ultimate Showdown (Sega)

Best Family Game

  • It Takes Two (Hazelight Studios/EA)
  • Mario Party Superstars (NDcube/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 Sports/Racing Game

  • F1 2021 (Codemasters/EA Sports)
  • FIFA 22 (EA Vancouver/EA Sports)
  • Forza Horizon 5 (Playground Games/Xbox Game Studios)
  • Hot Wheels Unleashed (Milestone)
  • Riders Republic (Ubisoft Annecy/Ubisoft)

Best Sim/Strategy Game

  • Age of Empires IV (Relic Entertainment/Xbox Game Studios)
  • Evil Genius 2: World Domination (Rebellion Developments)
  • Humankind (Amplitude Studios/Sega)
  • Inscryption (Daniel Mullins Games/Devolver)
  • Microsoft Flight Simulator (Asobo Studio/Xbox Game Studios)

Best Multiplayer Game

  • Back 4 Blood (Turtle Rock/WB Games)
  • It Takes Two (Hazelight Studios/EA)
  • Knockout City (Velan Studios/EA)
  • Monster Hunter Rise (Capcom)
  • New World (Amazon Games)
  • Valheim (Iron Gate Studio/Coffee Stain)

Most Anticipated Game

  • Elden Ring (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco)
  • God of War Ragnarök (Sony Santa Monica/SIE)
  • Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games/SIE)
  • Sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo)
  • Starfield (Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda)

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 & Clank: Rift Apart (Insomniac Games/SIE)
  • The Vale: Shadow of the Crown (Creative Bytes Studios/Falling Squirrel)

Content Creator of the Year 

  • Dream
  • Fuslie
  • Gaules
  • Ibai
  • TheGrefg

Best Esports Game

  • Call of Duty (Activision)
  • CS:GO (Valve)
  • DOTA2 (Valve)
  • League of Legends (Riot Games)
  • Valorant (Riot Games)

Best Esports Athlete

  • Chris "Simp" Lehr
  • Heo "ShowMaker" Su
  • Magomed "Collapse" Khalilov
  • Oleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev
  • Tyson "TenZ" Ngo

Best Esports Team

  • Atlanta FaZe (COD)
  • DWG KIA (LOL)
  • Natus Vincere (CS:GO)
  • Sentinels (Valorant)
  • Team Spirit (DOTA2)

Best Esports Coach

  • Airat “Silent” Gaziev
  • Andrey "ENGH" Sholokhov
  • Andrii "B1ad3" Horodenskyi
  • James "Crowder" Crowder
  • Kim "kkOma" Jeong-gyun

Best Esports Event

  • 2021 League of Legends World Championship
  • PGL Major Stockholm 2021
  • PUBG Mobile Global Championship 2020
  • The International 2021
  • Valorant Champions Tour: Stage 2 Masters

>>> Read more: Mobile Games Ranking 2021: World Highest-Grossing Mobile Games So Far