The Game Awards 2022 has finally revealed its full list of nominees for Game of the Year and a variety of other categories. The jury will vote on each category in the lead-up to The Game Awards on December 8, at which point the winners will be announced.
The six games nominated for Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2022 are A Plague Tale: Requiem, Elden Ring, God of War Ragnarok, Horizon Forbidden West, Stray, and Xenoblade Chronicles 3. Out of these, the two games that stand the most likely shot at being crowned Game of the Year are Elden Ring and God of War Ragnarok, as they are the two highest-rated new video game releases of the year. At the time of this writing, Elden Ring reviews are slightly higher than God of War Ragnarok's, with Elden Ring's overall rating at 95 and Ragnarok's at 94.
While Elden Ring has a higher overall rating than God of War Ragnarok, Ragnarok is nominated for more awards this year, so perhaps that will give it the edge. God of War Ragnarok has been nominated for a total of 10 awards at this year's Game Awards event, whereas Elden Ring is up for seven awards. Horizon Forbidden West is also up for seven awards, so it could very well cause an upset.
There doesn't appear to be any major snubs for Game of the Year this time around, but some may be confused by the way nominations work. After all, some major games aren't even out yet, and so they aren't being considered for awards in the year of their release. This includes titles like Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, set to launch exclusively for the Switch later this week, horror game The Callisto Protocol launching on December 2, and Firaxis' Midnight Suns strategy games that's launching on the same day.
The Game Awards failing to take into account games that release near the end of the year has long been a criticism of the show, and that isn't changing with this year's event. Regardless, fans will be able to tune in to The Game Awards 2022 on December 8 to see which games win which awards as well as check out all the big announcements and world premiere trailers.
Here is the full list of Game Awards 2022 nominees:
Game of the Year
- A Plague Tale: Requiem
- Elden Ring
- God of War Ragnarok
- Horizon Forbidden West
- Stray
- Xenoblade Chronicles 3
Best Game Direction
- Elden Ring
- God of War Ragnarok
- Horizon Forbidden West
- Immortality
- Stray
Best Narrative
- A Plague Tale: Requiem
- Elden Ring
- God of War Ragnarok
- Horizon Forbidden West
- Immortality
Best Art Direction
- Elden Ring
- God of War Ragnarok
- Horizon Forbidden West
- Scorn
- Stray
Best Score and Music
- A Plague Tale: Requiem
- Elden Ring
- God of War Ragnarok
- Metal: Hellsinger
- Xenoblade Chronicles 3
Best Audio Design
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
- Elden Ring
- God of War Ragnarok
- Gran Turismo 7
- Horizon Forbidden West
Best Performance
- Horizon Forbidden West (Ashly Burch as Aloy)
- A Plague Tale: Requiem (Charlotte McBurney as Amicia de Rune)
- God of War Ragnarok (Christopher Judge as Kratos)
- Immortality (Manon Gage as Marissa Marcel)
- God of War Ragnarok (Sunny Suljic as Atreus)
Games for Impact
- A Memoimr Blue
- As Dusk Falls
- Citizen Sleeper
- Endling - Extinction is Forever
- Hindsight
- I Was a Teenage Exocolonist
Best Ongoing
- Apex Legends
- Destiny 2
- Final Fantasy 14
- Fortnite
- Genshin Impact
Best Indie
- Cult of the Lamb
- Neon White
- Sifu
- Stray
- Tunic
Best Mobile Game
- Apex Legends Mobile
- Diablo Immortal
- Genshin Impact
- Marvel Snap
- Tower of Fantasy
Best Community Support
- Apex Legends
- Destiny 2
- Final Fantasy 14
- Fortnite
- No Man's Sky
Innovation in Accessibility
- As Dusk Falls
- God of War Ragnarok
- Return to Monkey Island
- The Last of Us Part 1
The Quarry
Best VR/AR
- After the Fall
- Among Us VR
- Bonelab
- Moss: Book 2
- Red Matter 2
Best Action Game
- Bayonetta 3
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
- Neon White
- Sifu
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge
Best Action/Adventure
- A Plague Tale: Requiem
- God of War Ragnarok
- Horizon Forbidden West
- Stray
- Tunic
Best Role Playing
- Elden Ring
- Live A Live
- Pokemon Legends: Arceus
- Triangle Strategy
- Xenoblade Chronicles 3
Best Fighting
- DNF Duel
- JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle R
- The King of Fighters 15
- MultiVersus
- Sifu
Best Family
- Kirby and the Forgotten Land
- LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga
- Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope
- Nintendo Switch Sports
- Splatoon 3
Best Sim/Strategy
- Dune: Spice Wars
- Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope
- Total War: Warhammer 3
- Two Point Campus
- Victoria 3
Best Sports/Racing
- F1 22
- FIFA 23
- NBA 2K23
- Gran Turismo 7
- OlliOlli World
Best Multiplayer
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
- MultiVersus
- Overwatch 2
- Splatoon 3
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge
Content Creator of the Year
- Karl Jacobs
- Ludwig
- Nibellion
- Nobru
- QTCinderella
Best Debut Indie
- Neon White
- NORCO
- Stray
- Tunic
- Vampire Survivors
Best Adaptation
- Arcane: League of Legends
- Cyberpunk: Edgerunners
- The Cuphead Show!
- Sonic the Hedgehog 2
- Uncharted
Most Anticipated Game
- Final Fantasy 16
- Hogwarts Legacy
- Resident Evil 4
- Starfield
The Legend of Zelda: The Tears of the Kingdom
Best Esports Game
- Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
- Dota 2
- League of Legends
- Rocket League
Valorant
Best Esports Athlete
- Jeong "Chovy" Ji-Hoon
- Lee "Faker" Sang-Hyeok
- Finn "Karrigan" Andersen
- Okelsander "S1mple" Kostyliev
- Jacob "Yay" Whiteaker
Best Esports Team
- Darkzero Esports
- Faze Clan
- Gen.G
- LA Thieves
- Loud
Best Esports Coach
- Andrii "B1AD3" Horodenskyi
- Matheus "Bzka" Tarasconi
- Erik "D00mbr0s" Sandgren
- Robert "Robban" Dahlstrom
- Go "Score" Dong-Bin
Best Esports Event
- Evo 2022
- 2022 League of Legends World Championship
- PGL Major Antwerp 2022
- The 2022 Mid-Season Invitational
- Valorant Champions 2022