December is approaching and, along with the last month of the year, The Game Awards also arrive, an awards ceremony that little by little has been consolidating itself as a kind of Oscar for video games. This year the gala will be on Thursday, December 7 and the organization has already announced all the nominees, which are divided into a total of 31 categories.
The global electronic entertainment industry, and especially the public, gives The Game Awards a category similar to the Oscars in the world of cinema. Although they look almost nothing alike. The Game Awards are organized by a private company (and not the academy) and mix the typical gala of an awards ceremony with a huge showcase for announcements and presentations. And at the head is Geoff Keighley, who since the disappearance of E3, has been taking over all the big video game events of the year.
That said, let’s review the main nominees.
The award for best game of the year – Game of the year or GOTY in English – is the most important award of the ceremony. And this 2023 things are very close. There have been great games and many surprises (also several disappointments like Starfield). Before the summer everything seemed pretty clear: The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom would take the GOTY award.
But, in August, Larian Studios published Baldur’s Gate 3 and shook the hornet’s nest. It broke all the pools by publishing one of the best role-playing games of the decade. And then there is Alan Wake 2, which with its narrative has also revolutionized part of the sector. Now, in the middle of November, the decision is much more complicated. The list looks like this:
As for the award for best direction, things don’t change much either and it is practically a carbon copy of the previous category.
In this category there is already beginning to be some change and two new candidates appear. Some will question whether an expansion can be nominated for awards for the best games of the year, but those who have played Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty surely have no doubts about it. After almost three years, CD Projekt has redeemed itself and turned Cyberpunk 2077 into a nearly excellent and very enjoyable experience.
The indie scene has also been quite close this year. There have been great games and many have been left out of this nomination. Such as Blasphemous 2, an action and platform title developed in Seville. But the list of five nominees has also been very complete, with great exponents of the independent scene:
These are the nominees for the main categories, but there are many more: a total of 31 awards. If you want to consult all the games selected for The Game Awards 2023, you can find them on their website. In addition, they have also opened public voting, so you can contribute to the event. The gala will be next December 7 and can be followed live through platforms such as Twitch.