The Game Awards 2018: Red Dead Redemption 2 and God of War lead the nominations
Rockstar's Wild West epic Red Dead Redemption 2 and Sony's sprawling Norse adventure God of War are leading the way at The Game Awards 2018 with eight nominations each.
The two blockbusters will vie for Game of the Year with Assassin's Creed Odyssey, Marvel's Spider-Man and Monster Hunter: World. And delightfully among these goliaths, the small independent platformer Celeste is also up for the main prize of the night.
Battle royale phenomenon Fortnite is up for four awards, while Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, Destiny 2: Forsaken and Detroit: Become Human have three each. The nominations were decided by a panel made up of global media, but the winners are decided by public vote. To have your say you can vote on a number of online platforms, such as Twitter and Facebook, or visit the Game Awards 2018 official site.
The lavish awards show, which takes place on 6 December in Los Angeles, is in its fifth year and is becoming an ever-increasingly important date in the global gaming calendar. As well as handing out awards for the most popular achievements in game-making across the year, The Game Awards often has major game announcements or fresh news from upcoming blockbuster titles. Hideo Kojima's highly anticipated Death Stranding was teased and then unveiled at the show, while last year saw the announcement of Bayonetta 3 and a teaser for From Software's Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.
You can watch The Game Awards 2018 on a variety of online platforms, beginning at 1:30am on the morning of 7 December in the UK. That's 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT on 6 December in the US.
Game of the Year
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey (Ubisoft Quebec / Ubisoft)
Celeste (Matt Makes Games)
God of War (SIE Santa Monica Studio / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Marvel’s Spider-Man (Insomniac Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Monster Hunter: World (Capcom)
Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)
Best Ongoing Game
Destiny 2: Forsaken (Bungie / Activision)
Fortnite (Epic Games)
No Man’s Sky (Hello Games)
Overwatch (Blizzard Entertainment)
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege (Ubisoft Montreal / Ubisoft)
Best Game Direction
A Way Out (Hazelight Studios / Electronic Arts)
Detroit: Become Human (Quantic Dream / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
God of War (SIE Santa Monica Studio / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Marvel’s Spider-Man (Insomniac Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)
Best Narrative
Detroit: Become Human (Quantic Dream / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
God of War (SIE Santa Monica Studio / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Life is Strange 2: Episode 1 (Dontnod Entertainment / Square Enix)
Marvel’s Spider-Man (Insomniac Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)
Best Art Direction
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey (Ubisoft Quebec / Ubisoft)
God of War (SIE Santa Monica Studio / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Octopath Traveler (Square Enix / Acquire / Nintendo)
Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)
Return of the Obra Dinn (3909 LLC)
Best Score/Music
Celeste (Matt Makes Games) – Lena Raine
God of War (SIE Santa Monica Studio / Sony Interactive Entertainment) – Bear McCreary
Marvel’s Spider-Man (Insomniac Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment) – John Paesano
Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom (Level-5 / Bandai Namco Entertainment) – Joe Hisaishi
Octopath Traveler (Square Enix / Acquire / Nintendo) – Yasunori Nishiki
Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games) – Woody Jackson
Best Audio Design
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 (Treyarch / Activision)
Forza Horizon 4 (Playground Games / Turn 10 Studios / Microsoft Studios)
God of War (SIE Santa Monica Studio / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Marvel’s Spider-Man (Insomniac Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)
Best Performance
Bryan Dechart as Connor in Detroit: Become Human
Christopher Judge as Kratos in God of War
Melissanthi Mahut as Kassandra in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
Roger Clark as Arthur Morgan in Red Dead Redemption 2
Yuri Lowenthal as Peter Parker in Marvel’s Spider-Man
Games for Impact
11-11: Memories Retold (Digixart / Aardman Animations / Bandai Namco Entertainment)
Celeste (Matt Makes Games)
Florence (Mountains)
Life is Strange 2: Episode 1 (Dontnod Entertainment / Square Enix)
The Missing: J.J. Macfield and the Island of Memories (White Owls / Arc System Works)
Best Independent Game
Celeste (Matt Makes Games)
Dead Cells (Motion Twin)
Into the Breach (Subset Games)
Return of the Obra Dinn (3909 LLC)
The Messenger (Sabotage Studio)
Best Mobile Game
Donut County (Ben Esposito / Annapurna Interactive)
Florence (Mountains)
Fortnite (Epic Games)
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (Lightspeed & Quantum / Tencent Games)
Reigns: Game of Thrones (Nerial / Devolver Digital)
Best VR / AR Game
Astro Bot: Rescue Mission (SIE Japan Studio / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Beat Saber (Beat Games)
Firewall: Zero Hour (First Contact Entertianment / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Moss (Polyarc Games)
Tetris Effect (Resonair / Enhance Games)
Best Action Game
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 (Treyarch / Activision)
Dead Cells (Motion Twin)
Destiny 2: Forsaken (Bungie / Activision)
Far Cry 5 (Ubisoft Montreal / Ubisoft)
Mega Man 11 (Capcom)
Best Action / Adventure Game
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey (Ubisoft Quebec / Ubisoft)
God of War (SIE Santa Monica Studio / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Marvel’s Spider-Man (Insomniac Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)
Shadow of the Tomb Raider (Eidos Montreal / Crystal Dynamics / Square Enix)
Best Role-Playing Game
Dragon Quest 11: Echoes of an Elusive Age (Orca / Square Enix)
Monster Hunter: World (Capcom)
Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom (Level-5 / Bandai Namco Entertainment)
Octopath Traveler (Square Enix / Acquire / Nintendo)
Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire (Obsidian Entertainment / Versus Evil)
Best Fighting Game
BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle (Arc SYstem Works)
Dragon Ball FighterZ (Arc System Works / Bandai Namco Entertainment)
Soulcalibur VI (Bandai Namco Studios / Bandai Namco Entertainment)
Street Fighter V Arcade (Dimps / Capcom)
Best Family Game
Mario Tennis Aces (Camelot Software Planning / Nintendo)
Nintendo Labo (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)
Overcooked! 2 (Ghost Town Games / Team17)
Starlink: Battle for Atlas (Ubisoft Toronto / Ubisoft)
Super Mario Party (NDCube / Nintendo)
Best Strategy Game
The Banner Saga 3 (Stoic Studio / Versus Evil)
Battletech (Harebrained Schemes / Paradox Interactive)
Frostpunk (11 bit studios)
Into the Breach (Subset Games)
Valkyria Chronicles 4 (Sega CS3 / Sega)
Best Sports / Racing Game
FIFA 19 (EA Vancouver / EA Sports)
Forza Horizon 4 (Playground Games / Turn 10 Studios / Microsoft Studios)
Mario Tennis Aces (Camelot Software Planning / Nintendo)
NBA 2K19 (Visual Concepts / 2K Sports)
Pro Evolution Soccer 2019 (PES Productions / Konami)
Best Multiplayer Game
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 (Treyarch / Activision)
Destiny 2: Forsaken (Bugnie / Activision)
Fortnite (Epic Games)
Monster Hunter: World (Capcom)
Sea of Thieves (Rare / Microsoft Studios)
Best Student Game
Combat 2018 (Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences – Norway)
Dash Quasar (UC Santa Cruz)
JERA (Digipen Bilbao, Spain)
LIFF (ISTART Digital, France)
RE: Charge (MIT)
Best Debut Game
Donut County (Ben Esposito / Annapurna Interactive)
Florence (Mountains)
Moss (Polyarc Games)
The Messenger (Sabotage Studio)
Yoku’s Island Express (Villa Gorilla)
eSports Awards
Best eSports Game
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (Valve)
DOTA 2 (Valve)
Fortnite (Epic Games)
League of Legends (Riot Games)
Overwatch (Blizzard Entertainment)
Best eSports Player
Dominique “SonicFox” McLean (Echo Fox)
Hajime “Tokido” Taniguchi
Jian “Uzi” Zi-Hao (Royal Never Give Up)
Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev (Natus Vincere)
Sung-hyeon “JJoNak” Bang (New York Excelsior)
Best eSports Team
Astralis (Counter-Strike: Global Offensive)
Cloud9 (League of Legends)
Fnatic (League of Legends)
London Spitfire (Overwatch League)
OG (DOTA 2)
Best eSports Coach
Bok “Reapered” Han-gyu (Cloud9)
Cristian “ppasarel” Bănăseanu (OG)
Danny “zonic” Sørensen (Astralis)
Dylan Falco (Fnatic)
Jakob “YamatoCannon” Mebdi (Team Vitality)
Janko “YNk” Paunovic (MiBR)
Best eSports Event
ELEAGUE Major: Boston 2018
EVO 2018
League of Legends World Championship
Overwatch League Grand Finals
The International 2018
Best eSports Host
Alex “Goldenboy” Mendez
Alex “Machine” Richardson
Anders Blume
Eefje “Sjokz” Depoortere
Paul “RedEye” Chaloner
Best eSports Moment
C9 Comeback Win In Triple OT vs FAZE at ELEAGUE Major: Boston 2018
G2 Beating RNG at the League of Legends World Championship
KT vs. IG Base Race at the League of Legends World Championship
OG’s Massive Upset of LGD at the DOTA 2 Finals
SonicFox Side Switch Against Go1 in Dragon Ball FighterZ at EVO 2018
Content Creator of the Year
Dr. Lupo
Myth
Ninja
Pokimane
Willyrex
Favorite Moment of The Game Awards 2017
Carol Shaw (Industry Icon)
The Game Awards Orchestra (Performance)
Hideo Kojima and Guillermo del Toro (Moment)
Josef Fares (A Way Out)
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Game of the Year Award)
