Ben Staker
Sports Editor
On Monday, Nov. 18, The Game Awards announced the nominees in all 29 sections for their tenth-anniversary show. Many people both in and outside of the gaming industry look forward to this show every year because it’s a culmination of the best games of the year and prominent future releases. As many fans cling to the hope of their favorite games winning awards and potentially releasing trailers for future installments, it has become the go-to awards show in gaming.
Since there are 29 sections, and that would take all day to inform you about, I’m going to focus on predictions for some of the more prominent sections such as Game of the Year, Best Narrative, Best Score and Music, Most Anticipated Game, and Content Creator of the Year. The rest of the awards are the nominees for best games in each individual genre or direction awards, but I encourage you to visit the Game Awards website and check those out as well.
Game of the Year
Nominees: “Astro Bot,” “Balatro,” “Black Myth: Wukong,” “Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree,” “Final Fantasy VII Rebirth,” and “Metaphor: ReFantazio”
Before the announcement, I probably would’ve told you that “Final Fantasy VII Rebirth” had this award in the bag, but the inclusion of “Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree” makes it a closer race than many initially anticipated. While I would like “Final Fantasy VII Rebirth” to win this award, I think it will ultimately be given to “Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree” because of its higher Metacritic score and universal appraisal from many journalists.
Best Narrative
Nominees: “Final Fantasy VII Rebirth”, “Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth,” “Metaphor: ReFantazio,” “Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II,” and “Silent Hill 2”
For best narrative, I believe “Final Fantasy VII Rebirth” is going to win. “Metaphor: ReFantazio” and “Silent Hill 2” are the two other likely candidates, but I give “Final Fantasy VII” the edge because of the improvements it made to the original “Final Fantasy VII” story. Without spoiling anything, I will say that there are some significant changes to the original, but it makes the story better overall. If the award goes to another game, it will likely be because “Final Fantasy VII Rebirth” isn’t its own standalone game. Players need to play the first remake in the series to understand this game’s narrative.
Best Score and Music
Nominees: “Astro Bot,” “Final Fantasy VII Rebirth,” “Metaphor: ReFantazio,” “Silent Hill 2,” and “Stellar Blade”
I’m not a music expert, and I can’t listen to all 100-plus song Original Soundtracks, so take my opinion with a grain of salt. This award is extremely subjective to a majority of the audience, but with that being said, I would give this award to “Final Fantasy VII Rebirth” as well. The reimagining of the entire soundtrack from the original game is likely to cause many game journalists to be hit with a heavy amount of nostalgia. For this alone, I think the game wins this award. I could see any of the nominees winning this award, but I think the true winner wasn’t nominated. It’s crazy to me that the “Persona 3 Reload” Original Soundtrack wasn’t at least nominated, but the world will keep spinning.
Most Anticipated Game
Nominees: “Death Stranding 2: On the Beach,” “Ghost of Yotei,” “Grand Theft Auto VI,” “Metroid Prime 4: Beyond,” and “Monster Hunter Wilds”
I think “Grand Theft Auto VI” is going to win this award pretty easily. This isn’t to say the other nominees aren’t anticipated games, but there might not be a larger franchise than “Grand Theft Auto,” and there might not be a larger company than Rockstar Games. Every game Rockstar releases sells a record-breaking amount of copies and is always critically acclaimed. I fully expect “Grand Theft Auto VI” to win this award and break multiple records upon its 2025 release.
Content Creator of the Year
Nominees: CaseOh, IlloJuan, Techo Gamerz, Typical Gamer, and Usada Pekora
This isn’t an award I feel too strongly about, but I would give it to CaseOh. In the past year, CaseOh has amassed a large following across all social media platforms. In an industry where many of the wrong people are given fame, CaseOh is a prime example of what a content creator should be. He stays out of controversy, appreciates his fans, and continues to produce a lot of content. I’m sure the other nominees are good people too, but I think it will be difficult to win this award over arguably the largest following on Twitch.
Conclusion
These were only a few of the sections for this year’s Game Awards show, so I highly recommend you take a look at the other ones. If you would like to see every section’s nominees and vote for your favorites, you can visit https://thegameawards.com/nominees.
The Game Awards livestream is set to air on Twitch and YouTube on Thursday, Dec. 12 at 7:30 p.m.