The Game Awards is the video game industry’s biggest celebration of the year, honoring the latest and greatest in gaming. The 2019 ceremony is only a few days away and the nominees for this year’s many awards have been announced.
The 2019 Game of the Year nominees are Control, Death Stranding, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Resident Evil 2, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, and The Outer Worlds. Other games with at least 3 nominations include Apex Legends, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Disco Elysium, Final Fantasy XIV, Fortnite, Gris, Outer Wilds, and Sayonara Wild Hearts.
Nominees will be honored at the award ceremony on Thursday, December 12 at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles at 5:30 pm PT/8:30 pm ET. Here’s the full list of nominees:
Game of the Year
Control (Remedy/505 Games)
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Death Stranding (Kojima Productions/SIE)
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Bandai-Namco/Sora/Nintendo)
Resident Evil 2 (Capcom/Capcom)
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (From Software/Activision)
The Outer Worlds (Obsidian/Private Division)
Death Stranding snagged quite a few nominations for a game released so close to this particular awards show, so we’re favoring it highly throughout this list in terms of likely winners. At the very least, we think it’s the runaway favorite for this category, even if it’s not actually the best game of the year.
Assuming Death Stranding doesn’t win, Control and Resident Evil 2 are the most likely upset candidates. The Outer Worlds, Sekiro, and Super Smash Bros. all feel like slightly longer shots, a little too niche to take the top prize, but we certainly think they’re all worthy of being in the discussion for the best games of the year.
Best Game Direction
Control (Remedy/505 Games)
Death Stranding (Kojima Productions/SIE)
Resident Evil 2 (Capcom/Capcom)
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (From Software/Activision)
Outer Wilds (Mobius Digital/Annapurna)
Once again, this feels like Death Stranding‘s category to lose. Hideo Kojima has positioned himself as one of the few high-profile “auteurs” in AAA gaming, and Death Stranding is most certainly the product of his unique vision (for all the good and bad that entails). We think he gets the win, and we think he deserves it for this particular category.
Outer Wilds is a fascinating upset candidate, but we’re not entirely sure that “direction” in the traditional sense of that term is really what makes that game great. Given the nature of this particular award, then, we’d give slightly higher upset odds to the brilliant Control.
Best Narrative
A Plague Tale: Innocence (Asobo/Focus Home)
Control (Remedy/505)
Death Stranding (Kojima Productions/SIE)
Disco Elysium (ZA/UM)
The Outer Worlds (Obsidian/Private Division)
This is undoubtedly the toughest major category to predict this year.
Our bold guess of the night is that Death Stranding doesn’t walk away with this one. Its story is interesting, but the game’s narrative as it’s written may actually be one of the weaker elements of the experience. That leaves us looking at the other candidates in this category.
A Plague Tale: Innocence certainly deserves its nomination, but it lacks the momentum of some of the other nominees. Disco Elysium offers one of the most complex, mature, and dark stories of the year, but the truth of the matter is that indies traditionally struggle in this (and other high-profile) categories at this particular show.
That leaves us with Control and The Outer Worlds. Both deserve the award, but we’re willing to bet that this is where Control walks away with a very well-deserved win after potentially being snubbed elsewhere.
Best Art Direction
Control (Remedy/505)
Death Stranding (Kojima Productions/SIE)
Gris (Nomada Studio/Devolver)
Sayonara Wild Hearts (Simogo/Annapurna)
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (From Software/Activision)
The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening (Grezzo/Nintendo)
This is a bizarre category that is once again highlighted by the presence of two of the highest-profile games of this particular awards show: Control and Death Stranding. While there’s a chance that both games could sneak away with the win, we’d sooner bet on one of the smaller nominees to walk away with an award.
Gris feels like the favorite here. It has the most obviously beautiful and unique art style, and its low-profile nature means that it likely would have never received a nomination here unless it was a strong candidate.
Best Score/Music
Cadence of Hyrule (Brace Yourself Games/Nintendo)
Death Stranding (Kojima Productions/SIE)
Devil May Cry 5 (Capcom)
Kingdom Hearts III (Square Enix)
Sayonara Wild Hearts (Simogo/Annapurna)
This category isn’t nearly as stacked as it was last year when Celeste, God of War, and Red Dead Redemption 2 were all top-tier candidates. Honestly, we’d be shocked if either Death Stranding or Devil May Cry 5 doesn’t walk away with the win.
Of those two games, Death Stranding feels like the stronger overall candidate. Devil May Cry 5‘s metal themes represent a refreshing change of pace from the “typical” gaming soundtrack selections, but Death Stranding‘s use of licensed and original music in a large-world setting reminds us of the 2018 winner in this category, Red Dead Redemption 2.
Best Audio Design
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (Infinity Ward/Activision)
Control (Remedy/505)
Death Stranding (Kojima Productions/SIE)
Gears 5 (The Coalition/Xbox Game Studios)
Resident Evil 2 (Capcom)
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (From Software/Activision)
We’d be fine with any of these games walking away with the win here as each of them represents a significant technological accomplishment in this particular field. However, we think that this is Control‘s award to lose. Not only is its audio design technically brilliant, but the nature of the game’s story and gameplay (which sees you deal with the consequences of interdimensional tampering) means that the title’s brilliant audio design is more apparent throughout the experience. Who could forget the endless chanting that echoes through the hallways of the Oldest House?
Best Performance
Ashly Burch as Parvati Holcomb, The Outer Worlds
Courtney Hope as Jesse Faden, Control
Laura Bailey as Kait Diaz, Gears 5
Mads Mikkelsen as Cliff, Death Stranding
Matthew Porretta as Dr. Casper Darling, Control
Norman Reedus as Sam Porter Bridges, Death Stranding
If we were actually betting on these categories, we’d put money on Mads Mikkelsen. We spoke before about how it feels like Death Stranding is entering this awards show with certain advantages, and Mads Mikkelsen is a high-profile (and beloved) film and television actor, which is something that major game award shows have traditionally put a lot of stock in.
However, we also think that Ashly Burch and Courtney Hope are strong candidates. Hope might have the slight advantage due to her leading performance, but Burch drew accolades across the board for her performance as The Outer Worlds‘ most beloved companion.
Games for Impact
Concrete Genie (Pixelopus/SIE)
Gris (Nomada Studio/Devolver)
Kind Words (Popcannibal)
Life is Strange 2 (Dontnod/Square Enix)
Sea of Solitude (Jo-Mei Games/EA)
We don’t think any game is entering this category with a notable advantage, which means that it’s a true award show toss-up. However, the smart money is on Gris. It’s a thematically complicated and artistically beautiful story about a young woman’s journey through incredible circumstances, and a deserving candidate that also received some love elsewhere in these nominations.
Best Ongoing Game
Apex Legends (Respawn)
Destiny 2 (Bungie)
Final Fantasy XIV (Square Enix)
Fortnite (Epic Games)
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft)
Let’s break these down a bit, shall we?
Apex Legends actually dropped in popularity as the year went on, so we don’t think it gets the win. Destiny 2 is in a bit of a strange state at the moment, so it probably won’t walk away with the award, either. Rainbow Six Siege and Final Fantasy XIV are certainly worthy candidates, but we’ve seen them lose this particular category before.
That leaves us with the most likely winner, Fortnite. In Epic’s defense, Fortnite has enjoyed a prolific year of constant content updates, so we feel like it’s fairly deserving of the win in this instance.
Best Independent Game
Baba Is You (Hempuli)
Disco Elysium (ZA/UM)
Katana ZERO (Askiisoft/Devoler)
Outer Wilds (Mobius Digital/Annapurna)
Untitled Goose Game (House House/Panic)
This is an absolutely loaded category that only features one nominee (Katana ZERO) that doesn’t feel like a true contender. Considering that many people felt like Outer Wilds was snubbed for a GOTY nomination, though, we think it gets the win here.
Untitled Goose Game is actually an interesting dark horse candidate, and Baba is You and Disco Elysium also deserve the award despite the fact that they likely don’t have the momentum and hype of some of the other games on this list.
Best Mobile Game
Call of Duty: Mobile (TiMi Studios/Activision)
GRINDSTONE (Capybara Games)
Sayonara Wild Hearts (Simogo/Annapurna)
Sky: Children of Light (Thatgamecompany)
What the Golf? (Tribland)
Call of Duty: Mobile is the most high-profile nominee on this list, but we think the win goes to GRINDSTONE. The game is one-part strategy, one-part action, one-part puzzle game, and 100% addictive. It’s by far the best game in the Apple Arcade lineup, and it’s honestly worthy of consideration for GOTY honors (even if it’s not on that particular shortlist).
Best Community Support
Apex Legends (Respawn/EA)
Destiny 2 (Bungie)
Final Fantasy XIV (Square Enix)
Fortnite (Epic Games)
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft)
We’re not entirely sure we understand the criteria for this game considering that the nominees are exactly the same as the ones in the Best Ongoing Game category. It honestly feels superfluous.
Unless this is an excuse to give Fortnite two awards this year as opposed to its usual one, we think that Final Fantasy XIV or Destiny 2 might actually snag the win here due to the fact that each title enjoyed a significant overhaul that was driven (in part) by community feedback.
Best VR/AR Game
Asgard’s Wrath (Sanzaru Games/Oculus Studios)
Blood & Truth (SIE London Studio/SIE)
Beat Saber (Beat Games)
No Man’s Sky (Hello Games)
Trover Saves the Universe (Squanch Games)
There’s really no debate here. Unless something truly shocking happens, the brilliant Beat Saber will win for its simple VR-fueled rhythm gameplay.
Best Action Game
Apex Legends (Respawn/EA)
Astral Chain (Platinum Games/Nintendo)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (Infinity Ward/Activision)
Devil May Cry 5 (Capcom/Capcom)
Gears 5 (The Coalition/Xbox Game Studios)
Metro Exodus (4A Games/Deep Silver)
This is kind of an interesting category that highlights a few titles that aren’t getting love elsewhere. We don’t think Call of Duty: Modern Warfare will get the win, but it’s almost always in the discussion. Devil May Cry 5 feels like a likely (and deserving) candidate, but our hearts actually go out to Astral Chain in this instance. It didn’t get nearly the love that it deserved at launch, but it might just be the Switch’s best action game and one of the most underrated major titles of 2019.
Best Action/Adventure Game
Borderlands 3 (Gearbox/2K)
Control (Remedy/505 Games)
Death Stranding (Kojima Productions/SIE)
Resident Evil 2 (Capcom)
The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening (Grezzo/Nintendo)
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (From Software/Activision)
Again, this feels like a slightly superfluous category, but we’ll move on.
Control will probably take the win here as it will likely lose the GOTY award to Death Stranding. We could honestly see Sekiro also getting the win for that same reason, but Control certainly feels like the other (deserving) darling of this show.
Best RPG
Disco Elysium (ZA/UM)
Final Fantasy XIV (Square Enix)
Kingdom Hearts III (Square Enix)
Monster Hunter World: Iceborne (Capcom)
The Outer Worlds (Obsidian/Private Division)
The Outer Worlds is more than a pseudo-sequel to Fallout: New Vegas. It’s a brilliantly written, well-designed game in its own right that stands as one of Obsidian’s most complete RPGs in years. It’s a game for “pure” RPG fans, but it makes smart concessions that open its best features to those who don’t typically fall for this style of game. There’s no doubt that The Outer Worlds will win this category.
Best Fighting Game
Dead or Alive 6 (Team Ninja/Koei Tecmo)
Jump Force (Spike Chunsoft/Bandai Namco)
Mortal Kombat 11 (NetherRealm/WBIE)
Samurai Showdown (SNK/Athlon)
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Bandai Namco/Sora/Nintendo)
In a year without Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Mortal Kombat 11 would probably grab the win. However, the allure of Nintendo’s fighting title is just too strong. To be fair, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is a great game that also feels like a celebration of the Smash Bros. franchise until this point. It’s the almost guaranteed winner of this category.
Best Family Game
Luigi’s Mansion 3 (Next Level Games/Nintendo)
Ring Fit Adventure (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
Super Mario Maker 2 (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Bandai Namco/Sora/Nintendo)
Yoshi’s Crafted World (Good-Feel/Nintendo)
Here’s another category that is much, much tougher to predict than it may initially appear.
Ring Fit Adventure and Yoshi’s Crafted World feel like the odd ones out, so we’ll eliminate them now. Smash Bros. is brilliant, but it’s well-represented elsewhere and also honestly feels like slightly less of a “family” game. That leaves us with Super Mario Maker 2 and Luigi’s Mansion 3. Of those two, we’d lean towards Luigi’s Mansion 3 for its great co-op gameplay, friendly design, and wonderful visuals.
Best Strategy Game
Age of Wonders: Planetfall (Triumph Studios/Paradox)
Anno 1800 (Blue Byte/Ubisoft)
Fire Emblem: Three Houses (Intelligent Systems/Koei Tecmo/Nintendo)
Total War: Three Kingdoms (Creative Assembly/Sega)
Tropico 6 (Limbic Entertainment/Kalypso Media)
Wargroove (Chucklefish)
We’re going to assume that They Are Billions missed the cut here due to its strange Early Access release structure. In any case, the most likely candidates are Anno 1880 and Fire Emblem: Three Houses.
Honestly, games like Anno are rarely represented at The Game Awards, but even if they were, Fire Emblem‘s advancements of the franchise’s most notable mechanics make it a worthwhile and strong contender for this award.
Best Sports/Racing Game
Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled (Beenox/Activision)
DiRT Rally 2.0 (Codemasters)
eFootball Pro Evolution Soccer 2020 (PES Productions/Konami)
F1 2019 (Codemasters)
FIFA 20 (EA Sports)
*Looks at candidates*
*Flips coin*
*Shrugs*
FIFA 20
Best Multiplayer Game
Apex Legends (Respawn/EA)
Borderlands 3 (Gearbox/2K)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (Infinity Ward/Activision)
Tetris 99 (Arika/Nintendo)
Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 (Massive Entertainment/Ubisoft)
Once again, the name brand appeal of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is likely too strong to ignore. We’re also not sure why Fortnite wasn’t nominated, but its absence opens the door for Modern Warfare or, possibly, Apex Legends to win.
However, Tetris 99 is a pretty compelling dark horse candidate that just may surprise everyone en route to a victory. Don’t be too shocked if it snags enough votes.
Fresh Indie Game Presented by Subway
ZA/UM for Disco Elysium
Nomada Studio for Gris
DeadToast Entertainment for My Friend Pedro
Mobius Digital for Outer Wilds
Mega Crit for Slay the Spire
House House for Untitled Goose Game
We can’t wait for a future in which every award at this show is branded, but if you ignore that glaring advertisement, you’ll find that this is actually one of the most competitive categories in the show.
Our best guess is that Outer Wilds ends up grabbing another win here, but Slay the Spire, Gris, and Disco Elysium are all incredibly strong candidates that also appear elsewhere in this show. Honestly, Untitled Goose Game might also have the meme momentum needed to get a win.
Content Creator of the Year
Courage – Jack Dunlop
Dr. Lupo – Benjamin Lupo
Ewok – Soleil Wheeler
Grefg – David Martínez
Shroud – Michael Grzesiek
To be honest, this writer is only really familiar with Shroud, so I’m going with him. It doesn’t hurt that he’s popular, entertaining, and really, really good at video games.
Best Esports Game
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (Valve)
DOTA2 (Valve)
Fortnite (Epic Games)
League of Legends (Riot Games)
Overwatch (Blizzard)
The Overwatch League fell off a bit in 2019, so Overwatch probably won’t walk away with the win here. Fortnite had another successful year, but we don’t know if it has the global esports clout of some of the other titles on this list.
As such, we’ll go with Counter-Strike: Global Offensive as the slightly surprising winner. The CS: GO scene remains lively, and the game’s largest competitive events still draw millions of viewers on Twitch and other platforms.
Best Esports Player
Kyle ‘Bugha’ Giersdorf (Immortals, Fortnite)
Lee ‘Faker’ Sang-hyeok (SK Telecom, League of Legends)
Luka ‘Perkz’ Perkovic
*Looks at candidates*
*Flips coin*
*Shrugs*
FIFA 20
John Saavedra is Games Editor at Den of Geek. Read more of his work here. Follow him on Twitter @johnsjr9.
Matthew Byrd is a staff writer for Den of Geek. He spends most of his days trying to pitch deep-dive analytical pieces about Killer Klowns From Outer Space to an increasingly perturbed series of editors. You can read more of his work here or find him on Twitter at @SilverTuna014.
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