Our The Game Awards predictions are highlighted below:

Game of the Year
Recognizing a game that delivers the absolute best experience across all creative and technical fields
Alan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment / Epic Games)
Balder’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games / SIE)
Resident Evil 4 (Capcom)
Super Mario Brothers Wonder (Nintendo)
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo)

Best Game Direction
Awarded for outstanding creative vision and innovation in game direction and design
Alan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment / Epic Games)
Balder’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games / SIE)
Super Mario Brothers Wonder (Nintendo)
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo)

Best Narrative
For outstanding storytelling and narrative development in a game
Alan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment / Epic Games)
Balder’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty (CD Projekt Red)
Final Fantasy XVI (Square Enix)
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games / SIE)

Best Art Direction
For outstanding creative and/or technical achievement in artistic design and animation
Alan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment / Epic Games)
HI-FI Rush (Tango Gameworks / Bethesda Softworks)
Lies of P (Round8 Studios / Neowiz Games)
Super Mario Brothers Wonder (Nintendo)
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo)

Best Score and Music
For outstanding music, inclusive of score, original song and/or licensed soundtrack
Alan Wake 2, Composer Petri Alanko (Remedy Entertainment / Epic Games)
Balder’s Gate 3, Composer Borislav Slavov (Larian Studios)
Final Fantasy XVI, Composer Masayoshi Soken (Square Enix)
HI-FI Rush, Audio Director Shuichi Kobori (Tango Gameworks / Bethesda Softworks)
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Composed By Nintendo Sound Team (Nintendo)

Best Audio Design
Recognizing the best in-game audio and sound design
Alan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment / Epic Games)
Dead Space (Motive Studio / EA)
HI-FI Rush (Tango Gameworks / Bethesda Softworks)
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games / SIE)
Resident Evil 4 (Capcom)

Best Performance
Awarded to an individual for voice-over acting, motion and/or performance capture
Ben Starr, Final Fantasy XVI
Cameron Monaghan, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
Idris Elba, Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty
Melanie Liburd, Alan Wake 2
Neil Newborn, Balder’s Gate 3
Yuri Lowenthal, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2

Innovation in Accessibility
Recognizing software and/or hardware that is pushing the medium forward by adding features, technology and content to help games be played and enjoyed by an even wider audience
Diablo IV (Blizzard Entertainment)
Forza Motorsport (Turn 10 Studios / Xbox Game Studios)
HI-FI Rush (Tango Gameworks / Bethseda Softworks)
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 Insomniac Games / SIE)
Mortal Kombat 1 (NetherRealm Studios / WB Games)
Street Fighter 6 (Capcom)

Games for Impact
For a thought-provoking game with a pro-social meaning or message
A Space for the Unbound (Mojiken Studio / Toge Productions / Chorus)
Chants of Sennar (Rundisc / Focus Entertainment)
Goodbye Volcano High (KO_OP)
Tchia (Awaceb / Kepler Interactive)
Terra Nil (Free Lives / Devolver Digital / Netflix)
Venba (Visai Games)

Best Ongoing
Awarded to a game for outstanding development of ongoing content that evolves the player experience over time
Apex Legends (Respawn Entertainment / EA)
Cyberpunk 2077 (CD Projekt Red)
Final Fantasy XIV (Square Enix)
Fortnite (Epic Games)
Genshin Impact (HoYoverse)

Best Community Support
Recognizing a game for outstanding community support, transparency and responsiveness, inclusive of social media activity and game updates/patches
Balder’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
Cyberpunk 2077 (CD Projekt Red)
Destiny 2 (Bungie)
Final Fantasy XIV (Square Enix)
No Man’s Sky (Hello Games)

Best Independent Game
For outstanding creative and technical achievement in a game made outside the traditional publisher system
Cocoon (Geometric Interactive / Annapurna Interactive)
Dave The Diver (MintRocket)
Dredge (Black Salt Games / Team 17)
Sea of Stars (Sabotage Studios)
Viewfinder (Sad Owl Studios / Thunderful Publishing)

Best Debut Indie Game
For the best debut game created by a new independent studio
Cocoon (Geometric Interactive / Annapurna Interactive)
Dredge (Black Salt Games / Team 17)
Pizza Tower (Tour de Pizza)
Venba (Visai Games)
Viewfinder (Sad Owl Studios / Thunderful Publishing)

Best Mobile Game
For the best game playable on a mobile device
Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis (Applibot / Square Enix)
Hello Kitty Adventure Island (Sunblink Entertainment)
Honkai Star Rail (HoYoverse)
Monster Hunter Now (Niantic / Capcom)
Terra Nil (Free Lives / Netflix)

Best VR / AR
For the best game experience playable in virtual or augmented reality, irrespective of platform
Gran Turismo 7 (Polyphony Digital / SIE)
Horizon Call of the Mountain (Guerrilla Games / Firesprite / SIE)
Humanity (tha LTD / Enhanced Games)
Resident Evil Village VR Mode (Capcom)
Synapse (nDreams)

Best Action Game
For the best game in the action genre focused primarily on combat
Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon (FromSoftware / Bandai Namco)
Dead Island 2 (Dambuster Studios / Deep Silver)
Ghostrunner 2 (One More Level / 505 Games)
HI-FI Rush (Tango Gameworks / Bethesda Softworks)
Remnant 2 (Gunfire Games / Gearbox Publishing)

Best Action / Adventure
For the best action/adventure game, combining combat with traversal and puzzle solving
Alan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment / Epic Games Publishing)
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games / SIE)
Resident Evil 4 (Capcom)
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor (Respawn Entertainment / EA)
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo)

Best RPG
For the best game designed with rich player character customization and progression, including massively multiplayer experiences
Balder’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
Final Fantasy XIV (Square Enix)
Lies of P (Round8 Studio / Neowiz Games)
Sea of Stars (Sabotage Studio)
Starfield (Bethesda Game Studios / Bethesda Softworks)

Best Fighting
For the best game designed primarily around head-to-head combat
God of Rock (Modus Studio Brazil / Modus Games)
Mortal Kombat 1 (NetherRealm Studios / WB Games)
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 (Ludosity / Fair Play Games / GameMill Entertainment)
Pocket Bravery (Statera Studio / PQube)
Street Fighter 6 (Capcom)

Best Family
For the best game appropriate for family play, irrespective of genre or platform
Disney Illusion Island (Dlala Studios / Disney)
Party Animals (Recreate Games)
Pikmin 4 (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)
Sonic Superstars (Arzest / Sonic Team / Sega)
Super Mario Brothers Wonder (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)

Best Sim / Strategy
Best game focused on real time or turn-based simulation or strategy gameplay, irrespective of platform
Advanced Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp (WayForward / Nintendo)
Cities: Skylines II (Colossal Order / Paradox Interactive)
Company of Heroes 3 (Relic Entertainment / Sega)
Fire Emblem Engage (Intelligent Systems / Nintendo)
Pikmin 4 (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)

Best Sports / Racing
For the best traditional and non-traditional sports and racing game
EA Sports FC 24 (EA Vancouver / EA Romania / EA Sports)
F1 23 (Codemasters / EA Sports)
Forza Motorsport (Turn 10 Studios / Xbox Game Studios)
Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged (Milestone)
The Crew Motorfest (Ubisoft Ivory Tower / Ubisoft)

Best Multiplayer (Sponsored By Discord)
For outstanding online multiplayer gameplay and design, including co-op and massively multiplayer experiences, irrespective of game genre or platform
Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
Diablo IV (Blizzard Entertainment)
Party Animals (Recreate Games)
Street Fighter 6 (Capcom)
Super Mario Brothers Wonder (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)

Best Adaptation
Recognizing outstanding creative work that faithfully and authentically adapts a video game to another entertainment medium
Castlevania: Nocturne (Project 51 / Netflix)
Gran Turismo (PlayStation Productions / Sony Pictures)
The Last of Us (PlayStation Productions / HBO)
The Super Mario Brothers Movie (Illumination / Nintendo / Universal Pictures)
Twisted Metal (PlayStation Productions / Peacock)

Most Anticipated Game
Recognizing an announced game that has demonstrably illustrated potential to push the gaming medium forward
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (Square Enix)
Hades II (Supergiant Games)
Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth (Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio / Sega)
Star Wars Outlaws (Massive Entertainment / Ubisoft)
Tekken 8 (Bandai Namco Entertainment / Bandai Namco Studios)

Content Creator of the Year
For a streamer or content creator who has made an important and positive impact on the community in 2023
Ironmouse
PeopleMakingGames
Quackity
Spreen
SypherPK

Best Esports Game
For the game that has delivered the best overall esports experience to players (inclusive of tournaments, community support and content updates), irrespective of genre or platform
Counter-Strike 2 (Valve)
DOTA 2 (Valve)
League of Legends (Riot Games)
PubG Mobile (Lightspeed / Krafton / Level Infinite)
Valorant (Riot Games)

Best Esports Athlete
The esports athlete judged to be the most outstanding for performance and conduct in 2023, irrespective of game
Lee “Faker” Sang-Hyeok (League of Legends)
Mathieu “Zywoo” Herbaut (CS:GO)
Max “Demon1” Mazanov (Valorant)
Paco “Hydra” Rusiewiez (Call of Duty)
Park “Ruler” Jae-Hyuk (League of Legends)
Phillip “ImperialHal” Dosen (Apex Legends)

Best Esports Team
Recognizing a specific esports team (not the full organization) judged the most outstanding for performance and conduct in 2023
Evil Geniuses (Valorant)
FNATIC (Valorant)
Gaimin Gladiators (Dota 2)
JD Gaming (League of Legends)
Team Vitality (Counter-Strike)

Best Esports Coach
The esports coach judged to be the most outstanding for performance and conduct in 2023
Christine “Potter” Chi (Evil Geniuses – Valorant)
Danny “Zonic” Sorensen (Team Falcons – Counter-Strike)
Jordan “Gunba” Graham (Florida Mayhem – Overwatch)
Remy “XTQZZZ” Quoniam (Team Vitality – Counter-Strike)
Yoon “Homme” Sung-Young (JD Gaming – League of Legends)

Best Esports Event
Recognizing an event (across single or multiple days) that delivered a best-of-class experience for participants and the broadcast audience
2023 League of Legends World Championship
Blast.TV Paris Major 2023
EVO 2023
The International DOTA 2 Championships 2023
Valorant Champions 2023
Do you agree or disagree with our picks? Again voting is still open at the time of writing, click here to place your votes and watch along the gaming industry to see the winners from The Game Awards 2023 live on December 7, 2023.
You can check out our last Game Awards winners from 2021 here. The Game Awards 2022 coverage went missing…