By Gene Park
The Game Awards nominees announced Wednesday showcased the fleet of quality titles - the swan song of a lucrative console generation - released in a challenging year.
The Game Awards will be broadcast internationally from three stages in Los Angeles, London and Tokyo on Dec. 10. A committee of more than 90 media outlets and influencers selected the following games in these categories.
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Game of the Year
Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Doom Eternal
Final Fantasy VII Remake
Ghost of Tsushima
Hades
The Last of Us Part II
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Best game Direction
Final Fantasy VII Remake
Ghost of Tsushima
Hades
Half-Life: Alyx
The Last of Us Part II
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Best Narrative
13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim (George Kamitani)
Final Fantasy VII Remake (Kazushige Nojima, Motomu Toriyama, Hiroki Iwaki, Sachie Hirano)
Ghost of Tsushima (Ian Ryan, Liz Albl, Patrick Downs, Jordan Lemos)
Hades (Greg Kasavin)
The Last of Us Part II (Neil Druckmann, Halley Gross)
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Best Art Direction
Final Fantasy VII Remake (Square Enix)
Ghost of Tsushima (Sucker Punch/SIE)
Hades (Supergiant Games)
Ori and the Will of the Wisps (Moon Studios/Xbox Game Studios)
The Last of Us Part II (Naughty Dog/SIE)
Best Score and Music
Doom Eternal (Mick Gordon)
Final Fantasy VII Remake (Nobuo Uematsu, Masahi Hamauzu, Mitsuto Suzuki)
Hades (Darren Korb)
Ori and the Will of the Wisps (Gareth Coker)
The Last of Us Part II (Gustavo Santaolala, Mac Quale)
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Best Audio Design
Doom Eternal (id Software/Bethesda)
Half-Life: Alyx (Valve)
Ghost of Tsushima (Sucker Punch/SIE)
Resident Evil 3 (Capcom)
The Last of Us Part II (Naughty Dog/SIE)
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Best Performance
Ashley Johnson as Ellie, The Last of Us Part II
Laura Bailey as Abby, The Last of Us Part II
Daisuke Tsuji as Jin Sakai, Ghost of Tsushima
Logan Cunningham as Hades, Hades
Nadji Jeter as Miles Morales, Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales
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Games for Impact
If Found . . . (DREAMFEEL/Annapurna Interactive)
Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition (Cardboard Computer/Annapurna Interactive)
Spiritfarer (Thunder Lotus Games)
Tell Me Why (Dontnod Entertainment/Xbox Game Studios)
Through the Darkest of Times (Paintbucket Games)
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Best Ongoing
Apex Legends (Respawn/EA)
Destiny 2 (Bungie)
Call of Duty Warzone (Infinity Ward/Activision)
Fortnite (Epic Games)
No Man's Sky (Hello Games)
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Best Indie
Carrion (Phobia Game Studio)
Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout (Mediatonic/Devolver)
Hades (Supergiant Games)
Spelunky 2 (Mossmouth)
Spiritfarer (Thunder Lotus Games)
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Best Mobile
Among Us (InnerSloth)
Call of Duty Mobile (TiMi Studios/Activision)
Genshin Impact (miHoYo)
Legends of Runeterra (Riot Games)
Pokémon Café Mix (Genius Sonority)
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Best Community Support
Apex Legends (Respawn/EA)
Destiny 2 (Bungie)
Fall Guys (Mediatonic/Devolver)
Fortnite (Epic Games)
No Man's Sky (Hello Games)
Valorant (Riot Games)
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Innovation in Accessibility
Assassin's Creed Valhalla (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft)
Grounded (Obsidian/Xbox Game Studios)
HyperDot (Tribe Games)
The Last of Us Part II (Naughty Dog/SIE)
Watch Dogs Legion (Ubisoft Toronto/Ubisoft)
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Best VR/AR
Dreams (Media Molecule/SIE)
Half-Life: Alyx (Valve)
Marvel's Iron Man VR (Camoflaj/SIE)
Star Wars: Squadrons (Motive Studios/EA)
The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners (Skydance Interactive)
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Best Action
Doom Eternal (id Software/Bethesda)
Hades (Supergiant Games)
Half-Life: Alyx (Valve)
Nioh 2 (Team Ninja)
Streets of Rage 4 (DotEmu)
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Best Action/Adventure
Assassin's Creed Valhalla (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft)
Ghost of Tsushima (Sucker Punch/SIE)
Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales (Insomniac Games/SIE)
Ori and the Will of the Wisps (Moon Studios/Xbox Game Studios)
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (Respawn/EA)
The Last of Us Part II (Naughty Dog/SIE)
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Best Role Playing
Final Fantasy VII Remake (Square Enix)
Genshin Impact (miHoYo)
Persona 5 Royal (Atlus, P Studios)
Wasteland 3 (inXile Entertainment/Koch)
Yakuza: Like a Dragon (Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio/Sega)
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Best Fighting
Granblue Fantasy: Versus (Arc System Works/Cygames)
Mortal Kombat 11/Ultimate (NetherRealm Studios/WB Games)
Street Fighter V: Champion Edition (Dimps/Capcom)
One Punch Man: A Hero Nobody Knows (Spike Chunsoft/Bandai-Namco)
Under Night in Birth Exe: Late[cl-r] (French Bread/Arc System Works)
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Best Family
Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Nintendo)
Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time (Toys for Bob/Activision)
Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout (Mediatonic/Devolver)
Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit (Velan Studios/Nintendo)
Minecraft Dungeons (Mojang/Double Eleven/Xbox Game Studios)
Paper Mario: The Origami King (Intelligent Systems/Nintendo)
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Best Sim/Strategy
Crusader Kings III (Paradox Development Studio/Paradox)
Desperados III (Mimimi Games/THQN)
Gears Tactics (Splash Damage/The Coalition/Xbox Game Studios)
Microsoft Flight Simulator (Asobo/Xbox Game Studios)
Xcom: Chimera Squad (Firaxis/2K)
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Best Sports/Racing
Dirt 5 (Codemasters Cheshire/Codemasters)
F1 2020 (Codemasters Birmingham /Codemasters)
FIFA 21 (EA Vancouver/EA Sports)
NBA 2K21 (Visual Concepts/2K)
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2 (Vicarious Visions/Activision)
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Best Multiplayer
Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Nintendo)
Among Us (InnerSloth)
Call of Duty: Warzone (Infinity Ward/Raven/Activision)
Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout (Mediatonic/Devolver)
Valorant (Riot Games)
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Best Debut Game
Carrion (Phobia Game Studio/Devolver)
Mortal Shell (Cold Symmetry/Playstack)
Raji: An Ancient Epic (Nodding Heads Games)
Röki (Polygon Treehouse/CI Games)
Phasmophobia (Kinetic Games)
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Content Creator of the Year
Alanah Pearce
NickMercs
TimTheTatman
Jay Ann Lopez
Valkyrae
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Best Esports Game
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (Infinity Ward/Raven/Activision)
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (Valve)
Fortnite (Epic Games)
League of Legends (Riot Games)
Valorant (Riot Games)
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Best Esports Athlete
Ian "Crimsix" Porter / Call of Duty
Heo "Showmaker" Su / League of Legends
Kim "Canyon" Geon-bu / League of Legends
Anthony "Shotzzy" Cuevas-Castro / Call of Duty
Matthieu "ZywOo" Herbaut / CS:GO
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Best Esports Team
DAMWON Gaming / League of Legends
Dallas Empire / Call of Duty
San Francisco Shock / Overwatch League
G2 Esports / League of Legends
Team Secret / DOTA2
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Best Esports Event
BLAST Premier: Spring E2020 European Finals (CS:GO)
Call of Duty League Championship 2020
IEM Katowice 2020 (CS:GO)
League of Legends World Championship 2020
Overwatch League Grand Finals 2020
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Best Esports Host
Eefje "Sjokz" Depoortere
Alex "Machine" Richardson
Alex "Goldenboy" Mendez
James "Dash" Patterson
Jorien "Sheever" van der Heijden
The Washington Post