The Game Awards (hosted by Geoff Keighley) airs on December 9 live from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. We already know the in-person event will showcase a significant number of new and upcoming titles, but celebrating 2021’s most outstanding games remains the heart of the show. Today, we learned the nominees for each category, which you can vote on right now at the Game Awards official website.

The nominees are: 

Game of the Year

• Deathloop
• It Takes Two
• Metroid Dread
• Psychonauts 2
• Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
• Resident Evil Village

Best Game Direction

• Deathloop
• It Takes Two
• Returnal
• Psychonauts 2
• Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart

Best Narrative

• Deathloop
• It Takes Two
• Life is Strange: True Colors
• Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy
• Psychonauts 2

Best Performance

• Erika Mori (Alex Chen/Life is Strange: True Colors)
• Giancarlo Esposito (Antón Castillo/Far Cry 6)
• Jason Kelly (Colt Vahn/Deathloop)
• Maggie Robertson (Alcina Dimitrescu/Resident Evil Village)
• Ozioma Akagha (Julianna Blake/Deathloop)

Best Multiplayer

• Back 4 Blood
• Knockout City
• It Takes Two
• Monster Hunter Rise
• New World
• Valheim

Deathloop

Best Ongoing Game

• Apex Legends
• Call of Duty: Warzone
• Final Fantasy XIV
• Genshin Impact
• Fortnite

Best Art Direction

• Deathloop
• Kena: Bridge of Spirits
• Psychonauts 2
• Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
• The Artful Escape

Best Score & Music

• Cyberpunk 2077
• Deathloop
• Nier Replicant ver. 1.22474487139
• Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy
• The Artful Escape

Best Audio Design

• Deathloop
• Forza Horizon 5
• Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
• Resident Evil Village
• Returnal

Innovation in Accessibility

• Far Cry 6
• Forza Horizon 5
• Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy
• Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
• The Vale: Shadow of the Crown

Chicory: A Colorful Tale

Games for Impact

• Before Your Eyes
• Boyfriend Dungeon
• Chicory: A Colorful Tale
• Life is Strange: True Colors
• No Longer Home

Best Independent Game

• Death’s Door
• Kena: Bridge of Spirits
• Inscryption
• Loop Hero
• Twelve Minutes

Best Mobile Game

• Fantasian
• Genshin Impact
• League of Legends: Wild Rift
• Marvel Future Revolution
• Pokémon Unite

Best Community Support

• Apex Legends
• Destiny 2
• Final Fantasy XIV
• Fortnite
• No Man’s Sky

Best Debut Indie Game

• Kena: Bridge of Spirts
• Sable
• The Artful Escape
• The Forgotten City
• Valheim

Psychonauts 2

Best AR/VR Game

• Hitman III
• I Expect You To Die 2: The Spy and the Liar
• Lone Echo II
• Resident Evil 4 VR
• Sniper Elite VR

Content Creator of the Year

• Dream
• Fuslie
• Gaules
• Ibai
• The Grefg

Best Action Game

• Back 4 Blood
• Chivalry II
• Deathloop
• Far Cry 6
• Returnal

Best Action/Adventure Game

• Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy
• Metroid Dread
• Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
• Resident Evil Village
• Psychonauts 2

Best Role-Playing Game

• Cyberpunk 2077
• Monster Hunter Rise
• Scarlet Nexus
• Shin Megami Tensei V
• Tales of Arise

Tales of Arise

Most Anticipated Game

• Elden Ring
• God of War Ragnarok
• Horizon Forbidden West
• The Sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
• Starfield

Best Fighting Game

• Demon Slayer: The Hinokami Chronicles
• Guilty Gear -Strive-
• Melty Blood: Type Lumina
• Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl
• Virtua Fighter 5 Ultimate Showdown

Best Family Game

• It Takes Two
• Mario Party Superstars
• New Pokémon Snap
• Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury
• Warioware: Get It Together!

Best Sim/Strategy Game

• Age of Empires IV
• Evil Genius 2: World Domination
• Humankind
• Inscryption
• Microsoft Flight Simulator

Best Sports/Racing Game

• F1 2021
• FIFA 2022
• Hot Wheels Unleashed
• Forza Horizon 5
• Riders Republic

Inscryption

Best eSports Game

• Call of Duty
• CS:GO
• Dota 2
• League of Legends
• Valorant

Best eSports Athlete

• Collapse
• S1mple
• Showmaker
• Tenz
• Simp

Best eSports Team

• Atlanta Faze (Call of Duty)
• DWG KIA (League of Legends)
• Natus Vincere (Counter-Strike: Global Offensive)
• Sentinels (Valorant)
• Team Spirit (Dota 2)

Best eSports Coach

• Airat “Silent” Gaziev
• Andrey “Engh” Sholokhov
• Andreii “B1AD3” Horodenskyi
• James “Crowder” Crowder
• Kim “KKoma” Jeong-Gyun

Best eSports Event

• 2021 League of Legends World Championships
• The International 2021
• PGL Major Stockholm 2021
• PUBG Mobile Global Championship 2020
• Valorant Champions Tour: Stage 2 Masters

For more on The Game Awards, you can read the full list of winners from last year's show here. For a look at our own opinions on the year's best and brightest, be sure to also check out Game Informer's evolving list of the top-scoring games of 2021.