We make money playing video games and here’s who will win at The Game Awards

THE gaming Oscars known arsenic The Game Awards are conscionable weeks distant and everyone is speculating astir who volition win.

Host Geoff Keighley dropped a bombshell saying that DLC volition beryllium nominated for the archetypal time.

However, nary 1 expected DLC to beryllium nominated for the astir prestigious award, Game of the Year.

We’ve grouped unneurotic and taken a look astatine all of the nominees astatine The Game Awards, and made our predictions for each of the biggest categories.

You tin besides click connected the links for the nominees to cheque retired our reviews.

Best Independent Game – Balatro

Nominees: Balatro, Animal Well, Neva, Lorelei and the Laser Eyes, UFO 50

This twelvemonth has been unthinkable for autarkic games, and each of these would beryllium deserving of this award.

UFO 50 is simply a nostalgic thrust backmost into ‘80s gaming, with acold much to it than archetypal appears, portion Animal Well is simply a crippled you’ll privation to play implicit and over.

However, arsenic the lone crippled that is besides nominated for Game of the Year, we deliberation Balatro is simply a fastener for this win.

The roguelike Poker crippled had america perfectly hooked, and we support playing adjacent if we ne'er win.

Best Art Direction – Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree

Nominees: Astro Bot, Black Myth: Wukong, Elden Ring, Metaphor: ReFantazio, Neva

Nominees successful this class span the breadth of creation design, from the cutesy creation benignant of PlayStation’s Astro Bot, to the acheronian and gritty Black Myth: Wukong.

While we emotion the colourful satellite of Metaphor: ReFantazio, the assemblage usually votes for darker, much graphically intensive games.

That is wherefore we deliberation the Elden Ring DLC, Shadow of the Erdtree, volition scoop up this award.

Best Score – Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth

Nominees: Astro Bot, Silent Hill 2, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Stellar Blade, Metaphor: ReFantazio

We could perceive to each of these gaming soundtracks again and again, whether that’s Stellar Blade’s whimsical orchestrals, oregon Metaphor’s monk-like chants.

However, similar with creation direction, we cognize the assemblage and that they usually ballot for thing much mainstream.

Final Fantasy 7’s archetypal people is legendary astatine this point, and the much-loved upgrades for Rebirth are conscionable the icing connected the cake.

Best Narrative – Metaphor: ReFantazio

Nominees: Metaphor: ReFantazio, Silent Hill 2, Hellblade 2: Senua’s Saga, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth

When it comes to storylines it’s hard to bushed Atlus, with a legendary room of stories similar the Persona and Shin Megami Tensei series.

Metaphor: ReFantazio is caller waters for the erstwhile Persona team, but it proves that they tin grip precocious phantasy conscionable arsenic masterfully arsenic they constitute precocious school.

That said we besides privation to telephone retired Silent Hill 2 and Final Fantasy 7, some classical stories that person endured implicit clip and considered immoderate of the champion ever.

Best Multiplayer – Helldivers 2

Nominees: Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, Helldivers 2, Super Mario Party Jamboree, Tekken 8, Warhammer 40k: Space Marines 2

Like the Best Independent Game category, each of these games merit to triumph for the thousands of joyous gameplay hours they person fixed us.

Black Ops 6 is 1 of the champion entries successful the historical series, and the aforesaid goes for Mario Party.

However, Helldivers 2 felt similar a enactment of caller aerial astatine a clip erstwhile a slew of live-service disasters were released, and we’re inactive playing astir a period later.

Most Anticipated Game – Grand Theft Auto 6

Nominees: Death Stranding 2, Ghost of Yotei, GTA 6, Metroid Prime 4, Monster Hunter Wilds

We’re looking guardant to each of the games connected this list, peculiarly Metroid Prime 4 which was archetypal announced 7 years ago.

However, a caller mainline Grand Theft Auto crippled volition disturbance the masses successful a mode that nary different bid can.

If immoderate different crippled wins successful this category, it volition honestly beryllium a travesty.

Best RPG – Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth

Nominees: Dragon’s Dogma 2, Elden Ring, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Metaphor: ReFantazio, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth

We gave each crippled connected this database a 10/10, and it has been 1 of the champion years ever for RPGs.

Personally, we’d similar to spot fresher takes connected the genre similar Dragon’s Dogma 2 oregon Metaphor: ReFantazio to instrumentality the crown, but we don’t spot the voting going that way.

That’s not to accidental Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth doesn’t merit that honour. It’s an unthinkable remake based connected 1 of the champion games of each clip aft all.

Best Action/Adventure Game – Astro Bot

Nominees: Astro Bot, The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, Silent Hill 2, Star Wars Outlaws, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown

Here’s different database of nominees filled with games that achieved sky-high ratings that we’d emotion to play again.

Prince of Persia and Echoes of Wisdom merit peculiar praise for being wholly caller takes connected fashionable series, with unsocial and innovative gameplay.

In immoderate different twelvemonth they would merit this award, but Astro Bot besides released successful 2024, and it’s 1 of the champion games of each time.

Best Action Game – Black Myth: Wukong

Nominees: Black Myth: Wukong, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, Helldivers 2, Stellar Blade, Warhammer 40k: Space Marines 2

Few games saw the occurrence of Black Myth: Wukong selling millions successful the archetypal week, and instantly becoming 1 of the astir played games of each time.

It is simply a caller instrumentality connected the soulslike genre, focusing solely connected the bosses alternatively than an unfastened satellite with hard paths betwixt each fight.

In this class Stellar Blade besides impressed us, with awesome satellite building, and an innovative attack to gameplay, which allowed players to power betwixt genres.

Best Direction – Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth

Nominees: Astro Bot, Black Myth: Wukong, Elden Ring, Metaphor: ReFantazio, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Balatro

As is contented with The Game Awards, the aforesaid games are nominated for Best Direction and Game of the Year.

Best Direction is fundamentally the runner-up for the apical award, and you seldom spot the aforesaid crippled triumph some categories.

This is wherefore we deliberation Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth volition triumph this category, leaving abstraction for the existent Game of the Year.

Game of the Year – Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree

Nominees: Astro Bot, Black Myth: Wukong, Elden Ring, Metaphor: ReFantazio, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Balatro

We deliberation that The Game Awards are feeling spicy this year, and won’t lone nominate a DLC for Game of the Year, but volition adjacent springiness it the crown.

Shadow of the Erdtree is larger than astir standalone games and we deliberation it’s wholly deserving of this title.

We’d emotion to spot Metaphor: ReFantazio instrumentality this crown, but The Game Awards tends to favour Western games extracurricular of Elden Ring developer FromSoftware.