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Just days after its debut, ‘God of War Ragnarök’ rules Game Awards nominations with 10

Picture of an animation showing a man with an ax attached to his back touching the cheek of a young boy.
Santa Monica Studio’s “God of War Ragnarök” received 10 nominations for the 2022 Game Awards.
(Sony Santa Monica)
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Less than a week after its release, Santa Monica Studio’s “God of War Ragnarök” leads the 2022 Game Awards nominations with 10.

On Monday, Game Awards host and creator Geoff Keighley announced this year’s contenders via livestream on YouTube, Twitter and other social media platforms. “God of War Ragnarök” nominations include game of the year, game direction, narrative and art direction.

FromSoftware’s “Elden Ring” and Guerrilla’s “Horizon Forbidden West” followed with seven nominations apiece, including for game of the year.

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“A Plague Tale: Requiem,” “Stray” and “Xenoblade Chronicles 3” are the other contenders for the top award.

“God of War Ragnarök‘s” bounty of nominations comes right on the heels of its debut Nov. 9 on PlayStation. Its predecessor “God of War” won game of the year in 2018. The “God of War” series has also previously won prizes for game direction and action/adventure game.

If video games truly want the cultural resonance of film and television, then game studios need to start acting like they’re making art.

Gaming titles have been the Game Awards’ focus, , but this year, the ceremony will also acknowledge Hollywood’s gaming-inspired projects. Among the nominees in the new adaptation category are Sony’s film “Uncharted,” Paramount’s film “Sonic the Hedgehog 2” and Netflix series “Arcane” and “Cyberpunk: Edgerunners.”

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It has star power (Gal Gadot and Keanu Reeves presented awards), and compared to the Oscars and Emmys, its audience is growing exponentially. Game Awards creator Geoff Keighley weighs what’s next.

Game enthusiasts can cast their votes on the Game Awards website. Keighley will serve as executive producer and host of the awards show, which will return on Dec. 8 to the Microsoft Theater in downtown Los Angeles. The ceremony will be livestreamed on YouTube, Twitch and other digital platforms. Fans can also watch the show live in IMAX theaters.

At 2021 Game Awards, talk of Activision Blizzard issues muted; ‘The Matrix’s’ Carrie Anne Moss, Sting, Imagine Dragons and Guillermo del Toro appear.

See the full list of the 2022 Game Awards nominees below:

Game of the year

  • A Plague Tale: Requiem (Asobo Studio/Focus Entertainment)
  • Elden Ring (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco)
  • God of War Ragnarök (Sony Santa Monica/SIE)
  • Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games/SIE)
  • Stray (BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna)
  • Xenoblade Chronicles 3 (Monolith Soft/Nintendo)

Game direction

  • Elden Ring (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco)
  • God of War Ragnarök (Sony Santa Monica/SIE)
  • Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games/SIE)
  • Immortality (Half Mermaid)
  • Stray (BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna)

Narrative

  • A Plague Tale: Requiem (Asobo Studio/Focus Entertainment)
  • Elden Ring (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco)
  • God of War Ragnarök (Sony Santa Monica/SIE)
  • Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games/SIE)
  • Immortality (Half Mermaid)

Art direction

  • Elden Ring (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco)
  • God of War Ragnarök (Sony Santa Monica/SIE)
  • Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games/SIE)
  • Scorn (Ebb Software/Kepler Interactive)
  • Stray (BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna)

Score and music

  • Olivier Deriviere, A Plague Tale: Requiem
  • Tsukasa Saitoh, Elden Ring
  • Bear McCreary, God of War Ragnarök
  • Two Feathers, Metal: Hellsinger
  • Yasunori Mitsuda, Xenoblade Chronicles 3

Audio design

  • Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (Infinity Ward/Activision)
  • Elden Ring (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco)
  • God of War Ragnarök (Sony Santa Monica/SIE)
  • Gran Turismo 7 (Polyphony/SIE)
  • Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games/SIE)

Performance

  • Ashly Burch, Horizon Forbidden West
  • Charlotte McBurney, A Plague Tale: Requiem
  • Christopher Judge, God of War Ragnarök
  • Manon Gage, Immortality
  • Sunny Suljic, God of War Ragnarök

Games for impact

  • A Memoir Blue (Cloisters Interactive/Annapurna)
  • As Dusk Falls (Interior Night/Xbox Game Studios)
  • Citizen Sleeper (Jump Over The Age/Fellow Traveller)
  • Endling: Extinction Is Forever (Herobeat Studios/HandyGames)
  • Hindsight (Team Hindsight/Annapurna)
  • I Was a Teenage Exocolonist (Northway Games/Finji)

Ongoing game

  • Apex Legends (Respawn/EA)
  • Destiny 2 (Bungie)
  • Final Fantasy XIV (Square Enix)
  • Fortnite (Epic Games)
  • Genshin Impact (HoYoverse)

Indie

  • Cult of the Lamb (Massive Monster / Devolver Digital)
  • Neon White (Angel Matrix/Annapurna)
  • Sifu (Sloclap)
  • Stray (BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna)
  • Tunic (Tunic Team/Finji)

Debut indie

  • Neon White (Angel Matrix/Annapurna Interactive)
  • Norco (Geography of Robots/Raw Fury)
  • Stray (BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna)
  • Tunic (Tunic Team/Finji)
  • Vampire Survivors (poncle)

Community support, presented by Discord

  • Apex Legends (Respawn/EA)
  • Destiny 2 (Bungie)
  • Final Fantasy XIV (Square Enix)
  • Fortnite (Epic Games)
  • No Man’s Sky (Hello Games)

Mobile

  • Apex Legends Mobile (Lightspeed & Quantum/Respawn/EA)
  • Diablo Immortal (Blizzard/NetEase)
  • Genshin Impact (HoYovese)
  • Marvel Snap (Second Dinner Studios/Nuverse)
  • Tower of Fantasy (Hotta Studio/Perfect World/Level Infinite)

VR/AR

  • After the Fall (Vertigo Games)
  • Among Us VR (Schell Games/InnerSloth)
  • Bonelab (Stress Level Zero)
  • Moss: Book II (Polyarc)
  • Red Matter 2 (Vertical Robot)

Action

  • Bayonetta 3 (Platinum Games/Nintendo)
  • Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (Infinity Ward/Activision)
  • Neon White (Angel Matrix/Annapurna)
  • Sifu (Sloclap)
  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge (Tribute Games/Dotemu)

Action/adventure

  • A Plague Tale: Requiem (Asobo Studio/Focus Entertainment)
  • God of War Ragnarök (Sony Santa Monica/SIE)
  • Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games/SIE)
  • Stray (BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna)
  • Tunic (Tunic Team/Finji)

Roleplaying

  • Elden Ring (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco)
  • Live a Live (Square Enix/Nintendo)
  • Pokémon Legends: Arceus (Game Freak/Nintendo/TPCI)
  • Triangle Strategy (Artdink/Square Enix)
  • Xenoblade Chronicles 3 (Monolith Soft/Nintendo)

Fighting

  • DNF Duel (Arc System Works/Eighting/Neople/Nexon)
  • JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle R (CyberConnect 2 Co. Ltd/Bandai Namco)
  • The King of Fighters XV (SNK/Plaion)
  • MultiVersus (Player First Games/WB Games)
  • Sifu (Sloclap)

Family

  • Kirby and the Forgotten Land (HAL Laboratory / Nintendo)
  • Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga (Traveller’s Tales/WB Games)
  • Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope (Ubisoft Milan/Paris/Ubisoft)
  • Nintendo Switch Sports (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
  • Splatoon 3 (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)

SIM/strategy

  • Dune: Spice Wars (Shiro Games/Funcom)
  • Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope (Ubisoft Milan/Paris/Ubisoft)
  • Total War: Warhammer III (Creative Assembly/Sega)
  • Two Point Campus (Two Point Studios/Sega)
  • Victoria 3 (Paradox Development Studio/Paradox Interactive)

Sports/racing

  • F1 22 (Codemasters/EA Sports)
  • FIFA 23 (EA Vancouver/Romania/EA Sports)
  • NBA 2K23 (Visual Concepts/2K Sports)
  • Gran Turismo 7 (Polyphony Digital/SIE)
  • OlliOlli World (Roll 7/Private Division)

Multiplayer

  • Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (Infinity Ward/Activision)
  • MultiVersus (Player First Games/WB Games)
  • Overwatch 2 (Blizzard)
  • Splatoon 3 (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge (Tribute Games/Dotemu)

Most anticipated

  • Final Fantasy XVI (Square Enix)
  • Hogwarts Legacy (Avalanche Software/WB Games)
  • Resident Evil 4 (Capcom)
  • Starfield (Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda)
  • The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)

Content creator of the year

  • Karl Jacobs
  • Ludwig
  • Nibellion
  • Nobru
  • QTCinderella

Adaptation

  • Arcane: League of Legends (Fortiche/Riot Games/Netflix)
  • Cyberpunk: Edgerunners (Studio Trigger/CD Projekt, Netflix)
  • The Cuphead Show! (Studio MDHR/King Features Syndicate/Netflix)
  • Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Sega Sammy Group/Paramount Pictures)
  • Uncharted (PlayStation Productions/Sony Pictures)

Innovation in accessibility

  • As Dusk Falls (Interior Night/Xbox Game Studios)
  • God of War Ragnarök (Sony Santa Monica/SIE)
  • Return to Monkey Island (Terrible Toybox/Devolver Digital)
  • The Last of Us Part I (Naughty Dog/SIE)
  • The Quarry (Supermassive Games/2K)

Esports game

  • Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (Valve)
  • Dota 2 (Valve)
  • League of Legends (Riot Games)
  • Rocket League (Psyonix)
  • Valorant (Riot Games)

Esports athlete

  • Jeong “Chovy” Ji-hoon (Gen.G, LOL)
  • Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok (T1, LOL)
  • Finn “karrigan” Andersen (FaZe Clan - CS:GO)
  • Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev (Natus Vincere, CS:GO)
  • Jacob “Yay” Whiteaker (Cloud9, Valorant)

Esports team

  • DarkZero Esports (Apex Legends)
  • FaZe Clan (CS:GO)
  • Gen.G (League of Legends)
  • LA Thieves (Call of Duty)
  • LOUD (Valorant)

Esports coach

  • Andrii “B1ad3” Horodenskyi (Natus Vincere, CS:GO)
  • Matheus “bzkA” Tarasconi (Loud, Valorant)
  • Erik “d00mbr0s” Sandgren (FPX, Valorant)
  • Robert “RobbaN” Dahlström (FaZe Clan, CS:GO)
  • Go “Score” Dong-bin (Gen.G, LOL)

Esports Event

  • EVO 2022
  • 2022 League of Legends World Championship
  • PGL Major Antwerp 2022
  • The 2022 Mid-Season Invitational
  • Valorant Champions 2022
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