We’re a little less than a month away from Geoff Keighley’s The Game Awards, and the nominees are officially in. Announced last night on YouTube in a live stream, Stuff’s personal pick for GOTY – Astro Bot – earned itself a coveted spot among some very big picks this year, all deserving of your praise and attention. And Elden Ring.
That’s right, Elden Ring, the 2022 action RPG adventure cultivated by the madlads at From Software that nabbed itself the big award back in 2022 (not without controversy) is eligible to win Game of the Year again. That’s all down to the release of the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC that put From Software back in the conversation.
A no-brainer, really
Whatever your thoughts on Elden Ring’s inclusion, it’s not all about Game of the Year. The Game Awards prides itself on representing every aspect of the gaming community, and giving credit where it’s due. How else was Dragon Age meant to secure itself a spot on the list if not in the ‘Innovation in accessibility’ category?
There are 29 categories overall, but we’ll let you find those out for yourselves. We’ve already cast our votes across all the categories, you can cast yours right here. Be warned, the Game Awards wants access to some sort of social media before you can enter, likely to restrict people from voting too many times.
Leading the pack this year is Astro Bot and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, each garnering seven nominations apiece, most notably in the GOTY, Best Game/Art Direction, and Best Score and Music awards, of which Astro Bot deserves to win all.
Here are the Game of the Year 2024 nominations:
- Astro Bot – Team Asobi
- Balatro – LocalThunk
- Black Myth: Wukong – Game Science
- Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree – From Software
- Final Fantasy VII Rebirth – Square Enix
- Metaphor: ReFantazio – Studio Zero
Despite being massive fans of Elden Ring and From Software in general, the decision to allow DLCs, remakes, expansions, and seasons into the Game of the Year category feels… wrong. Sure, in the case of Shadow of the Erdtree – a 25-hour piece of content – we can see the vision of including it in the top category. But it’s setting a nasty precedent for the future of the Game Awards we don’t want to see repeated.
Also, no Hollow Knight: Silksong on the most anticipated games list? Rigged.
The Game Awards officially kick off on Thursday, 12 December, at 19h30 ET time. Convert that to SAST, and South Africans will be struggling to stay awake for the show on Friday, 13 December at 02h30. You can watch it on YouTube, Twitch, X, Facebook Live, IGN, TikTok Live, Instagram Live, Gamespot, Kick, and Google Play. You can find out more here.
