The 2021 Game Awards takes place tomorrow, check out the nominations, guests and more

Soon: The annual Game Awards will take place tomorrow (December 9) at 5pm PST, where we will find out which games are recognized as the best the last 12 months had to offer. There will also be several surprise performances in the evening, some of which host Jeff Keighley has promised will be epic. Here’s how to view the proceedings, which titles are nominated, and which guests will appear.

After switching to a virtual event last year, the Game prizes is back with an in-person audience at the Microsoft Theater. It’s one of the most streamed shows globally, appearing on a multitude of platforms including YouTube (below), Twitch, Facebook, Tik Tok, and Twitter. Most broadcasts start half an hour before the event starts.

We’re used to seeing big reveals at The Game Awards, and this year Keighley has likened them to the Elden Ring reveal at June’s Summer Games Fest. “Oh God, there are probably four or five things on that level. I can’t wait to show people these things, ”he said.

Keighley added that at least 40 to 50 games will be included in the show in “one way or another,” which will likely include many titles coming to Game Pass for PC on day one.

There will be some special guest appearances in the evening. Giancarlo Esposito from The Mandalorian, who appears as Anton Castillo in Far Cry 6, and Ming-Na Wen will be there alongside Simu Liu from Shang-Chi and many others.

As for the games for the awards, Deathloop leads the pack with eight nominations, while It Takes Two and Psychonauts 2 have five, all the games in our The best PC games (you should be playing) characteristic. Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, exclusive to PS5, has six.

It’s not easy to pick potential winners, but the critics’ favorite Deathloop means that it will likely bring in a lot of prizes. Interestingly, Cyberpunk 2077 is the best RPG. It would be a huge change of luck if he won: the CD Projekt Red title earned a Recent ‘very positive’ reviews rating on Steam in November after one of the most disastrous releases in memory last December.

Full list of nominations:

GAME OF THE YEAR

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

BEST DIRECTION OF THE GAME

• Deathloop
• Two required
• Return
• Psychonauts 2
• Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart

BEST NARRATIVE

• Deathloop
• Two required
• Life is strange: true colors
• Marvel Guardians of the Galaxy
• Psychonauts 2

BEST ART DIRECTION

• The ingenious escape
• Deathloop
• Kena: Bridge of Spirits
• Psychonauts 2
• Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart

BEST SCORE AND MUSIC

• The ingenious escape
• Cyberpunk 2077
• Deathloop
• Marvel Guardians of the Galaxy
• NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139

BEST AUDIO DESIGN

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

BEST PERFORMANCE

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

GAMES FOR IMPACT

• Before your eyes
• Groom’s dungeon
• Chicory: a colorful tale
• Life is strange: true colors
• I’m not at home anymore

BEST IN PROGRESS

• Apex legends
• Final Fantasy XIV Online
• Fortnite
• Genshin impact
• Call of Duty: War Zone

BEST INDIE

• 12 minutes
• Death gate
• Kena: Bridge of Spirits
• Encryption
• Loop hero

BEST MOBILE GAME

• Fantasy
• Genshin impact
• League of Legends: Wild Rift
• Marvel future revolution
• Pokémon Unite

BETTER COMMUNITY SUPPORT

• Apex legends
• Destiny 2
• Final fantasy 14
• Fortnite
• Nobody’s heaven

INNOVATION IN ACCESSIBILITY

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

BEST VR / AR

• Hitman 3
• I hope you die 2
• Lonely echo 2
• Resident Evil 4
• Sniper Elite VR

BEST ACTION GAME

• Back 4 Blood
• Cavalry 2
• Deathloop
• Far cry 6
• Return

BEST ACTION / ADVENTURE

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

BEST ROLE

• Cyberpunk 2077
• Monster hunter rise
• Scarlet nexus
• Shin Megami Tensei 5
• Tales of Arise

BEST FIGHT

• Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Hinokami Chronicles
• Guilty Gear -Strive-
• Melty Blood: Lumina Type
• Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl
• Virtua Fighter 5: Ultimate Showdown

BEST FAMILY

• Two required
• Mario Party Superstars
• New Pokémon Snap
• Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury
• WarioWare: Get it together!

BEST SIM / STRATEGY

• Age of Empires 4
• Evil Genius 2: world domination
• Humanity
• Encryption
• Microsoft Flight Simulator

BEST SPORTS / RACES

• F1 2021
• FIFA 22
• Forza Horizon 5
• Hot wheels unleashed
• Republic of horsemen

BEST MULTIPLAYER

• Back 4 Blood
• Knockout city
• Two required
• Monster hunter rise
• The new World
• Valheim

CONTENT CREATOR OF THE YEAR

• SLEEP
• fuslie
• Gaules
• Ibai
• Grefg

BEST INDIE DEBUT

• The ingenious escape
• The forgotten city
• Kena: Bridge of Spirits
• Saber
• Valheim

EARLIER GAME

• Elden Ring
• God of War Ragnarok
• West horizon forbidden
• The sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
• Starfield

BEST ESPORTS GAMES

• Obligations
• Global Offensive Counter Strike
• dota 2
• League of Legends
• Valorant

BEST ESPORTS ATHLETE

• Chris “Simp” Lehr
• Heo “ShowMaker” Su
• Magomed “Collapse” Khalilov
• Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev
• Tyson “TenZ” Ngo

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
• Andrii “B1ad3” Horodenskyi
• James “Crowder” Crowder
• Kim “kkOma” Jeong-gyun

BEST ESPORTS EVENT

• League of Legends World Championship 2021
• PGL Major Stockholm 2021
• International 2021
• PUBG 2020 Global Mobile Championship
• VALORANT Champions Tour: Stage 2 Master