The Game Awards 2024 nominations: all the surprises and disappointments

Jeff Keighley has announced the nominees for this year’s Game Awards. The list includes many of this year’s most acclaimed games, from Astro Bot to Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. For those keeping a close eye on video games in 2024, it’s a fairly predictable list, with many well-received big-budget games and one key indie breakthrough.

A lot of well-received big-budget games and one key indie breakthrough.

Of course, as is usually the case, not everyone turned out to be pleased. Social media has already been abuzz with controversy over everything from Black Myth: Wukong’s Game of the Year nomination to Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree making the list despite being DLC. Like every year, it’s a mix of worthy nominees, disappointing omissions, and downright bizarre choices. Let’s break down the highlights from this year’s list — from surprises to “omissions.”

All the way through.

Surprise: Balatro — Game of the Year

Indie games are notoriously difficult to break through at the Game Awards, but this year one did make it through: Balatro. In fact, a poker game isn’t the kind of game that usually gets nominated for Game of the Year. This category tends to favor flashy, big-budget games over innovative gimmicks. Balatro — that rare game that shatters all stereotypes by competing with this year’s giants, Astro Bot and Black Myth: Wukong. But it’s not all for nothing. It well deserves to be in this nomination: Balatro — a brilliant piece of game design that finds new depth in a classic deck of cards. It feels as seminal to its genre as Hades in 2020.

And it’s a game that’s as fundamental to its genre as Hades in 2020.

Disappointment: Other indie games are still trying to gain momentum

Despite Balatro’s stardom, The Game Awards still has a serious problem when it comes to indie games. It’s nearly impossible for indie games to compete in most nominations other than those specifically created for them. Neva did manage to get a nomination for Best Artwork, but that’s pretty much an isolated incident, aside from Balatro.

1000xResist missed out on a Best Storytelling nomination, Lorelei and the Laser Eyes failed to get recognized for directing, Children of the Sun didn’t get an award for sound design. This situation is a long-standing problem with the ceremony, but this year seems to be a turning point: increasingly, it seems like no one is taking these nominations seriously. A handful of popular style games fall into every category indiscriminately. This is an oversight not only by the jury selecting the nominations, but also by the Game Awards itself, which is set up to favor these games in narrower categories. Until the way the nominations are created is overhauled, The Game Awards will feel less like the Oscars and more like the MTV Movie Awards.

The Game Awards will be less like the Oscars and more like the MTV Movie Awards.

Surprise: Silent Hill 2 — a big hit

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Perhaps the biggest surprise of 2024 will be Silent Hill 2. Prior to its release, fans of the classic PS2 game were expecting a clunky remake that misunderstood the essence of the original horror. As it turned out, Bloober Team rose to the challenge and created one of the best games of the year.

The studio now has four nominations to recognize its work: best narrative, best music in games, best sound design, and a best acting nomination for Luke Roberts. Some of these nominations seem a bit peculiar, given that the remake doesn’t deviate much from the original’s script and music, but it’s nice to see that the studio has managed to prove that they can make quality remakes that many people enjoy.

Disappointment: Thrasher, Riven didn’t win VR achievement awards

It’s been a phenomenal year for VR gaming, and this year’s Best VR/AR Game category — is proof of that. Batman: Arkham Shadow and Asgard’s Wrath 2 — are certified blockbusters vying for the top honor in this category. But as is always the case at The Game Awards, it seems that the best games in the field tend to get sidelined, giving way to VR ports of existing titles.

This year, both Thrasher and the excellent remake of Riven-two of the best games of the year even outside of VR — didn’t get a place, while the VR versions of Metro and Metal: Hellsinger did. It’s a bit disappointing, given the quality of the same Thrasher, which was built with technology in mind.

And it’s a bit of a disappointment, given the quality of the same Thrasher, which was built with technology in mind.

Surprise: Super Mario Party Jamboree gets some love

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With such dull nominees, it’s the little things that add light. A pleasant surprise this year was Super Mario Party Jamboree, which earned a well-deserved spot in two categories at once – Best Family Game and Best Multiplayer.

The former isn’t surprising, but the latter — is. The Best Multiplayer category tends to include highly skilled online games and shooters like Call of Duty: Black Ops 6. These games do not look as friendly as the same Mario Party. However, the nomination spot is well deserved. With several inventive modes, including the massively multiplayer Koopathalon and Bowser’s cooperative Ka-boom Squad, Jamboree deserves a place alongside the big, serious games. Who knows, maybe it’s the one that will triumph.

So who knows?

Disappointment: Best Mobile Game

There are a few Game Awards categories that are so divorced from reality that they make you question the entire voting process at the show. Best Mobile Game —s top of that list, and it won’t even have any competition this year. If you look at each year’s nominees, it becomes quite obvious that many voters don’t play mobile games. The category is often dominated by free-to-play games and big IPs. And the services with year-old mobile games – Apple Arcade and Netflix – tend to walk away empty-handed.

This year was no exception, with games like Arranger, A Role-Puzzling Adventure succumbing to free giants like Pokemon Trading Card Game Pocket. Even the solid Sonic Dream Team didn’t get recognized, while microtransaction games did. An argument can be made that not enough people have subscriptions to the services these games are released on, but the jury’s job is to play and consider a wide range of games, not the ones that are most easily accessible to them. And since the decision is made along those lines, it’s worth it to drop exclusives and AAA games altogether. It’s obvious to anyone really paying attention to the mobile or VR landscapes that there’s a mismatch here.

Anyone who’s really paying attention to the mobile or VR landscapes is going to have to be careful.

Surprise: Kunitsu-Gami sneaks into the Best Strategy Game category

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Let’s be honest: finding the real surprises in this list of nominees — a difficult task. Few things can be called surprises, since in every area, things went about as well as could have been expected.

The Game 2024 Awards

Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess in the Best Simulation or Strategy category is as good as it gets for the title of “surprise”. The quirky tower defense game is one of this year’s best, representing a stylish and innovative twist on a classic genre. It’s unlike anything you’ve been able to play before, and deserves a spot in this year’s strongest category. Kunitsu-Gami will do battle with Frostpunk 2, Manor Lords, Unicorn Overlord, and Age of Mythology Retold. These are very strong competitors.

Disappointment: Should Hades 2 have been nominated?”

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Perhaps the most notable omission among this year’s nominees — Hades 2. Despite being a critically acclaimed game, it didn’t receive a single nomination at this year’s ceremony. This is most likely due to the fact that the game is still in early access, so the jury felt it was not yet ready to be judged.

This is certainly understandable, but was it worth considering? After all, Manor Lords received two nominations despite being an early access game. Hades 2’s excellent action in Hades is already well enough developed to merit a spot in the Best Action category, and its already excellent soundtrack isn’t likely to change much until version 1.0 is released. Yes, it may not make it to the Game of the Year category, but it’s still worth a nomination for «Best Action».