The Game Awards 2023 Are Today! Start Time, How To Watch, Nominations & Possible Announcements

Ah, the Game Awards, the "Oscars of Gaming", as Geoff Keigley would like everyone to call them. Ever since he first started hosting the event back in 2014 it has been a yearly invitation for gamers worldwide to argue over why their favorite game really should've won Game of the Year instead, as well as a platform for all sorts of high-profile gaming-related announcements. For example, Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon was revealed at last year's Game Awards. And the show is returning very soon, this December 7 in fact.

2023 isn't even over yet, but it has already been absolutely packed with high-quality game releases so far, so this year's Game Awards should be even more exciting than usual! And we've already got everthing about the categories, their possible winners, as well as the gaming-related announcements during the show.

The Game Awards 2023: Start Time & How To Watch

You can watch The Game Awards stream live on Thursday, December 7, 2023, at 4:30 PM PT/7:30 PM ET/12:30 AM GMT on multiple platforms, including YouTube, Twitch, X, Facebook Live and more!

The Game Awards 2023: Categories & Nominations

Like every year, there are plenty of categories in which you can vote for your favorites in The Game Awards 2023. Here we have an overview of each individual category and its nominations for you:

Game of the Year

• Alan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing)
• Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
• Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games/SIE)
• Resident Evil 4 (Capcom)
• Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)

Best Game Direction

• Alan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing)
• Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
• Marvel’s Spider-Man 2(Insomniac Games/SIE)
• Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)

Best Adaptation

• Castlevania: Nocturne (Powerhouse Animation/Netflix)
• Gran Turismo (PlayStation Productions/Sony Pictures)
• The Last of Us (PlayStation Productions/HBO)
• The Super Mario Bros. Movie (Illumination/Nintendo/Universal Pictures)
• Twisted Metal (PlayStation Productions/Peacock)

Best Narrative

• Alan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing)
• Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
• Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty (CD Projekt Red)
• Final Fantasy XVI (Square Enix)
• Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games/SIE)

Best Art Direction

• Alan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing)
• Hi-Fi Rush (Tango Gameworks/Bethesda Softworks)
• Lies of P (Round8 Studio/Neowiz Games)
• Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)

Best Score and Music

• Alan Wake 2, Composer Petri Alanko (Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing)
• Baldur’s Gate 3, Composer Borislav Slavov (Larian Studios)
• Final Fantasy XVI, Composer Masayoshi Soken (Square Enix)
• Hi-Fi Rush, Audio Director Shuichi Kobori (Tango Gameworks/Bethesda Softworks)
• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Composed by Nintendo Sound Team (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)

Best Audio Design

• Alan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing)
• Dead Space (Motive Studio/EA)
• Hi-Fi Rush (Tango Gameworks/Bethesda Softworks)
• Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games/SIE)
• Resident Evil 4 (Capcom)

Best Performance

• Ben Starr, Final Fantasy XVI
• Cameron Monaghan, STAR WARS Jedi: Survivor
• Idris Elba, Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty
• Melanie Liburd, Alan Wake 2
• Neil Newbon, Baldur’s Gate 3
• Yuri Lowenthal, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2

Innovation in Accessibility

• Diablo IV (Blizzard Entertainment)
• Forza Motorsport (Turn 10 Studios/Xbox Game Studios)
• Hi-Fi Rush (Tango Gameworks/Bethesda Softworks)
• Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games/SIE)
• Mortal Kombat 1 (NetherRealm Studios/WB Games)
• Street Fighter 6 (Capcom)

Games for Impact

• A Space for the Unbound (Mojiken Studio/Toge Productions/Chorus)
• Chants of Sennaar (Rundisc/Focus Entertainment)
• Goodbye Volcano High (KO_OP)
• Tchia (Awaceb/Kepler Interactive)
• Terra Nil (Free Lives/Devolver Digital/Netflix)
• Venba (Visai Games)

Best Ongoing Game

• Apex Legends (Respawn Entertainment/EA)
• Cyberpunk 2077 (CD Projekt Red)
• Final Fantasy XIV (Square Enix)
• Fortnite (Epic Games)
• Genshin Impact (HoYoverse)

Best Community Support

• Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
• Cyberpunk 2077 (CD Projekt Red)
• Destiny 2 (Bungie)
• Final Fantasy XIV (Square Enix)
• No Man’s Sky (Hello Games)

Best Independent Game

• Cocoon (Geometric Interactive/Annapurna Interactive)
• Dave the Diver (MINTROCKET)
• Dredge (Black Salt Games/Team 17)
• Sea of Stars (Sabotage Studio)
• Viewfinder (Sad Owl Studios/Thunderful Publishing)

Best Debut Indie Game

• Cocoon (Geometric Interactive/Annapurna Interactive)
• Dredge (Black Salt Games/Team 17)
• Pizza Tower (Tour de Pizza)
• Venba (Visai Games)
• Viewfinder (Sad Owl Studios/Thunderful Publishing)

Best Mobile Game

• Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis (Applibot/Square Enix)
• Honkai: Star Rail (HoYoverse)
• Hello Kitty Island Adventure (Sunblink Entertainment)
• Monster Hunter Now (Niantic/Capcom)
• Terra Nil (Free Lives/Devolver/Netflix)

Best VR/AR Game

• Gran Turismo 7 (Polyphony Digital/SIE)
• Humanity (tha LTD/Enhance Games)
• Horizon Call of the Mountain (Guerrilla Games/Firesprite/SIE)
• Resident Evil Village VR Mode (Capcom)
• Synapse (nDreams)

Best Action Game

• Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco)
• Dead Island 2 (Dambuster Studios/Deep Silver)
• Ghostrunner 2 (One More Level/505 Games)
• Hi-Fi Rush (Tango Gameworks/Bethesda Softworks)
• Remnant 2 (Gunfire Games/Gearbox Publishing)

Best Action/Adventure Game

• Alan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing)
• Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games/SIE)
• Resident Evil 4 (Capcom)
• Star Wars Jedi: Survivor (Respawn Entertainment/EA)
• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)

Best RPG

• Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
• Final Fantasy XVI (Square Enix)
• Lies of P (Round8 Studio/Neowiz Games)
• Sea of Stars (Sabotage Studio)
• Starfield (Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda Softworks)

Best Fighting Game

• God of Rock (Modus Studios Brazil/Modus Games)
• Mortal Kombat 1 (NetherRealm Studios/WB Games)
• Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 (Ludosity/Fair Play Labs/GameMill Entertainment)
• Pocket Bravery (Statera Studio/PQube)
• Street Fighter 6 (Capcom)

Best Family Game

• Disney Illusion Island (Dlala Studios/Disney)
• Party Animals (Recreate Games)
• Pikmin 4 (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
• Sonic Superstars (Arzest/Sonic Team/Sega)
• Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)

Best Sim/Strategy Game

• Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp (WayForward/Nintendo)
• Cities: Skylines II (Colossal Order/Paradox Interactive)
• Company of Heroes 3 (Relic Entertainment/Sega)
• Fire Emblem Engage (Intelligent Systems/Nintendo)
• Pikmin 4 (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)

Best Sports/Racing

• EA Sports FC 24 (EA Vancouver/EA Romania/EA Sports)
• F1 23 (Codemasters/EA Sports)
• Forza Motorsport (Turn 10 Studios/Xbox Game Studios)
• Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged (Milestone)
• The Crew Motorfest (Ubisoft Ivory Tower/Ubisoft)

Best Multiplayer presented by Discord

• Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
• Diablo IV (Blizzard Entertainment)
• Party Animals (Recreate Games)
• Street Fighter 6 (Capcom)
• Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)

Most Anticipated Game

• Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (Square Enix)
• Hades II (Supergiant Games)
• Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth (Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio/Sega)
• Star Wars Outlaws (Massive Entertainment/Ubisoft)
• Tekken 8 (Bandai Namco/Arika)

Content Creator of the Year

• IronMouse
• PeopleMakeGames
• Quackity
• Spreen
• SypherPK

Best Esports Game

• Counter-Strike 2 (Valve)
• Dota 2 (Valve)
• League of Legends (Riot Games)
• PUBG Mobile (LightSpeed Studios/Tencent Games)
• Valorant (Riot Games)

Best Esports Athlete

• Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok (League of Legends)
• Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut (CS:GO)
• Max “Demon1” Mazanov (Valorant)
• Paco “HyDra” Rusiewiez (Call of Duty)
• Park “Ruler” Jae-hyuk (League of Legends)
• Phillip ”ImperialHal” Dosen (Apex Legends)

Best Esports Team

• Evil Geniuses (Valorant)
• Fnatic (Valorant)
• Gaimin Gladiators (Dota 2)
• JD Gaming (League of Legends)
• Team Vitality (Counter-Strike)

Best Esports Coach

• Christine “potter” Chi (Evil Geniuses – Valorant)
• Danny “zonic” Sorensen (Team Falcons – Counter-Strike)
• Jordan “Gunba” Graham (Florida Mayhem – Overwatch)
• Remy “XTQZZZ” Quoniam (Team Vitality – Counter-Strike)
• Yoon “Homme” Sung-young (JD Gaming – League of Legends)

Best Esports Event

• 2023 League of Legends World Championship
• Blast.tv Paris Major 2023
• EVO 2023
• The International Dota 2 Championships 2023
• Valorant Champions 2023

The Game Awards 2023: Possible Award Winners

Gamers have barely had any time to recover between stellar game releases this year, so the 2023 Game Awards are going to be especially contentious. That said, there are a few games we expect to come out of the actual awards portion of the show with one or more shiny new awards to their name.

For one, Baldur's Gate 3 managed to become a smash hit with its 1.0 release this August, and some of us here at EarlyGame consider it basically a lock-in for Game of the Year. It could also end up as the Best Narrative, Best Game Direction, Best Score and Music or Best Performance (with Neil Newbon our boy).

Its biggest threat is The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, which surprised most of us with the sheer amount of new content and polish it had to offer over its predecessor Breath of the Wild. It won Most Anticipated Game last year for good reason, and this year it may be in the running for Game of the Year or Best Action/Adventure Game.

Final Fantasy XVI, Square Enix's latest mainline Final Fantasy game that wowed reviewers with a darker story, a new action-oriented combat system and spectacular Eikon battles could also become the Best Narrative this year.

Moving away from RPGs for a moment, Super Mario Bros. Wonder will be a bit of a late entry, but with recency bias on its side and overwhelmingly positive previews to vouch for it, Nintendo's new 2D platformer could still cinch an award here or there. Best Family Game, Best Multiplayer, Best Art Direction and Best Game Direction are in the cards for it.

Meanwhile, Cocoon has been making quite a stir in the indie scene with its excellent puzzle design and strange, alien visuals. Best Independent Game and Best Debut Indie Title seem like natural fits for it, but Best Game Direction, Best Art Direction and Best Audio Design aren't too much of a stretch either.

The Game Awards 2023: Possible Announcements

Of course, no Game Awards show would be complete without a few gaming-related announcements to keep everyone watching. Here are some announcements you might see at this year's Game Awards:

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree Release Date

Fans of FromSoftware's open world Souls-like behemoth Elden Ring have been chomping at the bit for any news of the game's first DLC, Shadow of the Erdtree. And for good reason: It's been months of nothing but radio silence since the DLC was announced. However, rumors have been floating around that the DLC will be shown off at the Game Awards, followed by a release date announcement.

This is all still unconfirmed, of course, but given that Elden Ring has premiered trailers at the Game Awards before, this isn't the most unbelievable rumor we've ever heard.

Death Stranding 2 Release Date

Former Metal Gear director Hideo Kojima's first independent project Death Stranding was a breakout hit, so when the first trailer of the sequel was shown off at last year's Game Awards, fans of the "first strand-type game" were pretty excited. Since then we've seen nothing but the occasional cryptic social media post from Kojima Productions, but given that Kojima himself has some personal history with the Game Awards he might simply have waited for this year's show to reveal more of his studio's next game.

Hellblade 2, Dishonoured 3 & Other Xbox Announcements

A fresh rumor, which only appeared a few days before the show, claimed that Arkane could reveal Dishonoured 3 at the show. Xbox has been pushing multiple ads for the show, indicating that they have a number of exciting announcements ready. This includes Hellblade 2, with people believing that we will finally get a release date at The Game Awards.