The Last of Us Part II, Animal Crossing, Hades lead 2020 Game Awards nominations

By Giovanni Colantonio Updated November 21, 2020

The Game Awards nominations are here, giving us a look at 2020’s game of the year race. The topnominees include The Last of Us Part II, and Animal Crossing: New Horizons, which are joined by smaller hits like Hades and Among Us.

The nominees for Game of the Year are The Last of Us Part II, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Ghost of Tsushima, Doom: Eternal, Hades, and Final Fantasy VII Remake. Each game is nominated in multiple categories, with The Last of Us Part II leading the pack with 10 nominations.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons picked up additional nominations for Best Multiplayer Game and Best Family Game. Nintendo once again dominates the latter category, with Paper Mario: The Origami King and Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit also grabbing nominations there.

Indie game Hades made a major splash, picking up eight nominations in some of the show’s most prestigious categories. The game is nominated for Best Game Direction and Best Narrative alongside high-budget titles like Ghost of Tsushima.

Smaller games made a big splash this year with surprises in multiple categories. Multiplayer hit Among Us is up for a few awards, despite originally coming out in 2018. Free-to-play game Genshin Impact landed nominations for Best Mobile Game and Best RPG. Recent horror hit Phasmophobia picked up a nomination for Best Debut Game.

Next-gen games didn’t fare too well in high-profile categories, though a few do make an appearance on the list. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales are both up for Best Action/Adventure Game.

The Game Awards will air on December 10. Here’s the full list of nominees.

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Giovanni Colantonio

Section Editor, Gaming

Giovanni is a writer and video producer focusing on happenings in the video game industry. He has contributed stories to…

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