'The Last of Us Part II' leads video game nominees for next month's The Game Awards
"The Last Of Us Part II" leads the way in nominations for The Game Awards.
The Sony PlayStation 4 exclusive game, released in June, earned 10 nominations Wednesday for the annual "Oscars" for video games. This year's ceremony will be held Dec. 10 and broadcast live from studios in Los Angeles, London and Tokyo.
Collecting eight nominations: "Hades," a PC game also released for the Nintendo Switch in September. Another PlayStation game, "The Ghost of Tsushima," released in July, earned seven nominations.
Those three games along with "Animal Crossing: New Horizons," "Doom Eternal," and "Final Fantasy VII Remake" are nominated for Game of the Year.
Scroll down for nominee list – good tips for gamers on your holiday shopping list
"This has, of course, been a challenging year for all of us, but despite so many obstacles talented developers have comforted and entertained us with amazing games that show more than ever why video games are the most powerful form of entertainment," said host and show creator Geoff Keighley, who founded the awards event in 2014.
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The broadcast, streamed on Facebook, Twitter, Twitch and YouTube, typically includes guest stars including musical acts and celebrities, and exclusive reveals and previews of upcoming games.
This year, The Game Awards introduced a new category honoring innovation for hardware and software that helped more players play the game. Nominees: "Assassin’s Creed Valhalla" (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft); "Grounded" (Obsidian/Xbox Game Studios);
"HyperDot" (Tribe Games); "The Last of Us Part II" (Naughty Dog/SIE); and "Watch Dogs Legion" (Ubisoft Toronto/Ubisoft).
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The Games Awards: More video game nominees
Best Game Direction
Final Fantasy VII Remake (Square Enix)
Ghost of Tsushima (Sucker Punch/SIE)
Hades (Supergiant Games)
Half-Life: Alyx (Valve)
The Last of Us Part II (Naughty Dog/SIE)
Best Narrative
13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim (George Kamitani)
Final Fantasy VII Remake (Kazushige Nojima, Motomu Toriyama, Hiroki Iwaki, Sachie Hirano)
Ghost of Tsushima (Ian Ryan, Liz Albl, Patrick Downs, Jordan Lemos)
Hades (Greg Kasavin)
The Last of Us Part II (Neil Druckmann, Halley Gross)
Best Art Direction
Final Fantasy VII Remake (Square Enix)
Ghost of Tsushima (Sucker Punch/SIE)
Hades (Supergiant Games)
Ori and the Will of the Wisps (Moon Studios/Xbox Game Studios)
The Last of Us Part II (Naughty Dog/SIE)
Best Score and Music
DOOM Eternal (Mick Gordon)
Final Fantasy VII Remake (Nobuo Uematsu, Masahi Hamauzu, Mitsuto Suzuki)
Hades (Darren Korb)
Ori and the Will of the Wisps (Gareth Coker)
The Last of Us Part II (Gustavo Santaolala, Mac Quale)
Best Performance
Ashley Johnson as Ellie, The Last of Us Part II
Laura Bailey as Abby, The Last of Us Part II
Daisuke Tsuji as Jin Sakai, Ghost of Tsushima
Logan Cunningham as Hades, Hades
Nadji Jeter as Miles Morales, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales
Best Indie
Carrion (Phobia Game Studio)
Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout (Mediatonic/Devolver)
Hades (Supergiant Games)
Spelunky 2 (Mossmouth)
Spiritfarer (Thunder Lotus Games)
Best Action
DOOM Eternal (id Software/Bethesda)
Hades (Supergiant Games)
Half-Life: Alyx (Valve)
Nioh 2 (Team Ninja)
Streets of Rage 4 (DotEmu)
Best Action/Adventure
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft)
Ghost of Tsushima (Sucker Punch/SIE)
MARVEL’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales (Insomniac Games/SIE)
Ori and the Will of the Wisps (Moon Studios/Xbox Game Studios)
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (Respawn/EA)
The Last of Us Part II (Naughty Dog/SIE)
Best Family
Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Nintendo)
Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time (Toys for Bob/Activision)
Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout (Mediatonic/Devolver)
Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit (Velan Studios/Nintendo)
Minecraft Dungeons (Mojang/Double Eleven/Xbox Game Studios)
Paper Mario: The Origami King (Intelligent Systems/Nintendo)
Best Role Playing
Final Fantasy VII Remake (Square Enix)
Genshin Impact (miHoYo)
Persona 5 Royal (Atlus, P Studios)
Wasteland 3 (inXile Entertainment/Koch)
Yakuza: Like a Dragon (Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio/Sega)
Best Multiplayer
Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Nintendo)
Among Us (InnerSloth)
Call of Duty: Warzone (Infinity Ward/Raven/Activision)
Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout (Mediatonic/Devolver)
Valorant (Riot Games)
Best Debut Game
Carrion (Phobia Game Studio/Devolver)
Mortal Shell (Cold Symmetry/Playstack)
Raji: An Ancient Epic (Nodding Heads Games)
Röki (Polygon Treehouse/CI Games)
Phasmophobia (Kinetic Games)
See the full list of nominees on TheGameAwards.com, where you can also vote for the winners. Nominees were selected by a global jury of more than 95 media publications and influencer outlets. You can watch on more than 45 global video platforms including Facebook, Twitter, Twitch and others.
Follow USA TODAY reporter Mike Snider on Twitter: @MikeSnider.
The 6 nominees for Game of the Year at #TheGameAwards:
👾 Animal Crossing: New Horizons
👾 DOOM Eternal
👾Final Fantasy VII Remake
👾Ghost of Tsushima
👾Hades
👾The Last of Us Part II
Vote for your favorite:https://t.co/jM4MQyaLj9
Find out the winner LIVE on December 10. pic.twitter.com/4w4iuqERsh— The Game Awards (@thegameawards) November 18, 2020
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Video games' best: 'The Last of Us Part II' tops Game Awards nominees