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Deathloop, Ratchet and Clank dominate 2021’s Game Awards nominations

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With a year’s worth of games nearly behind us, Geoff Keighley’s Game Awards are on the way to recap everything we’ve played and dole out some awards. As with most years, the list of nominees for 2021’s Game Awards is packed with triple-A games including Life is Strange: True Colors, Psychonauts 2, Resident Evil: Village, and Returnal. However, Deathloop and Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart dominate the list, with nine and six nominations respectively.

We’ll see how many awards each game takes home when this year’s Game Awards show airs on December 9. A roundup of some of this year’s nominees in the biggest categories — including game of the year, best game direction, most anticipated game, and more — can be found below. There are 30 categories overall this year.

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Game of the year

  • Deathloop
  • It Takes 2
  • Metroid Dread
  • Psychonauts 2
  • Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart
  • Resident Evil: Village

Best game direction

  • Deathloop
  • Psychonauts 2
  • It Takes 2
  • Returnal
  • Ratchet And Clank: Rift Apart

Most anticipated game

  • Elden Ring
  • God of War: Ragnarok
  • Horizon Forbidden West
  • Breath of The Wild 2
  • Starfield

Best role-playing game

  • Cyberpunk 2077
  • Monster Hunter Rise
  • Scarlet Nexus
  • Shin Megami Tensei V
  • Tales of Arise

Best action-adventure game

  • Marvel’s Guardians of The Galaxy
  • Metroid: Dread
  • Ratchet And Clank: Rift Apart
  • Resident Evil: Village
  • Psychonauts 2

Best action game

  • Back 4 Blood
  • Chivalry 2
  • Deathloop
  • Far Cry 6
  • Returnal

Best narrative

  • Deathloop
  • It Takes 2
  • Life is Strange: True Colors
  • Marvel’s Guardians of The Galaxy
  • Psychonauts 2

Best art direction

  • Deathloop
  • Kena: Bridge of Spirits
  • Psychonauts 2
  • Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart
  • The Artful Escape

The Game Awards will take place on Thursday, December 9. The show will be broadcast live from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.

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Otto Kratky
Otto Kratky
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Otto Kratky is a freelance writer with many homes. You can find his work at Digital Trends, GameSpot, and Gamepur. If he's…
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