Death Stranding Leads The Game Awards 2019 With Most Nominations

It’s that time of the year again when we take a look back at this year’s amazing games and decide on which was the best one. The Game Awards 2019 is happening just next month, and it appears we may already have a Game of the Year even before it’s happening.

Death Stranding is, unsurprisingly, the game in question, having nabbed a total of nine nominations. Most prominently, Hideo Kojima‘s magnum opus received nominations for Game of the Year, Game Direction, Score/Music, as well as double nominations for Performance for Norman Reedus and Mads Mikkelsen.

The closest competitor to Death Stranding in terms of nominations is Remedy Entertainment’s over-the-top Control, with eight. Control also received the nod for Game of the Year and Game Direction, as well as Art Direction for its visually-stunning effects and environments.

This year’s Game of the Year nominees are all solid entries, even with Death Stranding in the running. Joining it and Control are Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Resident Evil 2, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, and The Outer Worlds.

As for the indie games, there are a couple of them that have wowed us, especially since the launch of the new Apple Arcade. Sayonara Wild Hearts and GRINDSTONE come to mind, and from our experience, they’ve more than earned their nominations.

Also, if you’re skeptical about the voting process for The Game Awards, fret not; all nominations are passed on by global media outlets. Jeff Keighley is merely the host here, if anything.

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In any case, here is the full list of The Game Awards 2019 nominations:

Game of the Year
Control
Death Stranding
Resident Evil 2
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
The Outer Worlds

Best Game Direction
Control
Death Stranding
Outer Wilds
Resident Evil 2
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

Best Narrative
A Plague Tale: Innocence
Control
Death Stranding
Disco Elysium
The Outer Worlds

Best Score/Music
Cadence of Hyrule
Death Stranding
Devil May Cry 5
Kingdom Hearts III
Sayonara Wild Hearts

Best Art Direction
Control
Death Stranding
Gris
Sayonara Wild Hearts
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening

Best Audio Design
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
Control
Death Stranding
Gears 5
Resident Evil 2
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

Best Performance
Ashly Burch as Parvati Holcomb, The Outer Worlds
Courtney Hope as Jesse Faden, Control
Laura Bailey as Kait Diaz, Gears 5
Mads Mikkelsen as Cliff, Death Stranding
Matthew Porretta as Dr. Casper Darling, Control
Norman Reedus as Sam Porter Bridges, Death Stranding

Games for Impact
Concrete Genie
Gris
Kind Words
Life is Strange 2
Sea of Solitude

Best Ongoing Game
Apex Legends
Destiny 2
Final Fantasy XIV
Fortnite
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege

Best Independent Game
Baba Is You
Disco Elysium
Katana ZERO
Outer Wilds
Untitled Goose Game

Best Mobile Game
Call of Duty: Mobile
GRINDSTONE
Sayonara Wild Hearts
Sky: Children of Light
What the Golf?

Best Community Support
Apex Legends
Destiny 2
Final Fantasy XIV
Fortnite
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege

Best VR/AR Game
Asgard’s Wrath
Blood & Truth
Beat Saber
No Man’s Sky
Trover Saves the Universe

Best Action/Adventure Game
Borderlands 3
Control
Death Stranding
Resident Evil 2
The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

Best RPG
Disco Elysium
Final Fantasy XIV
Kingdom Hearts III
Monster Hunter World: Iceborne
The Outer Worlds

Best Fighting Game
Dead or Alive 6
Jump Force
Mortal Kombat 11
Samurai Shodown
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Best Family Game
Luigi’s Mansion 3
Ring Fit Adventure
Super Mario Maker 2
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Yoshi’s Crafted World

Best Strategy Game
Age of Wonders: Planetfall
Anno 1800
Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Total War: Three Kingdoms
Tropico 6
Wargroove

Best Sports/Racing Game
Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled
DiRT Rally 2.0
eFootball Pro Evolution Soccer 2020
F1 2019
FIFA 20

Best Multiplayer Game
Apex Legends
Borderlands 3
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
Tetris 99
Tom Clancy’s The Division 2

Fresh Indie Game Presented by Subway
ZA/UM for Disco Elysium
Nomada Studio for Gris
DeadToast Entertainment for My Friend Pedro
Mobius Digital for Outer Wilds
Mega Crit for Slay the Spire
House House for Untitled Goose Game

Community Award
Courage – Jack Dunlop
Dr. Lupo – Benjamin Lupo
Ewok – Soleil Wheeler
Grefg – David Martínez
Shroud – Michael Grzesiek

Best Esports Game
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
DOTA2
Fortnite
League of Legends
Overwatch

Best Esports Player
Kyle ‘Bugha’ Giersdorf (Immortals, Fortnite)
Lee ‘Faker’ Sang-hyeok (SK Telecom, League of Legends)
Luka ‘Perkz’ Perkovic (G2 Esports, League of Legends)
Oleksandr ‘S1mple’ Kostyliev (Natus Vincere, CS:GO)
Jay ‘Sinatraa’ Won (SF Shock, Overwatch)

Best Esports Team
Astralis (CS:GO)
G2 Esports (LoL)
OG (DOTA 2)
San Francisco Shock (OWL)
Team Liquid (CS:GO)

Best Esports Event
2019 Overwatch League Grand Finals
EVO 2019
Fortnite World Cup
IEM Katowice 2019
League of Legends World Championship 2019
The International 2019

Best Esports Coach
Eric ‘adreN’ Hoag (Team Liquid, CS:GO)
Nu-ri ‘Cain’ Jang (Team Liquid, LoL)
Fabian ‘GrabbZ’ Lohmann (G2 Esports, LoL)
Kim ‘Kkoma’ Jeong-gyun (SK Telecom T1, LoL)
Titouan ‘Sockshka’ Merloz (OG, DOTA 2)
Danny ‘Zonic’ Sørensen (Astralis, CSGO)

Best Esports Host
Eefje “Sjokz” Depoortere
Alex “Machine” Richardson
Paul “Redeye” Chaloner
Alex “Goldenboy” Mendez
Duan “Candice” Yu-Shuang