This year has been an absolute banger in terms of gaming and now we have the chance to celebrate that at The Game Awards 2023. As you can see from The Game Awards 2023 nominees, there's some stiff competition in various categories, especially with the most prestigious Game of the Year contenders, so it will be interesting to see how it all shakes out.
As usual, Geoff Keighley once more hosts the event live from Los Angeles, CA with the main show starting on Dec. 7, 2023 at 5pm PT/8pm ET. Award winners as well as several game announcements for Xbox, PC, PS5, and Nintendo Switch will be revealed. We at Windows Central are covering everything as it unfolds so you can get the latest information right here.
Watch The Game Awards 2023 here:
The Game Awards 2023 takes place on Dec. 7, 2023. A 30-minute pre-show starts at 4:30pm PT/7:30pm ET while the main event starts at 5pm PT/8pm ET. It is expected to run for about two and a half to three hours.
The Game Awards 2023 nominees
Game of the Year
- Alan Wake 2
- Baldur's Gate 3
- Marvel's Spider-Man 2
- Resident Evil 4
- Super Mario Bros. Wonder
- The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Players' Voice
- Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty
- Marvel's Spider-Man 2
- Baldur's Gate 3
- The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
- Genshin Impact
Best Direction
- Alan Wake 2
- Baldur's Gate 3
- Marvel's Spider-Man 2
- Super Mario Bros. Wonder
- The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Best Narrative
- Alan Wake 2
- Baldur's Gate 3
- Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty
- Final Fantasy XVI
- Marvel's Spider-Man 2
Best Art Direction
- Alan Wake 2
- Hi-Fi Rush
- Lies of P
- Super Mario Bros. Wonder
- The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Best Score and Music
- Alan Wake 2
- Baldur's Gate 3
- Final Fantasy XVI
- Hi-Fi Rush
- The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Best Audio Design
- Alan Wake 2
- Dead Space (2023)
- Hi-Fi Rush
- Marvel's Spider-Man 2
- Resident Evil 4 (2023)
Best Performance
- Ben Starr as Clive Rosfield, Final Fantasy XVI
- Cameron Monaghan as Cal Kestis, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
- Idris Elba as Solomon Reed, Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty
- Melanie Liburd as Saga Anderson, Alan Wake 2
- Neil Newbon as Astarion, Baldur's Gate 3
- Yuri Lowenthal as Peter Parker, Marvel's Spider-Man 2
Innovation in Accessibility
- Diablo 4
- Forza Motorsport
- Hi-Fi Rush
- Marvel's Spider-Man 2
- Mortal Kombat 1
- Street Fighter 6
Games for Impact
- A Space for the Unbound
- Chants of Sennaar
- Goodbye Volcano High
- Tchia
- Terra Nil
- Venba
Best Ongoing
- Apex Legends
- Cyberpunk 2077
- Final Fantasy XIV
- Fortnite
- Genshin Impact
Best Community Support
- Baldur's Gate 3
- Cyberpunk 2077
- Destiny 2
- Final Fantasy XIV
- No Man's Sky
Best Independent Game
- Cocoon
- Dave the Diver
- Dredge
- Sea of Stars
- Viewfinder
Best Debut Indie Game
- Cocoon
- Dredge
- Pizza Tower
- Venba
- Viewfinder
Best Mobile Game
- Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis
- Hello Kitty Island Adventure
- Honkai: Star Rail
- Monster Hunter Now
- Terra Nil
Best VR/AR
- Gran Turismo 7
- Horizon Call of the Mountain
- Humanity
- Resident Evil Village VR Mode
- Synapse
Best Action Game
- Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon
- Dead Island 2
- Ghostrunner 2
- Hi-Fi Rush
- Remnant 2
Best Action/Adventure
- Alan Wake 2
- Marvel's Spider-Man 2
- Resident Evil 4 (2023)
- Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
- The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Best RPG
- Baldur's Gate 3
- Final Fantasy XVI
- Lies of P
- Sea of Stars
- Starfield
Best Fighting
- God of Rock
- Mortal Kombat 1
- Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2
- Pocket Bravery
- Street Fighter 6
Best Family
- Disney Illusion Island
- Party Animals
- Pikmin 4
- Sonic Superstars
- Super Mario Bros. Wonder
Best Sim/Strategy
- Advance Wars 1+2 Re-Boot Camp
- Cities Skylines 2
- Company of Heroes 3
- Fire Emblem Engage
- Pikmin 4
Best Sports/Racing
- EA Sports FC 24
- F1 23
- Forza Motorsport
- Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Supercharged
- The Crew Motorfest
Best Multiplayer
- Baldur's Gate 3
- Diablo 4
- Party Animals
- Street Fighter 6
- Super Mario Bros. Wonder
Best Adaption
- Castlevania: Nocturne
- Gran Turismo
- The Last of Us
- The Super Mario Bros. Movie
- Twisted Metal
Most Anticipated Game
- Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
- Hades 2
- Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
- Star Wars Outlaws
- Tekken 8
Content Creator of the Year
- IronMouse
- PeopleMakeGames
- Quackity
- Spreen
- SypherPK
Best Esports Game
- Counter-Strike 2
- DOTA 2
- League of Legends
- PUBG Mobile
- Valorant
Best Esports Athlete
- Lee "Faker" Sang-Hyeok
- Mathieu "Zywoo" Herbaut
- Max "Demon1" Mazanov
- Paco "Hydra" Rusiewiez
- Park "Ruler" Jay-Hyuk
- Phillip "ImperialHal" Dosen
Best Esports Team
- Evil Geniuses
- FNATIC
- Gaiman Gladiators
- JD Gaming
- Team Vitality
Best Esports Coach
- Christine "Potter" Chi
- Danny "Zonic" Sorensen
- Jordan "Gunba" Graham
- Remy "XTQZZZ" Quoniam
- Yoon "Homme" Sung-Young
Best Esports Event
- 2023 League of Legends World
- Blast.TV Paris Major 2023
- Evo 2023
- The International Dota 2 Championships 2023
- Valorant Champions 2023
Latest The Game Awards 2023 announcements
Hello folks! It's hard to believe we're already at the end of the year. I swear it was just January and then I blinked and here we are. That of course means that it's time to acknowledge the best games that have released in the last several months. Xbox exclusives — Starfield in particular — might have been snubbed a bit at this year's The Game Awards, but there are still plenty of nominees on PC and Xbox to root for. Of course, there's also the chance that we might get highly anticipated news on upcoming Xbox games or upcoming PC games.
The excitement is building and I personally cannot wait to see if we get new trailers or information surrounding Fable, Hellblade II, Avowed, and more. One thing's for sure, we at Windows Central will be here to revel in the latest news with live instant updates so tune in with us to get the latest information on The Game Awards 2023. — Rebecca Spear, Gaming Editor
Just what will we see tomorrow?
Hi everyone, Samuel Tolbert here with the Windows Central Gaming team. I'm curious about how this year's Game Awards will unfold. The last couple of years, we already knew about a lot of the announcements before they were shown, but that's not the case here. There's a couple of tidbits and teasers, sure, but we're mostly in the dark. One big thing at the top of my mind though? Getting a release date for Baldur's Gate 3 on Xbox Series X|S, which we do know will be here. — Samuel Tolbert, gaming contributor
Welcome to our coverage of The Game Awards!
Hello, all, and welcome to Team Windows Central's live coverage of The Game Awards 2023! I'm Brendan Lowry, one of our gaming contributors that'll be bringing you coverage of the event as it happens, including every award presentation, world premiere, new game trailer, and more. As my colleague Samuel said, it's sure to be an interesting show — both because we don't know much about what will be there, and also because countless incredible games have launched this year.
My personal Game of the Year is Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon, which I confidently gave a 5 out of 5 rating when I reviewed it back in August. It didn't get nominated for the official award, sadly (and let's be real, Baldur's Gate 3 totally deserves it), but I'm hoping it at least takes home Best Action Game. I'd also love to see another trailer for Elden Ring's Shadow of the Erdtree DLC (if you couldn't tell, I'm a bit of a diehard FromSoftware stan). No matter what, though, The Game Awards should be a good time! — Brendan Lowry, gaming contributor
Our own Jez Corden is generating some hype
No spoilers from me but I know more about The Game Awards than usual this year and I'm pretty hype rn.December 6, 2023
Our own Mr Xbox, Jez Corden, apparently has some of his famous insider knowledge on what's coming at this year's The Game Awards. No spoilers (good man!) but if Jez is hyped, then that probably means the rest of us should be. — Richard Devine, Managing Editor
What to expect from The Game Awards 2023
Good morning everyone! We've made it to the big day, and at the time of writing, The Game Awards is now just 10 hours away. Ahead of the broadcast, I'd like to go over everything that we know we're going to see tonight, either due to direct confirmations or because of teasers and hints given ahead of the show.
The amount of details we have for the event this year are unusually sparse, though we still have information about a decent number of the incoming reveals and announcements. These include the following:
- Baldur's Gate 3's Xbox release date (Shadow drop? 👀)
- Microsoft might make some "important announcements"
- Sega is teasing something with the "New Era, New Energy" tagline
- More details about Warframe's Whisper of the Walls update
- The world premiere of Fortnite's Rocket Racing game mode
- The next character coming to Guilty Gear Strive in Season 3
- A look at a Dead by Daylight/Supermassive Games collab
- ATLUS "has something to show" for Metaphor: ReFantazio
- The Outlast Trials dev Red Barrels has something in store
- Official launch trailer for the Meta Quest VR title Asgard's Wrath 2
Beyond these, we're very much in the dark, though there's sure to be plenty more since this is a 2-3 hour long show. Personally, I'm hoping to see something from GSC Game World on the long-awaited STALKER 2, which has been delayed multiple times to Q1 2024 due to Russia's war of aggression in Ukraine. I'm a massive fan of that series, and am looking forward to seeing more of what GSC is cooking up. An announcement from 4A Games, another Ukrainian developer that created the popular Metro series, would also be very exciting. Oh, and as I wrote last night, show me more of the Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, FromSoftware! — Brendan Lowry
Timothée Chalamet to present at TGA
Tonight, we welcome @WonkaMovie and @DuneMovie star Timothée Chalamet to #TheGameAwards as a presenter. Watch the free global livestream at https://t.co/u70K4kSdGZ at 4:30p PT / 7:30p ET / 12:30a GMT.👀 pic.twitter.com/67GXBfvnDxDecember 7, 2023
Ahead of the show tonight, Geoff Keighley has announced that Timothée Chalamet will join Kratos voice actor Christopher Judge, Respawn Entertainment CEO Vince Zampella, and others as a presenter for The Game Awards.
Chalamet, star of the 2021 Dune film as well as its upcoming 2024 sequel and the Wonka movie that's scheduled to come to theaters on December 15, hasn't been shy about sharing his love of gaming before. Interestingly, he even visited Hideo Kojima and Kojima Productions last month, with both Geoff Keighley and the official The Game Awards account replying to photos of the visit on X (formerly Twitter) with "eyes" and "monocle" emojis.
Could we see Kojima and Chalamet announce that he'll be playing a role in a new Kojima Productions game, much like Norman Reedus did in Death Stranding? Maybe he'll appear in Death Stranding 2, or Kojima's upcoming cloud-powered Xbox game? Only time will tell... — Brendan Lowry
More PlayStation games headed to PC?
In 2022, Sony pulled up to the Game Awards to share details on the timing for some PlayStation 5 games being ported to PC, letting players know when to expect Returnal and The Last of Us Part 1 would be getting ports. It seems reasonable to expect Sony could attend the Game Awards 2023 in a similar fashion. We know that Horizon Forbidden West is headed to Windows PC, so why not drop a quick trailer with the release date? Maybe Sony could even share details on what other PlayStation games are headed to PC soon. — Samuel Tolbert
Gonzo the Muppet is ready for The Game Awards 2023
Gonzo just entered the building. #TheGameAwardsDecember 7, 2023
Various Muppets have made appearances at The Game Awards over the years and this time The Great Gonzo will be taking stage as a presenter. In fact, it seems the Muppet is already at The Game Awards as revealed by a tweet from Geoff Keighley. "Gonzo just entered the building," it reads.
Whether or not Gonzo will be accompanied by any other Muppets is currently unknown but it wouldn't be surprising if Camilla the Chicken is part of his act. In the past, Muppet character appearances at The Game Awards have included Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and Beaker, Pepé the King Prawn, The Swedish Chef, and Animal.
These appearances have previously served a dual purpose of providing comedic entertainment as well as a means of announcing new gaming content or revealing the winner of a category. It's currently uncertain which award Gonzo will present, but we're looking forward to seeing what unfolds. — Rebecca Spear
Is Baldur's Gate 3's director about to go to TGA in a suit of armor?
Baldur's Gate 3 is one of the biggest games appearing at this year's The Game Awards, with nominations for eight awards including the distinguished title of Game of the Year. And tonight, its director might walk on stage wearing a suit of full plate armor.
Swen Vincke, Baldur's Gate 3's Game Director and also Larian Studios' founder and CEO, is well-known for the gorgeous knightly armor he often wears in marketing materials and interviews. A few days ago, he took to X (formerly Twitter) to tease the idea of wearing it to The Game Awards, and eventually ended up proclaiming that he'd suit up if Larian's Lead Writer Adam Smith went in a bear costume. Smith, of course, was down with the idea.
Tragically, there's been a hiccup that threatens to ruin everything, as Larian's Director of Publishing Michael Douse said on X that the man transporting the armor to The Game Awards — a hero named "Nick" that we don't deserve — had his travel held up by a plane malfunction. However, "they gave Nick a brand new plane," so there's still hope.
"If all goes to plan," the armor will arrive in time, and Vincke will roll into The Game Awards with the drippiest outfit anyone's ever worn to the event (and he'll be accompanied by a suspiciously man-sized bear). As a huge nerd that fawns over medieval arms and armor, my fingers are definitely crossed. — Brendan Lowry
Life Is Strange, Jusant dev DON'T NOD teases an appearance
It looks like DON'T NOD, the studio behind narrative adventure games like Life Is Strange, Life Is Strange 2, Tell Me Why, and Twin Mirror, will be making an appearance at The Game Awards. In the hours leading up to the event, the developer posted a "videocassette" and "eyes" emoji while tagging The Game Awards. This post was then reposted by Geoff Keighley.
DON'T NOD — which also released the puzzle-filled climbing platformer Jusant at the end of October — is known for creating deep, story-rich games with attractive stylized visuals. We may see it reveal a new upcoming game tonight, though it's also possible it will have more to show of Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden. This third-person ghost hunting ARPG was announced at TGA 2022 and was originally slated to launch on Xbox Series X|S, PS5, and Windows PC in November, but was delayed to February 2024 due to 2023's crowded end-of-year release schedule. — Brendan Lowry
