New York Game Awards Nominees Announced

The Game Awards aren’t over…..at least if we’re talking about the New York Game Awards. It’s a different video game award ceremony that’s actually been around longer — fourteen years and still going strong. The New York Videogame Critics Circle (the people behind the whole thing) have just announced the list of nominees.

Given the varied categories, it’s harder here for any one game to “sweep,” but Astro Bot has four noms, 1000xResist has four too, and Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth has three….unless you count John Eric Bentley being nominated for his performance as Barret, in which case it also has four. It’s anyone’s game! It’s also worth noting this is the only awards show we’ve seen where Balatro doesn’t dominate — it has just one nomination.

Last year the New York Game Awards were held on the 23rd of January. Baldur’s Gate won for Best Game and Best Writing, while Hi-Fi Rush was given a well-deserved award for Best Music. Super Mario Bros Wonder won “Best Kids Game” (even though far more people than just kids play Mario) and Best Remake went to Resident Evil 4. Slay The Princess won Best Hidden Gem and the “Legend Award” was given to Last of Us creator Neil Druckmann.

Big Apple Award for Best Game of the Year

• Balatro
• Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth
• Astro Bot
• UFO 50
• 1000xResist
• Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
• Metaphor: ReFantazio
• EA Sports College Football 25

Off Broadway Award for Best Indie Game

• Tales of Kenzera: ZAU
• Lorelei and the Laser Eyes
• Balatro 
• I Am Your Beast
• UFO 50
• 1000xResist
• Thank Goodness You’re Here!
• Neva

Herman Melville Award for Best Writing in a Game

• Harold Halibut
• Metaphor: ReFantazio
• 1000xResist
• Life is Strange: Double Exposure
• Phoenix Springs
• Indiana Jones and the Great Circle

Statue of Liberty Award for Best World

• Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree
• Tales of Kenzera: ZAU
• Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth
• Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess
• Astro Bot
• Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
• S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2 Heart of Chornobyl

Tin Pan Alley Award for Best Music in a Game

• Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess
• Life is Strange: Double Exposure
• Astro Bot
• Arco
• Black Myth Wukong
• 1000xResist

Great White Way Award for Best Acting in a Game

• Abubakar Salim as Zao, Zuberi and Griot Echo in Tales of Kenzara: ZAO
• John Eric Bentley as Barret in Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth
• Hannah Telle as Max Caulfield in Life is Strange: Double Exposure
• Melina Juergens as Senua in Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2
• Troy Baker as Indiana Jones in Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
• Humberly González as Kay in Star Wars Outlaws

Coney Island Dreamland Award for Best AR/VR Game

• Thrasher
• Batman: Arkham Shadow
• Umurangi Generation VR
• Skydance’s Behemoth
• Silent Slayer: Vault of the Vampire
• Shattered

Central Park Children’s Zoo Award for Best Kids Game

• Astro Bot
• Super Mario Party Jamboree
• Little Kitty, Big City
• Sonic X Shadow Generations
• The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom

A-Train Award for Best Mobile Game

• Rabbids: Legends of the Multiverse
• Wuthering Waves
• Zenless Zone Zero
• Ex Astris
• Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket

Freedom Tower Award for Best Remake

• Soul Reaver 1 and 2 Remastered
• Silent Hill 2
• Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
• Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth
• Age of Mythology: Retold
• Persona 3: Reload

Chumley’s Speakeasy Award for Best Hidden Gem

• Ultros
• Vampire Therapist
• Mouthwashing
• Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story
• Mars After Midnight
• Starstruck: Hands of Time

NYC GWB Award for Best DLC

• Alan Wake II: Night Springs and The Lake House
• Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown – Mask of Darkness
• Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree
• Remnant 2: The Dark Horizon
• Splatoon 3: Side Order
• Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred

Knickerbocker Award for Best Games Journalism

• Duncan Fyfe
• Alexis Ong
• Grant Stoner
• Mason Andrew Hamberlin
• Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
• Simone De Rochefort & Clayton Ashley

The fourteenth New York Game Awards will be held January 21 at the SVA Theatre in Manhattan. Reggie Fils-Aime will be there, he’s co-hosting the event alongside NYVGCC president Harold Goldberg. If you live in the New York area, tickets for reserved seats are $80 and available for purchase today through Eventbrite. NYVGCC is also offering limited access to the awards afterparty, where the drinks are free, but the cover charge is $100.