Products You May Like
Earlier today, Geoff Keighley announced the nominations for The Game Awards 2023, including the hotly-contested Game of the Year — where both The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Super Mario Bros. Wonder are in contention.
But perhaps more impressive is that Nintendo has secured the most nominations of any publisher at this year’s awards, scooping up an impressive 15 nods. Let’s break that down a bit…
Obviously, we have our two heavy-hitters in the GOTY category — both games are up for five awards each, including Best Art Direction and Best Game Direction. Zelda is also up for Best Score and Music and Best Action / Adventure Game, while Mario is competing for Best Family Game and Best Multiplayer Game.
In terms of other games, Pikmin 4 has two nominations, one for Best Family Game and one for Best Sim / Strategy Game. In the latter category, Nintendo also has Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp and Fire Emblem Engage in the running.
Nintendo’s last nomination doesn’t come from a video game, but rather a movie. Yep, Illumination’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie is up for Best Adaptation. It’s been a pretty varied year for Nintendo, and that’s reflected in the nominations.
The last time Nintendo had two games up for the ultimate GOTY award was in 2017 when Breath of the Wild (which won the top prize) and Super Mario Odyssey were competing — that’s a heck of a pair, as is Tears and Wonder.
Nintendo always does well in the nominations department, but it hasn’t always been top of the pile, which makes this year’s awards notable. In 2022, Nintendo bagged 11 nominations, with Xenoblade Chronicles 3 being its most-nominated title. Then, in 2021, Nintendo managed 7 nominations, and its most-nominated game was Metroid Dread.
The last time Nintendo was the most-nominated publisher was in 2019 when it also was nominated for 15 awards. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate was the big competitor then, with Fire Emblem: Three Houses and Link’s Awakening also lending a hand.
Are you happy with The Game Award nominations? Any Nintendo titles you think got snubbed? Let us know in the comments.