2024 was a good year for video games. The PlayStation 5 finally got the bevy of enticing exclusives Sony fans have been practically screaming for, we got the best year for indie games since Shovel Knight, and every new game generally lived up to expectations as long as we pretend Concord never happened (which I for one have no problem doing).

As the year draws to a close, we took a look at every single Game Awards category and made predictions about both the nominees and winners.

Game of the Year

Nominees:

• Black Myth: Wukong
• Astro Bot
• Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
• Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine II
• Animal Well

Winner: Final Fantasy VII Rebirth

It took all of the willpower in me not to say Astro Bot. And truly, the little robot that could has almost certainly solidified his position as the mascot character of the PlayStation 5. But as a video game, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is a more fleshed out experience with more in-depth world design, character building and overall performance. I have no doubt in my mind that Astro Bot will be a nominee for the prestigious award, and it will likely take home some awards, but for me it fell just short of GotY for me.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is not just a fantastic follow-up to Final Fantasy VII Remake, it can stand alone as a fantastic experience. Yes, the game requires some degree of knowledge about Remake, but the journey across the Planet is a gripping adventure in a vacuum. SquareEnix did a brilliant job making every area feel like a lived-in world, with every setting in the game being immersive and believable. Overall, the magnitude of Rebirth combined with the precision crafting of the game put it over the edge for me.

I gave a lot of thought to Warhammer 40K: Space Marine II as the Game of the Year. It has an 83 on Metacritic, but those who played it have very publicly sung the game’s praises. I have yet to play it myself, but both the visuals and gameplay look stunning, and it seems to be a worthy successor to the original game. That said, the Game of the Year does need to have wider appeal (said the guy who gave the award to the second installment in a planned trilogy), and Warhammer has always had a somewhat niche audience. Is that fair? Absolutely not. But that’s the way the Game Awards go. Also, the gameplay of Space Marine II seems to get a little one-dimensional at times, even if it is in the service of a compelling campaign. That is not to say it’s not a brilliant game, but it does not quite meet the lofty expectations of the Game of the Year.

Best Multiplayer Game

Nominees:

• Tekken 8
• College Football 25
• Helldivers II
• Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
• Concord (I’m just kidding)

Winner: Helldivers II

Hear me out.

It was really between Helldivers II and Tekken 8 for me. I recognize that players had some issues with Helldivers II when it came out, but it truly gives the most expansive and comprehensive multiplayer experience of any game released this year. Yes, Tekken 8 is a fantastic installment in the series, but Helldivers II blew me away with the way it redefined what a Helldivers game is, throwing the camera behind the player and improving the procedurally generated levels to give players unique experiences.

To be honest, I felt like this category was a little slim for this year. I even had to go through a list of major game releases month by month just to make sure I was not missing anything. As much as I am glad to see the College Football series return following historic deals in the NCAA, it is more or less just Madden with a new coat of paint. Granted, that is exactly what I and the rest of its audience wanted it to be, but that is what it is. Frankly, putting Call of Duty here was more or less just a field filler.

Best eSports Game

Nominees:

• Valorant
• Fortnite
• Apex Legends
• League of Legends
• Rocket League

Winner: Valorant

I don’t know, man.

The eSports landscape does not change much. Valorant has won the title for the past two years, and no eSports game has made any major leaps in quality, so by default Valorant would take the crown for the third time.

According to this chart, League of Legends was the most viewed eSport this past year with over 2,800,000 peak views, so at first that was my Best eSports Game. But that was flawed logic, because there are lots of reasons people watch specific eSports. This award goes to the best executed game that is tailored for eSports, and that would happen to be Valorant.

I do not play many eSports games. I jump into a match of Apex Legends every now and again, and I do reinstall Fortnite at least once a year, so I concede that maybe I do not have the proper mindset to predict or declare the winner of an eSports related award.

Best Mobile Game

Nominees:

• Star Wars: Hunters
• Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile
• Balatro
• Ex Astris

Winner: Balatro

Honestly, Balatro could have been in the Game of the Year conversation, and it is perfect for the mobile form factor. 2024 was not a bad year for mobile games, but Balatro can stand toe to toe with nearly any game regardless of platform. I personally like to see an indie game that stands head and shoulders above the competition.

The only other game that could consider itself competition to Balatro would be Ex Astris, an RPG which received fairly positive reception upon its release in late February. It feels and plays like a bona fide console game, but it gets lost in the massive host of other 3D JRPGs, even on mobile platforms. With Balatro, there are truly no other games like it.

I was actually impressed with Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile and the transition of Activision’s battle royale from PC/Console to mobile. That transition has gotten easier over the years, but it’s still impressive to see a real-time multiplayer game run so smoothly. However, at its core, Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile is just a port. It’s a good port, but it’s a port on a contemporary console.

Best Ongoing Game

Nominees:

• Destiny 2
• Elden Ring
• World of Warcraft
• Alan Wake II
• Final Fantasy XVI

Winner: Elden Ring

The way I look at this category is “Best Update/Best DLC,” and in that respect Elden Ring stands alone with Shadow of Erdtree. The DLC gave the most hardcore Elden Ring fans a new challenge, while also introducing a swath of new weapons and items. Shadow of Erdtree transforms an already fantastic game into a two part experience, with the additional content designed to give the most masochistic of gamers the challenge of their lives.

That said, this was a strong category. Destiny 2 recently came out with the final installment of the game with The Final Shape, being a worthy conclusion to the game’s ten year journey. Rarely can an expansion justify a $50 price tag, but fans and critics alike seem to have an easy time getting around that obstacle.

This is one of my favorite categories at the Game Awards, because it focuses on redemption. Last year’s winner was Cyberpunk 2077 for the DLC Phantom Liberty. The expansion completely flipped the narrative surrounding the game, taking it from the false-advertising flop to a truly unique experience far more congruous to what was originally promised. But that turnaround was nothing compared to No Man’s Sky, for which the developer Hello Games was rewarded for not giving up on a game which released far below the promised standards. It’s a reminder that in this day and age, no game is truly beyond saving.

Best Performance

Nominees:

• Kazuhiro Nakaya, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
• Casey Mongillo, Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance
• Wayne Gordon, Dragon’s Dogma II
• Stewart Scudamore, Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine II
• Mark Takeshi Oto, Black Myth: Wukong

Winner: Mark Takeshi Oto, Black Myth: Wukong

Mark Takeshi Oto is my prediction for the award. I think it should be Wayne Gordon. Which is not to say that Mark Takeshi Oto did a fantastic job bringing the Destined One to life in Black Myth: Wukong, but Gordon’s performance as Brant in Dragon’s Dogma II made me want to go to war for him. The booming voice, the assertive demeanor, it all makes Brant believable as the captain of the palace guard. Without Gordon, Brant would be wholly unconvincing standing up for what he believes in.

But Oto was presented with a unique challenge: how do you give a voice to an character of Chinese legend who is also a monkey? How do you make a hero with a high-pitched voice sound strong and courageous? How do you turn a monkey into a badass? It was a tough project for Oto, but he handled it brilliantly. If he does win Best Performance, he will have truly earned it, and even though I would love to see Gordon recognized for his achievement, I have to concede that on a technical level Oto’s performance stands at the top here.

Player’s Choice

Nominees:

• Astro Bot
• Black Myth: Wukong
• College Football 25
• The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
• Destiny 2

Winner: Astro Bot

It’s got to be. It has to be. There’s not a doubt in my mind. Astro Bot captured the hearts and minds of gamers from the minute it came out, and I have every confidence that it will rack up the votes once the Player’s Voice poll opens. Whatever game has the most goodwill at the time of voting takes the award, and the PlayStation’s best 3D platformer since Sly Cooper will undoubtedly still be riding said goodwill.

The vote will be close. College Football 25 has harbored loads of goodwill just by virtue of existing. It is a game that some people will buy an entire console just to play, and I saw people do just that while working at GameStop. If everybody who played College Football 25 voted for the game, then Astro Bot would be in trouble. But College Football 25 and Madden are similar in that they attract an audience outside the typical “gamer” crowd, the kind that would not know to vote in the Player’s Voice award. So in a bizarre way, voter suppression might be what pushes Astro Bot over the edge.

It has yet to release, but I added The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom to the list of nominees because it could catch fire if fans are as enthusiastic about the game as critics seem to be. We finally have a game in which the player controls Zelda, a concept which both fans and Nintendo have floated around for nearly three decades, and that alone could make it a huge hit. At this point, it seems like reasonable speculation.

Best Independent Game

Nominees:

• Animal Well
• Another Crab’s Treasure
• Balatro
• Palworld
• Hades II

Winner: Animal Well

The best part of this year for gaming is that five nominees is far too few for the 2024 Best Independent Game. If Pacific Drive, Zet Zillions, World of Goo 2 or V Rising had released last year, they would have been the undisputed favorites to win the award. That is not a dig against 2023 winner Sea of Stars, but it speaks to the quality of indie games this year that the aforementioned games could not even crack this year’s nominations. Of the five nominees, three of them have a very realistic chance of being a Game of the Year nominee, and in fact of Animal World, Balatro and Another Crab’s Treasure, it is almost certain that one of them will be a nominee.

Picking a winner was a tougher decision than I thought. Animal Well is the best game of all of them, bringing a whole new twist to Metroidvania games, but the other nominees are at a such high quality that I cannot say Animal Well is head and shoulders above them. Palworld is the only game where I could maybe definitively put below Animal Well without a second thought, but that’s all. There is still a very real possibility that Balatro or Another Crab’s Treasure comes in and swoops the prize. Of all the major awards, this one is the biggest toss-up.

Content Creator of the Year

• Charlie White Jr. (penguinz0, Mo1stCr1TiKaL)
• Scott Wozniak (Scott the Woz)
• Jim Caddick (Caddicarus)
• Karl Jobst
• Jon Downey (Spawn Wave)

Winner: Jim Caddick

Let’s take a look at what Caddy has done in 2024: he’s cared for his partner with breast cancer, he’s helped his stepdaughters work through one of the most difficult times in their lives, he’s expanded the Caddicarus brand through events and merchandising, and he’s put out hour-long content. I could not do what Jim Caddick is doing right now, and I certainly could not do it as well as he does. The world deserves to know what Caddy has been through and has persevered through.

In terms of nominees, I cannot believe Cr1TiKaL has never won a Content Creator of the Year award. His Moist eSports business partner Ludwig Ahgren took home the prize in 2022, although I would contend that Cr1TiKaL has done more to advance the cause of gaming than Ahgren (which is no dig to Ludwig, it just serves to show how important Charlie White Jr. is to the gaming scene). That being said, Cr1TiKaL’s reporting is usually secondhand, and though his reviews are thorough, White’s brand is far too big for him to just focus on video games.

Karl Jobst and Mutahar Anas (SomeOrdinaryGamers, who with more gaming content on his channel could have been a nominee himself) have become the Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein of the gaming world. The two of them did an in-depth investigation on another content creators misdeeds with an annual charity event, which had gone unnoticed by the traditional gaming media. With his deep knowledge of games and his willingness to confront those he has evidence against, Jobst has solidified himself as an important pillar in the gaming industry. He is a journalist through and through, and maybe it’s the journalistic self-loathing in me that kept him from the top spot.