Elden Ring leads the Gamescom 2021 Awards nominees

The nominees for the Gamescom 2021 Awards have been revealed ahead of this year’s show.

An international jury comprised of games experts, journalists, and content creators nominated titles in 22 categories, five of which include Elden Ring.

The first batch of winners is set to be announced during Gamescom Opening Night Live on August 25, when Best Xbox Game, Best Nintendo Switch Game, Best PC Game and Best PlayStation Game will be revealed.

Winners of most of the other categories will be announced during the following two show days on August 26 and August 27, according to organisers Koelnmesse and the German Games Industry Association.

However, public voting for two categories (Best Streamer and Gamescom Most Wanted Consumer Award) is now open online until August 28 at 6am PT / 9am ET / 2pm BST / 3pm CEST, with the winners set to be announced on August 29.

Gamescom 2021 will be an all-digital affair for the second year running after its organisers abandoned plans to stage a hybrid show combining digital elements with on-site events due to restrictions around the Covid-19 pandemic.

The main event days are August 26-27, following the Opening Night Live showcase, which will feature over 30 games.

However, the announcements will begin on August 24, when Xbox will hold its own Gamescom stream and Bungie will air its latest Destiny showcase.

For more details, see our round-up of all the major Gamescom live streams you should look out for this week.

Further reading

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Gamescom live streams: Every event you need to watch this week

Xbox, Opening Night Live and more set to stream announcements

Gamescom 2021 Awards nominees

Best Microsoft Xbox Game

• Elden Ring, Bandai Namco Entertainment
• Far Cry 6, Ubisoft
• Halo Infinite, Microsoft

Best Nintendo Switch Game

• Just Dance 2022, Ubisoft
• Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope, Ubisoft

Best PC Game

• Age of Empires IV, Microsoft
• Elden Ring, Bandai Namco Entertainment
• Syberia: The World Before, astragon Entertainment

Best Sony PlayStation Game

• Elden Ring, Bandai Namco Entertainment
• Tales of Arise, Bandai Namco Entertainment
• The Dark Pictures: House of Ashes, Bandai Namco Entertainment

Best Action Adventure Game

• Elden Ring, Bandai Namco Entertainment
• Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope, Ubisoft
• Syberia: The World Before, astragon Entertainment

Best Action Game

• Far Cry 6, Ubisoft
• Halo Infinite, Microsoft
• Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Extraction, Ubisoft

Best Family Game

• Just Dance 2022, Ubisoft
• Run Prop, Run!, PlayTogether Studio
• Super Dungeon Maker, rokaplay

Best Indie Game

• Dorfromantik, Toukana Interactive
• Inua, Arte France
• Lost in Random, Electronic Arts

Best Role Playing Game

• Elden Ring, Bandai Namco Entertainment
• Encased, Koch Media
• Tales of Arise, Bandai Namco Entertainment

Best Simulation Game

• Climber: Sky is the Limit, Art Games Studio
• Farming Simulator 22, astragon Entertainment
• Undisclosed Title

Best Sports Game

• Climber: Sky is the Limit, Art Games Studio
• FIFA 22, Electronic Arts
• Riders Republic, Ubisoft

Best Strategy Game

• Age of Empires IV, Microsoft
• Company of Heroes 3, SEGA
• Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope, Ubisoft

Best Multiplayer Game

• Halo Infinite, Microsoft
• Riders Republic, Ubisoft
• The Dark Pictures: House of Ashes, Bandai Namco Entertainment

Best Ongoing Game

• Apex Legends, Electronic Arts
• Black Desert Online, Pearl Abyss Corp.
• Endzone – A World Apart: Prosperity, Assemble Entertainment

Most Original Game

• Dice Legacy, Koch Media / DESTINYbit
• Riders Republic, Ubisoft
• tERRORbane, Whisper Interactive

Best Announcement

• All announcements, reveals or premieres of gamescom’s partners at gamescom: Opening Night Live are eligible.

Best Lineup

• All gamescom partners having submitted to gamescom award 2021 are eligible.

Best of gamescom

• All category winners of the category groups Genre and Platform are eligible for the main award Best of gamescom.

Best Trailer

• All trailers of gamescom’s partners shown at gamescom: Opening Night Live are eligible.

Best Streamer

• Select partner streamers and content creators are eligible in the online voting.

Gamescom Most Wanted Consumer Award

• Nominees in all Genre and Platform categories are eligible in the online voting.

Heart of Gaming Award

• Each and every gamescom highlight is eligible for this extraordinary award: not only games, add-ons, and technologies, but also people, institutions, companies, concepts, or terms.