Kratos might be skilled at fighting gods and monsters, but he will be facing an entirely new kind of opponent at the 2018 Game Awards, as God of War is facing off against Red Dead Redemption 2 in every category that they are nominated in.
God of War and Red Dead Redemption 2 will be competing in the Best Game Direction, Best Narrative, Best Art Direction, Best Score/Music, Best Audio Design, Best Action/Adventure, and the Game of the Year awards.
God of War and Red Dead Redemption 2 will also be competing through proxies in the Best Performance category, with Christopher Judge as Kratos and Roger Clark as Arthur Morgan representing their respective games.
The official website for the upcoming Game Awards has listed every award and all of the nominees.
PREVIOUSLY: NINTENDO SWITCH DATAMINE REVEALS SMITE IS COMING TO THE CONSOLE
Best Ongoing Game
- Destiny 2 (Bungie / Activision)
- Fortnite (Epic Games)
- No Man’s Sky (Hello Games)
- Overwatch (Blizzard)
- Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege (Ubisoft Montreal / Ubisoft)
Best Game Direction
- A Way Out (Hazelight Studios / EA)
- Detroit: Become Human (Quantic Dream / SIE)
- God of War (Sony Santa Monica / SIE)
- Marvel’s Spider-Man (Insomniac Games / SIE)
- Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)
Best Narrative
- Detroit: Become Human (Quantic Dream / SIE)
- God of War (Sony Santa Monica / SIE)
- Life is Strange 2: Episode 1 (Dontnod Entertainment / Square Enix)
- Marvel’s Spider-Man (Insomniac Games / SIE)
- Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)
Best Art Direction
- Assassin’s Creed Odyssey (Ubisoft Quebec / Ubisoft)
- God of War (Sony Santa Monica / SIE)
- Octopath Traveler (Square Enix / Acquire / Nintendo)
- Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)
- Return of Obra Din (3909 LLC)
Best Score/Music – Presented By Spotify
- Celeste (Lena Raine)
- God of War (Bear McCreary)
- Marvel’s Spider-Man (John Paesano)
- Ni No Kuni II (Joe Hisaishi)
- Octopath Traveler (Yasunori Nishiki)
- Red Dead Redemption 2 (Woody Jackson)
Best Audio Design – Presented By Dolby
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 (Treyarch Studios / Activision)
- Forza Horizon 4 (Playground Games / Turn 10 Studios / Microsoft Studios)
- God of War (Sony Santa Monica / SIE)
- Marvel’s Spider-Man (Insomniac Games / SIE)
- Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)
Best Performance
- Christopher Judge as Kratos (God of War)
- Roger Clark as Arthur Morgan (Red Dead Redemption 2)
- Yuri Lowenthal as Peter Parker (Spider-Man)
- Melissanthi Mahut as Kassandra (Assassin's Creed Odyssey)
- Bryan Dechart as Connor (Detroit: Become Human)
Games For Impact
- 11-11 Memories Retold (Digixart / Aardman Animations / BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment)
- Celeste (Matt Makes Games)
- Florence (Mountains / Annapurna Interactive)
- Life is Strange 2: Episode 1 (Dontnod Entertainment / Square Enix)
- The Missing: JJ Macfield and the Island of Memories (White Owls / Arc System Works)
Best Independent Game
-Celeste (Matt Makes Games)
-Dead Cells (Motion Twin)
-Into the Breach (Subset Games)
-Return of the Obra Dinn (3909 LLC)
-The Messenger (Sabotage Studio)
Best Mobile Game
- Donut County (Ben Esposito / Annapurna Interactive)
- Florence (Mountains / Annapurna Interactive)
- Fortnite (Epic Games)
- PUBG MOBILE (Lightspeed & Quantum / Tencent Games)
- Reigns: Game of Thrones (Nerial / Developer Digital)
Best VR/AR Game
- ASTRO BOT Rescue Mission (SIE Japan Studio / SIE)
- Beat Saber (Beat Games)
- Firewall Zero Hour (First Contact Entertainment / SIE)
- Moss (Polyarc Games)
- Tetris Effect (Resonair / Enhance, Inc)
Best Action Game
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 (Treyarch / Activision)
- Dead Cells (Motion Twin)
- Destiny 2: Forsaken (Bungie / Activision)
- Far Cry 5 (Ubisoft Montreal / Ubisoft)
- Mega Man 11 (Capcom)
Best Action/Adventure Game
- Assassin’s Creed Odyssey (Ubisoft Quebec / Ubisoft)
- God of War (Sony Santa Monica / SIE)
- Marvel’s Spider-Man (Insomniac Games / SIE)
- Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)
- Shadow of the Tomb Raider (Eidos Montreal / Crystal Dynamics / Square Enix)
Best Role Playing Game
-Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age (Square Enix / Square Enix)
-Monster Hunter: World (Capcom)
-Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom (Level 5 / BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment)
-Octopath Traveler (Square Enix / Acquire / Nintendo)
-Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire (Obsidian Entertainment / Versus Evil)
Best Fighting Game
- BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle (Arc System Works)
- Dragon Ball FighterZ (Arc System Works / BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment)
- Soul Calibur VI (Bandai Namco Studios / BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment)
- Street Fighter V Arcade (Dimps / Capcom)
Best Family Game
-Mario Tennis Aces (Camelot Software Planning / Nintendo)
-Nintendo Labo (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)
-Overcooked 2 (Ghost Town Games / Team 17)
-Starlink: Battle for Atlas (Ubisoft Toronto / Ubisoft)
-Super Mario Party (NDCube / Nintendo)
Best Strategy Game
- BATTLETECH (Harebrained Schemes / Paradox Interactive
- Frostpunk (11 bit studios)
- Into the Breach (Subset Games)
- The Banner Saga 3 (Stoic Studio / Versus Evil)
- Valkyria Chronicles 4 (Sega CS3 / Sega)
Best Sports/Racing Game
-FIFA 19 (EA Vancouver / EA Sports)
-Forza Horizon 4 (Playground Games / Turn 10 Studios / Microsoft Studios)
-Mario Tennis Aces (Camelot Software Planning / Nintendo)
-NBA 2K19 (Visual Concepts / 2K Sports)
-Pro Evolution Soccer 2019 (PES Productions / Konami)
Best Multiplayer Game
-Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 (Treyarch / Activision)
-Destiny 2: Forsaken (Bungie / Activision)
-Fortnite (Epic Games)
-Monster Hunter: World (Capcom)
Best Student Game
- Combat 2018 – (Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences – Norway)- Dash Quasar (UC Santa Cruz)- JERA (Digipen Bilbao, Spain)- LIFF (ISART Digital – France)- RE: Charge (MIT)
Best Debut Indie Game
- Donut County (Ben Esposito / Annapurna Interactive)
- Florence (Mountains / Annapurna Interactive)
- Moss (Polyarc Games)
- The Messenger (Sabotage Studio)
- Yoku’s Island Express (Villa Gorilla)
Best Esports Game
- CSGO
- DOTA 2
- Fortnite
- League of Legends
- Overwatch
Best Esports Player – Presented By Omen By HP
- Dominique “SonicFox” McLean (Echo Fox)
- Hajime “Tokido” Taniguchi
- Jian “Uzi” Zi-Hao (Royal Never Give Up)
- Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev (Natus Vincere)
- Sung-hyeon “JJoNak” Bang (New York Excelsior)
Best Esports Team
- Astralis (CSGO)
- Cloud9 (LOL)
- Fnatic (LOL)
- London Spitfire (Overwatch)
- OG (Dota 2)
Best Esports Coach
- Bok “Reapered” Han-gyu (Cloud9)
- Cristian “ppasarel” Bănăseanu (OG)
- Danny “zonic” Sørensen (Astralis)
- Dylan Falco (Fnatic)
- Jakob “YamatoCannon” Mebdi (Team Vitality)
- Janko “YNk” Paunovic (MiBR)
Best Esports Event
- ELEAGUE Major: Boston 2018
- Evo 2018
- League of Legends World Championship
- Overwatch League Grand Finals
- The International 2018
Best Esports Host
- Alex “Goldenboy” Mendez
- Alex “Machine” Richardson
- Anders Blume
- Eefje “Sjokz” Depoortere
- Paul “RedEye” Chaloner
Best Esports Moment
- C9 Comeback Win In Triple OT vs FAZE (ELEAGUE)
- KT vs IG Base Race (LOL Worlds)
- G2 Beating RNG (LOL Worlds)
- OG’s Massive Upset of LGD (DOTA 2 Finals)
- SonicFox Side Switch Against Go1 in DBZ (EVO)
Content Creator Of The Year
- Ninja
- Pokimane
- Dr. Lupo
- Myth
- Willyrex
Game of the Year
- Assassin’s Creed Odyssey (Ubisoft Quebec / Ubisoft)
- Celeste (Matt Makes Games)
- God of War (Sony Santa Monica / SIE)
- Marvel’s Spider-Man (Insomniac Games / SIE)
- Monster Hunter: World (Capcom)
- Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)
This is the big category and the line-up is strong this year. God of War and Red Dead Redemption 2 seem like the most obvious choices, but Marvel’s Spider-Man might also swoop in for a surprise victory.
Celeste likely doesn’t stand a chance, unless the organizers of the event want a shocking indie win for the Game Awards.
The 2018 Game Awards will be broadcast on December 7th.
READ NEXT: WATCH: NEW SMASH BROS. TRAILER SYNCS UP PERFECTLY WITH QUEEN'S 'DON'T STOP ME NOW'