Elden Ring and Horizon Forbidden West have both received seven nominations at The Game Awards this year, putting them behind God of War Ragnarok with ten. This is also only one more nomination than PlayStation's indie hit Stray, which is also up for Game of the Year alongside these huge titles.

This comes after months of certainty that Elden Ring had the big Game of the Year award in the bag, with many sure that it would enjoy a clean sweep at this year's Game Awards. However, that's looking a lot more uncertain now, with late arrival God of War Ragnarok proving to be a stronger contender than many expected.

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Sony Santa Monica looks set to have a very good night at The Game Awards on December 8, with ten nominations in total. This includes Game of the Year, Best Game Direction, Innovation in Accessibility, Best Narative, and two nominations in Best Performance for Christopher Judge and Sunny Sulgic who play Kratos and Atreus respectively.

This puts Elden Ring in a surprising second, and even more surprisingly, neck and neck with Horizon Forbidden West. Elden Ring is widely considered to be the better game, with a 96 on Metacritic compared to Forbidden West's 88.

As well as all of the expected big awards, Elden Ring is also a contender in the Best RPG, Best Audio Design, and Best Art Direction categories.

FromSoftware's latest hit not being the game to lead the pack isn't the only surprise from The Game Awards this year. In the GOTY category, A Plague Tale: Requiem managed to secure a nomination despite not being as widely positively received as other games on the list. With a Metacritic score of 82, it's also the lowest-rated nomination in the GOTY category.

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