The NAVGTR Awards honor 57 competitive categories recognizing achievement in animation, art direction, character design, controls, game design, game engineering, musical score, sound effects, writing, and more. Since its inception, the academy has recognized over 5,580 talented individuals.

Leading all games with a record-setting 24 nominations is The Last of Us Part II, developed by Naughty Dog. Close behind is Ghost of Tsushima with 21 nominations and Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales with 20 nominations. Half-Life: Alyx received 10 nominations, including two in control categories. (Half-Life 2 won 5 of 9 nominations in 2004.)

This year’s Game of the Year nominees are:

• Animal Crossing: New Horizons
• Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
• Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
• Genshin Impact
• Ghost of Tsushima
• The Last of Us Part II

The top developers this year are Naughty Dog, Sucker Punch Productions, Insomniac Games, Ubisoft, and Valve Corporation.

The top publishers this year are Sony Interactive Entertainment, Ubisoft, Sega, and Nintendo. Following closely behind are Bandai Namco, Activision, Xbox Game Studios, and Valve Corporation, all of whom received 10 or more nominations. Sony topped with 70 nominations.

With 4 nominations for Carrion, Sebastian Krośkiewicz is the most nominated individual of the year.

Winners will be announced February 22, 2021.

2020 NAVGTR Awards

OUTSTANDING Animation, Artistic

• Carrion
• Genshin Impact
• Ghost of Tsushima
• Immortals Fenyx Rising
• The Last of Us Part II
• Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales

OUTSTANDING Animation, Technical

• The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope
• Final Fantasy VII Remake
• Ghost of Tsushima
• The Last of Us Part II
• Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales
• Nioh 2

OUTSTANDING Art Direction, Contemporary

• Half-Life: Alyx
• Kentucky Route Zero
• The Last of Us Part II
• Liberated
• Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales
• Spiritfarer

OUTSTANDING Art Direction, Fantasy

• Cyberpunk 2077
• Genshin Impact
• Hades
• Journey to the Savage Planet
• Ori and the Will of the Wisps
• Paper Beast

OUTSTANDING Art Direction, Period Influence

• Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
• Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
• The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope
• Deadly Premonition 2: A Blessing in Disguise
• Ghost of Tsushima
• Sakura Wars

OUTSTANDING Camera Direction in a Game Engine

• The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope
• Ghost of Tsushima
• The Last of Us Part II

OUTSTANDING Character Design

• Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
• Cyberpunk 2077
• Ghost of Tsushima
• Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales
• Spiritfarer
• Yakuza: Like a Dragon

OUTSTANDING Control Design, 2D or Limited 3D

• Carrion
• The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope
• A Fold Apart
• Liberated
• Ori and the Will of the Wisps
• Spelunky 2

OUTSTANDING Control Design, 3D

• Deliver Us the Moon
• Final Fantasy VII Remake
• Genshin Impact
• The Last of Us Part II
• Maneater
• Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales

OUTSTANDING Control Design, VR

• Down the Rabbit Hole
• Half-Life: Alyx
• The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners

OUTSTANDING Control Precision

• Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 2
• Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time
• Ghostrunner
• Half-Life: Alyx
• The Last of Us Part II
• Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales

OUTSTANDING Costume Design

• Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
• Genshin Impact
• Ghost of Tsushima
• The Last of Us Part II
• Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales
• Sakura Wars

OUTSTANDING Direction in a Game Cinema

• The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope
• Death Come True
• Ghost of Tsushima
• The Last of Us Part II
• Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales
• Yakuza: Like a Dragon

OUTSTANDING Direction in Virtual Reality

• Half-Life: Alyx
• The Room VR: A Dark Matter
• The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners

OUTSTANDING Engineering

• Animal Crossing: New Horizons
• Ghost of Tsushima
• Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit
• Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales
• Microsoft Flight Simulator
• The Last of Us Part II

OUTSTANDING Gameplay Design, Franchise

• Animal Crossing: New Horizons
• Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
• Half-Life: Alyx
• Ori and the Will of the Wisps
• The Last of Us Part II
• Yakuza: Like a Dragon

OUTSTANDING Gameplay Design, New IP

• Carrion
• Deliver Us the Moon
• Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout
• Ghost of Tsushima
• Hades
• Liberated
• Paradise Killer
• Valorant

OUTSTANDING Game of the Year

• Animal Crossing: New Horizons
• Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
• Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
• Genshin Impact
• Ghost of Tsushima
• The Last of Us Part II

OUTSTANDING Game, Classic Revival

• Catherine: Full Body
• Final Fantasy VII Remake
• Moero Crystal H
• Moon: Remix RPG Adventure
• Super Mario 3D All-Stars
• Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 and 2

OUTSTANDING Game, Franchise Action

• Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 2
• Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
• Doom Eternal
• Half-Life: Alyx
• Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales
• Resident Evil 3

OUTSTANDING Game, Franchise Adventure

• Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
• The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope
• Deadly Premonition 2: A Blessing in Disguise
• The Last of Us Part II
• Watch Dogs: Legion

OUTSTANDING Game, Franchise Family

• Animal Crossing: New Horizons
• Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time
• Paper Mario: The Origami King
• Sackboy: A Big Adventure
• Super Mario Bros. 35
• Worms Rumble

OUTSTANDING Game, Franchise Fighting

• Granblue Fantasy: Versus
• Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity
• Kirby Fighters 2
• Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath
• Streets of Rage 4
• UFC 4

OUTSTANDING Game, Franchise Racing

• Automobilista 2
• Dirt 5
• F1 2020
• Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit
• Project CARS 3
• TT Isle of Man Ride on the Edge 2

OUTSTANDING Game, Franchise Role Playing

• Final Fantasy VII Remake
• Sakura Wars
• Trials of Mana
• Wasteland 3
• World of Warcraft: Shadowlands
• Yakuza: Like a Dragon

OUTSTANDING Game, Franchise Sports

• AO Tennis 2
• Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions
• FIFA 21
• Madden NFL 21
• MLB The Show 20
• Super Mega Baseball 3

OUTSTANDING Game, Music or Performance-Based

• Fuser
• Mad Rat Dead
• No Straight Roads
• Rhythm Fighter

OUTSTANDING Game, Original Action

• Carrion
• Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout
• Ghostrunner
• Immortals Fenyx Rising
• Journey to the Savage Planet
• Maneater

OUTSTANDING Game, Original Adventure

• Call of the Sea
• Deliver Us the Moon
• Ghost of Tsushima
• Liberated
• Paradise Killer
• Visage

OUTSTANDING Game, Original Family

• A Fold Apart
• Good Job!
• Kunai
• Luna: The Shadow Dust
• Panzer Paladin
• Roundguard

OUTSTANDING Game, Original Fighting

• Bounty Battle
• Mighty Fight Federation
• One Punch Man: A Hero Nobody Knows
• Treachery in Beatdown City

OUTSTANDING Game, Original Racing

• Hotshot Racing
• Inertial Drift
• Kandagawa Jet Girls
• Overpass
• Pacer

OUTSTANDING Game, Original Role Playing

• Genshin Impact
• Hades

OUTSTANDING Game, Original Sports

• Golf with Your Friends
• PGA TOUR 2K21

OUTSTANDING Game, Puzzle

• Call of the Sea
• Evan’s Remains
• Ever Forward
• I Am Dead
• Luna: The Shadow Dust
• Timelie

OUTSTANDING Game, Simulation

• Factorio
• Good Company
• Microsoft Flight Simulator
• PGA TOUR 2K21
• SnowRunner
• Teardown

OUTSTANDING Game, Special Class

• A Fold Apart
• Coffee Talk
• Deliver Us the Moon
• Paper Beast
• Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin
• Spiritfarer

OUTSTANDING Game, Strategy

• 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim
• Brigandine: The Legend of Runersia
• Gears Tactics
• Iron Harvest
• Monster Train
• A Total War Saga: TROY

OUTSTANDING Graphics, Technical

• Doom Eternal
• Ghost of Tsushima
• Half-Life: Alyx
• Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales
• The Last of Us Part II
• Resident Evil 3

OUTSTANDING Lighting/Texturing

• The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope
• Ghost of Tsushima
• The Last of Us Part II
• Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales
• Microsoft Flight Simulator
• Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem