Since 2006, Nordic Game has presented the Nordic Game Awards, an annual celebration of the year’s very best Nordic games in different categories, selected by a jury of games industry peers chosen in cooperation with the Nordic Game Institute.

The 2021 Nordic Game Awards will be streamed live on Thursday, 27 May during NG21 online.

Always a highlight of the Nordic Game conference, this year’s show will spotlight the talent and expertise of the region’s studios as well as the amazing games they’ve released over the past year.

The Nordic Game Awards 2021 nominees are:

Nordic Game of the Year nominees:

• Deep Rock Galactic from Ghost Ship Games (DK)
• Mørkredd from Hyper Games (NO)
• Crusader Kings III from Paradox Development Studio (SE)
• Teardown from Tuxedo Labs (SE)
• Noita from Nolla Games (FI)

Nordic Game of the Year – Small Screen nominees:

• Moving Out from DevM Games (SE)
• Huntdown from Easy Trigger Games (SE)
• Terror Squid from Apt Games (NO)
• #AkiRobots from FlatPonies (DK)
• Fancade from Martin Magni (SE)

Best Art nominees:

• Huntdown from Easy Trigger Games (SE)
• Deep Rock Galactic from Ghost Ship Games (DK)
• Mørkredd from Hyper Games (NO)
• Lightmatter from Tunnel Vision Games (DK)
• Stilstand from Niila Games (DK)

Best Game Design nominees, presented by TinyBuild:

• Mørkredd from Hyper Games (NO)
• Terror Squid from Apt Games (NO)
• Noita from Nolla Games (FI)
• Crusader Kings III from Paradox Development Studio (SE)
• Teardown from Tuxedo Labs (SE)

Best Technology nominees:

• Deep Rock Galactic from Ghost Ship Games (DK)
• Teardown from Tuxedo Labs (SE)
• Noita from Nolla Games (FI)
• Main Assembly from Bad Yolk Games (SE)
• Mørkredd from Hyper Games (NO)

Best Audio nominees:

• Amnesia: Rebirth from Frictional Games (SE)
• Apple Slash from Agelvik (NO)
• Deep Rock Galactic from Ghost Ship Games (DK)
• Stilstand from Niila Games (DK)
• Teardown from Tuxedo Labs (SE)

Best Fun for Everyone nominees:

• Moving Out from DevM Games (SE)
• Fancade from Martin Magni (SE)
• #AkiRobots from FlatPonies (DK)
• Mørkredd from Hyper Games (NO)
• Tanknarok from Polyblock Studio (NO)

Best Debut nominees:

• Deep Rock Galactic from Ghost Ship Games (DK)
• Huntdown from Easy Trigger Games (SE)
• Main Assembly from Bad Yolk Games (SE)
• Lightmatter from Tunnel Vision Games (DK)
• Company of Crime from Resistance Games (FI)

Best European Game (NEW category for 2021)

• Ori and the Will of the Wisps from Moon Studios (Austria)
• Dreams from Media Molecule (UK)
• Factorio from Wube Software (Czech Republic)
• Knights and Bikes from Foam Sword (UK)
• Cyberpunk 2077 from CD Project Red (Poland)

The Nordic Game Awards 2021 is sponsored by Epic Games/Unreal Engine.

The following industry profiles from the Nordic region served as nominee jurors for the Nordic Game Awards 2021:

• Gísli Konráðsson, Iceland: Gísli Konráðsson is the creative director of Arctic Theory. As a game industry veteran specialising in multiplayer games and virtual worlds, Gísli has worked on a range of projects all around the world.
• Audun Rodem, Norway: Audun Rodem is editor-in-chief of Gamer.no.
• Jaakko Kemppainen, Finland: Jaakko works as the regional artist of Games as Art. He has almost twenty years of experience in the games industry and education. Game design as an art form is his not-so-secret love.
• Alicia Andersson, Sweden: Powerful trans woman who writes about video games for @loadingse and @KULTURNYHETERNA. Produces video essays for @transparencyboo.
• Christina Majcher, Denmark: Writer, visionary artist and professional optimist. Writes passionately about electronic music, computer games, VR, travelling and stuff that glows in the dark.