The annualHugo Awardshas issued its nominations for the past year’s best science fiction and fantasy across literature, media, and fandom. As promised, this year’sHugo Awardsalso include the first annual category for Best Video Game. The list of six nominees features many familiar games from 2020’s largest award shows, but also some impressive surprises. Voting for nominees is opening in April, and will remain open all the way through June 12, 2025. In other words, a winner won’t be decided for quite some time.
The first annual Best Video Game nominees for the Hugo Awards include the following games:Animal Crossing: New Horizons,Blaseball,Final Fantasy 7 Remake,Hades,The Last of Us: Part 2, andSpiritfarer. The heavy favorites from the list are likely to beHades, which has brought in dozens of Game of the Year awards; andThe Last of Us 2, which has also been very well received.Animal Crossing: New HorizonsandFinal Fantasy 7 Remakeare both common nominees for Game of the Year awards, as well.
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The two surprises of the Hugo Awards Best Video Game nominees areBlaseballandSpiritfarer.Blaseballis a curious browser gamebased on an automated sort-of-baseball simulator, where players bet on matches, vote on rules between seasons, and help write the universe in whichBlaseballtakes place.Spiritfareris a 2D adventure game in which the player helps charming NPCs pass on to the afterlife. Both games are dark horses for the award, but it goes to show that the Hugo Awards have a unique perspective on the gaming industry.
Why the Hugo Awards decided to include a category for video games this year isn’t clear, given the award’s focus on literature. That said, the Hugo Awards' expansion into coveringfantasy and sci-figraphic novels, movies, and even fanfics show that a video category fits in perfectly. As noted, don’t expect theHugo Awardsto complete anytime soon, as voting will remain open all the way through November.
