By Sagar V. Mankar 
The National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers (NAVGTR) has officially announced the nominees for its 24th annual awards. With over 14,000 subscribers and 505 media voters participating, this year’s nominations span 52 different categories, covering everything from technical excellence to creative brilliance.
Game of the Year Nominees
One of the most anticipated categories, Game of the Year, features five standout titles:
- Black Myth: Wukong
- Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
- The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
- Metaphor: ReFantazio
- Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2
Among these, Black Myth: Wukong, developed by Game Science, leads the pack with an impressive 20 nominations. Metaphor: ReFantazio, developed by Atlus, follows with 11 nominations.
Interestingly, Astro Bot, which won over 110 Game of the Year awards in 2024, including The Game Awards’ top honor, was not nominated for Game of the Year at NAVGTR. Instead, it secured five nominations in other categories.
Other nominated games:
- Helldivers 2 – 10 nominations
- Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II – 9 nominations
- Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 – 8 nominations
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 – 8 nominations
- Stellar Blade – 7 nominations
- Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth – 7 nominations
- Indiana Jones and the Great Circle – 7 nominations
- The Plucky Squire – 6 nominations
- Harold Halibut – 6 nominations
- Star Wars Outlaws – 5 nominations
- The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom – 5 nominations
Top Developers and Publishers
Game Science leads all development studios with 20 nominations. Other top studios include:
- Saber Interactive – 11 nominations
- Atlus – 11 nominations
- Arrowhead Game Studios – 10 nominations
- Ninja Theory – 9 nominations
- Treyarch – 8 nominations
- Nintendo – 8 nominations
- SHIFT UP – 7 nominations
- Ryu ga Gotoku Studio – 7 nominations
- MachineGames – 7 nominations
Among publishers, Sony Interactive Entertainment received the highest number of nominations with 29, followed by:
- Game Science – 20 nominations
- SEGA – 19 nominations
- Nintendo – 14 nominations
- Focus Entertainment – 12 nominations
- Microsoft – 11 nominations
- Bandai Namco – 11 nominations
- Devolver Digital – 9 nominations
- Electronic Arts – 8 nominations
- Activision – 8 nominations
- Ubisoft – 7 nominations
- Bethesda Softworks – 7 nominations
- Netflix – 6 nominations
Franchise Achievements
Several major game franchises have accumulated numerous NAVGTR nominations over the years. Some of the most notable include:
- Call of Duty – 113 total nominations
- Final Fantasy – 88 total nominations
- The Legend of Zelda – 52 total nominations
- Star Wars – 49 total nominations
- Lego – 37 total nominations
- Yakuza (Like a Dragon) – 23 total nominations
- Hellblade – 19 total nominations
- Dragon Age – 19 total nominations
- Warhammer – 17 total nominations
- Elden Ring – 16 total nominations
- Silent Hill – 13 total nominations
- MLB The Show – 12 total nominations
- Tekken – 11 total nominations
- Monument Valley – 9 total nominations
- Outlast – 4 total nominations
Notable Newcomers
Several newly released games have made a strong impact, earning nominations in multiple categories. These include:
- Stellar Blade
- The Plucky Squire
- Harold Halibut
- Still Wakes the Deep
- Sand Land
Award Ceremony Details
For a full list of categories and nominees, visit the official NAVGTR website at navgtr.org. The winners will be announced on March 12, 2025.