The biggest night in gaming – the closest thing the industry has to its own Oscars ceremony – is almost upon us.
Live from Los Angeles in just a few days, The Game Awards will honour the best the medium had to offer this year, honouring everything from the biggest blockbusters to the smallest independent debuts.
Gaming reporter Martin Kimber and technology reporter Tom Acres are here with their tips for some of the most competitive categories – and you can keep scrolling for the full list of nominees.
Best game
A Plague Tale: Requiem Elden Ring God Of War Ragnarok Horizon Forbidden West Stray Xenoblade Chronicles 3
Martin’s pick: Horizon Forbidden West
It’s very difficult to pull off a successful sequel, but Guerrilla Games has done just that. You’ll struggle to find a prettier game with a bigger, more expansive map. It offers excellent replayability and thus value for money, it is addictive, and did I mention it’s pretty? Plus, robot dinosaurs! What’s not to like?!
Tom’s pick: Stray
Quite the debut from French indie studio BlueTwelve Studio. This surprisingly moving dystopian adventure painted a bleak yet hopeful picture of the fragility of life, and how it endures. Not content with nuanced commentary on capitalism and its impact on the planet, you also play as a very cute cat. And there’s a meow button!
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Image: ‘Robot dinosaurs’ made their return in Guerilla’s sequel. Pic: Sony
Image: Stray features inarguably the cutest main character of the year
Best narrative
A Plague Tale: Requiem Elden Ring God Of War Ragnarok Horizon Forbidden West Immortality
Martin’s pick: Horizon Forbidden West
In the first Horizon, it felt like the developers came up with the concept of robot dinosaurs and built the whole game around that idea. However, this sequel boasts a much more fleshed out story, captivating even the players who just want to take on a mechanised velociraptor with a bow and arrow.
Tom’s pick: God Of War Ragnarok
God Of War’s reinvention four years ago was a triumph, plucking the vengeful protagonist Kratos out of his Greek comfort zone and into Norse mythology – with a son, no less. The stranger in a strange land setup was inherently less novel this time, but his metamorphosis from one of gaming’s most two-dimensional meatheads into a touching and relatable depiction of fatherhood goes from strength to strength, with quite the emotional pay-off.
Image: Horizon Forbidden West was one of the best looking games of the year. Pic: Sony
Image: Kratos meets all manner of great characters on his latest journey, including Ratatoskr the squirrel
Best art direction
Elden Ring God Of War Ragnarok Horizon Forbidden West Scorn Stray
Martin’s pick: God Of War Ragnarok
I played this recently with some friends, who genuinely couldn’t tell the difference between the cinematics and the gameplay. If you basically want a playable, violent Pixar film, this is the game for you.
Tom’s pick: Elden Ring
FromSoftware’s games have always boasted tremendous art direction, and each have brought its dark, fantasy tendencies to bigger audiences. Elden Ring was a collaboration with Game Of Thrones creator George RR Martin, showcased by the sheer scope and detail of its world. There’s an almost impossible-to-imagine level of variety, with every corner you turn invariably offering something new. Best art or not, it’s definitely got the most.
Image: God Of War Ragnarok boasts some typically enormous creatures
Image: The scope and variety of Elden Ring’s world is unmatched. Pic: Bandai Namco
Best family game
Kirby And The Forgotten Land LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga Mario + Rabbids Sparks Of Hope Nintendo Switch Sports Splatoon 3
Martin’s pick: Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga
If I could give this game all of the above awards, I would. It’s been so long since they released one of these, I was worried they’d mess with the perfect recipe – but they didn’t. Collectible characters, stud multipliers and hilarious cinematics all make a return. A must-play for every family member (and Star Wars nerd).
Tom’s pick: Nintendo Switch Sports
I didn’t realise how much I missed the thrill of family competition in Wii Sports until its spiritual successor arrived on Nintendo’s Switch console. As was the case with the original, your mileage with each sport will vary and tennis and bowling remain by far the best, but each is boosted by far more precise motion controls and online multiplayer.
Image: LEGO Star Wars lets you play through all nine main films. Pic: Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment
Image: Bowling was one of the highlights of Nintendo’s return to sports games. Pic: Nintendo
Best multiplayer game
Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare II MultiVersus Overwatch 2 Splatoon 3 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge
Martin’s pick: Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare II
Boy, this game is hard. It’s so bloomin’ hard. I haven’t died this much in a game since… well, ever. But the new multiplayer maps are well-designed, the gun play is satisfying and balanced, and it’s fast. Infinity Ward has had a long time to perfect the FPS formula, and they’ve done just that.
Tom’s pick: Splatoon 3
Infinity Ward may have perfected the FPS formula, but Nintendo has a monopoly on futuristic paintball. Splatoon 3 was very much more of the same, with an emphasis on the more. While the fast-paced matches and tight controls were familiar to anyone who played prior instalments, a bolstered selection of maps, modes, and weapons made it a worthy entry in a series which remains unlike anything else almost six years after it debuted.
Image: Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare II was the biggest launch in franchise history
Image: Splatoon 3 offered more of the same – but it was all good. Pic: Nintendo
Best game direction
Elden Ring God of War Ragnarok Horizon Forbidden West Immortality Stray
Best score and music
A Plague Tale: Requiem Elden Ring God Of War Ragnarok Metal: Hellsinger Xenoblade Chronicles 3
Best audio design
Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare II Elden Ring God Of War Ragnarok Gran Turismo 7 Horizon Forbidden West
Best performance
Ashly Burch, Horizon Forbidden West Charlotte McBurney, A Plague Tale: Requiem Christopher Judge, God Of War Ragnarok Manon Gage, Immortality Sunny Suljic, God Of War Ragnarok
Games for impact
A Memoir Blue As Dusk Falls Citizen Sleeper Endling – Extinction is Forever Hindsight I Was a Teenage Exocolonist
Best ongoing game
Apex Legends Destiny 2 Final Fantasy XIV Fortnite Genshin Impact
Best indie game
Cult Of The Lamb Neon White Sifu Stray Tunic
Best debut indie
Neon White Norco Stray Tunic Vampire Survivors
Best community support
Apex Legends Destiny 2 Final Fantasy XIV Fortnite No Man’s Sky
Best mobile game
Apex Legends Diablo Immortal Genshin Impact Marvel Snap Tower Of Fantasy
Best VR/AR game
After The Fall Among Us Bonelab Moss: Book II Red Matter 2
Best action game
Bayonetta 3 Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare II Neon White Sifu Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge
Best action/adventure game
A Plague Tale: Requiem God Of War Ragnarok Horizon Forbidden West Stray Tunic
Best role-playing game
Elden Ring Live A Live Pokemon Legends: Arceus Triangle Strategy Xenoblade Chronicles 3
Best fighting game
DNF Duel Arc JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure The King Of Fighters XV MultiVersus Sifu
Best sim/strategy game
Dune: Spice Wars Mario + Rabbids Sparks Of Hope Total War: Warhammer III Two Point Campus Victoria 3
Best sports/racing game
F1 22 FIFA 23 NBA 2K23 Gran Turismo 7 OlliOlli World
The Game Awards takes place on 9 December at 12.30am UK time.
Bruce Springsteen is to release seven albums of mostly unheard material this summer.
The US singer said the songs, written and re-recorded between 1983 and 2018, were being made public after he began completing “everything I had in my vault” during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a short video posted on Instagram, Springsteen said the albums were “records that were full records, some of them even to the point of being mixed and not released”.
The 83-song collection is being released in a box set called Tracks II: The Lost Albums and goes on sale on 27 June.
Some 74 of the tracks have never been heard before.
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Springsteen first teased the release on Wednesday morning with a short social media video accompanied by text which said: “What was lost has been found”.
Tracks II is the follow-up to the star’s first Tracks volume, a four-CD collection of 66 unreleased songs, released in 1998.
Image: Bruce Springsteen at New York’s Carnegie Hall at a tribute to Patti Smith last month. Pic: PA
The New Jersey-born rocker, nicknamed The Boss, last released a studio album in 2022.
Only the Strong Survive was a collection of covers, including songs by Motown and soul artists, such as the Four Tops, The Temptations, The Supremes, Frankie Wilson and Jimmy Ruffin.
The late soul legend Sam Moore, who died in January and was a frequent Springsteen collaborator, sang on two of the tracks.
A man who stalked Strictly Come Dancing judge Shirley Ballas for six years has avoided jail.
Kyle Shaw, 37, got a 20-month suspended sentence and a lifetime restraining order on contacting Ballas, her mother, niece, and former partner.
Liverpool Crown Court heard that he thought Ballas was his aunt and “began a persistent campaign of contact”.
“He believed, and it’s evident from what he was told by his mother, that her late brother was his father,” said prosecutor Nicola Daley.
The court heard there was no evidence he was wrong, and “limited evidence” he was correct.
Ms Daley said Shaw’s messages had accused Ballas of being to blame for the death of her brother, who took his own life in 2003 aged 44.
He also set up social media accounts in his name.
Shaw had pleaded guilty to stalking the former dancer between August 2017 and November 2023 at a hearing in February.
Incidents included following Ballas’s 86-year-old mother, Audrey Rich, while she was shopping and telling her she was his grandmother.
The court heard in messages to Mrs Rich, Shaw had asked: “Where’s my dad?”
Ballas was so worried for her mother’s safety that she moved her from Merseyside to London.
Image: Kyle Shaw outside court on the day of his sentencing. Pic: PA
In October 2020, Ballas called police after Shaw messaged her and said: “Do you want me to kill myself, Shirley?”
Posts on X included one alongside an image of her home address that warned: “You ruined my life, I’ll ruin yours and everyone’s around you.”
Another referenced a book signing and said: “I can’t wait to meet you for the first time Aunty Shirley. Hopefully I can get an autograph.”
The court was told Ballas’s niece Mary Assall, former partner Daniel Taylor and colleagues from Strictly Come Dancing and ITV’s Loose Women were also sent messages.
‘I know where you live’
On one occasion in late 2023, Shaw called Mr Taylor and told him he knew where the couple lived and described Ballas’s movements.
The court heard the 64-year-old TV star become wary of socialising and stopped using public transport.
Prosecutor Ms Daley said: “She described having sleepless nights worrying about herself and her family’s safety and being particularly distressed when suggestions were made to her that she and her mother were responsible for her brother taking his own life.”
Image: Ballas has been head judge on Strictly Come Dancing since 2017. Pic: PA
Shaw cried and wiped away tears as he was sentenced on Tuesday.
The judge said the stalking stemmed from his mother telling him Ballas’s brother, David Rich, was his biological father.
“I’m satisfied that your motive for this offending was a desire to seek contact with people you genuinely believed were your family,” he said.
“Whether in fact there’s any truth in that belief is difficult, if not impossible, to determine.”
Image: Shaw pictured at court in February. Pic: PA
Defence lawyer John Weate said Shaw had been told the story by his mother “in his mid to late teens” and had suffered “complex mental health issues” since he was a child.
He added: “He now accepts that Miss Ballas and her family don’t wish to have any contact with him and, importantly, he volunteered the information that he has no intention of contacting them again.”
Shaw, of Whetstone Lane in Birkenhead, also admitted possessing cannabis and was ordered to undertake a rehab programme.
Gary Glitter has been made bankrupt after failing to pay more than £500,000 in damages to a woman he abused when she was 12 years old.
She sued the disgraced singer, whose real name is Paul Gadd, after he was found guilty of attacking her and two other schoolgirls between 1975 and 1980.
Glitter, 80, was jailed for 16 years in 2015 and released in 2023 but was recalled to prison less than six weeks later after breaching his parole conditions.
A judge awarded the woman £508,800, including £381,000 in lost earnings and £7,800 for future therapy and treatment, saying she was subjected to abuse “of the most serious kind”.
The court heard she had not worked for decades due to the trauma of being repeatedly raped and “humiliated” by the singer.
Image: Glitter was jailed for 16 years in 2015. Pic: Met Police/PA
Glitter was made bankrupt last month at the County Court at Torquay and Newton Abbot, in Devon – the county where he is reportedly serving his sentence in Channings Wood prison, in Newton Abbot.
Richard Scorer, head of abuse law at Slater and Gordon, the law firm representing the woman, said: “We confirm that Gadd has been made bankrupt following our client’s application.
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“As he has done throughout, Gadd has refused to cooperate with the process and continues to treat his victims with contempt.
“We hope and trust that the parole board will take his behaviour into account in any future parole applications, as it clearly demonstrates that he has never changed, shows no remorse and remains a serious risk to the public.”
Glitter was first jailed for four months in 1999 after he admitted possessing around 4,000 indecent images of children.
He was expelled from Cambodia in 2002, and in March 2006 was convicted of sexually abusing two girls, aged 10 and 11, in Vietnam where he spent two-and-a-half years in prison.
His sentence for the 2016 convictions expires in February 2031.
Glitter was automatically released from HMP The Verne, a low-security prison in Portland, Dorset, in February 2023 after serving half of his fixed-term determinate sentence.
But he was back behind bars weeks later after reportedly trying to access the dark web and images of children.