Black Myth: Wukong and Metaphor: ReFantazio top NAVGTR Award nominations

Download as PDF

The National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers Announces Nominees for the 24th Annual NAVGTR Awards

Baltimore (January 29, 2025) / NAVGTR CORP. – The National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers, a 501(c)(3) non-profit media organization of 505 media voters and 14,453 subscribers, has announced nominees for its 24th annual awards program honoring video game art, technology and production.

The NAVGTR Awards honor 52 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 7,146 talented individuals.

Leading all games with 20 nominations is Black Myth: Wukong (developed by Game Science), followed by Metaphor: ReFantazio (developed by Atlus) with 11 nominations.  The other most-nominated games are Helldivers 2, Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II, Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, Stellar Blade, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, The Plucky Squire, and Harold Halibut.

This year’s Game of the Year nominees for the NAVGTR Award are:

• Black Myth: Wukong
• Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
• Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
• Metaphor: ReFantazio
• Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2

The top developers this year are Game Science, Saber Interactive, Atlus, Arrowhead Game Studios, Ninja Theory, Treyarch, Nintendo, MachineGames, SHIFT UP, and Ryu ga Gotoku Studio.

The top publishers this year are Sony Interactive Entertainment, Game Science, SEGA, Nintendo, Focus Entertainment, Microsoft, and BANDAI NAMCO.

In addition to nomination leaders, several other original properties were nominated, including Stellar Blade, The Plucky Squire, Harold Halibut, Still Wakes the Deep, Sand Land, Neva, Indika, Death Game Hotel, and Thank Goodness You’re Here!

For a complete list of categories and nominees, please visit https://navgtr.org.

Winners will be announced on March 12, 2025.

All titles, characters, likenesses, and indicia are copyrights or trademarks of their respective owners. All rights reserved.

MEDIA ASSETS

Press Kit: https://navgtr.org/press-kit/

About NAVGTR CORP.

NAVGTR Corp.(TM) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation devoted to promoting and recognizing game developers.

The general voting body of reviewers, journalists, analysts, content creators, and writers includes contributors for Destructoid, EGM Now, Game Rant, Gamers Temple, GamesIndustry.biz, Gamespot, IGN, Investor’s Business Daily, Kotaku, Mashable, Massively, MMORPG, MSNBC, Nintendo World Report, PC Gamer, Polygon, The Koalition, Ten Ton Hammer, Terminal Gamer, and Venture Beat.

Additional varied outlets include Austin American-Statesman, Chicago Sun-Times, CNN, COIN-OP TV, GamesRadar, Los Angeles Times, Moody’s, NBC, New York Times, NTN24, The Ottawa Citizen, San Jose Mercury-News, USA Today, The Vancouver Sun, Wired News, and hundreds more.

Fact Sheet

Animation, Artistic

Harold Halibut
Neva
The Plucky Squire
Princess Peach: Showtime
Stellar Blade

Animation, Technical

Black Myth: Wukong
Helldivers 2
Indika
Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2

Art Direction, Contemporary

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
Helldivers 2
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
The Outlast Trials
The Plucky Squire

Art Direction, Fantasy

Metaphor: ReFantazio
Outcast: A New Beginning
Star Wars Outlaws
Tales of Kenzera: ZAU
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2

Art Direction, Period Influence

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree
Harold Halibut
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
News Tower
Stellar Blade

Camera Direction in a Game Engine

Astro Bot
Black Myth: Wukong
Metaphor: ReFantazio
Princess Peach: Showtime
Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II

Character Design

Black Myth: Wukong
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
Metaphor: ReFantazio
Outcast: A New Beginning
Stellar Blade

Control Design, 2D or Limited 3D/VR

Death Game Hotel
Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
Monument Valley 3
The Plucky Squire
VR Legs

Control Design, 3D

Astro Bot
Black Myth: Wukong
Helldivers 2
Metaphor: ReFantazio
Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II

Control Precision

Astro Bot
Black Myth: Wukong
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
Tekken 8

Costume Design

Black Myth: Wukong
Metaphor: ReFantazio
Stellar Blade
Tekken 8
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2

Direction in a Game Cinema

Black Myth: Wukong
Harold Halibut
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II
Squirrel with a Gun

Direction in Virtual Reality

Alien: Rogue Incursion
Brazen Blaze
Death Game Hotel
The Exit 8 VR
Tomb Explorer VR

Engineering

Expeditions: A MudRunner Game
Metaphor: ReFantazio
Monument Valley 3
Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2

Gameplay Design, Franchise

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
Dragon Age: The Veilguard
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth

Gameplay Design, New IP

Balatro
Black Myth: Wukong
Harold Halibut
Metaphor: ReFantazio
The Plucky Squire

Game of the Year

Black Myth: Wukong
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
Metaphor: ReFantazio
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2

Game, Classic Revival

Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed
Luigi’s Mansion 2
Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door
Riven
Silent Hill 2

Game, Franchise Action

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
Helldivers 2
Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2

Game, Franchise Adventure

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Star Wars Outlaws
Tintin Reporter: Cigars of the Pharoah

Game, Franchise Family

Astro Bot
Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition
Princess Peach: Showtime
Super Mario Party Jamboree

Game, Franchise Role Playing

Dragon Age: The Veilguard
Dragon’s Dogma 2
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth

Game, Original Action

Black Myth: Wukong
Minishoot’ Adventures
Nine Sols
Stellar Blade
XDefiant

Game, Original Adventure

Death Game Hotel
Master Detective Archives: RAIN CODE Plus
Still Wakes the Deep

Game, Original Family

All You Need is Help
Harold Halibut
The Plucky Squire

Game, Original Role Playing

Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden
Metaphor: ReFantazio
Sand Land
Unicorn Overlord

Game, Fighting

Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero
Tekken 8
Underdogs
Undisputed
WWE 2K24

Game, Puzzle

Animal Well
Balatro
Islands of Insight
Monument Valley 3
The Rise of the Golden Idol

Game, Racing

EXOcars
F1 24
MudRunner VR

Game, Rhythm

Aaero 2
Band Space
Maestro
Songs of the Hmong

Game, Simulation

Expeditions: A MudRunner Game
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024
News Tower

Game, Special Class

1000xResist
Caves of Qud
DOS – Steve Pardo
Infinity Nikki
Squirrel with a Gun

Game, Sports

College Football 25
MLB The Show 24
NBA 2K25

Game, Strategy

Age of Mythology: Retold
Frostpunk 2
Tactical Breach Wizards

Graphics, Technical

Astro Bot
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
Helldivers 2
Stellar Blade
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2

Lighting/Texturing

Black Myth: Wukong
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree
Indika
Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II

Original Dramatic Score, Franchise

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
Dragon Age: The Veilguard
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
Star Wars Outlaws

Original Dramatic Score, New IP

Black Myth: Wukong
Metaphor: ReFantazio
Neva
Pixel Noir
Rise of the Ronin
Stellar Blade

Original Light Mix Score, Franchise

Aaero 2
Alone in the Dark
Monument Valley 3
The Oregon Trail
Princess Peach: Showtime

Original Light Mix Score, New IP

Go-Go Town!
Hauntii
The Rise of the Golden Idol
Shadows over Loathing
Songs of the Hmong
Sorelle

Performance in a Comedy, Lead

Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth – Kazuhiro Nakaya as “Ichiban Kasuga”
Sand Land – Mutsumi Tamura as “Beelzebub”
Thank Goodness You’re Here! – Matt Berry as “Various”

Performance in a Comedy, Supporting

Escaping Wonderland – Jason Anthony as “Various”
Escaping Wonderland – Joe Gaudet as “Various”
Helldivers 2 – Craig Lee Thomas as “Super Earth Spokesperson”
Sand Land – Chô as “Thief”
Thank Goodness You’re Here! – Jon Blyth as “Various”

Performance in a Drama, Lead

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle – Troy Baker as “Indiana Jones”
Silent Hill 2 – Luke Roberts as “James Sunderland”
Star Wars Outlaws – Humberly González as “Kay Vess”
Still Wakes the Deep – Alec Newman as “Caz McLeary”
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 – Clive Standen as “Lieutenant Demetrian Titus”

Performance in a Drama, Supporting

Black Myth: Wukong – Megan Richards as “The Second Sister”
Black Myth: Wukong – Arina Li as “Rakshasi”
Black Myth: Wukong – Andrew Koji as “Erlang”
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle – Alessandra Mastronardi as “Gina”
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle – Marios Gavrilis as “Emmerich”
Silent Hill 2 – Salóme Gunnarsdóttir as “Mary”

Song, Original or Adapted

Black Myth: Wukong – I See
Black Myth: Wukong – Listen Not
Delta Force – Dawn
Honor of Kings: Misty Marshes – To Be Continued
MLB The Show 24 – Dancer
MLB The Show 24 – La Canción Feliz del Disco featuring Milo j

Sound Editing in a Game Cinema

Alone in the Dark
Black Myth: Wukong
Helldivers 2
Lego Horizon Adventures
Star Wars Outlaws

Sound Effects

Black Myth: Wukong
Helldivers 2
Lego Horizon Adventures
Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II
Tales of Kenzera: ZAU

Sound Mixing in Virtual Reality

Alien: Rogue Incursion
Band Space
Maestro
Mixture VR
Silent Slayer: Vault of the Vampire

Use of Sound, Franchise

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
Helldivers 2
Lego Horizon Adventures
The Outlast Trials
Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II

Use of Sound, New IP

Harold Halibut
Mullet Madjack
Neva
Still Wakes the Deep
Tales of Kenzera: ZAU

Writing in a Comedy

Helldivers 2
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
The Plucky Squire
Shadows over Loathing
Thank Goodness You’re Here!

Writing in a Drama

Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden
Black Myth: Wukong
Indika
Metaphor: ReFantazio
Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II

By Game

20 Black Myth: Wukong
11 Metaphor: ReFantazio
10 Helldivers 2
09 Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II
08 Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2
08 Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
07 Stellar Blade
07 Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
07 Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
06 The Plucky Squire
06 Harold Halibut
05 Star Wars Outlaws
05 Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
05 Astro Bot
03 Thank Goodness You’re Here!
03 Tekken 8
03 Tales of Kenzera: ZAU
03 Still Wakes the Deep
03 Silent Hill 2
03 Sand Land
03 Neva
03 MLB The Show 24
03 Lego Horizon Adventures
03 Indika
03 Dragon Age: The Veilguard
03 Death Game Hotel
02 The Rise of the Golden Idol
02 The Outlast Trials
02 Squirrel with a Gun
02 Songs of the Hmong
02 Shadows over Loathing
02 Outcast: A New Beginning
02 Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition
02 News Tower
02 Maestro
02 Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
02 Expeditions: A MudRunner Game
02 Escaping Wonderland
02 Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden
02 Band Space
02 Balatro
02 Alone in the Dark
02 Alien: Rogue Incursion
02 Aaero 2

Franchise History

The Call of Duty series has 113 nominations to date.
Final Fantasy games have 88 nominations to date.
Zelda games have 52 nominations to date.
Star Wars games have 49 nominations to date.
Lego games have 37 nominations to date.
Yakuza (including Like a Dragon) games have 23 nominations to date.
Hellblade games have 19 nominations to date.
The Dragon Age franchise has 19 nominations to date.
Warhammer games have 17 nominations to date.
The Elden Ring franchise has 16 nominations to date.
The Silent Hill series has 13 nominations to date.
MLB The Show has 12 nominations to date.
The Tekken series has 11 nominations to date.
The Monument Valley series has 9 nominations to date.
The Outlast series has 4 nominations to date.

By Developer

20 Game Science
11 Saber Interactive
11 Atlus
10 Arrowhead Game Studios
09 Ninja Theory
08 Treyarch
08 Nintendo
07 SHIFT UP
07 Ryu ga Gotoku Studio
07 MachineGames
06 Slow Bros
06 All Possible Futures
05 Team ASOBI
05 Massive Entertainment
05 Grezzo
04 ustwo
04 Good-Feel
04 FromSoftware
03 White Owls
03 The Chinese Room
03 Surgent Studios
03 Studio Gobo
03 San Diego Studio
03 Odd Meter Studio
03 Nomada Studio
03 ILCA
03 Guerrilla Games
03 Coal Supper
03 Bloober Team
03 BioWare
03 BANDAI NAMCO
03 Arika
02 Wild Sheep
02 Visual Concepts
02 Ubisoft
02 TiMi Studio Group
02 Survios
02 Square Enix
02 Spike Chunsoft
02 Sparrow Night
02 Smartmelon
02 Red Barrels
02 Pieces Interactive AB
02 MyDearest
02 Miaoge
02 Mad Fellows
02 LocalThunk
02 indieszero
02 Double Jack
02 Dontnod Entertainment
02 Dee Dee Creations
02 Cortopia Studios
02 Color Gray
02 Asymmetric Publications
02 Appeal Studios

By Publisher

29 Sony Interactive Entertainment
20 Game Science
19 SEGA
14 Nintendo
12 Focus Entertainment
11 Microsoft
11 BANDAI NAMCO
09 Devolver Digital
08 Electronic Arts
08 Activision
07 Ubisoft
07 Bethesda Softworks
06 Slow Bros
06 Netflix
05 THQ Nordic
04 11 bit studios
03 White Owls
03 Secret Mode
03 PlayStack
03 Panic
03 MLB Advanced Media
03 Konami
02 Twin Sails
02 Survios
02 Square Enix
02 Red Barrels
02 MyDearest
02 Maximum Entertainment
02 Mad Fellows
02 Fast Travel
02 Double Jack
02 Beyond Frames Entertainment
02 Asymmetric Publications
02 2P Games
02 2K Games

By Individual Credit

03 Onat Hekimoğlu
03 Oliver Hollis-Leick
03 Katsura Hashino
03 Hiroyuki Kuwata
02 Yoshinori Kitase
02 William Paolo Jose Dionio
02 Tetsuya Nomura
02 Stéphane Beauverger
02 Shigenori Soejima
02 Naoki Hamaguchi
02 Julian Lia
02 John Epler
02 James Turner
02 Hamish Lockwood
02 Feng Ji
02 Dmitriy Grigorenko
02 Dmitrii Kholodov
02 David Garcia Diaz
02 Balazs Kalazdi
02 Árni Bergur Zoëga
02 Ahmin Hafidi

All credits per nomination

Abner Marin
Adam Bormann
Adrián Miguel
Ahmin Hafidi
Ahmin Hafidi
Akinari Izumi
Akira Ishii
Alec Newman
Aleksandr Rudenko
Aleksandra Zakirova
Alessandra Mastronardi
Alex Berry
Alexandre Fiolka
Andrejs Kļaviņš
Andrew Koji
Ángel Guirao
Anna Kozhevnikova
Arina Li
Arnaud Lonys
Árni Bergur Zoëga
Árni Bergur Zoëga
Azusa Kido
Balazs Kalazdi
Balazs Kalazdi
Ben Evrard
Ben Haumiller
Benedikt Podlesnigg
Benoit Macon
Billy Basso
Brian Audette
Bulut Karakaya
Chisaya Takesako
Chô
Clive Standen
Cloé Hammoud
Corinne Busche
Daisuke Fukagawa
Damien Cuzacq
Dan Attwell
Dan Flynn
Daniele De Filippis
Dave Feltham
David Dedeine
David Garcia Diaz
David Garcia Diaz
David Hankin
David Munoz Velazquez
Devin Doyle
Dmitrii Kholodov
Dmitrii Kholodov
Dmitriy Grigorenko
Dmitriy Grigorenko
Dmitry Mayorov
Dmitry Svetlow
Eisuke Fujinawa
Elena Pak
Elena Vlasenko
Elise Galmard
Ernests Kļaviņš
Etsunobu Ebisu
Evgeny Cimbalyuk
Evgeny Sorokin
Evgeny Zhabin
Fabian Preuschoff
Feng Ji
Feng Ji
Fernando Pepe
Francesco Del Pia
François Chaput
Fumiya Furukawa
Gareth Coker
Guy Midgley
Hamish Lockwood
Hamish Lockwood
Hans Zimmer
Harry Nixon
Hidetaka Miyazaki
Hidetomo Saito
Hideyuki Uchida
Hirokazu Yamaguchi
Hiroki Kikuta
Hirotaka Chiba
Hirotaka Watanabe
Hiroyuki Kaneko
Hiroyuki Kuwata
Hiroyuki Kuwata
Hiroyuki Kuwata
Humberly González
Igor Pokrovsky
Ilja Burzev
Inon Zur
Itsuki Matsueda
Jakub Dzierżykraj-Stokalski
James Carbutt
James Turner
James Turner
Jason Anthony
Jason Carr
Jason Grinblat
Jason Köhnen
Jason Mallett
Jennifer Estaris
Joe Gaudet
Joe White
John Epler
John Epler
Jon Blyth
Jon Mayoh
Jonathan Biddle
Julian Gerighty
Julian Lia
Julian Lia
Jun Maruyama
Kardelen Babal
Karim Benfares
Katsura Hashino
Katsura Hashino
Katsura Hashino
Kazuhiro Nakaya
Kazuma Koda
KC Warren
Kenta Kubo
Kentaro Sei
Kento Kinoshita
Kim Hui
Kio Inose
Korechika Tamura
Kouhei Ikeda
Kunal Majmudar
Lale Welker
Lara Derham
Leong Chi Kit
Lionel Le Dain
Lorne Balfe
Lucie Treacher
Luigi Gervasi
Łukasz Juszczyk
Luke Roberts
Manesh Mistry
Marco Albano
Marios Gavrilis
Mark DeForest
Marthe Jonkers
Martin Weissberg
Masahiko Nagaya
Masahito Muta
Masaru Arai
Masayoshi Yokoyama
Mateus Polati
Mathias Karlson
Matt Berry
Max van der Merwe
Maxim Lebedev
Megan Richards
Mentrix
Michaël Defroyennes
Michael Hartinger
Mimi Rizal
Minami Honda
Mutsumi Tamura
Naoki Hamaguchi
Naoki Hamaguchi
Nicolas Doucet
Nobuaki Mitake
Nobuo Hosoyama
Nozomi Shiba
Ole Tillmann
Oleg Kokshin
Oliver Hollis-Leick
Oliver Hollis-Leick
Oliver Hollis-Leick
Onat Hekimoğlu
Onat Hekimoğlu
Onat Hekimoğlu
Oskar Karlsson
Paul Alexander
Pavel Belov
Pavel Kuznetsov
Petr Kudryashov
Philippe Moreau
Rahni Tucker
Remy Siu
Rio Oguma
Romain Pommier
Rubén Rincón García
Ruslan Vizgalin
Ryosuke Horii
Safy Saada
Salóme Gunnarsdóttir
Sascha Haus
Sergey Demidov
Séverin Larose
Shereendar Kaur Chhabra
Shigenori Soejima
Shigenori Soejima
Shingo Igata
Shinichi Masuda
Shino Nakamura
Shoji Meguro
Shuhei Yamagata
Shun Yamashita
Simon Koudriavtsev
Simon Loyer
Soshiro Hokkai
Stéphane Beauverger
Stéphane Beauverger
Steve Pardo
Taichi Tada
Tairi Kikuchi
Takeru Sugimoto
Takumi Furuya
Takuya Kato
Tetsuya Nomura
Tetsuya Nomura
Todd Baker
Tom Francis
Tommy Kolak
Tomohiro Tanimura
Tomoyuki Ishiyama
Toshitake Tsuchikura
Troy Baker
Veronika Davies
Viktor Alex Tóth
Volker Zerbe
Wang Xinghe
Wilbert Roget II
Will Todd
William Paolo Jose Dionio
William Paolo Jose Dionio
Yasuhiro Fujii
Yoko Iemoto
Yoshinori Kitase
Yoshinori Kitase
Yuichirō Tanaka
Yuki Minami
Yukihiro Yamamoto
Yulia Abdalova
Yusuke Tsuyuki
Yusuke Yamauchi
Yuu Honya
Yves Infantino
Zhai Jinyan

Contact:
Thomas J. Allen
tallen at navgtr dot org
301-437-7880