God of War Ragnarok, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Horizon Forbidden West are the top contenders for the Game Audio Network Guild Awards for video game sound

Game Audio Network Guild Awards, which celebrate the best games of the year in terms of music and sound effects, will be held in San Francisco on 23 March.

The 2023 nominees are presented in 26 categories.

Three games are up for the most awards: God of War Ragnarok (14 nominations), Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (12 nominations) and Horizon Forbidden West (11).

The full list of contenders for the G.A.N.G. Awards is below:

Sound of the Year

• Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla, Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• God of War Ragnarök (Santa Monica Studio, Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (2022) (Infinity Ward, Activision)
• The Callisto Protocol (Striking Distance Studios, Krafton)
• Total War: Warhammer III (Creative Assembly)
• Moss: Book II (Polyarc, Polyarc)
• Gran Turismo 7 (Polyphony Digital, Sony Interactive Entertainment)

Best Sound in Social or Casual Game

• Call of Duty: Mobile (TiMi Studio Group, Activision)
• Disney Mirrorverse (Kabam, Inc., Disney Games)
• The Dark Pictures: The Devil in Me (Supermassive Games, Bandai Namco)
• Hearthstone: March of the Lich King (Blizzard Entertainment, Blizzard Entertainment)
• Honor of Kings (TiMi L1 Studio, Tencent Games)
• Apex Legends Mobile (LightSpeed Studios / Respawn Entertainment, Electronic Arts)

Best Sound in an Indie Game

• Hardspace: Shipbreaker (Blackbird Interactive, Focus Entertainment)
• Moss: Book II (Polyarc, Polyarc)
• Trek To Yomi (Leonard Menchiari, Flying Wild Hog, Devolver Digital)
• You Suck At Parking (Happy Volcano, Happy Volcano)
• HEROish (Sunblink Entertainment, Sunblink Entertainment)
• No Place For Bravery (Glitch Factory, Ysbryd Games)
• Tunic (Andrew Shouldice, Finji)

Best Sound Mix

• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (2022) (Infinity Ward, Activision)
• God of War Ragnarök (Santa Monica Studio, Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Overwatch 2 (Blizzard Entertainment)
• Total War: Warhammer III (Creative Assembly, Creative Assembly)
• Metal: Hellsinger (The Outsiders, Funcom)

Best Sound in Commercials and Cutscenes

• Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla, Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• God of War Ragnarök (Santa Monica Studio, Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Destiny 2: The Witch Queen (Bungie, Bungie)
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (2022) (Infinity WardActivision)
• Total War: Warhammer III (Creative Assembly Creative Assembly)

Best Dialog in an Indie Game

• Return to Monkey Island (Terrible Toybox, Devolver Digital)
• Moss: Book II (Polyarc, Polyarc)
• Elex 2 (Piranha Bytes, THQ Nordic)
• Asterigos: Curse of the Stars (Acme Gamestudio, tinyBuild)
• Corpse Factory (River Crow Studios, River Crow Studios)

Best Ensemble Actor

• Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla, Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (2022) (Infinity Ward, Activision)
• Marvelʼs Midnight Suns (Firaxis Games, 2K)
• WYLDE FLOWERS (Studio Drydock)
• Total War: Warhammer III (Creative Assembly, Creative Assembly)

Best Video Game Sound Publications

• The Audio Source Magazine - Women in Game Audio Edition - Fall 2022
• A Sound Effect - Dying Light 2 Stay Human
• A Sound Effect - Return to Monkey Island
• A Sound Effect - Stray
• Behind the Glass - Creating the Immersive Game Environment Through Foley

Best Podcast or Presentation about Gaming Sound

• Returnal: The Sound of an Alien World (Housemarque, Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Interactive Mixing: The Next Frontier in Game Audio (PlayStation Studios - Creative Arts - SoundSony Interactive Entertainment)
• Trek to Yomi (GameSoundCon, Leonard Menchiari, Flying Wild Hog, Devolver Digital)
• Dolby Institute Podcast: Leading with Sound, Rob Bridgett (Dolby Institute, Dolby)
• Weapon Sound Design with Unreal Audio Engine MetaSounds (Gustav Rathsman, SweejTech, Epic)

Best Folie Effects

• Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla, Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• God of War Ragnarök (Santa Monica Studio, Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (2022) (Infinity Ward, Activision)
• The Callisto Protocol (Striking Distance Studios, Krafton)
• The Dark Pictures: The Devil in Me (Supermassive Games, Bandai Namco)

Best Cover or Remix

• Super Mario 64 (Nintendo, Nintendo)
• Animal Crossing Medley (Mikel Dale, Mikel Dale (self-published))
• The Final Battle (Elden Ring Soundtrack) (Rozen + Reven, Mecha Dream Records)
• Brass Effect (The Game Brass, The Game Brass)
• South of the Circle (State of Play, State of Play/11 Bit Studios)
• Frostpunk (11 Bit studios, 11 Bit Studios)

Best Soundtrack

• God of War Ragnarök (Santa Monica Studio, Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla, Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Magic: The Gathering - Dawn of the Phyrexian Invasion - Official Cinematic Trailer - Dominaria United | The Brothers" War (Wizards of the Coast, Wizards of the Coast)
• League of Legends (Riot Games, Riot Games)
• The Callisto Protocol (Striking Distance Studios, Krafton)
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (Infinity Ward, Activision)
• Hades 2 TGA Reveal Trailer (Supergiant Games, Supergiant Games)

Best Main Title Theme

• League of Legends (Riot Games, Riot Games)
• God of War Ragnarök: Main Theme (Santa Monica Studio, Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (2022) (Infinity Ward, Activision)
• Honor of Kings - Haiyue Theme (TiMi Studio Group, Tencent Games)
• Elden Ring - "Elden Ring" (Tsukasa Saitoh) (From Software, Bandai Namco Entertainment)

Best Music from an Indie Game

• Return to Monkey Island (Terrible Toybox, Devolver Digital)
• Moss: Book II (Polyarc, Polyarc)
• Immortality (Sam Barlow / Half MermaidHalf Mermaid)
• Potionomics (Voracious Games, xSeed Games)
• Card Shark (Nerial, Devolver Digital)
• Trek To Yomi (Leonard Menchiari, Flying Wild Hog, Devolver Digital)

Best Sound in the New Original IP

• Metal: Hellsinger (The Outsiders, Funcom)
• The Callisto Protocol (Striking Distance Studios, Krafton)
• Hardspace: Shipbreaker (Blackbird Interactive, Focus Entertainment)
• Cosmonious High (Owlchemy Labs, Owlchemy Labs)
• You Suck At Parking (Happy Volcano, Happy Volcano)
• Wylde Flowers (Studio Drydock, Apple / Studio Drydock)
• Tunic (Andrew Shouldice, Finji)

Best Original Song

• God of War Ragnarök: "Blood Upon the Snow" (Santa Monica Studio, Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Horizon Forbidden West: "In the Flood" (Guerrilla, Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Guild Wars 2: "End of Dragons" (ArenaNet, Inc. NCSOFT)
• Floodland (Vile Monarch, Ravenscourt)
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (2022) (Infinity Ward, Activision)
• Bayonetta 3 - "We Are as One" (Hiroshi Yamaguchi, Rachel Hawnt) (Platinum Games, Nintendo)

Best Soundtrack

• God of War Ragnarök (Santa Monica Studio, Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Moss: Book II (Polyarc, Polyarc)
• Potionomics (Voracious Games, xSeed Games)
• Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope (Ubisoft Milan and Ubisoft Paris, Ubisoft)
• Floodland (Vile Monarch, Ravenscourt)
• Metal: Hellsinger (The Outsiders, Funcom)
• Destiny 2: The Witch Queen (Bungie, Bungie)
• In Nightmare (Magic Fish Studio, Maximum Games)
• Sonic Frontiers: Stillness & Motion (Sonic Team, Sega)

Best Physical Soundtrack Edition

• Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (Original Soundtrack) (Insomniac Games, Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Trek To Yomi (Leonard Menchiari, Flying Wild Hog, Laced Records, Devolver Digital)
• Returnal (Original Soundtrack) (Housemarque, Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe / Milan Records, a label of Sony Music Entertainment)
• Syberia: The World Before (Decca, Decca)
• Astroʼs Playroom (Team ASOBI, Sony Interactive Entertainment Japan)

Best Sound Design in an Indie Game

• Hardspace: Shipbreaker (Blackbird Interactive, Focus Entertainment)
• Moss: Book II (Polyarc, Polyarc)
• HEROish (Sunblink Entertainment, Sunblink Entertainment)
• No Place For Bravery (Glitch Factory, Ysbryd Games)
• Broken Edge (Trebuchet, Fast Travel Games)
• Stray (Blue Twelve Studio, Annapurna Interactive)

Best Interface, Task List or Award Sound Design

• Overwatch 2 (Blizzard Entertainment)
• God of War Ragnarök (Santa Monica Studio, Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Disney Mirrorverse (Kabam, Inc., Disney Games)
• No Place For Bravery (Glitch Factory, Ysbryd Games)
• Splatoon 3 (Nintendo EPD, Nintendo)

Best Actor

• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (2022) (Infinity Ward, Activision)
• Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla, Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Moss: Book II (Polyarc, Polyarc)
• Apex Legends Season 15: Eclipse (Respawn Entertainment, Electronic Arts)
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (2022) (Infinity Ward, Activision)
• Bayonetta 3 (Platinum Games, Nintendo)

Creative and Technical Achievement Award (Music)

• God of War Ragnarök (Santa Monica Studio, Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Metal: Hellsinger (The Outsiders, Funcom)
• Immortality (Sam Barlow / Half Mermaid, Half Mermaid)
• Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla, Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Total War: Warhammer III (Creative Assembly, Creative Assembly)
• Dying Light 2 (Techland, Techland)

Creative and Technical Achievement Award (Sound)

• Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla, Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• God of War Ragnarök (Santa Monica Studio, Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (2022) (Infinity Ward, Activision)
• Hardspace: Shipbreaker (Blackbird Interactive, Focus Entertainment)
• Metal: Hellsinger (The Outsiders, Funcom)
• Destiny 2: The Witch Queen (Bungie, Bungie)
• Dying Light 2 (Techland, Techland)

Dialogs of the Year

• Destiny 2: The Witch Queen (Bungie, Bungie)
• Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla, Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• God of War Ragnarök (Santa Monica Studio, Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (2022) (Infinity Ward, Activision)
• Moss: Book II (Polyarc, Polyarc)

Music of the Year

• Return to Monkey Island (Terrible Toybox, Devolver Digital)
• God of War Ragnarök (Santa Monica Studio, Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope (Ubisoft Milan and Ubisoft Paris, Ubisoft)
• Metal: Hellsinger (The Outsiders, Funcom)
• Jurassic World Primal Ops (Behaviour Interactive)
• Potionomics (Voracious Games, xSeed Games)

Sound Design of the Year

• Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla, Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• God of War Ragnarök (Santa Monica Studio, Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (2022) (Infinity Ward, Activision)
• The Callisto Protocol (Striking Distance Studios, Krafton)
• Metal: Hellsinger (The Outsiders, Funcom)