'Red Dead Redemption 2,' 'God of War' lead 2018 Game Awards nominations

Nov. 14 (UPI) -- The nominations for the 2018 Game Awards have been released and Red Dead Redemption 2 and God of War lead the way with nods in eight categories each.

Both titles are nominated for Game of the Year alongside Assassin's Creed Odyssey, Celeste, Spider-Man and Monster Hunter: World.

Red Dead Redemption 2, developer Rockstar's open-world western epic and Sony's bloody and brutal God of War, were also nominated for Best Game Direction, Best Narrative, Best Art Direction, Best Score/Music, Best Audio Design, Best Action/Adventure Game and Best Performance.

Best Performance nominations included Roger Clark, who portrayed Arthur Morgan in Red Dead Redemption 2, and Christopher Judge, who portrayed Kratos in God of War, along with Bryan Dechart as Connor in Detroit: Become Human, Melissanthi Mahut as Kassandra in Assassin's Creed Odyssey and Yuri Lowenthal as Peter Parker in Spider-Man.

Spider-Man received seven nominations including Best Game Direction and Best Narrative. Online multiplayer shooter Fortnite earned four: Best Ongoing Game, Best Mobile, Best Multiplayer Game and Best Esports Game.

Best Role-Playing Game will be decided between Dragon Quest 11: Echoes of an Elusive Age, Monster Hunter: World, Ni no Kuni 2: Revenant Kingdom, Octopath Traveler and Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire. Best Fighting nominations include BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle, Dragon Ball FighterZ, Soulcalibur 6 and Street Fighter V Arcade.

The 2018 Game Awards will be aired live on Dec. 6 at 9 p.m. ET. The event can be live-streamed through YouTube, Twitch, Twitter, Facebook, Mixer, Steam TV, PlayStation 4 and Xbox Live.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild won Game of the Year in 2017.

"Thank you, @thegameawards!," Marvel Games said on Twitter Tuesday about Spider-Man's nominations alongside an image of the superhero snapping a selfie. "Congratulations to @insomniacgames, @PlayStation, and all of our fellow nominees! #BeGreater."

"Thank you, @thegameawards for #TheGameAwards nomination! And huge thanks to all hunters that have joined us on this journey throughout the past 14 years. #MHWorld," the official Twitter account for Monster Hunter: World said.