Riot Games' League of Legends is leading with four nominations, followed by "We Rule (ngmoco), Champions Online (Cryptic), Dungeon Fighter Online (Nexon) and Nightclub City (Booyah) with three award nominations apiece." The winners will be announced during the awards ceremony on October 7 at GDC Online in Austin, TX.

The first Hall of Fame award has also been granted to Ultima Online, while an "Online Game Legend" award goes to Dr. Richard A. Bartle, co-creator of MUD, author of "Designing Virtual Worlds", and professor of game design.

The nominated games are a mix of subscription-based MMO titles, free-to-play games, and social network games. The full list of nominations can be found below.

BEST ONLINE GAME DESIGN (new)
• We Rule (Ngmoco)
• Champions Online (Cryptic)
• Zoo Kingdom (Blue Fang)
• Dungeon Fighter Online (Nexon)
• League Of Legends (Riot Games)

BEST ONLINE VISUAL ARTS (new)
• GodFinger (Ngmoco)
• Papermint (Avaloop)
• League Of Legends (Riot Games)
• Star Trek Online (Cryptic)
• Love (Quel Solaar)

BEST AUDIO (new)
• Nightclub City (Booyah)
• Champions Online (Cryptic)
• We Rule (Ngmoco)
• Music Pets (Conduit Labs)
• Aion (NCSoft)

BEST ONLINE TECHNICAL (new)
• Global Agenda (Hi-Rez)
• Aion (NCSoft)
• Love (Quel Solaar)
• League Of Legends (Riot Games)
• Champions Online (Cryptic)

BEST SOCIAL NETWORK GAME (new)
• Nightclub City (Booyah)
• NanoStar Siege (Digital Chocolate)
• FIFA Superstars (Playfish)
• Social City (Playdom)
• Treasure Isle (Zynga)

COMMUNITY RELATIONS (ongoing)
• Wizard101 (KingsIsle Entertainment)
• Free Realms (Sony Online Entertainment)
• EVE Online (CCP)
• Guild Wars (ArenaNet)
• World of Warcraft (Blizzard)

BEST NEW ONLINE GAME (new)
• League Of Legends (Riot Games)
• Dungeon Fighter Online (Nexon)
• We Rule (Ngmoco)
• FIFA Superstars (Playfish)
• Nightclub City (Booyah)

BEST LIVE GAME (ongoing)
• EVE Online (CCP)
• World of Warcraft (Blizzard)
• Dungeon Fighter Online (Nexon)
• Farmville (Zynga)
• League Of Legends (Riot Games)