The Game Awards. It’s an awards show that aims to recognise the talent and works of the best developers for the year, though it has this marketing edge of premiering world-exclusive announcements, reveals and trailers that makes it more of a marketing shill show rather than an earnest awards show. Last year has its problems, especially on the nominations side, but this year looks to be much better than expected.
Here’s the full list of the awards and nominations:
Jury Selected
Game of the Year
- Doom (id Software / Bethesda)
- Inside (Playdead)
- Overwatch (Blizzard Entertainment)
- Titanfall 2 (Respawn / Electronic Arts)
- Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Best Studio / Game Direction
- Blizzard (for Overwatch)
- DICE (for Battlefield 1)
- id Software (for Doom)
- Naughty Dog (for Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End)
- Respawn (for Titanfall 2)
Best Narrative
- Firewatch (Campo Santo)
- Inside (Playdead)
- Mafia III (Hangar 13 / 2K Games)
- Oxenfree (Night School Studio)
- Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Best Art Direction
- Abzu (Giant Squid / 505 Games)
- Firewatch (Campo Santo)
- Inside (Playdead)
- Overwatch (Blizzard Entertainment)
Best Music / Sound Design
- Battlefield 1 (DICE / Electronic Arts)
- Doom (id Software / Bethesda)
- Inside (Playdead)
- Rez Infinite (Enhance Games)
- Thumper (Drool)
Best Performance
- Alex Hernandez as Lincoln Clay (for Mafia III)
- Cissy Jones as Delilah (for Firewatch)
- Emily Rose as Elena (for Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End)
- Nolan North as Nathan Drake (for Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End)
- Rich Summer as Henry (for Fire Watch)
- Tory Baker as Sam Drake (for Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End)
Games for Impact Award
- 1979 Revolution (iNK Stories)
- Block’Hood (Plethora Project / Devolver Digital)
- Orwell (Osmotic Studios / Surprise Attack)
- Sea Hero Quest (Glitchers)
- That Dragon, Cancer (Numinous Games)
Best Independent Game
- Firewatch (Campo Santo)
- Hyper Light Drifter (Heart Machine)
- Inside (Playdead)
- Stardew Valley (ConcernedApe / Chucklefish Games)
- The Witness (Thekla)
Best Mobile / Handheld
- Clash Royale (Supercell)
- Fire Emblem Fates (Intelligent Systems / Nintendo)
- Monster Hunter Generations (Capcom)
- Pokemon Go (Niantic)
- Severed (Drinkbox Studios)
Best VR Game
- Batman: Arkham VR (Rocksteady Studios / Warner Bros. Interactive)
- EVE: Valkyrie (CCP Games)
- Job Simulator (Owlchemy Labs)
- Rez Infinite (Enhance Games)
- Thumper (Drool)
Best Action Game
- Battlefield 1 (DICE / Electronic Arts)
- Doom (id Software / Bethesda)
- Gears of War 4 (The Coalition / Microsoft)
- Overwatch (Blizzard Entertainment)
- Titanfall 2 (Respawn / Electronic Arts)
Best Action/Adventure Game
- Dishonored 2 (Arkane Studios / Bethesda Softworks)
- Hitman (IO Interactive / Square Enix)
- Hyper Light Drifter (Heart Machine)
- Ratchet & Clank (Insomniac Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
- Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Best RPG
- Dark Souls III (From Software / Bandai Namco Entertainment)
- Deus Ex: Mankind Divided (Eidos Montreal / Square Enix)
- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Blood and Wine (CD Projekt RED)
- World of Warcraft: Legion (Blizzard Entertainment)
- Xenoblade Chronicles X (Monolith Soft / Nintendo)
Best Fighting Game
- Killer Instinct Season 3 (Iron Galaxy Studios / Microsoft Studios)
- The King of Fighters XIV (SNK / Atlus USA)
- Pokken Tournament (Bandai Namco Studios / The Pokemon Company)
- Street Fighter V (Capcom)
Best Family Game
- Dragon Quest Builders (Square Enix)
- LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens (TT Fusion / Warner Brows. Interactive Entertainment)
- Pokemon Go (Niantic)
- Ratchet & Clank (Insomniac Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
- Skylanders: Imaginators (Toy for Bob / Activision)
Best Strategy Game
- Civilization VI (Firaxis Games / 2K Games)
- Fire Emblem Fates (Intelligent Systems / Nintendo)
- The Banner Saga 2 (Stoic Studio / Versus Evil)
- Total War: Warhammer (The Creative Assembly / Sega)
- XCOM 2 (Firaxis Games / 2K Games)
Best Sports / Racing Game
- FIFA 17 (EA Canada / EA Sports)
- Forza Horizon 3 (Playground Games / Microsoft Studios)
- MLB The Show 2016 (SIE San Diego Studio / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
- NBA 2K17 (Visual Concepts / 2K Sports)
- Pro Evolution Soccer 2017 (PES Productions / Konami)
Best Multiplayer Game
- Battlefield 1 (DICE / Electronic Arts)
- Gears of War 4 (The Coalition / Microsoft Studios)
- Overcooked (Ghost Town Games / Team17 Software)
- Overwatch (Blizzard Entertainment)
- Rainbow Six Siege (Ubisoft Montreal / Ubisoft)
- Titanfall 2 (Respawn / Electronic Arts)
Fans’ Choice
Best eSports Player
- Faker – [Lee Sang-Hyeok] SK Telecom T1, League of Legends
- Coldzera – [Marcelo David] SK Gaming, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
- Byun-Hyun Woo – Starcraft 2
InfiltratorInfiltration – [Lee Seeon-woo] Team Razer, Street Fighter V- Hungrybox – [Juan Debiedma] Team Liquid, Super Smash Bros.
Best eSports Team
- SK Telecom T1 – Game: League of Legends
- Wings Gaming – Game: DOTA 2
- SK Gaming
- ROX Tigers – Game: Leauge of Legends
- Cloud 9
Best eSports Game
- Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (Valve)
- DOTA 2 (Valve)
- League of Legends (Riot)
- Overwatch (Blizzard Entertainment)
- Street Fighter V (Capcom)
Trending Gamer
- AngryJoeShow
- Boogie2988
- Danny O’Dwyer
- JackSpeticeye
- Lirik
Best Fan Creation
- Project A2MR
- Pokemon Uranium
- Brutal Doom 64
- Endereal: The Shards of Order
Most Anticipated Game
- God of War (SIE Santa Monica Studio / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
- Horizon: Zero Dawn (Guerrilla Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
- Mass Effect: Andromeda (BioWare / Electronic Arts)
- Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo)
So, why is it better this year? For one thing we actually have fighting games this year for the fighting game category. But we only have one racing game in the sports/racing category (no love for Dirt Rally?). New categories like Best Fan Creation and Best VR Game is a welcome, and there’s more variety of games getting recognised in the genres category like Hitman, Firaxis’ Civ VI and XCOM 2, games on Nintendo systems like Xenoblade Chronicles X and Fire Emblem: Fates.
Though the bigger awards seems to favour a few games. Uncharted 4 is leading the nominations, while both Inside and Firewatch are the indie darlings of the year (though they are both of exceptional quality so there’s that). Overwatch is up there as well in terms of nomination numbers.
Oh, and they misspled Infiltration, the Street Fighter V player that won EVO to Infiltrator. The rest are OK, e-sports achievements being fan voted is fine.
The Game Awards will be happening on the 1st of December. Let’s hope it’s a better show than last time.