Nominees Revealed for The Game Awards

[Lizzy Finnegan]

Nominees Revealed for The Game Awards


The nominees for The Game Awards 2016 were announced today.

The 2016 Game Awards nominees were revealed today, with Doom, Inside, Overwatch, Titanfall 2, and Uncharted 4: A Thief's End up for the top honor of Game of the Year. Uncharted 4 has the most nominations, with eight total nods, while Inside and Overwatch each have five and Doom and Titanfall 2 are each nominated for four. Other games with impressive nomination numbers include Firewatch at five and Battlefield 1 for four.

To be able to be considered, games have to have a release date on or before November 24, 2016 - so the list includes games from later in 2015, and excludes games set to release after November 24.

The winners will be announced at The Game Awards 2016 on December 1 at 9PM ET.

You can check out the full list of nominees below.

GAME OF THE YEAR

Doom (id Software/Bethesda Softworks)
Inside (Playdead)
Overwatch (Blizzard Entertainment)
Titanfall 2 (Respawn Entertainment/Electronic Arts)
Uncharted 4: A Thief's End (Naughty Dog/Sony Interactive Entertainment)

BEST GAME DIRECTION

Blizzard Entertainment (for Overwatch)
EA DICE (for Battlefield 1)
id Software (for Doom)
Naughty Dog (for Uncharted 4: A Thief's End)
Respawn Entertainment (for Titanfall 2)

BEST NARRATIVE

Firewatch (Campo Santo)
Inside (Playdead)
Mafia 3 (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)
Uncharted 4: A Thief's End (Naughty Dog/Sony Interactive Entertainment)

BEST MUSIC/SOUND DESIGN

Battlefield 1 (EA DICE/Electronic Arts)
Doom (id Software/Bethesda Softworks)
Inside (Playdead)
Rez Infinite (Enhance Games)
Thumper (Drool)

BEST PERFORMANCE

Alex Hernandez as Lincoln Clay, Mafia 3
Cissy Jones as Delilah, Firewatch
Emily Rose as Elena, Uncharted 4: A Thief's End
Nolan North as Nathan Drake, Uncharted 4: A Thief's End
Rich Sommer as Henry, Firewatch
Troy Baker as Sam Drake, Uncharted 4: A Thief's End

GAMES FOR IMPACT

1979 Revolution: Black Friday (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 Inc.)

BEST MOBILE/HANDHELD

Clash Royale (Supercell)
Fire Emblem Fates (Intelligent Systems/Nintendo)
Monster Hunter Generations (Capcom)
Pokemon Go (Niantic Labs)
Severed (DrinkBox Studios)

BEST VR GAME

Batman: Arkham VR (Rocksteady Studios/Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment)
Eve: Valkyrie (CCP Games)
Job Simulator (Owlchemy Labs)
Rez Infinite (Enhance Games)
Thumper (Drool)

BEST ACTION GAME

Battlefield 1 (EA DICE/Electronic Arts)
Doom (id Software/Bethesda Softworks)
Gears of War 4 (The Coalition/Microsoft Studios)
Overwatch (Blizzard Entertainment)
Titanfall 2 (Respawn Entertainment/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 3 (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco Entertainment)
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided (Eidos Montreal/Square Enix)
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Blood and Wine (CD Projekt Red/Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment)
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 14 (SNK/Atlus USA)
Pokken Tournament (Bandai Namco Studios/The Pokemon Co. International)
Street Fighter 5 (Capcom)

BEST STRATEGY GAME

Sid Meier's Civilization 6 (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 FAMILY GAME

Dragon Quest Builders (Square Enix)
Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens (TT Fusion/Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment)
Pokemon Go (Niantic Labs)
Ratchet & Clank (Insomniac Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Skylanders Imaginators (Toy for Bob/Activision)


BEST SPORTS/RACING

FIFA 17 (EA Vancouver/Electronic Arts)
Forza Horizon 3 (Playground Games/Microsoft Studios)
MLB The Show 16 (SIE San Diego Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment)
NBA 2K17 (Visual Concepts/2K Sports)
Pro Evolution Soccer 2017 (PES Productions/Konami)


BEST MULTIPLAYER

Battlefield 1 (EA DICE/Electronic Arts)
Gears of War 4 (The Coalition/Microsoft Studios)
Overcooked (Ghost Town Games/Team17)
Overwatch (Blizzard Entertainment)
Titanfall 2 (Respawn Entertainment/Electronic Arts)
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft)

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 Studios/Rockstar Games)
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo)

TRENDING GAMER

AngryJoeShow
Boogie2988
Danny O'Dwyer
JackSepticEye
Lirik

BEST FAN CREATION

Project A2MR
Pokemon Uranium
Brutal Doom 64
Enderal: The Shards of Order

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)
Infiltrator - Lee Seeon-woo (Team Razer, Street Fighter 5)
Hungrybox - Juan Debiedma (Team Liquid, Super Smash Bros.)

BEST ESPORTS TEAM

SK Telecom T1 (League of Legends)
Wings Gaming (Dota 2)
SK Gaming
ROX Tigers (League of Legends)
Cloud 9


BEST ESPORTS GAME

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (Valve)
Dota 2 (Valve)
League of Legends (Riot Games)
Overwatch (Blizzard Entertainment)
Street Fighter 5 (Capcom)


Permalink

 

[Ukomba]

I'm surprised Titanfall 2 made the GMOY nomination. Seemed to fall through the cracks.

Wow. Inside is nominated for pretty much everything it could be nominated for.

 

[Programmed_For_Damage]

I hope Red Dead Redemption 2 wins Most Anticipated Game. I've been waiting for that for so long.

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

If Abzu doesn't win for art direction then I will be extremely cross, because that game is gorgeous.

 

[Katherine Kerensky]

The only game listed that I've played is XCOM 2. It's alright, but I think I may have preferred Stellaris. Different kind of strategy game, though.

 

[Diablo2000]

Most Anticipated Game category is retarded, seriously. A category based on hype?

The rest is meh at best for me, althought I hope that Project AM2R wins in it's category. It's an amazing fan made remake that deserved a lot better than it got.

 

[ShakerSilver]

Did I suffer I minor stroke and miss out on something big, because I never heard of Inside and have no idea why it's been nominated for a GOTY award.

Speaking of GOTY nominees, why are 3 out of the 5 FPS games? I know that most big-budget releases are shooters, but couldn't they diversify that list a bit more. And yes I know the games themselves aren't all the same but to the general audience they're all just "games where you shoot stuff". It should also be noted that 4 of those GOTY nominee games are also on the "Best Game Direction" as well, which itself has 4 FPS games. I mean I like shooting stuff but come on, did this year have just so little to offer that only the big budget rooty-tooty-shooty games could make it?

Couple other things bugging me:
3 of the nominees in Best Performance are from Uncharted 4 and 2 are from Firewatch - really? No other performances to note?
How is Overwatch a best eSports game nominee? I know it's big with home streams, but it hasn't really taken off much in eSports.

I think this is the year where I have more questions about the nominees than I will have about the winners.

 

[Geisterkarle]

BEST FAN CREATION
Project A2MR
Can they legally give A2MR a price!?!? The Game is glorious, but was banhammered...

I'm really hyped about the Indies. I don't know Firewatcher, but the rest are all great!

Also about the eSport category: Overwatch and Street Fighter 5 are the only games in this list, that were released in 2016! What are those others doing there???

 

[RedDeadFred]

Of that list of GOTY nominees, I'd probably give it to Overwatch. However, my personal GOTY is Dark Souls 3 with Stellaris and Overwatch as the two runner-ups. Also, if a DLC could be nominated for GOTY, I'd put Blood and Wine right up there with Dark Souls 3.

I will say though, Overwatch keeps getting better and better, so in a year's time, I may look back and consider it my GOTY of 2016. They're making good on their promise to release free updates and while the Summer Games loot boxes debacle was really fucking shady, the Halloween update shows that they listened to the community. Arcade Mode's release has made me very excited for the future of this game.

 

[Kungfu_Teddybear]

I'm pretty disappointed that 3 of the 5 nominees for the Game of the Year category are FPS games and that Dark Souls 3 didn't make that category, show a little variety. I'm also pretty disappointed that Dark Souls 3 wasn't nominated for Best Art Direction or Best Music/Sound Design. It deserves to be at least nominated for those.

 

[CaitSeith]

Most Anticipated Game category is retarded, seriously. A category based on hype?

I agree. They may have as well the categories:
- Best Game Preview Trailer
- Best Developer Interview
- Best Preview Demo

 

[Vigormortis]

Mostly logical picks, as far as I'm concerned. A few I wouldn't personally have chosen but overall they're pretty spot on this year. In fact, 2016 was a good year for quality gaming, especially in the FPS and Indie genres.

While I can see several categories being a toss up, the judges would have to be tone deaf to not give either DOOM or Thumper the Best Sound Design/Soundtrack award, especially the former. Mick Gordon's work was immaculate in DOOM. That soundtrack (and the game overall) has rocketed its way towards the upper echelons of my all-time favorites.

I'm surprised Titanfall 2 made the GMOY nomination.

Given how bloody fantastic its singleplayer campaign was, and how robust its multiplayer is, I'm not really surprised.

Not sure I'd pick it as my personal GOTY, but I can fully appreciate why it's on the list.

I'm pretty disappointed that 3 of the 5 nominees for the Game of the Year category are FPS games

Speaking of GOTY nominees, why are 3 out of the 5 FPS games?

Might be because each of them offered some of the more unique, entertaining, and/or interesting gaming experiences this year, not to mention having both very clear intent and direction in game design and glossy levels of polish.

Don't get me wrong. I agree that seeing more variety would be nice. But, at the same time, I can't deny the quality and creativity that went into the games in the GOTY category. (and I'm not even a fan of all of them) Forcibly injecting other titles in place of those listed, all in the name of 'more variety', would do a disservice to the efforts and quality of work that went into the GOTY picks.

Also about the eSport category: Overwatch and Street Fighter 5 are the only games in this list, that were released in 2016! What are those others doing there???

Probably due to their recent tournament and event efforts, as well as their ever evolving efforts to expand and grow esports as a whole.

Esports games (the good ones, anyway) aren't a once-a-year thing. They're the sort that are in it for the long haul. As a result an Esport Game of the Year category is inevitably going to include legacy titles.

 

[Raggedstar]

Did I suffer I minor stroke and miss out on something big, because I never heard of Inside and have no idea why it's been nominated for a GOTY award.

It's a puzzle-platformer by the creators of Limbo. Never played it but if it's anything like Limbo, it's likely dripping with atmosphere, has great sound design, and is deliciously dark and grotesque.



OT: Happy Ratchet and Clank are getting some love (even if the story and movie sucked). Shame The Last Guardian is coming out too late, but if it's good (pleasebegoodomg), I hope it slinks into the 2017 list like Xenoblade Chronicles X did this year.

 

[Saelune]

What a boring list. Did nothing else come out this year? I mean, its just going to go to Overwatch, bleh. But really? Thats your list?

 

[mysecondlife]

I haven't played any of the listed game besides Uncharted 4. Shows I'm even further behind the "curve".

Edit: Oh wait there is Stardewvalley. Good game made by a very nice person.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

How is Overwatch a best eSports game nominee? I know it's big with home streams, but it hasn't really taken off much in eSports.

I think this is the year where I have more questions about the nominees than I will have about the winners.

You would be amazed how many tournaments there are actually, hell even how many teams there are worldwide, it's fucking *huge* in asia.

this is also gaining momentum:

https://overwatchleague.com/en-us/

perhaps we are just looking in different places, but I see it all over the place, hell the chatter/discussions that comes out of reddit and blizzard forums daily is impressive in itself.

What a boring list. Did nothing else come out this year? I mean, its just going to go to Overwatch, bleh. But really? Thats your list?

...okay, well what did you play this year that's new?

not that I've played or even like a majority of the games on that list, but I'm really not surprised seeing them up there (besides the ones I've literally never heard of)

Most of the games in each category polished/nailed that specific aspect of their game, it might not be for everyone, but if a game nailed something, then so be it, toss it up there for an award.

 

[Saelune]

How is Overwatch a best eSports game nominee? I know it's big with home streams, but it hasn't really taken off much in eSports.

I think this is the year where I have more questions about the nominees than I will have about the winners.

You would be amazed how many tournaments there are actually, hell even how many teams there are worldwide, it's fucking *huge* in asia.

this is also gaining momentum:

https://overwatchleague.com/en-us/

perhaps we are just looking in different places, but I see it all over the place, hell the chatter/discussions that comes out of reddit and blizzard forums daily is impressive in itself.

What a boring list. Did nothing else come out this year? I mean, its just going to go to Overwatch, bleh. But really? Thats your list?

...okay, well what did you play this year that's new?

not that I've played or even like a majority of the games on that list, but I'm really not surprised seeing them up there (besides the ones I've literally never heard of)

Most of the games in each category polished/nailed that specific aspect of their game, it might not be for everyone, but if a game nailed something, then so be it, toss it up there for an award.

I have a poor perception of time. Years blend together, so games that came out a year or two ago I might mistake as being newer than they are.

Plus what I like isnt always what everyone likes. Not like a Dynasty Warriors type game would ever get any such awards.

 

[Bob_McMillan]

So weird to see a lot of Mafia 3 on here.

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

An award for hype? Seriously?

I wonder if video games have their own version of the Razzies.

 

[Rangaman]

Meh. Perhaps it's because I'm not big on First-Person Shooters (which has absolutely nothing to do with my sheer ineptitude at them) but this seems...kinda lacking. I played the Beta for Battlefield 1 and it wasn't very good, and while Overwatch and Titanfall 2 look good, I wouldn't really call them GOTY material. Personally, I thought Hyper Light Drifter would have had a larger presence.

Oh, and please stop praising Inside, it's just not that brilliant.

I wonder if video games have their own version of the Razzies.

I wish.