The Game Awards 2016 wrap up

by Ian Pemberton Another year brings us another Game Awards along with its set of newly-crowned winners. So, who won? A note about this year’s Game Awards: they’ve decided not to include Developer of the Year in this year’s selection of accolades, replacing it with the Best Direction award. That being said, here are the winners: Game of the Year: Winner: Overwatch (Blizzard) Nominees: Doom (id Software/Bethesda) Inside (Playdead) Titanfall 2 (Respawn/EA) Uncharted 4: A Theif’s End (Naughty Dog/Sony) Best Independent Game: Winner: Inside Nominees: Firewatch (Campo Santo) Hyper Light Drifter (Heart Machine) Stardew Valley (ConcernedApe/Chucklefish Games) The Witness (Thelka, Inc.) Best Narrative: Winner: Uncharted 4: A Theif’s End Nominees: Firewatch Inside Mafia III (Hangar 13/2K) Oxenfree (Night School Studio) Games for Impact: Winner: That Dragon, Cancer (Numinous Games) Nominees: Block’hood (Plethora Project/Devolver Digital) Orwell (Osmotic Studios/Surprise Attack) Sea Hero Quest (Glitchers) 1979 Revolution (iNK Stories) Best Game Direction: Winner: Overwatch Nominees: Dice (Battlefield 1) id Software (Doom) Naughty Dog (Uncharted 4) Respawn (Titanfall 2) Best Art Direction: Winner: Inside Nominees: Abzu (Giant Squid/505) Firewatch Overwatch Uncharted 4 Best Music/Sound Design: Winner: Doom Nominees: Battlefield 1 Inside Rez Infinite (Enhance Games) Thumper (Drool) Best Mobile/Handheld: Winner: Pokemon Go (Niantic) Nominees: Clash Royale (Supercell) Fire Emblem Fates (Intelligent Systems/Nintendo) Monster Hunter Generations (Capcom) Severed (DrinkBox Studios) Best Action Game: Winner: Doom Nominees: Battlefield 1 Gears of War 4 (The Coalition/Microsoft) Overwatch Titanfall 2 Best Action/Adventure Game: Winner: Dishonored 2 (Arkane Studios/Bethesda) Nominees: Hitman (IO Interactive/Square-Enix) Hyper Light Drifter Ratchet and Clank (Insomniac Games/Sony) Uncharted 4 Best RPG: Winner: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt -- Blood and Wine DLC (CD Projekt RED) Nominees: Dark Souls 3 (FromSoftward/Bandai Namco) Deus Ex: Mankind Divided (Eidos Montreal/Square-Enix) World of Warcraft: Legion (Blizzard) Xenoblade Chronicles X (Monolith Soft/Nintendo) Best Fighting Game: Winner: Street Fighter V (Capcom) Nominees: Killer Instinct Season 3 (Iron Galaxy Studios/Microsoft) King of Fighters XIV (SNK/Atlus USA) Pokken Tournament (Bandai Namco/The Pokemon Company) Best Strategy Game: Winner: Civilization VI (Firaxis Games/2K) Nominees: Fire Emblem Fates The Banner Saga 2 (Stoic Studio/Versus Evil) Total War: Warhammer (Creative Assembly/Sega) XCOM 2 (Firaxis Games/2K) Most Anticipated Game: Winner: Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo) Nominees: God of War (Santa Monica Studio/Sony) Horizon: Zero Dawn (Guerrilla Games/Sony) Mass Effect: Andromeda (Bioware/EA) Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar) Best Performance: Winner: Nolan North as Nathan Drake, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End Nominees: Alex Hernandez as Lincoln Clay, Mafia III Cissy Jones as Delilah, Firewatch Emily Rose as Elena, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End Rich Summer as Henry, Firewatch Troy Baker as Sam Drake, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End Best VR Game: Winner: Rez Infinite (Enhance Games) Nominees: Batman: Arkham VR (Rocksteady Studios/WBIE) EVE: Valkyrie (CCP Games) Job Simulator (Owlchemy Labs) Thumper (Drool) Best Family Game: Winner: Pokemon GO (Niantic) Nominees: Dragon Quest Builders (Square Enix) Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens (TT Fusion/WBIE) Ratchet & Clank (Insomniac Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment) Skylanders: Imaginators (Toy for Bob/Activision) Best Sports/Racing Game: Winner: Forza Horizon 3 (Playground Games/Microsoft Studios) Nominees: FIFA 17 (EA Canada/EA Sports) MLB The Show 16 (SCE San Diego Studio/SIE) NBA 2K17 (Visual Concepts/2K Sports) Pro Evolution Soccer 2017 (PES Productions/Konami) Best Multiplayer Game: Winner: Overwatch (Blizzard) Nominees: Battlefield 1 (DICE/EA) Gears of War 4 (The Coalition/Microsoft Studios) Overcooked (Ghost Town Games/Team 17) Titanfall 2 (Respawn/EA) Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft) Best eSports Player: Winner: Coldzera – Marcelo David (SK Gaming, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive) Nominees: Faker – Lee Sang-hyeok (SK Telecom T1, League of Legends) ByuN – Hyun Woo (Starcraft 2) Infiltrator – Lee Seeon-woo (Team Razer, Street Fighter V) Hungrybox – Juan Debiedma (Team Liquid, Super Smash Bros.) Best eSports Team: Winner: Cloud 9 Nominees: SK Telecom T1 (League of Legends) Wings Gaming (DOTA 2) SK Gaming ROX Tigers (League of Legends) Best eSports Game: Winner: Overwatch (Blizzard Nominees: Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (Valve) DOTA 2 (Valve) League of Legends (Riot) Street Fighter V (Capcom) Trending Gamer: Winner: Boogie2988 Nominees: AngryJoeShow Danny O’Dwyer JackSepticEye Lirik Best Fan Creation:             Winner: No winner announced Nominees: Brutal Doom 64 Enderal: The Shards of Order Another Metroid 2 Remake Pokemon Uranium The struck-through titles were removed from the nominee list due to copyright infringement problems with Nintendo. At the end of the day, the multi-winning games are: At 4 awards: Overwatch. It won Best Direction, Game of the Year, Best Multiplayer, and the fan-awarded Best eSports game. At 2 awards: Doom. It won Best Music/Sound Design and Best Action Game. At 2 awards: Inside. It won Best Art Direction and Best Indie Game. At 1.5 Awards: Uncharted 4. It won Best Narrative and a Best Performance for Nolan North’s portrayal of series protagonist Nathan Drake. Interestingly, The Witcher 3 received last year’s Game of the Year award, Best RPG award, and Best Developer Award; their DLC has also taken Best RPG, making it the first-ever game to win the same award two years in a row in Game Awards history. That wraps it up this year’s Game Awards!