It's that time of year again! With the end of the year coming up it's time to hand out all those shiny awards for the best games of the year. One of the few big shows dedicated to doing this is the Video Game Awards, hosted by Geoff Keighley. They're on again for this year and will be shown on December 7th.
Of course, it's not an awards show if there aren't games to award, and there's plenty of those. To be nominated the game had to come out between November 24th, 2016 and November 17th, 2017. The games are nominated by 51 journalist outlets and their votes will make up 90% of the votes for the winners, with the other 10% being determined by voters. There's a whole set of rules that you can read here, but the most important is that any game that came out between the dates mentioned above qualify, including games in early access.
This has led to some controversy as PlayerUnknown's Battleground was nominated for game of the year despite still being an early access title. Brendan Greene, PlayerUnknown himself, came out and said he did not believe his own game deserved the award, albeit more because he thinks The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Horizon: Zero Dawn were better games rather than because it was in early access. If his game actually deserves to be there or not is something that I'm sure will be argued about and fought over for years to come, but...
Anyway, without further ado, here's the list of the nominees:
Game of the Year
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Our Review)
- Super Mario Odyssey (Our Review)
- PlayerUnknown's Battleground (Our Preview)
- Persona 5 (Our Impressions)
- Horizon: Zero Dawn (Our Review)
Best Game Direction
- Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus (Our Review)
- Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (Our Review)
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
- Super Mario Odyssey
- Horizon: Zero Dawn
Best Narrative
- What Remains of Edith Finch (Our Review)
- NieR: Automata (Our Review)
- Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice (Our Review)
- Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus
- Horizon: Zero Dawn
Best Art Direction
- Destiny 2 (Our Review)
- Cuphead (Our Review)
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
- Persona 5
- Horizon: Zero Dawn
Best Score/Music
- Destiny 2
- Cuphead
- NieR: Automata
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
- Super Mario Odyssey
- Persona 5
Best Audio Design
- Destiny 2
- Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice
- Resident Evil 7: Biohazard
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
- Super Mario Odyssey
Best Performance
- Melina Juergens, Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice as Senua
- Laura Bailey, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy as Nadine Ross (Our Review)
- Claudia Black, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy as Chloe Frazer
- Brian Bloom, Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus as B.J. Blazkowicz
- Ashly Burch, Horizon: Zero Dawn as Aloy
Games for Impact
- Please Knock on My Door
- Night in the Woods (Our Review)
- Life is Strange: Before the Storm (Our Review)
- Bury Me, My Love
- What Remains of Edith Finch
- Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice
Best Ongoing Game
- Warframe
- Rainbow Six: Siege
- Overwatch (Our Review)
- Grand Theft Auto Online
- Destiny 2
- PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds
Best Mobile Game
- Fire Emblem Heroes
- Super Mario Run
- Old Man's Journey
- Monument Valley 2
- Hidden Folks
Best Handheld Game
- Poochy and Yoshi's Woolly World
- Monster Hunter Stories
- Metroid: Samus Returns (Our Review)
- Ever Oasis
- Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadow of Valentia
Best VR/AR Game
- Superhot VR (Our Review)
- Star Trek: Bridge Crew
- Lone Echo/Echo Arena
- Farpoint (Our Review)
- Resident Evil 7: Biohazard
Best Action Game
- Prey (Our Review)
- Nioh (Our Impressions)
- Destiny 2
- Cuphead
- Wolfenstein: The New Colossus
Best Action/Adventure Game
- Uncharted: The Lost Legacy
- Assassin's Creed Origins (Our Review)
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
- Super Mario Odyssey
- Horizon: Zero Dawn
Best Roleplaying Game
- South Park: The Fractured But Whole (Our Review)
- Final Fantasy XV (Our Review)
- Divinity: Original Sin 2 (Our Review)
- NieR: Automata
- Persona 5
Best Fighting Game
- Tekken 7 (Our Review)
- Nidhogg 2 (Our Review)
- Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite (Our Review)
- Injustice 2
- ARMS
Best Family Game
- Splatoon 2 (Our Review)
- Sonic Mania (Our Review)
- Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle (Our Review)
- Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Our Review)
- Super Mario Odyssey
Best Strategy Game
- XCOM 2: War of the Chosen (Our Review)
- Tooth and Tail (Our Review)
- Total War: Warhammer II (Our Review)
- Halo Wars 2
- Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle
Best Sports/Racing Game
- Project Cars 2
- Pro Evolution Soccer 2018
- NBA 2K18
- Gran Turismo Sport
- Forza Motorsport 7
- FIFA 18
Best Multiplayer
- Fortnite (Our Impressions)
- Call of Duty: WWII
- Splatoon 2
- Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
- Destiny 2
- PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds
Most Anticipated Game
- The Last of Us Part II
- Red Dead Redemption II
- Monster Hunter: World
- Marvel's Spider-Man
- God of War
Best Independent Game
- Pyre (Our Review)
- Night in the Woods
- Cuphead
- What Remains of Edith Finch
- Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice
Best Student Game
- Meaning
- Level Squared
- Implusion
- Falling Sky
- Hollowed
- From Light
Trending Gamer
- Steven Spohn
- Mike Grzesiek
- Guy Beahm
- Clint Lexa
- Andrew Rene
Best Esports Game
- Rocket League (Our Review)
- League of Legends
- DOTA 2
- Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
- Overwatch
Best Esports Player
- Kuro "KuroKy" Salehi Takhasomi
- Je-hong "ryujehong" Ryu
- Nikola "NiKo" Kovac
- Marcelo "coldzera" David
- Lee sang-hyeok "Faker"
Best Esports Team
- Team Liquid
- SK Telecom 1
- Lunatic-Hai
- FaZe Clan
- Cloud9
Best Debut Indie Game
- Slime Rancher
- Mr. Shifty (Our Review)
- Hollow Knight
- Golf Story
- Cuphead
Best Chinese Game
- Monument Valley 2
- jx3 HD
- Gumballs
- ICEY (Our Review)
- King of Glory
How do you feel about these nominees? Going to watch the show? Have outrage that your favorite game wasn't nominated and/or your most hated game was? Just as confused as I am that obvious GOTY contenders like Bubsy: The Woolies Strike Back, Troll & I, and Knack 2 weren't nominated? Let us know in the comments!
