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We Predict The Winners Of The Game Awards 2015
The Game Awards enters its second year tonight, and the event has the Game Informer staff thinking about what games and industry talent the selected jurors will choose to appreciate. While the TGAs are only in their second year, producer Geoff Keighley has over 11 years of experience creating video game award programs for Spike TV in the form of the Video Game Awards and the short-lived VGX. The TGAs and VGAs have no explicit connections besides Keighley, but it's still fun to use our knowledge of the mainstream award ceremonies' joint legacies to guess what the winners might be.
You can watch The Video Game Awards 2015 at 6 p.m. Pacific tonight via a stream. Click here for more info.
Note: These predictions reflect our best guesses about this year's The Game Awards, and have no bearing on our own Game Informer Game of the Years awards, which are yet to be announced.
The Nominees:
- Bloodborne
- Fallout 4
- Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
- Super Mario Maker
- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Our Prediction:
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Ambitious open-world RPGs with engrossing stories are difficult to pass up for GOTY awards, and Dragon Age: Inquisition took the prize at last year's TGAs. The Witcher 3 earned widespread acclaim and is also less polarizing than other nominees on the list, making it a likely winner. |
The Nominees:
- Axiom Verge
- Her Story
- Ori and the Blind Forest
- Rocket League
- Undertale
Our Prediction:
| Undertale - Few indie games have sparked a passionate fan following as quickly and fervently as Undertale. Droves of admirers love the game for its old-school JRPG throwbacks, unforgettable characters, and subversive twist on the genre, making it a good bet. |
The Nominees:
- Her Story
- Life Is Strange
- Tales from the Borderlands
- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
- Until Dawn
Our Prediction:
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - CD Project Red's ambitious open-world is brimming with memorable characters waiting for Geralt to discover their tales. The Witcher 3 delivers both in quantity and quality. |
The Nominees:
- Ashley Burch as Chloe Price (Life is Strange)
- Camilla Luddington as Lara Croft (Rise of the Tomb Raider)
- Doub Cockle as Geralt (The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt)
- Mark Hamill as the Joker (Batman: Arkham Knight)
- Viva Seifert (Her Story)
Our Prediction:
| Mark Hamill as the Joker - Luke Skywalker himself returned to reprise his role as Batman's main villain. On top of the performance being a stunning look into the Joker's twisted mind, it's also hard to imagine not seeing one of the Star Wars: The Force Awakens stars on stage tonight. |
The Nominees:
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 3
- Destiny: The Taken King
- Halo 5: Guardians
- Splatoon
- Star Wars Battlefront
Our Prediction:
| Destiny: The Taken King - Everybody loves a redemption story, and Bungie impressively turned around one of 2014's most polarizing games with The Taken King expansion. |
The Nominees:
- Bloodborne
- Fallout 4
- Pillars of Eternity
- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
- Undertale
Our Prediction:
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - If The Witcher 3 scores GOTY, there's no way it doesn't also win this award. |
The Nominees:
- Disney Infinity 3.0
- Lego Dimensions
- Skylanders: Superchargers
- Splatoon
- Super Mario Maker
Our Prediction:
| Super Mario Maker - Nintendo's fantastic create/play/share title may not facilitate co-op, but it's fantastic with friends/family and we're sure the TGA organizers would love to give it a deserving nod. |
The Nominees:
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 3
- Destiny: The Taken King
- Halo 5: Guardians
- Rocket League
- Splatoon
Our Prediction:
| Destiny: The Taken King - If we predict the TGAs accurately, then what they may consider best shooter of the year would also likely take best multiplayer. Co-op multiplayer is at Destiny's core. |
The Nominees:
- Bethesda Game Studios
- CD Projekt Red
- From Software
- Kojima Productions
- Nintendo
Our Prediction:
| Kojima Productions - Hideo Kojima is rumored to be at the TGAs tonight, and he's also a close friend of producer Geoff Keighley. Layer on the sad, public demise of Kojima Productions and we're confident that the TGAs will make time to give the defunct studio some year-end recognition. |
The Nominees:
- Downwell
- Fallout Shelter
- Lara Croft Go
- Monster Hunter 4: Ultimate
- Pac-Man 256
Our Prediction:
| Fallout Shelter - Bethesda made a huge splash when they announced Fallout Shelter's immediate availability at E3, and the game remained the center of the mobile conversation for weeks. Without stronger competition in the mobile space (and Monster Hunter, sadly, is likely too niche for the TGAs), Fallout Shelter seems like the likeliest winner. |
The Nominees:
- Fallout 4
- Halo 5: Guardians
- Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
- Ori and the Blind Forest
- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Our Prediction:
| Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain - MGS V touts both an impressive orchestrated score and a playlist of licensed '80s hits that would make any wedding DJ jealous. |
The Nominees:
- Cibele
- Her Story
- Life is Strange
- Sunset
- Undertale
Our Prediction:
| Life is Strange - Dontnod earned acclaim for tackling the complicated themes of a young girl in high school, from bullying to domestic violence to sexuality. Since the "Games for Impact" category looks like a revamping of last year's "Games for Change" category, this will likely win the award. |
The Nominees:
- Assassin's Creed Syndicate
- Batman: Arkham Knight
- Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
- Ori and the Blind Forest
- Rise of the Tomb Raider
Our Prediction:
| Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain - The Best Action/Adventure nominees are all solid candidates for a winner here, but we feel MGS V's popularity and hints that creator Hideo Kojima will be present gives it the best shot at a TGA. |
The Nominees:
- Guilty Gear XRD -Sign-
- Mortal Kombat X
- Rise of Incarnates
- Rising Thunder
Our Prediction:
| Mortal Kombat X - 2015 was a light year for fighting games, and given the critical success of Mortal Kombat X and the franchises recent return to glory, we think it's the clear TGA winner. |
The Nominees:
- FIFA 16
- Forza Motorsport 6
- NBA 2K16
- Pro Evolution Soccer 2016
- Rocket League
Our Prediction:
| Rocket League - Given the broad selection of jurors and the immense popularity of Rocket League, we see the vehicular soccer game taking the prize here. |
The Nominees:
- Batman: Arkham Knight
- Bloodborne
- Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
- Ori and the Blind Forest
- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Our Prediction:
| Bloodborne - If we're correct and Bloodborne doesn't take any other categories, then this will likely be the nod for From Software's stellar game. Bloodborne's dark, gothic world and insane monster creations are absolutely worthy of a Best Art Direction award. |
Note: These predictions reflect our best guesses about this year's The Game Awards, and have no bearing on our own Game Informer Game of the Years awards, which are yet to be announced.
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