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The Game Awards Reveals 2017 Award Nominees

by Keenan McCall on Nov 14, 2017 at 02:18 PM

The Game Awards has released its list of nominees for this year's show, with fans able to cast their votes for the first time.

In an announcement released earlier today, The Game Awards host lays out its nominees across all categories for its upcoming 2017 award show on December 7. In terms of games, knock out hits like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Super Mario Odyssey, and Destiny 2 lead the pack, while titles like Persona 5 and Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice are in the running for more than a few themselves.

There's also a host of other catagories and nominees which can be viewed down below. It should also be noted that this is the first year fans can vote for their favorite entries through several social media platforms [Full Disclosure: Game Informer is on the voting jury]. Be sure to check out The Game Awards' official site for instructions on how to cast a vote.

Game of the Year

  • The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
  • Super Mario Odyssey (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
  • PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG Corp.)
  • Persona 5 (Atlus)
  • Horizon Zero Dawn (Guerilla Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment)

Best Game Direction

  • Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus (MachineGames/Bethesda)
  • Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (Capcom)
  • The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
  • Super Mario Odyssey (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
  • Horizon Zero Dawn (Guerilla Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment)

Best Narrative

  • What Remains of Edith Finch (Giant Sparrow/Annapurna Interactive)
  • NieR: Automata (Platinum Games/Square Enix)
  • Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice (Ninja Theory)
  • Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus (MachineGames/Bethesda)
  • Horizon Zero Dawn (Guerilla Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment)

Best Art Direction

  • Destiny 2 (Bungie/Activision)
  • Cuphead (Studio MDHR)
  • The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
  • Persona 5 (Atlus)
  • Horizon Zero Dawn (Guerilla Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment)

Best Score/Music

  • Destiny 2 (Bungie/Activision)
  • Cuphead (Studio MDHR)
  • NieR: Automata (Platinum Games/Square Enix)
  • The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
  • Super Mario Odyssey (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
  • Persona 5 (Atlus)

Best Audio Design

  • Destiny 2 (Bungie/Activision)
  • Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice (Ninja Theory)
  • Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (Capcom)
  • The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
  • Super Mario Odyssey (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)

Best Performance

  • Melina Juergens, Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice (as Senua)
  • Laura Bailey, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy (as Nadine Ross)
  • Claudia Black, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy (as Chloe Frasier)
  • Brian Bloom, Wolfenstein II: The new Colossus (as B.J. Blazkowicz)
  • Ashley Burch, Horizon Zero Dawn (as Aloy)

Games for Impact

  • Please Knock on my Door (Levall Games)
  • Night in the Woods (Infinite Fall)
  • Life is Strange: Before the Storm (Deck Nine/Square Enix)
  • Bury Me, My Love (The Pixel Hunt/Figs, ARTE)
  • What Remains of Edith Finch (Giant Sparrow/Annapurna Interactive)
  • Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice (Ninja Theory)

Best Ongoing Game

  • Warframe (Digital Extremes)
  • Rainbow 6: Siege (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft)
  • Overwatch (Blizzard)
  • Grand Theft Auto Online (Rockstar Games)
  • Destiny 2 (Bungie/Activision)
  • PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG Corp.)

Best Mobile Game

  • Super Mario Run (Nintendo)
  • Old Man's Journey (Broken Rules)
  • Monument Valley 2 (ustwo games)
  • Hidden Folks (Adriaan de Jongh/Sylvain Tegroeg)
  • Fire Emblem Heroes (Intelligent Systems/Nintendo)

Best Handheld Game

  • Poochy and Yoshi's Woolly World (Good-Feel/Nintendo)
  • Monster Hunter Stories (Marvelous/Nintendo)
  • Metyroid: Samus Returns (MercurySteam/Nintendo)
  • Ever Oasis (Grezzo/Nintendo)
  • Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia (Intelligent Systems/Nintendo)

Best VR/AR Game

  • Superhot VR (SUPERHOT Team)
  • Star Trek: Bridge Crew (Red Storm Entertainment/Ubisoft)
  • Lone Echo/Echo Arena (Ready At Dawn/Oculus Studios)
  • Farpoint (Impulse Gear/Sony Interactive Entertainment)
  • Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (Capcom)

Best Action Game

  • Prey (Arkane/Bethesda)
  • Nioh (Team Ninja/Sony Interactive Entertainment)
  • Destiny 2 (Bungie/Activision)
  • Cuphead (Studio MDHR)
  • Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus (MachineGames/Bethesda)

Best Action/Adventure Game

  • Uncharted: The Lost Legacy (Naughty Dog/Sony Interactive Entertainment)
  • Assassin's Creed: Origins (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft)
  • The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
  • Super Mario Odyssey (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
  • Horizon Zero Dawn (Guerilla Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment)

Best Role Playing Game

  • South Park: The Fractured But Whole (Ubisoft San Francisco/Ubisoft)
  • Final Fantasy XV (Square-Enix Business Division 2/Square-Enix)
  • Divinity: Original Sin 2 (Larian Games)
  • NieR: Automata (Platinum Games/Square Enix)
  • Persona 5 (Atlus)

Best Fighting Game

  • Tekken 7 (Bandai Namco Studios/Bandai Namco Entertainment)
  • Nidhogg 2 (Messhof Games)
  • Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite (Capcom)
  • Injustice 2 (NetherRealm Studios/Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment)
  • Arms (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)

Best Family Game

  • Splatoon 2 (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
  • Sonic Mania (PagodaWest Games + Headcannon/Sega)
  • Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle (Ubisoft Paris + Milan/Ubisoft)
  • Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
  • Super Mario Odyssey (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)

Best Strategy Game

  • XCOM 2: War of the Chosen (Fire Axis Games/2K)
  • Tooth and Tail (Pocketwatch Games)
  • Total War: Warhammer II (Creative Assembly/Sega)
  • Halo Wars 2 (Creative Assembly + 343/Microsoft Studios)
  • Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle (Ubisoft Paris + Milan/Ubisoft)

Best Sports/Racing Game

  • Project Cars 2 (Slightly Mad Studios/Bandai Namco Entertainment)
  • Pro Evolution Soccer 2018 (PES Productions/Konami)
  • NBA 2K18 (Visual Concepts/2K Sports)
  • GT Sport (Polyphony Digital/Sony Interactive Entertainment)
  • Forza Motorsport 7 (Turn 10 Studios/Microsoft Studios)
  • FIFA 18 (EA Vancouver/EA)

Best Multiplayer

  • Fortnite (Epic Games)
  • Call of Duty: World War II (Sledgehammer Games/Activision)
  • Splatoon 2 (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
  • Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
  • Destiny 2 (Bungie/Activision)
  • PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG Corp.)

Most Anticipated Game

  • The Last of Us Part II (Naughty Dog/Sony Interactive Entertainment)
  • Red Dead Redemption II (Rockstar Games)
  • Monster Hunter World (Capcom)
  • Marvel's Spider-Man (Insomniac Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment)
  • God of War (Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment)

Best Independent Game

  • Pyre (Supergiant Games)
  • Night in the Woods (Infinite Fall)
  • Cuphead (Studio MDHR)
  • What Remains of Edith Finch (Giant Sparrow/Annapurna Interactive)
  • Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice (Ninja Theory)

Best Student Game

  • Meaning (Hariz Yet; DigiPen Institute of Technology Singapore)
  • Level Squared (Kip Brennan, Stephen Scoglio, Dane Perry Svendsen; Swinburne University of Technology)
  • Impulsion (Hugo Verger, Rémi Bertrand, Maxime Lupinski; IIM – Institut de l’Internet et du Multimédia)
  • Falling Sky (Jonathan Nielssen, Nikolay Savov, Mohsen Shah; National Film and Television School)
  • Hollowed (Erin Marek, Jerrick Flores, Charley Choucard; University of Central Florida - Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy)
  • From Light (Alejandro Grossman, Steven Li, Sherveen Uduwana; University of Southern California)

Trending Gamer

  • Steven Spohn (AbleGamers)
  • Mike Grzesiek (Shroud)
  • Guy Beam (Dr. Disrespect)
  • Clint Lexa (Halfcoordinated)
  • Andrea Rene (What's Good Games)

Best Esports Game

  • Rocket League (Psyonix)
  • League of Legends (Riot)
  • DOTA 2 (Valve)
  • Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (Valve)
  • Overwatch (Blizzard)

Best Esports Player

  • Kuro “KuroKy” Salehi Takhasomi (Team Liquid, DOTA 2)
  • Je-hong “ryujehong” Ryu (Seoul Dynasty, Overwatch)
  • Nikola ‘NiKo’ Kovac (FaZE Clan, Counter-Strike: GO)
  • Marcelo ‘coldzera’ David (SK Gaming, Counter-Strike: GO)
  • Lee sang-hyeok “Faker” (SK Telecom 1, League of Legends)

Best Esports Team

  • Team Liquid
  • SK Telecom 1
  • Lunatic Hai
  • FaZe Clan
  • Cloud 9

Best Debut Indie Game

  • Slime Rancher (Monomi Park)
  • Mr. Shifty (Team Shifty)
  • Hollow Knight (Team Cherry)
  • Golf Story (Sidebar Games)
  • Cuphead (Studio MDHR)

Best Chinese Games

    • Monument Valley 2(《纪念碑谷2》) (ustwo)
    • jx3 HD(《剑网3》重制版 (Kingsoft Corporation)
    • Gumballs(《不思议迷宫》) (QcPlay Limited)
    • ICEY(《艾希》) (FantaBlade Network)
    • King Of Glory(《王者荣耀》 (Timi Studio Group)

The announcement video featuring the show's host Geoff Keeley can also be viewed down below.

 

Our Take
If anything, this year's nominations show just how strong 2017 has been for games. Aside from a slew of Massive Multiplayer games and shooters, games like Horizon Zero Dawn and Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus are strong single player contenders. Likewise, Nintendo's glut of nominations show the strength of their in-house releases since the launch of the Switch. It'll certainly be one interesting show come December 7.