Here Are The E3 2013 Game Critics Award Nominees

by Mike Futter on Jun 26, 2013 at 03:09 AM

Each year, 30 North American video game publications come together to honor the best and brightest of the Electronics Entertainment Expo. In addition to the parade of exciting titles, this year sees the nomination record broken.

Titanfall received bids in six categories, breaking the previous record of five. Also of note, the Oculus Rift is up for the "Best of Show" award, in addition to its nomination in the hardware category.

EA holds sixteen bids, and Sony triumphed over its competitors with ten first-party nominations (compared to three each for Microsoft and Nintendo).

Here's the full list of categories and competitors:

Best of Show

Destiny (Bungie/Activision)
Oculus Rift HD (Oculus VR)
PlayStation 4(Sony Computer Entertainment)
Titanfall (Respawn Games/Electronic Arts)
Watch Dogs (Ubisoft)

Best Original Game

Destiny (Bungie/Activision)
Fantasia: Music Evolved (Harmonix/Disney Interactive)
Rain (Japan Studio/Sony Computer Entertainment)
Titanfall (Respawn Games/Electronic Arts)
Watch Dogs (Ubisoft)

Best Console Game

Batman: Arkham Origins (WBIE Montreal/WBIE)
Beyond: Two Souls (Quantic Dream/Sony Computer Entertainment)
Destiny (Bungie/Activision)
Infamous: Second Son (Sucker Punch/Sony Computer Entertainment)
Titanfall (Respawn Games/Electronic Arts)
Watch Dogs (Ubisoft)

Best Handheld Game

Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate (Armature Studio/WBIE)
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies (Capcom/Capcom)
Plants vs. Zombies 2 (Popcap/EA)
Tearaway (Media Molecule/Sony Computer Entertainment)
The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Two Worlds (Nintendo EAD/Nintendo)

Best PC Game

Battlefield 4 (DICE/Electronic Arts)
Company of Heroes 2 (Relic/Sega)
The Elder Scrolls Online (Zenimax Online/Bethesda)
Titanfall (Respawn/Electronic Arts)
Total War: Rome II (Creative Assembly/Sega)

Best Hardware

Oculus Rift (Oculus VR)
PlayStation 4 (Sony Computer Entertainment)
Blade (Razr)
Shield (Nvidia)
Xbox One (Microsoft)

Best Action Game

Battlefield 4 (DICE/Electronic Arts)
Call of Duty Ghosts (Infinity Ward/Activision)
Destiny (Bungie/Activision)
Killzone: Shadow Fall (Guerilla Games/Sony Computer Entertainment)
Titanfall (Respawn/Electronic Arts)

Best Action/Adventure Game

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft)
Batman: Arkham Origins (WBIE Montreal/WBIE)
Bayonetta 2 (Platinum Games/Nintendo)
Infamous: Second Son (Sucker Punch/Sony Computer Entertainment)
Watch Dogs (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft)

Best RPG

Dark Souls II (FromSoftware/Namco-Bandai)
The Elder Scrolsl Online (Zenimax Online/Bethesda)
Mario & Luigi: Dream Team (AlphaDream/Nintendo)
Shin Megami Tensei IV (Atlus/Atlus)
South Park: The Stick of Truth (Obsidian/Ubisoft)

Best Racing Game

Forza 5 (Turn 10 Studio/Microsoft Studios)
Gran Turismo 6 (Polyphony Digital/Sony Computer Entertainment)
Mario Kart 8 (Nintendo EAD/Nintendo)
Need for Speed: Rivals (Ghost Games/Electronic Arts)
The Crew ( Ivory Tower/Ubisoft)

Best Sports Game

FIFA 14 (EA Canada/EA Sports)
NHL 14 (EA Canada/EA Sports)
Madden NFL 25 (Tiburon/EA Sports)
Pro Evolution Soccer 2014 (PES Productions/Konami)

Best Strategy Game

Command and Conquer (Victory Games/Electronic Arts)
Company of Heroes 2 (Relic/Sega)
Pikmin 3 (Nintendo EAD/Nintendo)
Total War: Rome II (Creative Assembly/Sega)

Best Social/Casual

Disney Infinity (Avalanche/Disney Interactive)
Fantasia: Music Evolved (Harmonix/Disney Interactive)
LEGO Marvel Super Heroes (TT Games/WBIE)
Plants vs. Zombies 2: It's About Time (Popcap/EA)
Skylanders: Swap Force (Vicarious Visions/Activision)
Project Spark (Team Daokta/Microsoft Studios)

Best Online Multiplayer

Battlefield 4 (DICE/Electronic Arts)
Destiny (Bungie/Activision)
Titanfall (Respawn/Electronic Arts)
The Elder Scrolls Online (Zenimax Online/Bethesda)
Watch Dogs (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft)

Best Downloadable

Contrast (Compulsion Games)
Octodad: Dadliest Catch (Young Horses Inc)
Outlast (Red Barrels)
Rain (Japan Studio/Sony Computer Entertainment)
Transistor (Supergiant Games)

Please note the following games were not made playable to Game Critics judges and therefore disqualified from award consideration: The Division; Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain; The Witcher III; Super Smash Bros. Wii-U. In addition, the judges did not find a sufficient number of nominees to award "Best Fighting Game" and "Best Motion Simulation Game" at E3 2013.

Winners will be announced on July 2, 2013. For the full list of participating outlets, click ahead to page two. Interested in comparing Game Informer against the whole? Check out our Best of E3 Nominations and Awards.

Game Critic Awards Participating Outlets