Here Are All The Nominees For The Game Of The Year Awards 2016

It’s hard to believe we are already nearing the end of 2016, which of course means the Game Awards will soon be upon us! Just this morning, world renowned games journalist and producer of the Game Awards Geoff Keighley, announced the nominees for The 2016 Game Awards.

The awards range from Best Narrative, Best Art Direction and many more, including the prestigious Game Of The Year Award, which this year is between Doom, Inside, Overwatch, Titanfall 2 and Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End. The 2016 Awards will also feature a new award too, with ‘Best VR Game’ joining the extensive list of categories.

Overwatch, Battlefield 1, Titanfall 2, Uncharted 4 and Doom feature throughout a number of categories, representing the best in Triple A titles. However, there are plenty of incredible indie games which have been nominated for awards too, including Firewatch, Abzu, Inside, Oxenfree and many more!

One indie game with an Aussie connection which has been nominated for the ‘Games For Impact’ award, is Orwell. An episodic privacy invasion thriller, developed by  Osmotic Studios and Melbourne based indie publishing label, Surprise Attack Games.

The nominations came from an international panel of publications including the likes of Polygon, Kinda Funny and Game Informer, while eight eSports-focused outlets selected the nominees for the eSports categories. Which are decided by a global fan vote online, which you can participate in right now!

In order to qualify for the awards, a game needs to have a commercial release date on or before the 24th of November this year. Meaning a number of big releases including the likes of Final Fantasy 15 and infamous The Last Guardian, will not be taking part in this year’s awards. While a number of late releases from 2015 are up for awards this year, including Xenoblade Chronicles X for ‘Best Role Playing Game’ and Rainbow Six Siege for ‘Best Multiplayer Game’.

We will be finding out on the Dec 2nd (Australian date) who the winners are when The Game Awards 2016 are held at the Microsoft Theatre in Los Angeles. If you can’t make it to the awards like us, you’ll be able to catch the show live via stream on various platforms, with the pre show set to start 12:30PM AEST and 1:00PM for the start on Dec 2nd, for us Aussies.

Check out the nominations below and we’ll have links to all our reviews of the nominated games throughout!

Game Of The Year

“Recognising a game that delivers the absolute best experience across all creative and technical fields.”

Best Game Direction

“Recognising a game studio for outstanding creative and innovation in game direction and design.”

  • Blizzard (Overwatch)
  • DICE (Battlefield 1)
  • ID Software (Doom)
  • Naughty Dog (Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End)
  • Respawn Entertainment (Titanfall 2)

Best Narrative

“For outstanding storytelling and narrative development in a game.”

  • Firewatch – (Campo Santo)
  • Inside – (PlayDead)
  • Mafia III – (Hanger 13/2K)
  • Oxenfree – (Night School Studio)
  • Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End – (Naughty Dog/Sony Interactive Entertainment)

Best Art Direction

“For outstanding creative and technical achievement in artistic design and animation.”

  • Abzu (Giant Squid/505 Games)
  • Firewatch (Campo Santo)
  • Inside (PlayDead)
  • Overwatch (Blizzard Entertainment)
  • Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End  (Naughty Dog/Sony Interactive Entertainment

Best Music/Sound Design

“For outstanding audio, inclusive of score, original song, licensed soundtrack and sound design.”

  • Battlefield 1 (Dice/Electronic Arts)
  • Doom (id Software/Bethesda)
  • Inside (Playdead)
  • Rez Infinite (Enhance Games)
  • Thumper (Drool)

Best Performance

“Award to an individual for voice-over acting, motion and/or performance capture.”

  • Alex Hernandez as Lincoln Clay, Mafia III (Hanger 13/2K)
  • Cissy Jones as Delilah, Firewatch (Campo Santo)
  • Emily Rose as Elena, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (Naughty Dog/Sony Interactive Entertainment)
  • Nolan North as Nathan Drake, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (Naughty Dog/Sony Interactive Entertainment)
  • Rich Simmer as Henry, Firewatch
  • Troy Baker as Sam Drake, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (Naughty Dog/Sony Interactive Entertainment)

Games For Impact Award

“For a thought provoking game with a profound pro-social meaning or message.”

  • 1979 Revolution (iNK Stories)
  • Block’hood (Plethora/Devolver Digital)
  • Orwell (Osmotic Studios/Surprise Attack Games)
  • Sea Hero Quest (Glitchers)
  • That Dragon, Cancer (Numinous Games)

Best Independent Game

“For outstanding creative and technical achievement in a game outside the traditional publisher system.”

  • Firewatch (Campo Santo)
  • Hyper Light Drifter (Heart Machine)
  • Inside (PlayDead)
  • Stardew Valley (Concerned Ape/Chucklefish Games)
  • The Witness (Thelka, Inc)

Best Mobile/Handheld Game

“For the best game playable on portable devices, including mobile phones ad dedicated gaming handhelds (2DS, 3DS, PS Vita).”

  • Clash Royale (Supercell)
  • Fire Emblem Fates (Intelligent Systems/Nintendo)
  • Monster Hunter Generations (Capcom)
  • Pokémon Go (Niantic)
  • Severed (Drinkbox Studios)

Best VR Game

“For the best game experience playable in virtual reality.”

  • Batman: Arkham VR (Rocksteady Studios/WBIE)
  • EVE Valkyrie (CCP Games)
  • Job Simulator (Owlchemy Labs)
  • REZ Infinite (Enhance Games)
  • Thumper (Drool)

Best Action Game

“For the best game in the action genre focused on combat.”

  • Battlefield 1 (DICE/Electronic Arts)
  • Doom (id Software/Bethesda)
  • Gears of War 4 (Coalition/Microsoft Sutdios)
  • Overwatch (Blizzard Entertainment
  • Titanfall 2 (Respawn Entertainment/Electronic Arts)

Best Action/Adventure Game

“The best action/adventure game, combining combat with traversal and puzzle solving.”

  • Dishonored 2 (Arkane Studios/Bethesda)
  • Hitman (IO Interactive/Square-Enix)
  • Hyper Light Drifter (Heart Machine)
  • Ratchet & Clank (Insomniac games/Sony Interactive Entertainment)
  • Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (Naughty Dog/Sony Interactive Entertainment)

Best Role Playing Game

“The best game designed for rich player character customisation and progression, both offline and online, including massively multiplayer.”

  • Dark Souls 3 (From Software/Bandai Namco Entertainment)
  • Deus Ex: Mankind Divided (Eidos Montreal/Square-Enix)
  • The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Blood and Wine (CD Projekt RED)
  • World of Warcraft: Legion (Blizzard Entertainment)
  • Xenoblade Chronicles X (Monolith Soft/Nintendo)

Best Fighting Games

“For a game designed primarily around head-to-head combat.”

  • Killer Instinct Season 3 (Iron Galaxy Studios/Microsoft Studios)
  • King of Fighters XIV (SNK/Atlus USA)
  • Pokkén Tournament (Bandai Namco Studios/The Pokémon Co.)
  • Street Fighter V (Capcom)

Best Family Game

“Best game appropriate for family play, including toys-to-life, rhythm/music/dance , and other genres.”

Best Strategy Game

“Best game focused on real time or turn-based strategy gameplay.”

Best Sports/Racing Game

“For traditional and non-traditional sports and racing games.”

  • Fifa 17 (EA Canada/EA Sports)
  • Forza Horizon 3 (Playground Games/Microsoft Studios)
  • MLB The Show 16 (SCE San Diego Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment)
  • NBA 2K17 (Visual Concepts/2K Sports)
  • Pro Evolution 2017 (PES Production/Konami)

Best Multiplayer Game

“For outstanding online multiplayer gameplay and design, including co-op and massively multiplayer experiences.”

  • Battlefield 1 (DICE Electronic Arts)
  • Gears of War 4 (The Coalition/Microsoft Studios)
  • Overcooked (Ghost Town Games/Team 17)
  • Overwatch (Blizzard Entertainment)
  • Rainbow Six Siege (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft)
  • Titanfall 2 (Respawn/Electronic Arts)

Fan Choices

Best eSports Payer

“The eSports player judged to be the most outstanding performer in 2016, irrespective of game.”

  • Faker – Lee Sang-Hyeok (SK Telecom T1, League of Legends)
  • Coldzera – Marcelo David (SK Gaming, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive)
  • Byun-Hyun Woo (Starcraft 2)
  • Infiltration – Lee Seon-Woo (Team Razer, Street Fighter V)
  • Hungrybox – Juan Debiedma (Team Liquid, Super Smash Bros)

Best eSports team

“The sSports team organisation judged to be the most outstanding for performance in 2016, irrespective of game.”

  • SK Telecom T1 (Game:League of Legends)
  • Wings Gaming (Game: Dota 2)
  • SK Gaming
  • Rox Tigers (League of Legends)
  • Cloud 9

Best eSports Game

“The eSports game that has demonstrated creative and technical excellence in 2016 with the best gameplay, community support and content updates.”

  • Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (Valve)
  • Dota 2 (Valve)
  • League of Legends (Riot)
  • Overwatch (Blizzard Entertainment)
  • Street Fighter V (Capcom)

Trending Gamer

“For a streamer/influencer/media member who has made an important impact on the industry in 2016.”

Best Fan Creation

“For fan-created content, such as MODs, fan films, and other player content.”

Most Anticipated Game

“Recognising an upcoming game that has shown significant ambition and promise in moving the gaming medium forward. Must be announced and scheduled for release after 12/1/16.”

A few noticeable titles not up for any awards is Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare and Pokémon Sun and Moon (although reviews for the latter are only just coming out now), do you think there are any other titles which should have received a nomination? Let us know in the comments!