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The Game Awards 2017 Nominees Announced

The Game Awards 2017 Nominees Announced - News

by William D'Angelo , posted on 14 November 2017 / 3,916 Views

The nominees for The Game Awards 2017 have been announced.

Game of the Year:

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

Best Game Direction:

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

Best Narrative:

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

Best Art Direction:

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

Best Score / Music:

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

Best Audio Design:

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

Best Performance:

  • Ashly Burch as Aloy in Horizon: Zero Dawn
  • Brian Bloom as BJ Blazkowicz in Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus
  • Claudia Black as Chloe Frazer in Uncharted: The Lost Legacy
  • Laura Bailey as Nadine Ross in Uncharted: The Lost Legacy
  • Melina Juergens as Senua in Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice

Games for Impact Award:

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

Best Ongoing Game:

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

Best Mobile Game:

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

Best Handheld Game:

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

Best VR Game:

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

Best Action Game:

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

Best Action/Adventure Game:

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

Best RPG:

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

Best Fighting Game:

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

Best Family Game:

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

Best Strategy Game:

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

Best Sports / Racing Game:

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

Best Multiplayer Game:

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

Most Anticipated Game:

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

Best Independent Game:

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

Best Student Game:

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

Trending Gamer:

  • Andrea Rene (What’s Good Games)
  • Clint Lexa (“Halfcoordinated”)
  • Guy Beahm (Dr. Disrespect)
  • Mike Grzesiek (Shroud)
  • Steve Spohn (AbleGamers)

Best eSports Game:

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

Best eSpots Player:

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

Best eSports Team:

  • Cloud 9
  • FaZE Clan
  • Lunatic-Hai
  • SK Telecom 1
  • Team Liquid

Best Debut Indie Game:

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

Best Chinese Game:

  • Gumballs (QcPlay Limited)
  • Icey (FantaBlade Network)
  • Jx3 HD (Kingsoft Corporation)
  • King of Glory (Timi Studio Group)
  • Monument Valley 2 (Ustwo)
The Game Awards 2017 will broadcast live on December 7 at 6pm PT / 9pm ET on YouTube, Twitch, PlayStation Network, Steam, Xbox Live, Twitter, and more.

A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.


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32 Comments
KLXVER (on 14 November 2017)

A Nintendo game has never won GOTY at The Game Awards. If Zelda or Mario doesn't win this year, I don't think a Nintendo game ever will.

  • +10
Zkuq KLXVER (on 14 November 2017)

This does indeed look like a good year for Nintendo in this regard.

  • +3
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XD84 (on 14 November 2017)

Why is there a categorie Best Chinese Game?

  • +8
Darwinianevolution XD84 (on 14 November 2017)

Because viewership of the show in China has grown too big for them to ignore. And that means a ton of ad revenue from them.

  • +3
Zkuq XD84 (on 14 November 2017)

I'm under the impression that gaming in China is growing big time.

  • 0
Ultrashroomz (on 14 November 2017)

Persona 5 is my personal GOTY, but I expect either Mario or Zelda to take it.
Regardless, they're all amazing games!

  • +7
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Nuvendil (on 14 November 2017)

They di it. They finally, really did it! Handheld and mobile games are finally separate categories!

  • +6
GuyDuke (on 14 November 2017)

Excellent cuvee for Nin this year. If Destiny 2 wins Best Score, I'm gonna smack a bitch.

  • +4
Jranation (on 14 November 2017)

Lets go Zelda and SMO!!!!! Cheering for Faker and his team (SKT) and Riot Games!

Btw why isn't BOTW and SMO at Best handheld games? Because a lot of people here are saying that the Switch is a handheld.

  • +4
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INCITATUSBR (on 14 November 2017)

"The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild" will easily win everything.

btw: "Cuphead" should be among GOTY nominees instead of "PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds".

  • +3
Flilix INCITATUSBR (on 14 November 2017)

Yeah, it's pretty weird to see PUBG nominated. Cuphead, Resident Evil, Nier, ... would make more sense to be nominated.

  • +2
Jranation (on 14 November 2017)

Lol @ This xD Nintendomination!

Best Handheld Game:

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

  • +2
StokedUp Jranation (on 14 November 2017)

Best handheld, what did you expect. They have two handhelds on the market (3DS, Switch) while the only other one is the psvita and Sony gave up with that two years ago.

  • 0
TallSilhouette (on 15 November 2017)

MK8D should not count for those awards; it's a glorified complete edition of a three year old game.

  • +1
Flilix (on 14 November 2017)

Decent list overall, but there are a few odd things:
-Mario Kart 8D is nominated for several categories, but not for sports/racing.
-No Little Nightmares for audio.
-PUBG seems out of place as GOTY nominee.

  • +1
StokedUp (on 14 November 2017)

TPathertic thatvyou need to have a face book account to vote, why do firms automatically expect people to have a FB account? I genuinely hate to website and will never sign up to it

  • +1
Jranation (on 14 November 2017)

And where is best Shooter?

  • +1
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Kaneman! (on 15 November 2017)

Why is there so many categories? That's just overkill.

  • 0
Goodnightmoon (on 15 November 2017)

I counted 26 nominations for Nintendo... wow

  • 0
Qwark (on 14 November 2017)

Horizon, Mario and Zelda show why exclusiveshould matter. Also three of the most anticipated games are Sony exclusives. MS take notes please.

  • 0
Areym (on 14 November 2017)

Great to see persona 5 as a nominee. I don't think it will win but it's a great nod to an amazing gaming. I can't remember if the awards for GOTY are selected by judges or the people. My money is on Zelda or PUBG if it's selected by fans.

  • 0
Areym Areym (on 14 November 2017)

Shame i can't edit my comment. I think Zelda is gonna sweep this years award. just about any category is in, it does a great job in it (except for soundtrack IMO) Personally, I wanna see cuphead win tons. It's just too good to be denied.

  • 0
ampersand (on 14 November 2017)

So, you are saying Nintendo had a decent year?

  • 0
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AngryLittleAlchemist shikamaru317 (on 15 November 2017)

In my opinion it should be a GOTY nominee!

  • 0
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