The Game Awards 2016 Nominees Announced

By Dalton Cooper 14 November 2016

• doom
• uncharted 4
• inside
• overwatch
• the game awards
• titanfall 2

The nominations for The Game Awards 2016 are in, with Naughty Dog’s Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End nominated for eight awards in total, including Game of the Year.

Over the last couple of years, The Game Awards have been established as the premiere video game awards show, attempting to become the Academy Awards equivalent for the gaming industry. Each year, fans are excited to see if their favorite game has been nominated for the coveted Game of the Year prize, and now the nominations have been announced for The Game Awards 2016.

Five games have been nominated for Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2016, but only one can be the game that “delivers the absolute best experience across all creative and technical fields.” The five games nominated for Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2016 are as follows: Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, Inside, Overwatch, Titanfall 2, and the Doom reboot.

Out of those five games, it seems like the critically-acclaimed Uncharted 4 has the best chance of taking away the top prize. That’s because the game is not only nominated for Game of the Year, but it is up for seven other awards at the event as well, including Best Narrative and Best Art Direction. That’s not to say that Uncharted 4 is guaranteed to be named Game of the Year, however. On the contrary, there are a couple of other games that could give it a run for its money.

The games tied for second-most nominations are Overwatch and Inside. For the uninitiated, Inside is a unique, atmospheric platformer/puzzle game that earned high marks when it released to the masses this past summer. However, its status as an indie game could hold it back when compared to the blockbuster AAA budget Naughty Dog had at its disposal when creating Uncharted 4.

Overwatch, meanwhile, likely doesn’t need an introduction, and because of its popularity, it may stand the greatest chance at defeating Uncharted 4 at the event. Overwatch doesn’t have a single-player campaign to compare to Uncharted 4‘s, but when it comes to multiplayer, it seems like Overwatch has the edge. While Naughty Dog hasn’t been a slouch in supporting Uncharted 4‘s multiplayer in the months since the game’s launch, Blizzard has released more substantial content updates for Overwatch, including the recent addition of the long-awaited Sombra DLC character.

Regardless of which of the five nominated games wins Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2016, all of them are deserving of the reward for one reason or another. Let the best game win, and in the meantime, check out all of the categories that will be featured at The Game Awards 2016:

GAME OF THE YEAR

• DOOM (id Software/Bethesda)
• Inside (Playdead)
• Overwatch (Blizzard)
• Titanfall 2 (Respawn/Electronic Arts)
• Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (Naughty Dog/Sony Interactive Entertainment)

BEST GAME DIRECTION

• Blizzard (for Overwatch)
• DICE (for Battlefield 1)
• id Software (for DOOM)
• Naughty Dog (for Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End)
• Respawn (for Titanfall 2)

BEST NARRATIVE

• Firewatch (Campo Santo)
• Inside (Playdead)
• Mafia III (Hangar 13/2K)
• Oxenfree (Night School Studio)
• Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (Naughty Dog/SIE)

BEST ART DIRECTION

• Abzu (Giant Squid/505)
• Firewatch (Campo Santo)
• Inside (Playdead)
• Overwatch (Blizzard)
• Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (Naughty Dog/SIE)

BEST MUSIC/SOUND DESIGN

• Battlefield 1 (DICE/EA)
• DOOM (id/Bethesda)
• Inside (Playdead)
• Rez Infinite (Enhance Games)
• Thumper (Drool)

BEST PERFORMANCE

• Alex Hernandez as Lincoln Clay, Mafia III
• Cissy Jones as Delilah, Firewatch
• Emily Rose as Elena, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End
• Nolan North as Nathan Drake, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End
• Rich Summer as Henry, Firewatch
• Troy Baker as Sam Drake, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End

GAMES FOR IMPACT

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

BEST INDEPENDENT GAME

• Firewatch (Campo Santo)
• Hyper Light Drifter (Heart Machine)
• Inside (Playdead)
• Stardew Valley (ConcernedApe/Chucklefish Games)
• The Witness (Thelka, Inc.)

BEST MOBILE/HANDHELD

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

BEST VR GAME

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

BEST ACTION GAME

• Battlefield 1 (DICE/EA)
• DOOM (id Software/Bethesda Softworks)
• Gears of War 4 (The Coalition/Microsoft Studios)
• Overwatch (Blizzard)
• Titanfall 2 (Respawn/EA)

BEST ACTION/ADVENTURE GAME

• Dishonored 2 (Arkane Studios/Bethesda Softworks)
• 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 RPG

• Dark Souls 3 (FromSoftware/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)
• Xenoblade Chronicles X (Monolith Soft/Nintendo)

BEST FIGHTING GAME

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

BEST STRATEGY GAME

• Civilization VI (Firaxis Games/2K)
• Fire Emblem Fates (Intelligent Systems/Nintendo)
• The Banner Saga 2 (Stoic Studio/Versus Evil)
• Total War: Warhammer (Creative Assembly/Sega)
• XCOM 2 (Firaxis Games/2K)

BEST FAMILY GAME

• Dragon Quest Builders (Square Enix)
• Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens (TT Fusion/WBIE)
• Pokemon Go (Niantic)
• Ratchet & Clank (Insomniac Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Skylanders: Imaginators (Toy for Bob/Activision)

BEST SPORTS/RACING

• FIFA 17 (EA Canada/EA Sports)
• Forza Horizon 3 (Playground Games/Microsoft Studios)
• MLB The Show 16 (SCE San Diego Studio/SIE)
• NBA 2K17 (Visual Concepts/2K Sports)
• Pro Evolution Soccer 2017 (PES Productions/Konami)

BEST MULTIPLAYER

• Battlefield 1 (DICE/EA)
• Gears of War 4 (The Coalition/Microsoft Studios)
• Overcooked (Ghost Town Games/Team 17)
• Overwatch (Blizzard)
• Titanfall 2 (Respawn/EA)
• Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft)

MOST ANTICIPATED GAME

• God of War (Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Horizon: Zero Dawn (Guerrilla Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Mass Effect: Andromeda (Bioware/EA)
• Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)
• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo)

TRENDING GAMER, PRESENTED BY INTEL

• AngryJoeShow
• Boogie2988
• Danny O’Dwyer
• JackSepticEye
• Lirik

BEST FAN CREATION

• Project A2MR
• Pokemon Uranium
• Brutal Doom 64
• Enderal: The Shards of Order

BEST ESPORTS PLAYER, PRESENTED BY OMEN BY HP

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

BEST ESPORTS TEAM

• SK Telecom T1 (League of Legends)
• Wings Gaming (DOTA2)
• SK Gaming
• ROX Tigers (League of Legends)
• Cloud 9

BEST ESPORTS GAME

• Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (Valve)
• DOTA2 (Valve)
• League of Legends (Riot)
• Overwatch (Blizzard)
• Street Fighter V (Capcom)

The Game Awards 2016 take place on December 1st in Los Angeles at 6pm Pacific time.