The Game Awards 2016 - Nominations and Predictions

Photo courtesy of Game Informer

Now that 2016 is winding down, it's officially awards season! The Game Awards is back once again, and the nominees for this year's show have been announced.

In my opinion, 2016 was a pretty solid year for gaming (but not a solid year for just about everything else). This is reflected in this year's nominees, as big-budget games and small-scale indies get equal love. Looking at everything on this list, I've found it hard to choose who I think should win (as of writing this, I'm still slaving over my 'best of' list for this year) as just about every game mentioned here is award-worthy.

Following the break, I've included a good portion of the nominations (you can view the entire list here) and have highlighted the games I would vote for. Understand that there are a few categories (Fighting Game and VR, for example) I'm not the best judge of since I don't typically play games in those genres, but I've chosen the winners anyway just for posterity's sake. Also, this list is going to be a pretty big indicator as to what's going to be on my end of year list, if you're into that sort of thing.


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
NOTE: Honestly, give it to everyone in Uncharted 4

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)

* = I'm not the best judge of these categories but hey whatever, the ones I chose seem cool