The Game Awards 2016

The Game Awards 2016
2016 Logo used for The Game Awards
Date	December 1, 2016
Venue	Microsoft Theater, Los Angeles, United States
Country	United States
Hosted by	Geoff Keighley
Act(s)	Run the Jewels Doom (2016) soundtrack live
Highlights
Most awards	Overwatch
Most nominations	Uncharted 4: A Thief's End
Game of the Year	Overwatch
Best Studio/game Direction	Blizzard Entertainment
Most Anticipated Game	The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Industry Icon Award	Hideo Kojima
Official website	thegameawards.com
Television/Radio coverage
Runtime	175 minutes
Produced by	Geoff Keighley

The Game Awards 2016, honored the best video game achievements of 2016 and took place at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on December 1, 2016. The show was produced and hosted by Geoff Keighley.

Before the event, Keighley stated that the show would have less reliance on computer generated (CGI) trailers and more on in-game footage, which was due to the effect of No Man's Sky's misleading marketing earlier in the year. It was live streamed and translated for the first time in China with Tencent QQ, allowing Chinese viewers to vote in a Fans Choice Award chosen by gaming editors from Tencent. As well it was live streamed for virtual reality and available in 4K resolution for the first time.^[1][2]

Special events and game premieres

The event featured live performances by Run The Jewels^[3] the Doom soundtrack by Mick Gordon,^[4] Rae Sremmurd,^[5] as well as gameplay videos of Mass Effect: Andromeda,^[6] The Walking Dead: A New Frontier,^[7] Prey,^[8] The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild,^[9] Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment,^[10] Halo Wars 2,^[11] Death Stranding,^[12] Dauntless from Phoenix Labs,^[13] a Bulletstorm remaster,^[14] Telltale's Guardians of the Galaxy,^[15] LawBreakers,^[16] Warframe,^[17] Assassin's Creed: The VR Experience, and clips from the 2016 Assassin's Creed film.^[18] Breath of the Wild was also featured in the pre-show.^[19]

Winners and nominees

The nominees for The Game Awards 2016 were announced on November 16, 2016.^[20] Candidate games must have had a commercial release date on or before November 24, 2016, in order to be eligible.^[20] On November 21, The Game Awards dropped fangames AM2R and Pokémon Uranium from their "Best Fan Creation" nominee list. During a stream before the event, Keighley elaborated more on the situation and explained that the fangames were not legally cleared by Nintendo, who owns the rights to the intellectual property of both games, to be included on the show.^[21][22]

Most of the winners were announced during the awards ceremony on December 1, 2016^[20] with the exception of the "Best Fan Creation" category.^[23]

Winners are shown first in bold.^[24]

Jury-voted awards

Game of the Year	Best Game Direction
Overwatch – developed by Blizzard Entertainment Doom – developed by id Software Inside – developed by Playdead Titanfall 2 – developed by Respawn Entertainment Uncharted 4: A Thief's End – developed by Naughty Dog	Blizzard Entertainment EA DICE id Software Naughty Dog Respawn Entertainment
Best Narrative	Best Art Direction
Uncharted 4: A Thief's End – written by Neil Druckmann and Josh Scherr Firewatch – written by Olly Muss, Chris Remo, Jake Rodkin, and Sean Vanaman Inside – written by Laurids Binderup Mafia III – written by Bill Harms Oxenfree – written by Adam Hines	Inside – developed by Playdead Abzû – developed by Giant Squid Firewatch – developed by Campo Santo Overwatch – developed by Blizzard Entertainment Uncharted 4: A Thief's End – developed by Naughty Dog
Best Music/Sound Design	Best Performance
Doom – composed by Mick Gordon Battlefield 1 – composed by Patrik Andrén and Johan Söderqvist Inside – composed by Martin Stig Andersen and Søs Gunver Ryberg Rez Infinite – developed by United Game Artists Thumper – developed by Drool	Nolan North as Nathan Drake – in Uncharted 4: A Thief's End Alex Hernandez as Lincoln Clay – in Mafia III Cissy Jones as Delilah – in Firewatch Emily Rose as Elena – in Uncharted 4: A Thief's End Rich Sommer as Henry – in Firewatch Troy Baker as Sam Drake – in Uncharted 4: A Thief's End
Games for Impact	Best Independent Game
That Dragon, Cancer – developed by Numinous Games Block’hood – developed by Plethora Project Orwell – developed by Osmotic Sea Hero Quest – developed by Glitchers 1979 Revolution: Black Friday – developed by iNK Stories	Inside – developed by Playdead Firewatch – developed by Campo Santo Hyper Light Drifter – developed by Heart Machine Stardew Valley – developed by ConcernedApe The Witness – developed by Thekla, Inc.
Best Mobile/Handheld Game	Best VR Game
Pokémon Go – developed by Niantic Clash Royale – developed by Supercell Fire Emblem Fates – developed by Intelligent Systems Monster Hunter Generations – developed by Capcom Severed – developed by DrinkBox Studios	Rez Infinite – developed by United Game Artists Batman: Arkham VR – developed by Rocksteady Studios Eve: Valkyrie – developed by CCP Games Job Simulator – developed by Owlchemy Labs Thumper – developed by Drool
Best Action Game	Best Action/Adventure
Doom – developed by id Software Battlefield 1 – developed by EA DICE Gears of War 4 – developed by The Coalition Overwatch – developed by Blizzard Entertainment Titanfall 2 – developed by Respawn Entertainment	Dishonored 2 – developed by Arkane Studios Hitman – developed by IO Interactive Hyper Light Drifter – developed by Heart Machine Ratchet & Clank – developed by Insomniac Games Uncharted 4: A Thief's End – developed by Naughty Dog
Best Role Playing Game	Best Fighting Game
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Blood and Wine – developed by CD Projekt RED Dark Souls III – developed by FromSoftware Deus Ex: Mankind Divided – developed by Eidos Montréal World of Warcraft: Legion – developed by Blizzard Entertainment Xenoblade Chronicles X – developed by Monolith Soft	Street Fighter V – developed by Capcom Killer Instinct Season Three – developed by Iron Galaxy The King of Fighters XIV – developed by SNK Pokkén Tournament – developed by Bandai Namco Studios
Best Strategy Game	Best Family Game
Civilization VI – developed by Firaxis Games Fire Emblem Fates – developed by Intelligent Systems The Banner Saga 2 – developed by Stoic Total War: Warhammer – developed by Creative Assembly XCOM 2 – developed by Firaxis Games	Pokémon Go – developed by Niantic Dragon Quest Builders – developed by Square Enix Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens – developed by TT Fusion Ratchet & Clank – developed by Insomniac Games Skylanders: Imaginators – developed by Toys for Bob
Best Sports/Racing Game	Best Multiplayer
Forza Horizon 3 – developed by Playground Games FIFA 17 – developed by EA Canada MLB The Show 16 – developed by SIE San Diego Studio NBA 2K17 – developed by Visual Concepts Pro Evolution Soccer 2017 – developed by PES Productions	Overwatch – developed by Blizzard Entertainment Battlefield 1 – developed by EA DICE Gears of War 4 – developed by The Coalition Overcooked – developed by Ghost Town Games Titanfall 2 – developed by Respawn Entertainment Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege – developed by Ubisoft Montreal

Fan's choice awards

Most Anticipated Game	Trending Gamer
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – developed by Nintendo EPD God of War – developed by SIE Santa Monica Studio Horizon Zero Dawn – developed by Guerrilla Games Mass Effect: Andromeda – developed by BioWare Red Dead Redemption 2 – developed by Rockstar Studios	Boogie2988 AngryJoeShow Danny O'Dwyer JackSepticEye Lirik
Best Fan Creation	ESports Player of the Year
Enderal: The Shards of Order Brutal Doom 64	Marcelo "Coldzera" David (SK Gaming – Counter-Strike: Global Offensive) Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok (SK Telecom T1 – League of Legends) Hyun "ByuN" Woo (StarCraft II) Lee "Infiltration" Seon-woo (Team Razer – Street Fighter V) Juan "Hungrybox" Debiedma (Team Liquid – Super Smash Bros. Melee)
ESports Team of the Year	ESports Game of the Year
Cloud9 SK Telecom T1 Wings Gaming SK Gaming ROX Tigers	Overwatch – developed by Blizzard Entertainment Counter-Strike: Global Offensive – developed by Hidden Path Entertainment and Valve Corporation Dota 2 – developed by Valve Corporation League of Legends – developed by Riot Games Street Fighter V – developed by Capcom

Honorary awards

Industry Icon Award
Hideo Kojima[25]

Games with multiple nominations and awards

Games that received multiple nominations Nominations Game 8 Uncharted 4: A Thief's End 6 Overwatch 5 Firewatch Inside 4 Battlefield 1 Doom Titanfall 2 2 Fire Emblem Fates Gears of War 4 Hyper Light Drifter Mafia III Pokémon Go Ratchet & Clank Rez Infinite Street Fighter V Thumper

Games that received multiple awards Awards Game 3 Overwatch 2 Doom Inside Pokémon Go Uncharted 4: A Thief's End

References

1. Crecente, Brian (November 17, 2016). "The Game Awards will deliver more gameplay, less CGI thanks to No Man's Sky". Polygon. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
2. Wouk, Kris (November 30, 2016). "YouTube brings 4K resolution to its live-streams, even for 360-degree video". Archived from the original on November 30, 2016. Retrieved November 30, 2016.
3. "Run the Jewels to Perform at Game Awards". thegameawards.com. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
4. thegameawards (November 25, 2016). "Thursday night, don't miss the first live performance of @DOOM soundtrack @thegameawards, led by composer @Mick_Gordon and special guests!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
5. geoffkeighley (30 November 2016). "LIVE on #Periscope: Rehearsals for Game Awards" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
6. Saed, Sherif (November 7, 2016). "First Mass Effect: Andromeda gameplay footage to be shown at The Game Awards 2016". VG247. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
7. Perusco, Laura (November 22, 2016). "'The Walking Dead: The Telltale Series - A New Frontier' Premieres December 20th". Telltale Games. Retrieved November 22, 2016.
8. "Prey Gameplay Confirmed for The Game Awards 2016". Gamerant. November 28, 2016.
9. "The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild "exclusive look" coming at The Game Awards 2016". Nintendo Everything. November 28, 2016.
10. "Want to see the latest on what we've... - Yacht Club Games - Facebook".
11. https://twitter.com/PlutonForEver/status/804397479718359040
12. http://www.polygon.com/2016/12/1/13814398/death-stranding-trailer-the-game-awards-2016
13. https://twitter.com/PhoenixLabs/status/804378704306532352
14. https://twitter.com/geoffkeighley/status/804475347588628480
15. http://kotaku.com/telltale-announces-guardians-of-the-galaxy-adventure-ga-1789584597
16. http://fansided.com/2016/12/01/the-game-awards-2016-new-lawbreakers-gameplay-trailer/
17. http://www.mmorpg.com/warframe/news/attention-console-tenno-the-war-within-coming-in-december-1000042320
18. "Assassin's Creed Movie and VR Experience Coming". The Game Awards. November 22, 2016. Retrieved November 22, 2016.
19. geoffkeighley (30 November 2016). "Don't miss @thegameawards pre-show at 8:30 PM ET / 5:30 PM PT tomorrow. We will have an exclusive look at Zelda there. More in show...." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
20. Sarkar, Samit (November 16, 2016). "Here are the nominees for The Game Awards 2016". Polygon. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
21. "Why Fan-Made Games Like Pokemon Uranium Won't Be At The 2016 Game Awards". CINEMABLEND. November 27, 2016.
22. Bogos, Steven (November 21, 2016). "Pokemon Uranium, AM2R Removed From The Game Award's "Best Fan Creation" List". The Escapist. Retrieved November 21, 2016.
23. Danielle, Taylor (2 December 2016). "Best Fan Creation's Quiet Disappearance From The Game Awards Is Still a Mystery". Retrieved 2 December 2016.
24. Stark, Chelsea (1 December 2016). "The Game Awards: Here's the full winners list". Retrieved 1 December 2016.
25. Paget, Mat (November 17, 2016). "Blocked From Attending Last Year, Hideo Kojima to Receive Award Next Month". GameSpot. Retrieved November 17, 2016.

External links

• Official website