The Game Awards 2016: Who Got Nominated, Who Won

Article by George Norman (Cybersecurity Editor)

on 05 Dec 2016

The Game Awards, the annual awards show that honors outstanding artistic, technical and gameplay achievements in the video game industry, took place at the Microsoft Theater on December 1.

Now in its third year, the awards show put the spotlight on tons of video games, grouped in a varied range of categories. Here’s a list that includes all the nominated games for each category, highlighting the winners of course.

The Game Awards 2016 – Nominees & Winners

Game of the Year Nominations
  • Doom
  • Inside
  • Overwatch
  • Titanfall 2
  • Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End
Winner – Overwatch

At BlizzCon 2016, Blizzard announced that Overwatch has more than 20 million players around the world. Not bad, considering that Overwatch launched in May and BlizzCon 2016 took place in November.

Let’s keep the Overwatch momentum going and focus on a few other awards that the game won.

Best Multiplayer Game Nominations
  • Battlefield 1
  • Gears of War 4
  • Overcooked
  • Overwatch
  • Titanfall 2
  • Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege
Winner – Overwatch


Best eSports Game Nominations
  • Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
  • DOTA2
  • League of Legends
  • Overwatch
  • Street Fighter V
Winner – Overwatch


Best Studio/Game Direction Nominations
  • Blizzard Entertainment
  • DICE
  • id Software
  • Naughty Dog
  • Respawn
Winner – Blizzard Entertainment for Overwatch.



Learn more about Overwatch.

These are all nominations and all the awards that Overwatch won. There will be no more mention of Overwatch from this point onward.


Most Anticipated Game Nominations
  • God of War
  • Horizon: Zero Dawn
  • Mass Effect: Andromeda
  • Red Dead Redemption 2
  • The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Winner – The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild



Learn more about The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

This open world action-adventure video game was scheduled to be released in 2015, at first. But after getting delayed twice, it’s now scheduled to be released sometime in 2017.


Best Independent Game Nominations
  • Firewatch
  • Hyper Light Drifter
  • Inside
  • Stardew Valley
  • The Witness
Winner – Inside


Best Art Direction Nominations
  • Abzu
  • Firewatch
  • Inside
  • Overwatch
  • Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End
Winner – Inside



Learn more about Inside.

Inside is the sequel to Playdead’s very successful game Limbo. This puzzle platformer adventure video game focuses on a young boy’s struggles against evil forces that are trying to take over the world through questionable experiments on human bodies.


Best Mobile/Handheld Game Nominations
  • Clash Royale
  • Fire Emblem Fates
  • Monster Hunter Generations
  • Pokemon Go
  • Severed
Winner – Pokémon Go


Best Family Game Nominations
  • Dragon Quest Builders
  • Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens
  • Pokemon Go
  • Ratchet & Clank
  • Skylanders: Imaginators
Winner – Pokémon Go



Learn more about Pokémon Go.


Best VR Game Nominations
  • Batman: Arkham VR
  • EVE: Valkyrie
  • Job Simulator
  • Rez Infinite
  • Thumper
Winner – Rez Infinite



Learn more about Rez Infinite.

Fly wherever you want and blast through waves of enemies in this remastered version of Sega's psychodelic rail-shooter adventure game.


Best Narrative Nominations
  • Firewatch
  • Inside
  • Mafia III
  • Oxenfree
  • Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End
Winner – Uncharted 4: A Thief's End



Learn more about Uncharted.

Released back in May, Uncharted 4 is the final installment in the Uncharted series. Nathan Drake and his brother Sam, long believed to be dead, embark on a journey to unmask the conspiracy behind Libertalia and find its fabled pirate treasure.


Best Action Game Nominations
  • Battlefield 1
  • Doom
  • Gears of War 4
  • Overwatch
  • Titanfall 2
Winner – Doom


Best Music/Sound Design Nominations
  • Battlefield 1
  • Doom
  • Inside
  • Rez Infinite
  • Thumper
Winner – Doom



Learn more about Doom.

With a brutal single-player campaign, iconic fast-paced multiplayer, and the ability to create and play your own levels with SnapMap, DOOM delivers all the guns, demons and action you’ve been craving. It’s time to Fight Like Hell.


Games for Impact Nominations
  • 1979 Revolution
  • Block’hood
  • Orwell
  • Sea Hero Quest
  • That Dragon, Cancer
Winner – That Dragon, Cancer



Learn more about That Dragon, Cancer.

An immersive adventure game that retells Joel Green’s 4­year fight against cancer through about two hours of poetic, imaginative gameplay.


Best Action/Adventure Game Nominations
  • Dishonored 2
  • Hitman
  • Hyper Light Drifter
  • Ratchet & Clank
  • Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End
Winner – Dishonored 2



Learn more about Dishonored 2.

The action takes place 15 years after the first Dishonored game. Empress Emily Kaldwin is dethroned and the Empire plunges into chaos. Play as Emily Kaldwin or Corvo Attano and save the Empire.


Best Role-Playing Game Nominations
  • Dark Souls 3
  • Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
  • The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Blood and Wine
  • World of Warcraft: Legion
  • Xenoblade Chronicles X
Winner – The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Blood and Wine



Learn more about The Witcher 3.

Blood and Wine is the second and final expansion for the award-winning open-world high-fantasy action role-playing video game The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Blood and Wine introduces a new Toussaint region and plenty of new stuff, including 90 new quests, 40 new points of interest, 20 new monsters, 30 new weapons, and an all-new Gwent deck.


Best Fighting Game Nominations
  • Killer Instinct Season 3
  • King of Fighters XIV
  • Pokken Tournament
  • Street Fighter V
Winner – Street Fighter V



Learn more about Street Fighter V.


Best Strategy Game Nominations
  • Civilization VI
  • Fire Emblem Fates
  • The Banner Saga 2
  • Total War: Warhammer
  • XCOM 2
Winner – Civilization VI



Learn more about Civilization VI.

Become Ruler of the World by establishing and leading a civilization from the Stone Age to the Information Age. Wage war, conduct diplomacy, advance your culture, and go head-to-head with history’s greatest leaders as you attempt to build the greatest civilization the world has ever known.


Best Sports/Racing Game Nominations
  • FIFA 17
  • Forza Horizon 3
  • MLB The Show 16
  • NBA 2K17
  • Pro Evolution Soccer 2017
Winner – Forza Horizon 3



Learn more about Forza Horizon 3.

The Forza Horizon 3 game rolled out to the public back in September. The free demo for Xbox One rolled out that same month, but the free demo for Windows 10 rolled out in November.


Best Fan Creation Nominations
  • Brutal Doom 64
  • Enderal: The Shards of Order
Winner – Enderal: The Shards of Order



Learn more about Enderal.


Best eSports Team of the Year Nominations
  • Cloud9
  • SK Telecom T1
  • Wings Gaming
  • SK Gaming
  • ROX Tigers
Winner – Cloud9


Best eSports Player of the Year Nominations
  • Faker
  • Byun–Hyun Woo
  • Coldzera
  • Infiltration
  • Hungrybox
Winner – Marcelo "Coldzera" David (SK Gaming)


Best Performance Nominations
  • 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
Winner – Nolan North


Trending Gamer Nominations
  • AngryJoeShow
  • Boogie2988
  • Danny O’Dwyer
  • JackSepticEye
  • Lirik
Winner – Boogie2988


Want to watch the full awards show?

Embedded below is the full Game Awards 2016 show, as it aired live on December 1.



Learn more about The Game Awards.




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