The show’s biggest category, “game of the year,” has five nominees — The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Super Mario Odyssey, Persona 5, Horizon Zero Dawn, and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. It’s a list that shows off the diversity of game experiences we’ve seen this year, with family-friendly choices as well as more adult-oriented games. We imagine Super Mario Odyssey is the frontrunner, but Battlegrounds is an absolute phenomenon and shouldn’t be ignored, even though the game hasn’t officially released yet.
One of the toughest categories to decide this year will be “best game narrative.” In addition to Horizon, nominees include Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus, What Remains of Edith Finch, and Nier: Automata. In a normal year, any of these games would have been a shoe-in for the award, but Hellblade and Nier seem like the most likely winners.
With the rise of the “games as a service” model, this year there is also a “best ongoing game” award, which is for a game that has continued to evolve and improve since its official launch. Warframe, Rainbow Six Siege, Overwatch, Grand Theft Auto Online, Destiny 2, and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds are all up for the award.
In the “best family game” category, Nintendo and Mario reign supreme, as Sonic Mania is the only nominee not developed by or containing Nintendo characters. Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Super Mario Odyssey, and Splatoon 2 are all nominees, and you really can’t go wrong with any of them, provided you’ve managed to track down a Nintendo Switch.
For a full list of the nominees this year — and to vote on them — check out the official The Game Awards page. We highly encourage you to vote for Nier: Automata for every category in which it is nominated, as well as all the categories in which it is not.
