The Game Awards 2017 Nominees Revealed

Each year, Hollywood elites gather together for a televised award’s ceremony honoring the best and the brightest in the industry. The Oscar is a coveted award reserved for excellence in the film industry, just as the Grammy is for music and the Golden Globe is for television. For video game creators, the equivalent to these three trophies is The Game Award; and on Dec. 7, 2017, for its fourth year, influential people in the industry will gather to honor their peers at The Game Awards.

This morning, with less than a month until the award’s show, producer Geoff Keighley and a team of 52 industry experts released the list of nominees, which are as follows:

Game of the Year

Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Super Mario Odyssey

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds

Persona 5

Horizon Zero Dawn

Best Game Direction

Wolfenstein II

Resident Evil 7

Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Super Mario Odyssey

Horizon Zero Dawn

Best Narrative

What Remains of Edith Finch

NieR: Automata

Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice

Wolfenstein II

Horizon Zero Dawn

Best Art Direction

Destiny 2

Cuphead

Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Persona 5

Horizon Zero Dawn

Best Score / Music

Destiny 2

Cuphead

NieR: Automata

Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Super Mario Odyssey

Persona 5

Best Audio Design

Destiny 2

Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice

Resident Evil 7

Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Super Mario Odyssey

Best Performance

Melina Juergens, Hellblade

Laura Bailey, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy

Claudia Black, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy

Brian Bloom, Wolfenstein II

Ashly Burch, Horizon Zero Dawn

Games for Impact

Please Knock on my Door

Night in the Woods

Life is Strange: Before the Storm

Bury Me, My Love

What Remains of Edith Finch

Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice

Best Ongoing Game

Warframe

Rainbow Six: Siege

Overwatch

Grand Theft Auto Online

Destiny 2

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds

Best Mobile Game

Super Mario Run

Old Man’s Journey

Monument Valley 2

Hidden Folks

Fire Emblem Heroes

Best Handheld Game

Poochy & Yoshi’s Woolly World

Monster Hunter Stories

Metroid: Samus Returns

Fire Emblem Echoes

Ever Oasis

Best VR / AR Game

Superhot VR

Star Trek: Bridge Crew

Lone Echo / Echo Arena

Farpoint

Resident Evil 7

Best Action Game

Prey

Nioh

Destiny 2

Cuphead

Wolfenstein II

Best Action / Adventure Game

Uncharted: The Lost Legacy

Assassin’s Creed Origins

Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Super Mario Odyssey

Horizon Zero Dawn

Best Role Playing Game

South Park: The Fractured But Whole

Final Fantasy XV

Divinity: Original Sin 2

NieR: Automata

Persona 5

Best Fighting Game

Tekken 7

Nidhogg 2

Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite

Injustice 2

ARMS

Best Family Game

Splatoon 2

Sonic Mania

Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

Super Mario Odyssey

Best Strategy Game

XCOM 2: War of the Chosen

Tooth and Tail

Total War: Warhammer II

Halo Wars 2

Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle

Best Sports / Racing Game

Project Cars 2

Pro Evoltuion Soccer 2018

NBA 2K18

GT Sport

Forza Motorsport 7

FIFA 18

Best Multiplayer

Fornite

Call of Duty: World War II

Splatoon 2

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

Destiny 2

PlayerUnknown’s Battleground

Best Anticipated Game

The Last of Us Part II

Red Dead Redemption II

Monster Hunter World

Marvel’s Spider-Man

God of War

Best Independent Game

Pyre

Night in the Woods

Cuphead

What Remains of Deith Finch

Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice

Best Student Game

Meaning

Level Squared

Impulsion

Falling Sky

Hollowed

From Light

Trending Gamer

Steven Spohn

Mike Grzesiek

Guy Beahm

Clint Lexa

Andrea Rene

Best eSports Game

Rocket League

League of Legends

DOTA2

Counter Strike: Global-Offensive

Overwatch

Best eSports Player

Kuro “KuroKy” Salhei Takhasomi

Je-hong “ryujehong” Ryu

Nikola “NiKo” Kovac

Marcelo “coldzera” David

Lee sang-hyeok “Faker”

Best eSports Team

Team Liquid

SK Telecom 1

Lunatic-Hai

FaZe Clan

Cloud 9

Best Debut Indie Game

Slime Rancher

Mr. Shifty

Hollow Knight

Golf Story

Cuphead

Best Chinese Game

Monument Valley 2

jx3 HD

Gumballs

ICEY

King of Glory

The awards for “Best eSports Player,” “Best eSports Team,” and “Most-Anticipated Game” will be voted on by viewers in the weeks before the ceremony. The category for “Best Ongoing Game” was added this year to recognize the games that follow the “games-as-a-service” model, or those that continue to provide a fresh and new experience for its players.

Taking place at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, the fourth annual The Game Awards will also be live-streamed on 16 different platforms. Keighley will host and The Game Awards Orchestra will perform selected tracks from the nominated games. The Game Awards also provides developers with the opportunity to showcase new trailers and gameplay from future titles.

In 2003 the video game industry jumped on the bandwagon of exclusive awards with the Spike Video Game Awards. After Spike TV revealed it wouldn’t host the Video Game Awards in November of 2014, gaming journalist Geoff Keighley opted to continue the tradition with The Game Awards.

The first The Game Awards was held on Dec. 7, 2014 at The AXIS Theater in Las Vegas, NV and featured only 16 official awards categories and five fan-voted awards.

Tickets for the 2017 are still available and can be purchased at AXS.