The Game Awards 2016 have come and gone. The event took place on the 1 December 2016 at the Microsoft Theatre in Los Angeles where over 20 unique awards were handed out to game developers, designers and artists.

Some of the most awarded games include Blizzard’s super popular smash-hit Overwatch, Naughty Dog’s Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, as well as the two superb indie games, Inside and Firewatch.

In addition to games, The Game Awards also took the time to recognise and honour eSports. 

See the complete list of nominees below, with the winners noted in bold.

GAME OF THE YEAR:

  • DOOM (id Software/Bethesda)
  • Inside (Playdead)
  • Winner: Overwatch (Blizzard)
  • Titanfall 2 (Respawn/Electronic Arts)
  • Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (Naughty Dog/Sony Interactive Entertainment)

BEST GAME DIRECTION:

  • Winner: 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)
  • Winner: Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (Naughty Dog/SIE)

BEST ART DIRECTION:

  • Abzu (Giant Squid/505)
  • Firewatch (Campo Santo)
  • Winner: Inside (Playdead)
  • Overwatch (Blizzard)
  • Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (Naughty Dog/SIE)

BEST MUSIC/SOUND DESIGN:

  • Battlefield 1 (DICE/EA)
  • Winner: 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
  • Winner: 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

GAMES FOR IMPACT:

  • 1979 Revolution (iNK Stories)
  • Block’hood (Plethora Project/Devolver Digital)
  • Orwell (Osmotic Studios/Surprise Attack)
  • Sea Hero Quest (Glitchers)
  • Winner: That Dragon, Cancer (Numinous Games)

BEST INDEPENDENT GAME:

  • Firewatch (Campo Santo)
  • Hyper Light Drifter (Heart Machine)
  • Winner: 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)
  • Winner: Pokemon Go (Niantic)
  • Severed (DrinkBox Studios)

BEST VR GAME:

  • Batman: Arkham VR (Rocksteady Studios/WBIE)
  • EVE: Valkyrie (CCP Games)
  • Job Simulator (Owlchemy Labs)
  • Winner: Rez Infinite (Enhance Games)
  • Thumper (Drool)

BEST ACTION GAME:

  • Battlefield 1 (DICE/EA)
  • Winner: DOOM (id Software/Bethesda Softworks)
  • Gears of War 4 (The Coalition/Microsoft Studios)
  • Overwatch (Blizzard)
  • Titanfall 2 (Respawn/EA)

BEST ACTION/ADVENTURE GAME:

  • Winner: 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)
  • Winner: 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 (For a game designed primarily around head-to-head combat)

  • Killer Instinct Season 3 (Iron Galaxy Studios/Microsoft Studios)
  • King of Fighters XIV (SNK/Atlus USA)
  • Pokken Tournament (Bandai Namco Studios/The Pokemon Co.)
  • Winner: Street Fighter V (Capcom)

BEST STRATEGY GAME:

  • Winner: Civilization 6 (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)
  • Winner: 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)
  • Winner: 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)
  • Winner: 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)
  • Winner: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo)

TRENDING GAMER:

  • AngryJoeShow
  • Winner: Boogie2988
  • Danny O’Dwyer
  • JackSepticEye
  • Lirik

BEST FAN CREATION:

  • Brutal Doom 64
  • Enderal: The Shards of Order

According to Polygon, no winner was announced during the show for this award. Interestingly, this category also had two fan-created games that were removed from the nominees list.

BEST ESPORTS PLAYER:

Faker – Lee Sang-hyeok (SK Telecom T1, League of Legends)

Winner: Coldzera – Marcelo David (SK Gaming, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive)

ByuN –Hyun Woo (Starcraft 2)

Infiltrator – Lee Seeon-woo (Team Razer, Street Fighter V)

Hungrybox – Juan Debiedma (Team Liquid, Super Smash Bros.)

BEST ESPORTS TEAM:

  • SK Telecom T1 (League of Legends)
  • Wings Gaming (DOTA2)
  • SK Gaming
  • ROX Tigers (League of Legends)
  • Winner: Cloud 9

BEST ESPORTS GAME:

  • Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (Valve)
  • DOTA2 (Valve)
  • League of Legends (Riot)
  • Winner: Overwatch (Blizzard)
  • Street Fighter V (Capcom)

Owner, founder and editor-in-chief at Vamers, Hans has a vested interest in geek culture and the interactive entertainment industry. With a Masters degree in Communications and Ludology, he is well read and versed in matters relating to video games and communication media, among many other topics of interest.