The Game Awards 2019

[Tim B]

The full list of nominees for this year's Game Awards can be found below.

Game of The Year

• Control (Remedy/505 Games)
• Death Stranding(Kojima Productions/SIE)
• Super Smash Bros. Ultimate(Bandai-Namco/Sora/Nintendo)
• Resident Evil 2(Capcom/Capcom)
• Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice(From Software/Activision)
• The Outer Worlds(Obsidian/Private Division)

Best Game Direction

• Control (Remedy/505 Games)
• Death Stranding (Kojima Productions/SIE)
• Resident Evil 2 (Capcom/Capcom)
• Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice(From Software/Activision)
• Outer Wilds (Mobius Digital/Annapurna)

Best Narrative

• A Plague Tale: Innocence(Asobo/Focus Home)
• Control (Remedy/505)
• Death Stranding(Kojima Productions/SIE)
• Disco Elysium(ZA/UM)
• The Outer Worlds(Obsidian/Private Division)

Best Art Direction

• Control(Remedy/505)
• Death Stranding(Kojima Productions/SIE)
• Gris (Nomada Studio/Devolver)
• Sayonara Wild Hearts(Simogo/Annapurna)
• Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice(From Software/Activision)
• The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening(Grezzo/Nintendo)

Best Score/Music

• Cadence of Hyrule(Brace Yourself Games/Nintendo)
• Death Stranding(Kojima Productions/SIE)
• Devil May Cry 5(Capcom)
• Kingdom Hearts III(Square Enix)
• Sayonara Wild Hearts(Simogo/Annapurna)

Best Audio Design

• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare(Infinity Ward/Activision)
• Control (Remedy/505)
• Death Stranding(Kojima Productions/SIE)
• Gears 5(The Coalition/Xbox Game Studios)
• Resident Evil 2(Capcom)
• Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice(From Software/Activision)

Best Performance

• Ashly Burch as Parvati Holcomb, The Outer Worlds
• Courtney Hopeas Jesse Faden, Control
• Laura Bailey as Kait Diaz, Gears 5
• Mads Mikkelsen as Cliff, Death Stranding
• Matthew Porretta as Dr. Casper Darling, Control
• Norman Reedus as Sam Porter Bridges, Death Stranding

Games for Impact

• Concrete Genie(Pixelopus/SIE)
• Gris(Nomada Studio/Devolver)
• Kind Words(Popcannibal)
• Life is Strange 2(Dontnod/Square Enix)
• Sea of Solitude(Jo-Mei Games/EA)

Best Ongoing Game

• Apex Legends(Respawn)
• Destiny 2(Bungie)
• Final Fantasy XIV(Square Enix)
• Fortnite(Epic Games)
• Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege(Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft)

Best Independent Game

• Baba Is You(Hempuli)
• Disco Elysium(ZA/UM)
• Katana ZERO(Askiisoft/Devoler)
• Outer Wilds(Mobius Digital/Annapurna)
• Untitled Goose Game(House House/Panic)

Best Mobile Game

• Call of Duty: Mobile (TiMi Studios/Activision)
• GRINDSTONE (Capybara Games)
• Sayonara Wild Hearts (Simogo/Annapurna)
• Sky: Children of Light (Thatgamecompany)
• What the Golf? (Tribland)

Best Community Support

• Apex Legends (Respawn/EA)
• Destiny 2 (Bungie)
• Final Fantasy XIV (Square Enix)
• Fortnite (Epic Games)
• Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft)

Best VR/AR Game

• Asgard's Wrath (Sanzaru Games/Oculus Studios)
• Blood & Truth (SIE London Studio/SIE)
• Beat Saber (Beat Games)
• No Man's Sky (Hello Games)
• Trover Saves the Universe (Squanch Games)

Best Action Game

• Apex Legends(Respawn/EA)
• Astral Chain(Platinum Games/Nintendo)
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare(Infinity Ward/Activision)
• Devil May Cry 5(Capcom/Capcom)
• Gears 5(The Coalition/Xbox Game Studios)
• Metro Exodus(4A Games/Deep Silver)

Best Action/Adventure Game

• Borderlands 3(Gearbox/2K)
• Control (Remedy/505 Games)
• Death Stranding(Kojima Productions/SIE)
• Resident Evil 2(Capcom)
• The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening(Grezzo/Nintendo)
• Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice(From Software/Activision)

Best RPG

• Disco Elysium(ZA/UM)
• Final Fantasy XIV(Square Enix)
• Kingdom Hearts III(Square Enix)
• Monster Hunter World: Iceborne(Capcom)
• The Outer Worlds(Obsidian/Private Division)

Best Fighting Game

• Dead or Alive 6(Team Ninja/Koei Tecmo)
• Jump Force(Spike Chunsoft/Bandai Namco)
• Mortal Kombat 11(NetherRealm/WBIE)
• Samurai Showdown(SNK/Athlon)
• Super Smash Bros. Ultimate(Bandai Namco/Sora/Nintendo)

Best Family Game

• Luigi's Mansion 3(Next Level Games/Nintendo)
• Ring Fit Adventure(Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
• Super Mario Maker 2(Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
• Super Smash Bros. Ultimate(Bandai Namco/Sora/Nintendo)
• Yoshi's Crafted World (Good-Feel/Nintendo)

Best Strategy Game

• Age of Wonders: Planetfall(Triumph Studios/Paradox)
• Anno 1800(Blue Byte/Ubisoft)
• Fire Emblem: Three Houses(Intelligent Systems/Koei Tecmo/Nintendo)
• Total War: Three Kingdoms(Creative Assembly/Sega)
• Tropico 6(Limbic Entertainment/Kalypso Media)
• Wargroove (Chucklefish)

Best Sports/Racing Game

• Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled(Beenox/Activision)
• DiRT Rally 2.0(Codemasters)
• eFootball Pro Evolution Soccer 2020(PES Productions/Konami)
• F1 2019(Codemasters)
• FIFA 20(EA Sports)

Best Multiplayer Game

• Apex Legends(Respawn/EA)
• Borderlands 3(Gearbox/2K)
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare(Infinity Ward/Activision)
• Tetris 99(Arika/Nintendo)
• Tom Clancy's The Division 2(Massive Entertainment/Ubisoft)

Fresh Indie Game Presented by Subway

• ZA/UM for Disco Elysium
• Nomada Studiof or Gris
• DeadToast Entertainment for My Friend Pedro
• Mobius Digital for Outer Wilds
• Mega Crit for Slay the Spire
• House House for Untitled Goose Game

Content Creator of the Year

• Courage - Jack Dunlop
• Dr. Lupo- Benjamin Lupo
• Ewok- Soleil Wheeler
• Grefg- David Martínez
• Shroud- Michael Grzesiek

ESPORTS AWARDS

Best Esports Game

• Counter-Strike: Global Offensive(Valve)
• DOTA2(Valve)
• Fortnite (Epic Games)
• League of Legends(Riot Games)
• Overwatch(Blizzard)

Best Esports Player

• Kyle ‘Bugha’ Giersdorf(Immortals, Fortnite)
• Lee ‘Faker’ Sang-hyeok(SK Telecom, League of Legends)
• Luka ‘Perkz’ Perkovic(G2 Esports, League of Legends)
• Oleksandr ‘S1mple’ Kostyliev(Natus Vincere, CSGO)
• Jay ‘Sinatraa’ Won(SF Shock, Overwatch)

Best Esports Team

• Astralis (CS:GO)
• G2 Esports(LOL)
• OG (DOTA2)
• San Francisco Shock(OWL)
• Team Liquid(CS:GO)

Best Esports Event

• 2019 Overwatch League Grand Finals
• EVO 2019
• Fortnite World Cup
• IEM Katowice 2019
• League of Legends World Championship 2019
• The International 2019

Best Esports Coach

• Eric ‘adreN’ Hoag(Team Liquid, CS:GO)
• Nu-ri ‘Cain’ Jang (Team Liquid, LOL)
• Fabian ‘GrabbZ’ Lohmann(G2 Esports, LOL)
• Kim ‘Kkoma’ Jeong-gyun (SK Telecom T1, LOL)
• Titouan ‘Sockshka’ Merloz(OG, DOTA2)
• Danny ‘Zonic’ Sørensen (Astralis, CSGO)

Best Esports Host

• Eefje “Sjokz” Depoortere
• Alex “Machine” Richardson
• Paul “Redeye” Chaloner
• Alex “Goldenboy” Mendez
• Duan "Candice" Yu-Shuang

The Game Awards will be streamed live online on the night of 12th December (so 13th December in the UK), same time as the General Election results in the UK

Edited November 19, 2019 by Tim B

[Tim B]

Personally, I'm super happy to see Super Smash Bros. Ultimate up for Game of the Year. That game takes my breath away every time I dip into it. I think it could and should win the public vote in that category, but it's the juries I'm worried about. They might prefer to go for something that's also up for Game Direction and/or Best Narrative, but let's see. Thinking about it, this game easily had the best chance for Nintendo to actually win GotY. Fire Emblem was too niche and anything else that could've been nominated (Zelda, Super Mario Maker 2, Luigi's Mansion 3) wouldn't have stood a chance.

The Family (Nintendo) category is quite interesting...I'd love to see Ring Fit Adventure win there, but you'd probably have to make Smash the favourite.

Nice to see Astral Chain get some recognition. Fire Emblem: Three Houses might well win the strategy category. 

What do you think's gonna win? What would you like to see win? Any surprises in the nominees?

Edited November 19, 2019 by Tim B

[Ronnie]

There's no way Smash will win GOTY. Not a chance.

A bit weird how none of these were nominated:

And yet...

was.

[Hero-of-Time]

Very happy to see A Plague Tale nominated for best narrative. 

Resident Evil 2 gets my vote for GOTY from that list. Capcom managed to pull off the impossible task of recreating a fan favourite game and have it feel familiar and new at the same time. This is something that is very hard to pull off.

Best RPG I would give to Kingdom Hearts III. Around 15 years in the making and it didn't disappoint. It was the best selling game in the US for the best part of the year.

Best action game goes to Devil May Cry V. Once again Capcom brought their A game back to this franchise. Brilliant game.

Best music is anyone's guess. All of them have great soundtracks. I'd have a hard time choosing between Kingdom Hearts, Death Stranding and Devil May Cry. All of them are very different but very suited to the type of game they are.

[Happenstance]

I haven't actually played a lot this year but from what I have, or have seen enough for have an opinion on I would vote for:

GOTY

The Outer Worlds

Beat Game Direction

Resident Evil 2

Best Narrative

Disco Elysium (purely from the positive buzz I kept hearing)

Best Performance

Ashly Birch

Best Ongoing Game

FFXIV

Action/Adventure

Resident Evil 2

RPG

FFXIV

 

[Tim B]

20 minutes ago, Ronnie said:

There's no way Smash will win GOTY. Not a chance.

What makes you say that? Isn't it both the best selling and best reviewed game in the GOTY list? Is it the wrong genre? Not credible enough?

I don't think Smash winning can be ruled out and, as I said, I think it'll win the public vote in that category and it's evidently loved by the critics.

[Ronnie]

7 minutes ago, Tim B said:

What makes you say that? Isn't it both the best selling and best reviewed game in the GOTY list? Is it the wrong genre? Not credible enough?

I don't think Smash winning can be ruled out and, as I said, I think it'll win the public vote in that category and it's evidently loved by the critics.

I just don't think it's GOTY material, a fighting game with a large roster. I just think there's a bias towards blockbuster games that are multi-category winners.

Even aside from all that, it's also 12 months old now so won't be in the voters minds at all, though I suppose the DLC characters help a bit.

[Tim B]

8 minutes ago, Ronnie said:

I just don't think it's GOTY material, a fighting game with a large roster. I just think there's a bias towards blockbuster games that are multi-category winners.

You could also say that it stands out in the line up, in a good way, because all the other games are super serious by comparison and might split the votes and split opinions. Smash is a crowd pleaser.

Edited November 19, 2019 by Tim B

[Ronnie]

10 minutes ago, Tim B said:

You could also say that it stands out in the line up, in a good way, because all the other games are super serious by comparison and might split the votes and split opinions. Smash is a crowd pleaser.

Looking at the nominees I suppose it's a pretty weak year and none of the other games are particularly well loved. Apart from Sekiro and RE2.

Edited November 19, 2019 by Ronnie

[Ganepark32]

It's certainly been an interesting year for games and it's definitely reflected in the categories for The Game Awards this year, even if it does seem like there are some noticeable omissions from some categories.

I think given the lack of any clear favourite game of the year, the GOTY category was always going to be an especially interesting one given the breadth of titles that have been spoken of in that frame across the year. Already, there's a lot of people talking about the omission of the likes of Disco Elysium, Fire Emblem, DMC V and Outer Wilds and I think it goes to show that on any other day, that list of nominees could easily be different bar 3 of the games on there.

It's a straight up fight between RE2 and Sekiro I'd wager but I think Smash is easily the best of the rest for an outside chance at winning. Personally, I do find the lack of any indie games in that category odd given the strong reception to certain titles throughout the year (Disco Elysium and Outer Wilds in particular could and perhaps should have been included in the GOTY category) and especially so when you have The Outer Worlds and Control which are both good games in their own right but I don't really think so should be vying for that awards.

Still, the indie category is once again absolutely killer and it could go any way. I'm happy to see Baba is You in there alongside that list but it's a tough section and it's going to come down to the two games I've already mentioned, Outer Wilds and Disco Elysium. Likewise for the Fresh Indie Game award, though seeing Slay the Spire there makes me happy too.

Major plus points for A Plague Tale: Innocence getting a nomination for narrative. I don't think it'll win out (I have a feeling we're going to see Death Stranding wall away with just about everything it's got nominations for) but it's got my vote as it's a fantastic game that I'd even put up for GOTY. Shame it didn't get a nod in the sound/music category though as I'd have thought it would but for that category, my vote is for Sayonara Wild Hearts.

Best Performance is another tight category as Ashly Burch continues to show why she's so sought after for voice work with her performance of Parvati in The Outer Worlds (and really the only companion I cared about in that game). Happy for Courtney Hope getting a nod but I'd have to say if Matthew Porretta doesn't get it for Dr Casper Darling I'd be very shocked as that was one hell of a performance for that character.

Beyond that, Games for Impact is an interesting one. I've seen a few suggest Kind Words take it but I feel the noise surrounding that died down as quick as it built up. Sea of Solitude getting a nod is great for Cornelia and her team at Jo-Mei but I'd probably guess it'll go to Life is Strange 2.

But yeah, an interesting year of games and some stiff competition i a lot of categories here this year, even if I think Death Stranding will take everything (not to say it doesn't merit it, I've yet to play the game, but it would perhaps rub some the wrong way given the friendship between Geoff and Kojima) and even outside of TGA, it'll be interesting to see how outlets compile their GOTY lists in the coming weeks as I suspect there really won't be a clear best game for the year (though most will probably go with RE2 from the talk of those in the industry).

[Tim B]

Has Pokémon Sword/Shield not been snubbed here? I guess it was cutting it fine to meet the deadline, to say the least. I would’ve expected it to be nominated in the Family and Role-Playing categories.

Though I looked back on previous years and it seems that Pokémon Let’s GO! Pikachu/Eevee, Sun/Moon and Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon also missed out, for whatever reasons.

 

[Ganepark32]

17 hours ago, Tim B said:

Has Pokémon Sword/Shield not been snubbed here? I guess it was cutting it fine to meet the deadline, to say the least. I would’ve expected it to be nominated in the Family and Role-Playing categories.

Though I looked back on previous years and it seems that Pokémon Let’s GO! Pikachu/Eevee, Sun/Moon and Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon also missed out, for whatever reasons.

 

From what I understand, both Pokemon Sword/Shield and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order are not nominated because while they were both eligible for nomination this year, with both releasing on Nov 15th which was the cut off date, review copies didn't go out to a lot of publications until the week the games were released and thus publications didn't get much, or any in some cases, hands on time with the games prior to submission of nominations for TGA meaning they've lost out. It does look as though they'll be made eligible for next year's awards but I think in the case of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order specifically, it'll simply be eclipsed by far better games and go without nomination then as well. Pokemon will likely get a nomination in the Best Family Game category, very unlikely that it would get nominated for GOTY as the games are simply good, not great.

[Ronnie]

I've love to live in a world where Pokemon is even considered for GOTY but I think we're miles off that. Give the IP to another dev studio and maybe though.

Shame about Fallen Order, suspect it would have been a nominee this year but 2020 is looking crazy, and that's before things we don't know about like maybe Horizon 2 at PS5 launch, Mario Odyssey 2, BOTW 2 etc?

[Dcubed]

On 11/19/2019 at 10:40 PM, Tim B said:

Has Pokémon Sword/Shield not been snubbed here? I guess it was cutting it fine to meet the deadline, to say the least. I would’ve expected it to be nominated in the Family and Role-Playing categories.

Though I looked back on previous years and it seems that Pokémon Let’s GO! Pikachu/Eevee, Sun/Moon and Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon also missed out, for whatever reasons.

 

Sadly Pokemon is ineligable for GOTY votes, purely because of the kind of game it is.

 

Anything that is deemed "kid friendly" cannot possible win GOTY.

[Hero-of-Time]

Love me a hype trailer.

[Hero-of-Time]

No doubt he's returning to announce the Mother/Earthbound Collection which will include the 3rd game. 

[Happenstance]

God, I thought we were finally free of him???

[Hero-of-Time]

4 minutes ago, Happenstance said:

God, I thought we were finally free of him???

Dude is much more bearable now that he's not a corporate mouthpiece. He gave a good lesson/leacture the other month about working in the industry.

[Ronnie]

It's funny, I've always thought he was universally popular among gamers, until I come on this site.

I think he seems like a great guy, who yes towed the company line and gave nothing away, but he's obviously well respected in the industry. 

Edited December 10, 2019 by Ronnie

[WackerJr]

3 hours ago, Hero-of-Time said:

Dude is much more bearable now that he's not a corporate mouthpiece. He gave a good lesson/leacture the other month about working in the industry.

It’s going to be interesting having him as a presenter without the ties to Nintendo (the history yes).  Hopefully the 10-game surprises will perk up the show, due to imo a weaker year for standout games.

A Smash Bros reveal would be rather lovely too! 😁

[Ronnie]

I think a Smash reveal is a guarantee. I'd love to see a BOTW2 teaser but not getting my hopes up on that...

[Ronnie]

Not surprising, they've been there for years now, but hopefully means a reveal or two

[S.C.G]

The Game Awards starts at 5:30pm PT, so that will make it 1:30am in the UK then?

And it's three hours long... I mean, I'm not surprised, I think it was the same kind of time last year as well but still, three hours...

Probably something to watch in the background while playing something on the Switch I reckon.

[Aperson]

Coincidentally the Game Awards are on the same day as the Election... or at least they would be if they weren't on at 1:30 in the morning. I will probably catch up with it on the Friday morning in that instance.

[killthenet]

3 hours ago, GenericAperson said:

Coincidentally the Game Awards are on the same day as the Election... or at least they would be if they weren't on at 1:30 in the morning. I will probably catch up with it on the Friday morning in that instance.

Do what I'm doing, have the election coverage going in your laptop while you watch the game awards on the TV. I'm hoping the surprise announcements will help to balance out the crushing depression of the election results.

Although I'll probably end up weeping on both counts come 4am if Nintendo don't bring the goods.