The Game Awards 2016

The Game Awards 2016 was an award show that honored the best video games of 2016. It was produced and hosted by Geoff Keighley at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on December 1, 2016, and was live streamed across several platforms. At the event, Overwatch won Game of the Year, Blizzard Entertainment won Best Studio, and game designer Hideo Kojima was honored with the Industry Icon Award.

The Game Awards 2016
2016 Logo used for The Game Awards
Date	December 1, 2016 (2016-12-01)
Venue	Microsoft Theater, Los Angeles, United States
Country	United States
Hosted by	Geoff Keighley
Highlights
Most awards	Overwatch (4)
Most nominations	Uncharted 4: A Thief's End (8)
Game of the Year	Overwatch
Industry Icon Award	Hideo Kojima
Viewership	3.8 million

Broadcast and viewership

The Game Awards broadcast was streamed on December 1, 2016 at 5:30 pm PST across several video sharing sites, including YouTube and Twitch, as well as on the gaming services Xbox Live, PlayStation Network, and Steam.[1] For the first time, the YouTube stream included options for virtual reality and 4K resolution.[2] Keighley and other event organizers worked with Tencent QQ to have the show livestreamed and translated for Chinese viewers using Tencent's QQ and WeChat clients, and to participate in the Fans Choice Awards; the two services combined had potential for more than 1.5 billion additional viewers. Keighley identified that with China's ban on video games having been lifted in 2015, it has become one of the fastest growing markets for video games, and obtained the Tencent deal was "really an experiment" to see how well the awards presentation would be taken there.[3]

Keighley served at the host of the live event from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. The event featured live performances by Run The Jewels[4] the Doom soundtrack by Mick Gordon,[5] and Rae Sremmurd.[6]

The event included new gameplay videos for several upcoming games. Prior to the event, Keighley stated that the show would have less reliance on computer generated (CGI) trailers and more on in-game footage, which was due to the effect of No Man's Sky's misleading marketing earlier in the year.[7] Among games shown during the broadcast included Mass Effect: Andromeda,[8] The Walking Dead: A New Frontier,[9] Prey,[10] The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild,[11] Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment,[12] Halo Wars 2,[13] Death Stranding,[14] Dauntless from Phoenix Labs,[15] a Bulletstorm remaster,[16] Telltale's Guardians of the Galaxy,[17] LawBreakers,[18] Warframe,[19] Assassin's Creed: The VR Experience, and clips from the 2016 Assassin's Creed film.[20] Breath of the Wild was also featured in the pre-show.[21]

With the addition of streaming to Asian audiences, the broadcast saw a total viewership of about 3.8 million, an increase of 65% from the 2015 show.[22]

The show is infamous for its marketing tie-in with Schick razor blades. Hydrobot, a buff, humanoid robot with a razor blade head, appeared throughout the show and posed with game developer Hideo Kojima. The stunt was criticized for its commercialized nature.[23]

Winners and nominees

The nominees for The Game Awards 2016 were announced on November 16, 2016.[24] Candidate games must have had a commercial release date on or before November 24, 2016, in order to be eligible.[24] On November 21, The Game Awards dropped fangames AM2R and Pokémon Uranium from their "Best Fan Creation" nominee list. During a stream before the event, Keighley elaborated more on the situation and explained that the fangames were not legally cleared by Nintendo, who owns the rights to the intellectual property of both games, to be included on the show.[25][26]

Most of the winners were announced during the awards ceremony on December 1, 2016[24] with the exception of the "Best Fan Creation" category.[27] Winners are shown first in bold.[28]

Jury-voted awards

Game of the Year	Best Game Direction
Overwatch – Blizzard Entertainment Doom – id Software Inside – Playdead Titanfall 2 – Respawn Entertainment Uncharted 4: A Thief's End – Naughty Dog	Blizzard Entertainment (for Overwatch) EA DICE (for Battlefield 1) id Software (for Doom) Naughty Dog (for Uncharted 4: A Thief's End) Respawn Entertainment (for Titanfall 2)
Best Narrative	Best Art Direction
Uncharted 4: A Thief's End – written by Neil Druckmann and Josh Scherr Firewatch – written by Olly Moss, Chris Remo, Jake Rodkin, and Sean Vanaman Inside – written by Laurids Binderup Mafia III – written by Bill Harms Oxenfree – written by Adam Hines	Inside – Playdead Abzû – Giant Squid Firewatch – Campo Santo Overwatch – Blizzard Entertainment Uncharted 4: A Thief's End – Naughty Dog
Best Music/Sound Design	Best Performance
Doom – composed by Mick Gordon Battlefield 1 – composed by Patrik Andrén and Johan Söderqvist Inside – composed by Martin Stig Andersen and Søs Gunver Ryberg Rez Infinite – developed by United Game Artists Thumper – developed by Drool	Nolan North as Nathan Drake – Uncharted 4: A Thief's End Alex Hernandez as Lincoln Clay – Mafia III Cissy Jones as Delilah – Firewatch Emily Rose as Elena – Uncharted 4: A Thief's End Rich Sommer as Henry – Firewatch Troy Baker as Sam Drake – Uncharted 4: A Thief's End
Games for Impact	Best Independent Game
That Dragon, Cancer – Numinous Games Block’hood – Plethora Project Orwell – Osmotic Sea Hero Quest – Glitchers 1979 Revolution: Black Friday – iNK Stories	Inside – Playdead Firewatch – Campo Santo Hyper Light Drifter – Heart Machine Stardew Valley – ConcernedApe The Witness – Thekla, Inc.
Best Mobile/Handheld Game	Best VR Game
Pokémon Go – Niantic Clash Royale – Supercell Fire Emblem Fates – Intelligent Systems Monster Hunter Generations – Capcom Severed – DrinkBox Studios	Rez Infinite – United Game Artists Batman: Arkham VR – Rocksteady Studios Eve: Valkyrie – CCP Games Job Simulator – Owlchemy Labs Thumper – Drool
Best Action Game	Best Action/Adventure
Doom – id Software Battlefield 1 – EA DICE Gears of War 4 – The Coalition Overwatch – Blizzard Entertainment Titanfall 2 – Respawn Entertainment	Dishonored 2 – Arkane Studios Hitman – IO Interactive Hyper Light Drifter – Heart Machine Ratchet & Clank – Insomniac Games Uncharted 4: A Thief's End – Naughty Dog
Best Role Playing Game	Best Fighting Game
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Blood and Wine – CD Projekt Red Dark Souls III – FromSoftware Deus Ex: Mankind Divided – Eidos Montréal World of Warcraft: Legion – Blizzard Entertainment Xenoblade Chronicles X – Monolith Soft	Street Fighter V – Capcom Killer Instinct Season Three – Iron Galaxy The King of Fighters XIV – SNK Pokkén Tournament – Bandai Namco Studios
Best Strategy Game	Best Family Game
Civilization VI – Firaxis Games Fire Emblem Fates – Intelligent Systems The Banner Saga 2 – Stoic Total War: Warhammer – Creative Assembly XCOM 2 – Firaxis Games	Pokémon Go – Niantic Dragon Quest Builders – Square Enix Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens – TT Fusion Ratchet & Clank – Insomniac Games Skylanders: Imaginators – Toys for Bob
Best Sports/Racing Game	Best Multiplayer
Forza Horizon 3 – Playground Games FIFA 17 – EA Canada MLB The Show 16 – SIE San Diego Studio NBA 2K17 – Visual Concepts Pro Evolution Soccer 2017 – PES Productions	Overwatch – Blizzard Entertainment Battlefield 1 – EA DICE Gears of War 4 – The Coalition Overcooked – Ghost Town Games Titanfall 2 – Respawn Entertainment Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege – Ubisoft Montreal

Fan's choice awards

Most Anticipated Game	Trending Gamer
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – in development by Nintendo EPD God of War – in development by SIE Santa Monica Studio Horizon Zero Dawn – in development by Guerrilla Games Mass Effect: Andromeda – in development by BioWare Red Dead Redemption 2 – in development by Rockstar Studios	Boogie2988 AngryJoeShow Danny O'Dwyer JackSepticEye Lirik
Best Fan Creation	Esports Player of the Year
Enderal: The Shards of Order Brutal Doom 64 AM2R[lower-alpha 1] Pokémon Uranium[lower-alpha 1]	Marcelo "Coldzera" David (SK Gaming – Counter-Strike: Global Offensive) Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok (SK Telecom T1 – League of Legends) Hyun "ByuN" Woo (StarCraft II) Lee "Infiltration" Seon-woo (Team Razer – Street Fighter V) Juan "Hungrybox" Debiedma (Team Liquid – Super Smash Bros. Melee)
Esports Team of the Year	Esports Game of the Year
Cloud9 SK Telecom T1 Wings Gaming SK Gaming ROX Tigers	Overwatch – developed by Blizzard Entertainment Counter-Strike: Global Offensive – developed by Valve Dota 2 – developed by Valve League of Legends – developed by Riot Games Street Fighter V – developed by Capcom

Honorary awards

Industry Icon Award
Hideo Kojima[29]

Games with multiple nominations and awards

Games that received multiple nominations Nominations Game 8 Uncharted 4: A Thief's End 6 Overwatch 5 Firewatch Inside 4 Battlefield 1 Doom Titanfall 2 2 Fire Emblem Fates Gears of War 4 Hyper Light Drifter Mafia III Pokémon Go Ratchet & Clank Rez Infinite Street Fighter V Thumper

Games that received multiple awards Awards Game 4 Overwatch 2 Doom Inside Pokémon Go Uncharted 4: A Thief's End

References

Notes

1. Nomination removed following a DMCA takedown notice by Nintendo

Footnotes

1. Good, Owen (November 30, 2016). "How to watch The Game Awards on Thursday Night". Polygon. Archived from the original on December 3, 2016. Retrieved December 6, 2016.
2. Wouk, Kris (November 30, 2016). "YouTube brings 4K resolution to its live-streams, even for 360-degree video". Archived from the original on November 30, 2016. Retrieved November 30, 2016.
3. Crecente, Brian (November 25, 2016). "The Game Awards just found an extra 1.5B viewers". Polygon. Archived from the original on November 27, 2016. Retrieved December 6, 2016.
4. "Run the Jewels to Perform at Game Awards". thegameawards.com. Archived from the original on December 1, 2016. Retrieved November 27, 2016.
5. @thegameawards (November 25, 2016). "Thursday night, don't miss the first live performance of @DOOM soundtrack @thegameawards, led by composer @Mick_Gordon and special guests!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
6. @geoffkeighley (November 30, 2016). "LIVE on #Periscope: Rehearsals for Game Awards" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
7. Crecente, Brian (November 17, 2016). "The Game Awards will deliver more gameplay, less CGI thanks to No Man's Sky". Polygon. Archived from the original on November 16, 2016. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
8. Saed, Sherif (November 7, 2016). "First Mass Effect: Andromeda gameplay footage to be shown at The Game Awards 2016". VG247. Archived from the original on November 7, 2016. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
9. Perusco, Laura (November 22, 2016). "'The Walking Dead: The Telltale Series - A New Frontier' Premieres December 20th". Telltale Games. Archived from the original on November 23, 2016. Retrieved November 22, 2016.
10. "Prey Gameplay Confirmed for The Game Awards 2016". Gamerant. November 28, 2016. Archived from the original on November 29, 2016. Retrieved November 28, 2016.
11. "The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild "exclusive look" coming at The Game Awards 2016". Nintendo Everything. November 28, 2016. Archived from the original on November 29, 2016. Retrieved November 28, 2016.
12. "Want to see the latest on what we've... - Yacht Club Games - Facebook". Archived from the original on December 16, 2019. Retrieved December 1, 2016.
13. Bonnie Ross. "Bonnie Ross on Twitter: "Can't wait to watch @thegameawards tonight to see our latest Halo Wars 2 trailer". Twitter.com. Retrieved May 11, 2017.
14. Parkin, Jeffrey (December 1, 2016). "Kojima premieres new Death Stranding trailer at Game Awards". Polygon. Archived from the original on December 2, 2016. Retrieved May 11, 2017.
15. Phoenix Labs (December 1, 2016). "Phoenix Labs on Twitter: "We are proud to announce that we will be revealing our debut title at @thegameawards tonight. Tune in at 530 PST". Twitter.com. Retrieved May 11, 2017.
16. Geoff Keighley (December 1, 2016). "Geoff Keighley on Twitter: "LIVE on #Periscope: Almost time for Game Awards". Twitter.com. Retrieved May 11, 2017.
17. "deadspin-quote-carrot-aligned-w-bgr-2". Kotaku.com. Archived from the original on December 2, 2016. Retrieved May 11, 2017.
18. Crespo, Brandon (December 1, 2016). "The Game Awards 2016: New LawBreakers gameplay trailer". Fansided.com. Archived from the original on December 2, 2016. Retrieved May 11, 2017.
19. "Attention Console Tenno! The War Within Coming in December - Warframe". MMORPG.com. Archived from the original on December 2, 2016. Retrieved May 11, 2017.
20. "Assassin's Creed Movie and VR Experience Coming". The Game Awards. November 22, 2016. Archived from the original on November 23, 2016. Retrieved November 22, 2016.
21. @geoffkeighley (November 30, 2016). "Don't miss @thegameawards pre-show at 8:30 PM ET / 5:30 PM PT tomorrow. We will have an exclusive look at Zelda there. More in show..." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
22. Crecente, Brian (December 6, 2016). "The Game Awards audience up 65 percent to 3.8M". Polygon. Archived from the original on December 7, 2016. Retrieved December 6, 2016.
23. Farokhmanesh, Megan (December 7, 2018). "The Game Awards has made its peace with what it can and cant do". The Verge. Archived from the original on December 8, 2018. Retrieved December 9, 2018.
24. Sarkar, Samit (November 16, 2016). "Here are the nominees for The Game Awards 2016". Polygon. Archived from the original on November 16, 2016. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
25. "Why Fan-Made Games Like Pokemon Uranium Won't Be At The 2016 Game Awards". CINEMABLEND. November 27, 2016. Archived from the original on November 29, 2016. Retrieved November 29, 2016.
26. Bogos, Steven (November 21, 2016). "Pokemon Uranium, AM2R Removed From The Game Award's "Best Fan Creation" List". The Escapist. Archived from the original on November 21, 2016. Retrieved November 21, 2016.
27. Danielle, Taylor (December 2, 2016). "Best Fan Creation's Quiet Disappearance From The Game Awards Is Still a Mystery". Archived from the original on December 3, 2016. Retrieved December 2, 2016.
28. Stark, Chelsea (December 1, 2016). "The Game Awards: Here's the full winners list". Archived from the original on December 2, 2016. Retrieved December 1, 2016.
29. Paget, Mat (November 17, 2016). "Blocked From Attending Last Year, Hideo Kojima to Receive Award Next Month". GameSpot. Archived from the original on November 15, 2017. Retrieved November 17, 2016.

External links

• Official website (archived)