The third annual Canadian Videogame Awards takes place in less than a month and the nominees for this year's awards were unveiled earlier this week. With a growing presence of developers in Canada, and bigger titles taking advantage of Canada's talent, 2011's nominees list features an increased number of high profile console releases, downloadables and mobile apps, including key triple-A releases.
Mass Effect 2 took home the big awards at the 2011 awards and this year, Ubisoft headlines the nominees list with multiple nominations for Assassin’s Creed Revelations, Assassin’s Creed Recollection, Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes, Just Dance 3 and Your Shape: Fitness Evolved 2012. Eidos Montreal's Deus Ex: Human Revolution and Relic Entertainment's Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine earned nods in major categories, and Electronic Arts finds itself with multiple nominations for their sports titles, Need for Speed: The Run and BioWare's Dragon Age II.
Game of the Year
- Assassin’s Creed Revelations — Ubisoft Montreal
- Deus Ex: Human Revolution — Eidos-Montreal
- FIFA 2012 — Electronic Arts
- Fight Night Champion — Electronic Arts
- Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP — Capybara Games
Best Console Game
- Assassin’s Creed Revelations — Ubisoft Montreal
- Deus Ex: Human Revolution — Eidos-Montreal
- Dragon Age II — Bioware
- FIFA 2012 — Electronic Arts
- Fight Night Champion — Electronic Arts
Best Game on the Go
- A Space Shooter for Free — Frima Studio
- Assassin’s Creed Recollection — Ubisoft Montreal
- Squibble — MassHabit Games
- Super Stickman Golf — Noodlecake Studios
- Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP — Capybara Games
Best Downloadable Game
- Capsized — Alien Trap Games
- Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes — Cabybara Games
- Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP — Capybara Games
- Swarm — Hothead Games
- Tales From Space: About a Blob — Drinkbox Studios
Best Audio
- Assassin’s Creed Revelations — Ubisoft Montreal
- Deus Ex: Human Revolution — Eidos-Montreal
- Fight Night Champion — Electronic Arts
- Need for Speed: The Run — Electronic Arts
- Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine — Relic Entertainment
Best Social/Casual Game
- Cranky Cat — March Entertainment
- GreenSpace — RocketOwl Inc.
- Margaritaville Online — Exploding Barrel Games
- Sissy’s Magical Ponycorn Adventures — Untold Entertainment
Best Game Design
- Assassin’s Creed Revelations — Ubisoft Montreal
- Dead Rising 2: Off the Record — Capcom Vancouver
- Deus Ex: Human Revolution — Eidos-Montreal
- Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP — Capybara Games
- Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine — Relic Entertainment
Best Technology
- Assassin’s Creed Revelations — Ubisoft Montreal
- FIFA 2012 — Electronic Arts
- Just Dance 3 — Ubisoft Montreal
- Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine — Relic Entertainment
- Your Shape Fitness Evolved 2012 — Ubisoft Montreal
Best Visual Arts
- Assassin’s Creed Revelations — Ubisoft Montreal
- Deus Ex: Human Revolution — Eidos-Montreal
- Need for Speed: The Run — Electronic Arts
- Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP — Capybara Games
- Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine — Relic Entertainment
Best Writing
- Assassin’s Creed Revelations — Ubisoft Montreal
- Deus Ex: Human Revolution — Eidos-Montreal
- Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP — Capybara Games
- To the Moon — Freebird Games
- Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine — Relic Entertainment
Best Indie Game
- Capsized — Alien Trap Games
- DLC Quest — Going Loud Studios
- Super Stickman Golf — Noodlecake Studios
- Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP — Capybara Games
- Tales From Space: About a Blob — Drinkbox Studios
Best New Character
- Deus Ex: Human Revolution (Adam Jensen) — Eidos-Montreal
- Sissy’s Magical Ponycorn Adventures (Sissy) — Untold Entertainment
- Tales From Space: About a Blob (The Blob) — Drinkbox Studios
- Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine — Relic Entertainment
- Yeti (Yeti) — Metanet Software Inc.
Best Original Music
- Assassin’s Creed Revelations — Ubisoft Montreal
- Deus Ex: Human Revolution — Eidos-Montreal
- Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes — Cabybara Games
- Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP — Capybara Games
- Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine — Relic Entertainment
Innovation Award
- Battlefield 3 — DICE/Electronic Arts
- Cows vs. Aliens — XMG Studio
- Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP — Capybara Games
- To the Moon — Freebird Games
- Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine — Relic Entertainment
Oddly, there were no nominations for EA Sports' NHL 12, a game we thought was the best sports title of 2011. It's especially odd to see Dragon Age II beat out NHL 12 for a spot in the best console game category, considering the complaints and critical feedback surrounding that game.
Also confusing is seeing Battlefield 3 - primarily developed in DICE's Swedish studio, nominated for innovation but not showing up in any other category. Here are the rules for eligibility which explain how this can be:
All awards are for work developed in Canada and released in 2011. A game that was developed in multiple countries may be nominated for the CVAs in a specific category if the majority of the game development in that relevant category was completed in Canada. Please note: videogame upgrades, expansions and mission packs are not eligible.
General seating admission is available to attendees of Fan Expo Vancouver:
The Canadian Videogame Awards will be held in conjunction with Fan Expo Vancouver at the beautiful Vancouver Convention Centre. As the third largest developer of video games in the world, the show will celebrate Canada’s spot on the world stage as a leader in interactive entertainment. The show will also be broadcast across the country on G4 Canada and City TV through the Rogers Network, and tickets for the event will be available to the public in the coming weeks.
Which game should with game of the year? To compare, check out the winners for Game Rant's Video Game Awards.
The Canadian Videogame Awards take place Saturday, April 21st, 2012.
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Source: Canadian Videogame Awards