Nominees for The Game Awards' annual event were published today, featuring 5-6 nominees in 29 different categories including genre awards, eSports awards, and Game of the Year. Unsurprisingly, two of the games leading in nominations are Nintendo's major Switch exclusives: Super Mario Odyssey and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Leading the way with Nintendo's games are Sony's early-2017 exclusive Horizon: Zero Dawn, the multi-platform hit Destiny 2, and Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice. Dozens of games overall have been nominated, making The Game Awards 2017 the largest iteration of the event yet.
Five games are featured in this year's Game of the Year category, the show's most prestigious award, and some of 2017's nominees may be surprising:
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
- Super Mario Odyssey
- PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds
- Persona 5
- Horizon Zero Dawn
This year's event has decided to allow early access games like PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds to be included. While review outlets may balk at featuring as-yet unfinished games, The Game Awards has decided to let them be judged on their own merits.
The Game Awards itself will be hosted live on December 7th at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. The event will be livestreamed online in 4K HD with over 16 different digital services supported this year. This year fans in China, South Korea, and Japan will also be able to view localized versions of the award show, with the Game Awards forming partnerships with Tencent, AfreecaTV, and NicoNico to ensure international coverage.
Nominees, like in previous years of The Game Awards, were decided upon by a voting jury of over 51 media outlets domestic and international. eSports awards earned their own, separate jury this year formed from outlets with a coverage dedicated to the growing industry. Most major awards for The Game Awards will also be decided by a mix of these juries (90%) and public voting (10%). Certain categories, including Trending Gamer, Most Anticipated Game, and the eSports awards, are determined solely by fan voting.
Fans can vote on their favorites to win starting today via the official The Game Awards website. Voting will last through December 6th, the eve of the award show itself. Fans can vote for their favorite games either through Facebook verification, Twitter, or Google search. The process has been optimized to encourage as many fans as possible to vote this year, ensuring the entirety of gaming's diverse community can participate if they so choose.
The Game Awards 2017 will air on December 7th and will be hosted once again by Geoff Keighley. Expect several game announcements and previews of upcoming titles during the event, along with teases about what to expect between now and then.