Dec 13, 2019

The Game Awards 2019 Nominees, Winners, Announcements, And Trailers

Geoff Keighley hosted The Game Awards 2019 last night on December 12, 2019. Control and Death Stranding received the most nominations, including each earning a spot on the Game of the Year award nomination list. But did they win all of those awards? You’ll have to read to find out. In total, there are 29 categories recognizing AAA games, indie titles, esports, and more.

Game of the Year

Nominees:

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)

Winner: Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (From Software/Activision)

Best Game Direction

Nominees:

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)

Winner: Death Stranding (Kojima Productions/SIE)

Best Narrative

Nominees:

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)

Winner: Disco Elysium (ZA/UM)

Best Art Direction

Nominees:

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)

Winner: Control (Remedy/505)

Best Score/Music

Nominees:

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)

Winner: Death Stranding

Best Audio Design

Nominees:

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)

Winner: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (Infinity Ward/Activision)

Best Performance

Nominees:

Ashly Burch as Parvati Holcomb, The Outer Worlds
Courtney Hope as 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

Winner: Mads Mikkelsen as Cliff, Death Stranding

Games for Impact

Nominees:

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)

Winner: Gris (Nomada Studio/Devolver)

Best Ongoing Game

Nominees:

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

Winner: Fortnite (Epic Games)

Best Independent Game

Nominees:

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

Winner: Disco Elysium (ZA/UM)

Best Mobile Game

Nominees

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

Winner: Call of Duty: Mobile (TiMi Studios/Activision)

Best Community Support

Nominees:

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

Winner: Destiny 2

Best VR/AR Game

Nominees:

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)

Winner: Beat Saber (Beat Games)

Best Action Game

Nominees:

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)

Winner: Devil May Cry 5 (Capcom/Capcom)

Best Action/Adventure Game

Nominees:

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)

Winner: Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (From Software/Activision)

Best RPG

Nominees:

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)

Winner: Disco Elysium (ZA/UM)

Best Fighting Game

Nominees:

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)

Winner: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Bandai Namco/Sora/Nintendo)

Best Family Game

Nominees:

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)

Winner: Luigi's Mansion 3 (Next Level Games/Nintendo)

Best Strategy Game

Nominees:

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)

Winner: Fire Emblem: Three Houses (Intelligent Systems/Koei Tecmo/Nintendo)

Best Sports/Racing Game

Nominees:

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)

Winner: Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled (Beenox/Activision)

Best Multiplayer Game

Nominees:

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)

Winner: Apex Legends (Respawn/EA)

Fresh Indie Game Presented by Subway

Nominees:

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

Winner: ZA/UM for Disco Elysium

Content Creator of the Year

Nominees:

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

Winner: Shroud - Michael Grzesiek

Best Esports Game

Nominees:

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (Valve)
DOTA 2 (Valve)
Fortnite (Epic Games)
League of Legends (Riot Games)
Overwatch (Blizzard)

Winner: League of Legends (Riot Games)

Best Esports Player

Nominees:

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)

Winner: Kyle ‘Bugha’ Giersdorf (Immortals, Fortnite)

Best Esports Team

Nominees:

Astralis (CS:GO)
G2 Esports (LOL)
OG (DOTA 2)
San Francisco Shock (OWL)
Team Liquid (CS:GO)

Winner: G2 Esports (LOL)

Best Esports Event

Nominees:

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

Winner: League of Legends World Championship 2019

Best Esports Coach

Nominees:

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)

Winner: Danny ‘Zonic’ Sørensen (Astralis, CSGO)

Best Esports Host

Nominees:

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

Winner: Eefje “Sjokz” Depoortere

The Game Awards also had a number of game announcements and new trailers for fans to watch.

Here are some of the most important ones:

Xbox Series X Announcement

This was a huge announcement for Xbox. Microsoft showed off some of the capabilities of the Xbox Series X and announced that it will be out during the holiday season in 2020.

Head of Xbox, Phil Spencer, said that the system will set a new bar for performance, speed, and compatibility. Currently, all 15 Xbox game studios are creating a lineup of exclusive games, and developers across the world are making games compatible with the Xbox Series X.

Fortnite x Star Wars

Fortnite has added perhaps its most high-profile crossover items during the show. New Rey and Finn skins to celebrate next week’s premiere of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. The skins are in the item shop now, alongside a crimson Sith Trooper skin, a First Order Tie Fighter glider, a Star Wars emote, and a giftable banner.

The skins are 1,500 v-bucks (or roughly $15) each, while the glider is 1,200. Sadly, there is no lightsaber pickaxe. They also hinted at a special event coming up that will happen in-game, something about J.J. Abrams being there ... but that’s all they would say. So for now, May The Fortnite Be With You.

Mortal Kombat 11 Joker DLC

Mortal Kombat 11, the fighting game that has been around for more than 20 years, will receive a new DLC on January 28th for all platforms. For those of you that are wondering, yes, Troy Baker is once again voicing The Clown Prince of Crime.

Read more:

Top Mortal Kombat Games

16 Best Mortal Kombat 11 Combos And Variations (And How To Perform Them)

All Mortal Kombat 11 Fatalities (And How To Perform Them)

15 Best Mortal Kombat 11 Characters To Annihilate Your Enemies

Final Fantasy VII Remake

Square Enix dropped a new trailer for the Final Fantasy VII Remake. Get the latest look at Cloud and the rest of the crew in the latest trailer for the upcoming remake shown below. The new trailer showed off more of Cloud’s allies and their fight in Midgar.

Bravely Default II

The story, it would seem, will feature a new party of characters from the original Nintendo 3DS game. While Bravely Second: End Layer continued the story of the original game, it looks like Bravely Default 2 will be a new standalone game, just sharing themes from the first game. This is nothing new for the publishing company, Square Enix, as both Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy titles have followed this model with every game.

The game will be made by Team Asano and Claytechworks yet again, and Reno will return to do the soundtrack.

Bravely Default 2 will be a Nintendo Switch exclusive and drop in 2020.

Godfall

Gearbox Publishing and developer Counterplay Games revealed one of the first few confirmed games for PlayStation 5. Following its own Borderlands 3, Gearbox is kinda staying in the looter-shooter arena, but Godfall will be somewhat different from the popular space western series.

The fantasy RPG is more of a “looter-slasher,” in truth. It’ll focus on melee combat instead of guns. Available loot includes armor sets and (judging by the trailer) flaming swords, and you can earn goodies by defeating enemies and bosses.

Hellblade II

Microsoft came out of the gate swinging at the Game Awards 2019 by showing off their next series of consoles (above) and the announcement trailer for Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II, running in-engine on the upcoming console. No release date was announced for the game.

Ghost of Tsushima

The longest trailer of the night comes to us from Sucker Punch, which is known for its work on the fan-favorite PlayStation-exclusive Infamous series. They gave us a good look at Ghost of Tsushima, set in feudal Japan.

We now know Ghost of Tsushima lets players explore an open-world island set during the 13th century. The game is centered on a samurai named Jin Sakai as he’s learning the way of the Ghost to defend Tsushima Island and Japan from the Mongolian invasion.

Ghost of Tsushima will be a PlayStation 4 exclusive when it’s released over the summer.

Sons of the Forest

A new game from Endlight, Sons of the Forest, was announced at The Game Awards as a sequel to The Forest.

The game features creepy humanoid creatures set in a forest, and the main goal is “try not to die.” Not much was revealed about the game, and a release date was not given. But given the trailer, this definitely looks like a survival-horror game you’ll want to grab!

Prologue

PlayerUnknown Productions, a new studio from PUBG Corp., has announced a new game tonight at The Game Awards with Prologue. No real info was revealed about the game, just a quick 30-second trailer

The website doesn’t give much more info, other than the following text:

“Prologue is an exploration of new technologies and gameplay. Our aim with this game is to give players unique and memorable experiences, each and every time they play.”

Apex Legends Holo-Day Bash

Apex Legends has announced a new holiday event called Mirage’s Holo-Day Bash. The event includes a double XP weekend for all players, a new mode, and new activities, cosmetics, and skins.

The new game mode is a limited-time mode called Winter Express where squads of three go head-to-head to capture the World’s Edge train. Teams face off with pre-set loadouts, and the first team to capture the train three times wins.

The double XP weekend beings today, Friday, December 13 at 10:00 AM PT and will run through Monday, December 16 at 10:00 AM PT.

The holiday event is available now and will run through January 7, 2020.

Hope you got to enjoy The Game Awards this year. There were so many announcements, celebrities, and emotional moments wrapped into one award show.

Did all your favorites win something?

Tell us in the comment section below!

Missed The Game Awards but want to watch the entire award show?

Watch it here:

Top image via The Game Awards

This article was written by John D. AKA SomeBeardy2Love. John has been gaming for over 30 years, has a bow tie tattoo, and watches anime and Bob’s Burgers. He has a sponsored beard and a modest book collection.