Today the Game Awards organizers announced the nominees for their 2015 show. They'll be giving out 22 awards this year to developers, eSports teams and gaming personalities.
The Witcher 3 leads all games with 7 nominations. Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain has the second-most, with 5 nods. The two will go head-to-head for Game of the Year along with Fallout 4, Bloodborne and Super Mario Maker.
The list of awards is largely the same as last year's. They thankfully removed the "Best Remaster" category, presumably because no one gets excited about a company's re-selling their same game on a different platform. They've also added two new categories: Best Art Direction and Best eSports Game.
A panel of 32 media members chose most of the nominees. The eSports nominations were handled by a separate, 10-member advisory panel. Here's the full list of nominees:
Game of the Year
- Bloodborne (FromSoftware / Sony Computer Entertainment)
- Fallout 4 (Bethesda Game Studios / Bethesda Softworks)
- Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (Kojima Productions / Konami)
- Super Mario Maker (Nintendo)
- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (CD Projekt Red / Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment)
Developer of the Year
- Bethesda Game Studios
- CD Projekt Red
- FromSoftware
- Kojima Productions
- Nintendo
Best Independent Game
- Axiom Verge (Tom Happ)
- Her Story (Sam Barlow)
- Ori and the Blind Forest (Moon Studios)
- Rocket League (Psyonix)
- Undertale (tobyfox)
Best Mobile/Handheld Game
- Downwell (Moppin / Devolver Digital)
- Fallout Shelter (Bethesda Game Studios | Behaviour Interactive / Bethesda Softworks)
- Lara Croft GO (Square Enix Montreal / Square Enix)
- Monster Hunter 4: Ultimate (Capcom)
- Pac-Man 256 (Hipster Whale / Bandai Namco Entertainment)
Best Narrative
- Her Story (Sam Barlow)
- Life Is Strange (DONTNOD Entertainment / Square Enix)
- Tales From The Borderlands (TellTale Games)
- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (CD Projekt Red / Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment)
- Until Dawn (Supermassive Games / Sony Computer Entertainment)
Best Art Direction
- Batman: Arkham Knight (Rocksteady Studios / Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment)
- Bloodborne (FromSoftware / Sony Computer Entertainment)
- Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (Kojima Productions / Konami)
- Ori and the Blind Forest (Moon Studios / Microsoft Studios)
- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (CD Projekt Red / Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment)
Best Score/Soundtrack
- Fallout 4 (Bethesda Game Studios / Bethesda Softworks)
- Halo 5: Guardians (343 Industries / Microsoft Studios)
- Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (Kojima Productions / Konami)
- Ori and the Blind Forest (Moon Studios / Microsoft Studios)
- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (CD Projekt Red/ Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment)
Best Performance
- Ashly Burch as Chloe Price (Life is Strange)
- Camilla Luddington as Lara Croft (Rise of the Tomb Raider)
- Doug Cockle as Geralt (The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt)
- Mark Hamill as The Joker (Batman: Arkham Knight)
- Viva Seifert (Her Story)
Games for Change Award
- Cibele (Nina Freeman)
- Her Story (Sam Barlow)
- Life Is Strange (DONTNOD Entertainment / Square Enix)
- Sunset (Tale of Tales)
- Undertale (tobyfox)
Best Shooter
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 (Treyarch / Activision)
- Destiny: The Taken King (Bungie / Activision)
- Halo 5: Guardians (343 Industries / Microsoft Studios)
- Splatoon (Nintendo)
- Star Wars Battlefront (DICE / Electronic Arts)
Best Action/Adventure Game
- Assassin’s Creed Syndicate (Ubisoft Quebec / Ubisoft)
- Batman: Arkham Knight (Rocksteady Studios / Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment)
- Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (Kojima Productions / Konami)
- Ori and the Blind Forest (Moon Studios / Microsoft Studios)
- Rise of the Tomb Raider (Crystal Dynamics / Microsoft Studios)
Best Role-Playing Game
- Bloodborne (FromSoftware / Sony Computer Entertainment)
- Fallout 4 (Bethesda Game Studios / Bethesda Softworks)
- Pillars of Eternity (Obsidian Entertainment / Paradox Interactive)
- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (CD Projekt Red/ Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment)
- Undertale (tobyfox)
Best Fighting Game
- Guilty Gear Xrd –SIGN– (Arc System Works / Aksys Games)
- Mortal Kombat X (NetherRealm Studios / Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment)
- Rise of Incarnates (Bandai Namco Entertainment)
- Rising Thunder (Radiant Entertainment)
Best Family Game
- Disney Infinity 3.0 (Avalanche Studios / Disney Interactive Studios)
- LEGO Dimensions (Traveller's Tales / Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment)
- Skylanders: SuperChargers (Vicarious Visions | Beenox Studios / Activision)
- Splatoon (Nintendo)
- Super Mario Maker (Nintendo)
Best Sports/Racing Game
- FIFA 16 (EA Canada / Electronic Arts)
- Forza Motorsport 6 (Turn 10 Studios / Microsoft Studios)
- NBA 2K16 (Visual Concepts / 2K Sports)
- Pro Evolution Soccer 2016 (PES Productions / Konami)
- Rocket League (Psyonix)
Best Multiplayer
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 (Treyarch / Activision) \
- Destiny: The Taken King (Bungie / Activision)
- Halo 5: Guardians (343 Industries / Microsoft Studios)
- Rocket League (Psyonix)
- Splatoon (Nintendo)
Most Anticipated Game *
- Horizon Zero Dawn (Guerrilla Games / Sony Computer Entertainment)
- No Man’s Sky (Hello Games)
- Quantum Break (Remedy Entertainment / Microsoft Studios)
- The Last Guardian (GenDesign/ Sony Computer Entertainment)
- Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (Naughty Dog / Sony Computer Entertainment)
eSports Player of the Year *
- Kenny “KennyS” Schrub (Counter-Strike Global Offensive / Team EnVyUs)
- Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok (League of Legends / SK Telecom T1)
- Olof “olofmeister” Kajbjer (Counter-Strike Global Offensive / Fnatic)
- Peter “ppd” Dager (Dota 2 / Evil Geniuses)
- Syed Sumail “Suma1L” Hassan (Dota 2 / Evil Geniuses)
eSports Team of the Year *
- Evil Geniuses
- Fnatic
- Optic Gaming
- SK Telecom T1
- Team SoloMid
eSports Game of the Year *
- Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (Sledgehammer Games / Activision)
- Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (Valve)
- Dota 2 (Valve)
- Hearthstone (Blizzard Entertainment)
- League of Legends (Riot Games)
Trending Gamer *
- Total Biscuit
- Christopher “MonteCristo” Mykles
- Greg Miller
- Markiplier
- PewDiePie
Best Fan Creation *
- GTA V – Targets (Hoodoo Operator)
- Real GTA (Corridor Digital)
- Portal Stories: Mel (Prism Studios)
- Super Mario Maker e-Reader Levels (Baddboy78 / theycallmeshaky)
- Twitch Plays Dark Souls (Twitch Community)
* - To be determined by fan voting.
Even if you don't care about who wins, the Game Awards are still a happy occasion. There's bound to be a lot of new trailers for upcoming games shown throughout the ceremony. Also, Steam, PSN and Xbox Live all plan to hold special sales in honor of the event.
The Game Awards 2015 will kick off on December 3 at 9 PM ET. They'll be streamed online worldwide through YouTube, Twitch, Steam, PSN, Xbox Live, go90 and TheGameAwards.com.
