The Game Awards nominees were announced this Tuesday for the upcoming 2017 edition, and the contenders for Game of the Year include exclusives by Sony, Nintendo, and a wildcard: PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. The ceremony will take place on December 7 and both media outlets and players can choose winners.
The jury that will decide which titles take home the coveted prize will be made of 51 video game outlets and personalities, including studio heads, developers, reporters, and icons like Hideo Kojima. Also in December, some of the nominated games will be on sale to celebrate the occasion.
The ceremony, now two years in the running, will count with a performance by the Game Awards Orchestra and special guests that will appear that night. Fans will get to vote using Google’s search engine or directly through the official website.
Nintendo leads the Game Awards nominations
Nintendo has not only made quite the comeback in the industry with the Switch, the hybrid console that prompted a production ramp-up estimated at 25 million units at least for next year. The video game giant is also garnering critical acclaim with stellar titles for the next-gen system.
Proof of their achievements is precisely the fact that this year’s edition of the Game Awards lists Nintendo’s games 23 times across their 23 main categories. Super Mario Odyssey and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild are both contending for Game of the Year and other top categories.
The Japanese giant is closely followed by their neighbors at Sony who snatched 15 nominations and Activision with 7 in total. Horizon Zero Dawn is the one contender by Sony Interactive Studios, although the PS4 exclusive Persona 5 is also competing for the prize.
Fans take control of the Game Awards in 2017
Other names that figure several times in nominee lists include PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, which completes the five-point diamond on the Game of the Year category, Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus, Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, Destiny 2, and Cuphead.
However, a novel feature in this year’s format is that players will also take center stage and be able to influence the outcome of the voting process. One of the categories that will allow fan input is Most Anticipated Game, which features titles like God of War, Red Dead Redemption II, and The Last of Us Part II.
Voters can use the Google search engine and look for “game awards vote” to enter their favorite, although they can also do so by visiting the official website. Social categories like Trending Gamer and esports awards like Best Esports Team can also be influenced by players and critics alike.
Source: The Game Awards