The end of the year is upon us, and that can mean only one thing — well, actually it means lots of things. The thing that it means in the context of this post, though, is that PlayStation.Blog’s annual Game of the Year awards are upon us!

2016 kept us busy, opening with the long-awaited release of The Witness and ending with the similarly long-awaited launches of Final Fantasy XV and The Last Guardian. The rest of the year was punctuated by hit after hit: Uncharted 4, Ratchet & Clank, Inside, Overwatch, Dark Souls III, Titanfall 2, Doom, Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, Battlefield 1, Rise of the Tomb Raider… the list goes on!

Anyway, it’s time to make this official. Starting right now, the polls are open for the PlayStation.Blog Game of the Year 2016 awards. We’ll keep them open until the end of the year — that’s 11:59pm Pacific on December 31 — then tally up the votes and present the winners.

Don’t see your pick in our list of nominees? Never fear! There’s a write-in option for each category, so feel free to cast your vote for whichever game you think deserves the Platinum.

But that’s enough from me… let’s vote!

Best PS4 Game

Best PS Vita Game

Best Independent Game

Best Use of PS4 Pro

Best PlayStation VR Game

Best Story

Best Performance

Best Soundtrack

Best Visuals

Best Multiplayer

Best Post-Release Content

Editor’s note: In years past, we’ve called this category “Best Expansion”… but that felt a bit limiting. This year, we’re expanding the category to recognize all forms of post-release content: DLC & add-ons, in-game special events, new modes, new episodes, new characters, the works. When you vote, take it all into consideration!

Most Innovative

Most Anticipated

Editor’s note: As in previous years, any game that has previously won a “Most Anticipated” award is not eligible to win a Trophy this year. That said, you can still vote for previous winners Horizon Zero Dawn and Persona 5, and we will call them out appropriately in the winners post should they place.

Furthermore, this year we are removing the year from this category. That means you can vote for any game that is currently announced, even if it doesn’t have a release date or year set. Go nuts!



Most Anticipated *Previous winner

Studio of the Year