HORIZON ZERO DAWN, PERSONA 5, PLAYERUNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS, SUPER MARIO ODYSSEY AND THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: BREATH OF THE WILD SQUARE OFF FOR GAME OF THE YEAR AT THE GAME AWARDS 2017

Full Nominee List at http://www.thegameawards.com/awards

Nominee Announcement Video Hosted by Geoff Keighley

Nominee Announcement Video (10 Minutes)

The Global Video Game Celebration Airs Live On Every Digital Screen

From the Microsoft Theater on Thursday, December 7 at 9 PM ET / 6 PM PT

Fans Can Vote Now For Their Picks At TheGameAwards.com, on Google Search and via Twitter DM and Facebook Messenger

LOS ANGELES (November 14, 2017) — Today, the nominees for The Game Awards were announced, celebrating a diverse slate of more than 100 video games, individuals and eSports players across PC, console, mobile, and virtual reality. The nominees will be honored at The Game Awards on Thursday, December 7 at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, which will feature the debut of The Game Awards Orchestra, an all-star group of orchestral and rock musicians who will come together to celebrate video game music.

This year, four games received six total nomination for creative and technical excellence from a jury of 51 global media and influencer outlets: Destiny 2 from Bungie and Activision; Horizon Zero Dawn from Guerrilla Games and Sony Interactive Entertainment; and both Super Mario Odyssey and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild from Nintendo. The Game of the Year category includes Horizon Zero Dawn, Super Mario Odyssey and Zelda: Breath of the Wild, as well as Persona 5 from Atlus and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds from PUBG Corp. Nintendo is the most nominated publisher with 23 nominations, followed by Sony Interactive Entertainment with 15 and Activision Publishing with 7.

To select the winners, The Game Awards is teaming up with Facebook, Google and Twitter so fans around the world can vote directly in several categories including Best Esports Player, Best Esports Team, and Most Anticipated Game. Starting today, fans can vote in all categories at TheGameAwards.com and using Google Search (just type “Game awards vote” into the search bar), and select their favorites via Twitter DM and Facebook Messenger interactions with @thegameawards

“This has been such an great year for video games,” said Geoff Keighley, creator and executive producer of The Game Awards. “With incredible new Zelda and Mario games releasing in the same year, plus the phenomenon that is PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, we’ve never had a more diverse slate of nominees, including a record four women nominated in our genderless Best Performance category.”

Hailed by The New York Times as “The Oscars of the gaming world,” The Game Awards reached over 8.5 million viewers in 2016. The show brings together game industry creators, eSports champions, digital influencers and Hollywood names for a night of awards, exclusive game world premieres, new game announcements and musical performances. The Game Awards is available to watch for free across almost every major mobile, desktop and console devices used to play video games. Live distribution partners for 2017 include AfreecaTV (South Korea), Facebook, GameSpot, KakaoTV (South Korea), IGN, NicoNico (Japan), Mixer, PlayStation Store, Steam, Tencent (China), Twitch, Twitter, UOL Jogos (Brazil), Xbox Live, YouTube (in 4K Ultra HD), and more to be announced. Highlights will also be featured in a Snapchat Live Story.

This year The Game Awards is also introducing the Student Game Award (SGA) category, recognizing emerging talent at the high school and college/university level. Six games were nominated for the first-ever SGA award, with the winner selected by an all-star panel of game creators including Todd Howard (Bethesda Game Studios), Hideo Kojima (Kojima Productions), Illka Paananen (Supercell), Kim Swift (EA Motive) and Vince Zampella (Respawn).

The full list of nominees is as follows, with winners set to be announced live during the show on Thursday, December 7.

Game of The Year

Horizon Zero Dawn (Guerrilla Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)

Persona 5 (Atlus)

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG Corp.)

Super Mario Odyssey (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)

Best Game Direction

Horizon Zero Dawn (Guerrilla Games)

Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (Capcom)

Super Mario Odyssey (Nintendo EPD)

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo EPD)Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus (MachineGames / Bethesda)

Best Narrative

Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice (Tameem Antoniades, Elizabeth Ashman-Rowe / Ninja Theory)

Horizon Zero Dawn (John Gonzalez / Ninja Theory)

NieR: Automata (Yoko Taro, Hana Kikuchi, Yoshiho Akabane / Platinum Games)

What Remains of Edith Finch (Ian Dallas / Giant Sparrow)

Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus (Jen Matthies, Tommy Tordsson Bjork / MachineGames)

Best Art Direction

Cuphead (Studio MDHR Entertainment)

Destiny 2 (Bungie / Activision)

Horizon Zero Dawn (Guerrilla Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)

Persona 5 (Atlus)

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)

Best Score / Music

Cuphead (Kristofer Maddigan)

Destiny 2 (Mike Salvatori, Skye Lewin, C Paul Johnson)

NieR: Automata (Keiichi Okabe, Keigo Hoashi)

Persona 5 (Shoji Meguro)

Super Mario Odyssey (Naoto Kubo, Shiho Fujii, Koji Kondo)

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Manaka Kataoka, Yasuaki Iwata)

Best Audio Design

Destiny 2 (Bungie)

Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice (Ninja Theory)

Resident Evil 7 Biohazard (Capcom)

Super Mario Odyssey (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)

Best Performance

Ashly Burch, Horizon: Zero Dawn (As Aloy)

Brian Bloom, Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus (as BJ Blazkowicz)

Claudia Black, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy (as Chloe Frazer)

Laura Bailey, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy (as Nadine Ross)

Melina Juergens, Hellblade (as Senua)

Games for Impact

Bury Me, My Love (The Pixel Hunt / Figs / ARTE / Playdius)

Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice (Ninja Theory)

Life is Strange: Before the Storm (Deck Nine / Square Enix)

Night in the Woods (Infinite Fall)

Please Knock on My Door (Levall Games AB)

What Remains of Edith Finch (Giant Sparrow / Annapurna Interactive)

Best Ongoing Game

Destiny 2 (Bungie / Activision)

Grand Theft Auto Online (Rockstar Games)

Overwatch (Blizzard)

Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG. Corp)

Rainbow Six: Siege (Ubisoft Montreal / Ubisoft)

Warframe (Digital Extremes)

Best Independent Game

Cuphead (Studio MDHR Entertainment)

Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice (Ninja Theory)

Night in the Woods (Infinite Fall)

Pyre (Supergiant Games)

What Remains of Edith Finch (Giant Sparrow / Annapurna Interactive)

Best Mobile Game

Fire Emblem Heroes (Intelligent Systems / Nintendo)

Hidden Folks (Adriaan de Jongh / Sylvain Tegroeg)

Monument Valley 2 (ustwo games)

Old Man’s Journey (Broken Rules)

Super Mario Run (Nintendo)

Best Handheld Game

Ever Oasis (Grezzo / Nintendo)

Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia (Intelligent Systems / Nintendo)

Metroid: Samus Returns (MercurySteam / Nintendo)

Monster Hunter Stories (Marvelous / Capcom / Nintendo)

Poochy and Yoshi’s Woolly World (Good-Feel / Nintendo)

Best VR/AR Game

Farpoint (Impulse Gear / Sony Interactive Entertainment)

Lone Echo (Ready at Dawn / Oculus Studios)

Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (Capcom)

Star Trek: Bridge Crew (Red Storm Entertainment / Ubisoft)

SUPERHOT VR (SUPERHOT Team)

Best Action Game

Cuphead (Studio MDHR Entertainment)

Destiny 2 (Bungie / Activision)

Nioh (Team Ninja / Sony Interactive Entertainment)

Prey (Arkane Studios / Bethesda)

Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus (MachineGames / Bethesda)

Best Action/Adventure Game

Assassin’s Creed: Origins (Ubisoft Montreal / Ubisoft)

Horizon Zero Dawn (Guerrilla Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)

Super Mario Odyssey (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)

Uncharted: The Lost Legacy (Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment)

Best Role-Playing Game

Divinity: Original Sin II (Larian Studios)

Final Fantasy XV (Square Enix Business Division 2 / Square Enix)

NieR: Automata (Platinum Games / Square Enix)

Persona 5 (Atlus)

South Park: The Fractured But Whole (Ubisoft San Francisco / Ubisoft)

Best Fighting Game

ARMS (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)

Injustice 2 (NetherRealm Studios / Warner Bros. Interactive Ent)

Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite (Capcom)

Nidhogg 2 (Messhof Games)

Tekken 7 (Bandai Namco Studios / Bandai Namco Entertainment)

Best Family Game

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Nintendo EAD / Nintendo)

Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle (Ubisoft Paris + Milan / Ubisoft)

Sonic Mania (PagodaWest Games, Headcannon / Sega)

Splatoon 2 (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)

Super Mario Odyssey (Nintendo EAD / Nintendo)

Best Strategy Game

Halo Wars 2 (Creative Assembly, 343 Industries / Microsoft Studios)

Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle (Ubisoft Paris + Milan / Ubisoft)

Total War: Warhammer II (Creative Assembly / Sega)

Tooth and Tail (Pocketwatch Games)

XCOM 2: War of the Chosen (Firaxis Games / 2K)

Best Sports/Racing Game

FIFA 18 (EA Vancouver / EA)

Forza Motorsport 7 (Turn 10 Studios / Microsoft Studios)

Gran Turismo Sport (Polyphony Digital / Sony Interactive Entertainment)

NBA 2K18 (Visual Concepts / 2K Sports)

Pro Evolution Soccer 2018 (PES Productions / Konami)

Project Cars 2 (Slightly Mad Studios / Bandai Namco Entertainment)

Best Multiplayer

Call of Duty: WWII (Sledgehammer Games / Activision)

Destiny 2 (Bungie / Activision)

Fortnite (Epic Games)

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Nintendo EAD / Nintendo)

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG Corp.)

Splatoon 2 (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)

Most Anticipated Game

God of War (Santa Monica Studio / Sony Interactive Entertainment)

Marvel’s Spider-Man (Insomniac Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)

Monster Hunter: World (Capcom)

Red Dead Redemption II (Rockstar Games)

The Last of Us Part II (Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment)

Trending Gamer

Andrea Rene (What’s Good Games)

Clint Lexa (“Halfcoordinated”)

Guy Beahm (“Dr. Disrespect”)

Mike Grzesiek (“Shroud”)

Steven Spohn (AbleGamers)

Best Esports Game

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (Valve)

DOTA2 (Valve)

League of Legends (Riot)

Overwatch (Blizzard)

Rocket League (Psyonix)

Best Esports Player presented by Omen by HP

Lee Sang-hyeok “Faker” (SK Telecom 1, League of Legends)

Marcelo “coldzera” David (SK Gaming, Counter-Strike: GO)

Nikola ‘NiKo’ Kovac (FaZe Clan, Counter-Strike: GO)

Je-hong “ryujehong” Ryu (Seoul Dynasty, Overwatch)

Kuro “KuroKy” Salehi Takhasomi (Team Liquid, DOTA 2)

Best Esports Team

Cloud 9

FaZe Clan

Lunatic-Hai

SK Telecom T1

Team Liquid

Student Game Award

Falling Sky (Jonathan Nielssen, Nikolay Savoy, Mohsen Shah / National Film & TV School)

From Light (Alejandro Grossman, Steven Li, Sherveen Uduwana / USC)

Hollowed (Erin Marek, Jerrick Flores, Charley Choucard / University of Central Florida)

Impulsion (Hugo Verger, Remi Bertrand, Maxime Lupinski / IIM)

Level Squared (Kip Brennan, Stephen Scoglio, Dane Perry Svendsen / Swinburne University)

Meaning (Hariz Yet / DigiPen Institute of Technology Singapore)

Best Debut Indie Game presented by Schick Hydro

Cuphead (Studio MDHR Entertainment)

Golf Story (Sidebar Games)

Hollow Knight (Team Cherry)

Mr. Shifty (Team Shifty)

Slime Rancher (Monomi Park)

Chinese Fan Game Award

Honor of Kings《王者荣耀》 (Timi Studio Group)

ICEY《艾希》(FantaBlade Network)

Gumballs & Dungeons《不思议迷宫》(QcPlay Limited)

jx3 HD《剑网3》重制版 (Kingsoft Corporation)

Monument Valley 2《纪念碑谷2》(ustwo games)

Tickets to attend The Game Awards are now on sale for purchase via AXS.com, including a special VIP package with a pre-show reception.

For more information and to stay up to date on the latest announcements, please visit www.thegameawards.com or contact info@thegameawards.com

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About The Game Awards

The Game Awards, created by Geoff Keighley in 2014, is an annual awards ceremony that honors video game creators and gamers across console, mobile and PC gaming, as well as eSports. The program is both an awards show and a first look at the future of the video game industry. Built from the group up to air exclusively on gaming and streaming platforms, the 2016 show was seen by more than 8.5 million viewers around the world. The Game Awards is guided by an advisory board that includes the executive leadership teams from Activision (Eric Hirshberg, CEO), AMD (Dr. Lisa Su, CEO), Bethesda Softworks, Electronic Arts (Patrick Soderlund, EVP, Worldwide Studios), Microsoft (Phil Spencer, EVP of Gaming), Nintendo of America (Reggie Fils-Aime, President), Rockstar Games, Sony Interactive Entertainment (Shawn Layden, President, SIEA), Ubisoft (Yves Guillemot, CEO), Valve and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment (David Haddad, President).

About Geoff Keighley

Over the past two decades, Geoff Keighley has established himself as one of the leading hosts and producers in the video game industry. Today Keighley is focused on building live tent pole programming for millennial audiences which is exclusively distributed on digital platforms. n addition to The Game Awards, Keighley produces and hosts YouTube’s annual “Live at E3” broadcast, as well as the “E3 Coliseum,” a consumer-focused event headlined by panels and conversations with top names in entertainment. Previously, Keighley worked as a videogame critic for Entertainment Weekly and spent nearly a decade producing and hosting programs for Viacom Media Networks, where he served as Executive in Charge of Publisher Relations.