The Game Awards 2015 saw the Poland-based developer CD Projekt RED's action RPG The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt win the prestigious Overall Game of the Year award at this annual gaming event at Las Vegas, Nevada, held on 3 December.
The Game Awards saw many developers and publishers share limelight as the event had some glamour attached (Kiefer Sutherland and Mark Hamill were in attendance) to it with performances from CHVRCHES and Deadmau5.
As the winners basked in their success, the event generated some controversy as it saw the reputed developer and creator, Hideo Kojima, being stopped from accepting his award.
The event also saw several new world premieres, trailers and reveals from the likes of Psychonauts 2, new Batman game from Telltale and other gaming-related news. And, the fans voted No Man's Sky as one of the most anticipated games.
With this, the Game Awards event moved into its second successful year, 2014 being its first.
Let us now look at the winners and nominees of 2015 Game Awards:
Jury voted
Game of the Year
- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (WINNER)
- Bloodborne
- Fallout 4
- Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
- Super Mario Maker
Developer of the Year
- CD Projekt Red (WINNER)
- From Software
- Kojima Productions
- Nintendo
- Bethesda Game Studios
Best Independent Game
- Rocket League (WINNER)
- Axiom Verge
- Her Story
- Ori and the Blind Forest
- Undertale
Best Mobile/Handheld Game
- Lara Croft Go (WINNER)
- Downwell
- Fallout Shelter
- Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate
- Pac-Man 256
Best Narrative
- Her Story (WINNER)
- Life Is Strange
- Tales From The Borderlands
- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
- Until Dawn
Best Art Direction
- Ori and the Blind Forest (WINNER)
- Batman: Arkham Knight
- Bloodborne
- Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Best Score/Soundtrack
- Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (WINNER)
- Fallout 4
- Halo 5: Guardians
- Ori and the Blind Forest
- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Best Performance
- Viva Seifert (Her Story) (WINNER)
- 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)
Games for Change Award
- Life Is Strange (DONTNOD Entertainment / Square Enix) (WINNER)
- Cibele (Nina Freeman)
- Her Story (Sam Barlow)
- Sunset (Tale of Tales)
- Undertale (tobyfox)
Best Shooter
- Splatoon (WINNER)
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 3
- Destiny: The Taken King
- Halo 5: Guardians
- Star Wars Battlefront
Best Action/Adventure Game
- Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (WINNER)
- Assassin's Creed Syndicate
- Batman: Arkham Knight
- Ori and the Blind Forest
- Rise of the Tomb Raider
Best Role Playing Game
- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (WINNER)
- Bloodborne
- Fallout 4
- Pillars of Eternity
- Undertale
Best Fighting Game
- Mortal Kombat X (WINNER)
- Guilty Gear Xrd
- Rise of Incarnates
- Rising Thunder
Best Family Game
- Super Mario Maker (WINNER)
- Disney Infinity 3.0
- Lego Dimensions
- Skylanders: SuperChargers
- Splatoon
Best Sports/Racing Game
- Rocket League (WINNER)
- FIFA 16
- Forza Motorsport 6
- NBA 2K16
- Pro Evolution Soccer 2016
Best Multiplayer
- Splatoon (WINNER)
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 3
- Destiny: The Taken King
- Halo 5: Guardians
- Rocket League
Fan Voted
Most Anticipated Game
- No Man's Sky (WINNER)
- Horizon Zero Dawn
- Quantum Break
- The Last Guardian
- Uncharted 4: A Thief's End
Esports Player of the Year
- Kenny "KennyS" Schrub (WINNER)
- Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok
- Olof "olofmeister" Kajbjer
- Peter "ppd" Dager
- Syed Sumail "Suma1L" Hassan
Esports Team of the Year
- Optic Gaming (WINNER)
- Evil Geniuses
- Fnatic
- SK Telecom T1
- Team SoloMid
Esports Game of the Year
- Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (WINNER)
- Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
- Dota 2
- Hearthstone
- League of Legends
Trending Gamer
- Greg Miller (WINNER)
- Total Biscuit
- Christopher "MonteCristo" Mykles
- Markiplier
- PewDiePie
Best Fan Creation
- Portal Stories: Mel (Prism Studios) (WINNER)
- GTA V – Targets (Hoodoo Operator)
- Real GTA (Corridor Digital)
- Super Mario Maker e-Reader Levels (Baddboy78 / theycallmeshaky)
- Twitch Plays Dark Souls (Twitch Community)
Controversy: Konami lawyers thwart Kojima accepting any awards
Hideo Kojima, a towering figure in gaming and the series creator of Metal Gear Solid, recently had a fall out with his former employers, Konami and since has quit the company. But at the Game Awards 2015 event, it became clear that Konami did not want him to pick the award as he was bound by a "contract" not to.
As the host of the event, Geoff Keighley revealed publicly at the event about this news, there was a huge boo from the audience.
"Mr. Kojima had every intention of being with us tonight, but unfortunately he was informed by a lawyer representing Konami just recently that he would not be allowed to travel to tonight's award ceremony to accept any awards," Keighley said.
"He's still under an employment contract and it's disappointing," Keighley said, Games Radar reported.
This is a rather unfortunate development where Konami seems to make sure that Kojima is not related with the Metal Gear Solid franchise at all.
Event pays tribute to ex Nintendo president Satoru Iwata
The event organisers and the audience paused all of their activity to pay their respects for Satoru Iwata, ex Nintendo president who passed away in July 2015.
The Walking Dead: Michonne debut revealed
Telltale Games developer revealed at the Game Events 2015 that The Walking Dead: Michonne will be hitting PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One in February 2016. The game has been delayed as it was earlier expected to release in fall 2015.
Michonne will be a standalone series and it stars Samira Wiley from the Netflix's hit series, 'Orange is the New Black,' who will play the fan favourite title character from the Walking Dead comics.
This game will also be available on iOS and Android platforms too. Telltale is also working on a third season of The Walking Dead.
Check the world premiere trailer below:
New Batman Series revealed
Telltale Games also announced a new Batman series of games at the event. The developer will be teaming up with Warner Bros. and DC Entertainment to develop an episodic game series that will be released on PC and mobile devices. The game will be out in 2016.
It also released a teaser video showing Bruce Wayne in a black and white as in a comic book world.
"This iteration of Batman will give fans a first-hand opportunity to dive deeper into the complex life and mind of Bruce Wayne, the duality of his own identity, and the struggle of responsibility in saving a city overcome with corruption and villainy," said Kevin Bruner, CEO of Telltale Games, Gameranx reported.
Quantam Break new trailer revealed
Remedy Entertainment, the developer of Quantam Break, has revealed a new trailer at the event and it shows Shawn Ashmore, the game's leading actor who is cast as Jack Joyce, one of the protagonists in the game, the other being Paul Serene.
The game has a story that can be manipulated according to the player choices. It will be coming to Xbox One on 5 April, 2016.
Check the world premiere trailer below:
Psychonauts 2 debuts new trailer
Psychonauts 2 from developer Double Fine has released its debut trailer at the Game Awards event. This game is currently in its pre-production and is vying for $3.3 million crowdfunding goal via Fig.
The game will be released on PC, Mac and Linux if they meet the goal and is scheduled for fall 2018 release.
Check the world premiere trailer below:
Far Cry Primal shows environment filled with wild animals
Ubisoft has released a new trailer for its open-world video game, Far Cry Primal that is set during the Stone Age. The trailer shows its protagonist Takkar living in an environment that has some of the most dangerous wild animals prowling. It also shows how he can tame them and use it as a companion.
It also shows him fighting them off and also fighting the rival tribes.
Check out the two videos below:
Rocket League to come to Xbox One
Developer Psyonix revealed at the Game Awards 2015 that Rocket League will be coming to Xbox One in February 2016.
It noted that the Xbox One version will get some exclusive features like special cars with Gears of War and Halo themes.
The game won the Best Independent Game and Best Sports/Racing game award at the event. Currently the game is available for PC and PS4 owners.
Check out the video below:
Uncharted 4 reveals new character in trailer
Naughty Dog that is the developer of the upcoming game, Uncharted 4: At Thieve's End, has revealed a new trailer that shows a new character, Nadine Ross as the protagonist Nathan Drake's foe.
The character is seen asking Drake for Crucifix while indulging him in a fight. The woman is played by Laura Bailey (voice actor for Tales from the Borderlands, Halo 5: Guardians).
Uncharted 4 will be released on 18 March, 2016, for PS4.
Check out the world premier trailer below:
