The Game Awards 2019: Did They Get It Right?
December 15, 2019By: Mariano Roy, eSports Analyst
The 2019 Game Awards is an event that celebrates eSports from every aspect. From indie developers to eSports players and coaches, The Game Awards seek to highlight exceptional influences to gaming culture. The three hour awards ceremony also incentivizes viewership by hinting surprise announcements—because, who would watch without it? The Oscars and Grammys have historically generated scepticism. What makes these organizations qualified to judge the “best” art, and what makes (most of) the audience qualified to condemn their decisions? The Game Awards is in a similar category, however, the 29 categories aren’t as accessible as film and music. For example, Game of the Year alone was made up of six different games and held two console-exclusive games. This means you would need to have bought six games for $60 (release day price) and own at least two $300 consoles (Nintendo Switch and Playstation 4.) So, what makes the average gamer qualified to judge The Game Awards game of the year? About $1,000 and enough time to play them all. The winners and nominations are dictated by media outlets, which alone begs inaccuracy.
With that, here are the Game Awards’ nominees and winners—along with my brief opinion for the categories I am knowledgeable of.
Best Game of the Year
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice — Winner
Control
Death Stranding
Resident Evil 2 (2019)
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
The Outer Worlds
The fact that a fighting game was nominated for “Game of the Year” is groundbreaking. However, Sekiro’s production value and mechanics were unmatched and deserved every bit of praise.
Best Action Game
Devil May Cry 5 — Winner
Apex Legends
Astral Chain
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
Gears 5
Metro Exodus
Best Adventure Game
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice — Winner
The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening
Resident Evil 2 (2019)
Death Stranding
Control
Borderlands 3
I personally think that Link’s Awakening stole a spot here. If they needed Nintendo coverage, Luigi’s Mansion 3 (Best Family Game Winner) was a much better experience than the 1993 remake.
Best Art Direction
Control — Winner
Death Stranding
Gris
Sayonara Wild Hearts
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening
Best Audio Design
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare — Winner
Control
Death Stranding
Gears 5
Resident Evil 2 (2019)
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
I couldn’t agree more with the nominees/winner. Call of Duty has always put a great deal of effort into their musical score and gameplay audio.
Best Community Support
Destiny 2 — Winner
Apex Legends
Final Fantasy 14
Fortnite
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege
Neither winner nor nominees make sense to me—if I’m being honest. This category shouldn’t be left to media outlets/influencers to decide.
Best Content Creator
Shroud — Winner
Grefg
Ewok
Dr. Lupo
Courage
I’m curious as to the criteria leading to this list.
Best eSports Coach
Zonic — Winner
Adren
Cain
Grabbz
Kkoma
Sockshka
Best eSports Event
League of Legends World Championship 2019 — Winner
The International 2019
IEM Katowice 2019
Fortnite World Cup
Evo 2019
2019 Overwatch League Grand Finals
The revolutionary Louis Vuitton collaboration alone validates the winner here.
Best eSports Game
League of Legends — Winner
Fortnite
Overwatch
Dota 2
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
Overwatch, Dota, and CS:GO were probably very close runner-ups. However, any game other than league would have been a controversial choice.
Best eSports Host
Sjokz — Winner
Machine
Redeye
Goldenboy
Candice
Best eSports Player
Bugha — Winner
Faker
Perkz
S1mple
Sinatraa
I’m disappointed that there was no FGC representation here.
Best eSports Team
G2 Esports — Winner
Astralis
OG
San Francisco Shock
Team Liquid
Best Family Game
Luigi’s Mansion 3 — Winner
Ring Fit Adventure
Super Mario Maker 2
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Yoshi’s Crafted World
Completely biased opinion, but I think Yoshi’s Crafted World and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s replay value should have been enough to win “best family game.”
Best Fighting Game
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate — Winner
Jump Force
Dead or Alive 6
Mortal Kombat 11
Samurai Shodown (2019)
Super Smash bros. Ultimate broke records with the amount of content, characters, and music given in a single fighting game—this was an easy decision. Jump Force had absolutely no business being a nominee for a “fighting game,” however, some argue that Smash Bros. isn’t a fighting game either.
Best Indie Game
Disco Elysium — Winner
Gris
My Friend Pedro
Outer Wilds
Slay the Spire
Untitled Goose Game
Best Game Direction
Death Stranding — Winner
Control
Resident Evil 2
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
Outer Wilds
Best Games for Impact
Gris — Winner
Concrete Genie
Kind Words
Life is Strange 2
Sea of Solitude
Best Independent Game
Disco Elysium — Winner
Baba Is You
Katana Zero
Outer Wilds
Untitled Goose Game
Best Mobile Game
Call of Duty: Mobile — Winner
Grindstone
Sayonara Wild Hearts
Sky: The Children of Light
What the Golf?
Best Multiplayer Game
Apex Legends — Winner
Borderlands 3
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
Tetris 99
Tom Clancy’s The Division 2
Really great competition this year. All were stellar games.
Best Narrative
Disco Elysium — Winner
Control
A Plague Tale: Innocence
Death Stranding
The Outer Worlds
Best Ongoing Game
Fortnite — Winner
Destiny 2
Final Fantasy 14
Apex Legends
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege
This category shouldn’t exist.
Best Performance
Mads Mikkelsen — Winner
Matthew Porretta
Laura Bailey
Courtney Hope
Ashly Burch
Norman Reedus
Best Role Playing Game (RPG)
Disco Elysium — Winner
Final Fantasy 14
Kingdom Hearts 3
Monster Hunter World: Iceborne
The Outer Wilds
I think Disco Elysium stole this one. All other games outclassed Disco Elysium as far as “best” RPG’s go.
Best Score
Death Stranding — Winner
Cadence of Hyrule
Devil May Cry 5
Kingdom Hearts III
Sayonara Wild Hearts
Best Sports Game
Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled — Winner
Dirt Rally 2.0
EFootball Pro Evolution Soccer 2020
F1 2019
FIFA 20
Best Strategy Game
Fire Emblem: Three Houses — Winner
Age of Wonders: Planetfall
Anno 1800
Total War: Three Kingdoms
Tropico 6
Wargroove
Best VR/AR Game
Beat Saber — Winner
Asgard’s Wrath
Blood & Truth
No Man’s Sky
Trover Saves the Universe
While Beat Saber was certainly the most popular game, Asgard’s Wrath was an outstanding virtual experience, and would have won best RPG if it hadn’t been a VR game (in my opinion.)
