THiRD SHiFT

THiRD SHiFT presents a special dive into The Game Awards for 2017.

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Key

EP = Eric's Pick
EW = Eric's Projected Winner
MP = Matt's Pick
MW = Matt's Projected Winner
ALL IN = Both Picks and Projected Winners

Winners in bold/italics.

Best Chinese Game

MW King of Glory (王者荣耀) - Timi Studio Group
ICEY (艾希)- FantaBlade Network
EW Gumballs & Dungeons (不思议迷宫)- QcPlay Limited
jx3 HD (剑网3)重制版 - Kingsoft Corporation
MP Monument Valley 2 (纪念碑谷2)- ustwo games

Best Debut Indie Game

ALL IN Cuphead - Studio MDHR Entertainment
Golf Story - Sidebar Games
Hollow Knight - Team Cherry
Mr. Shifty - Team Shifty
Slime Rancher - Monomi Park

Best eSports Team

EW Cloud 9
FaZe Clan
Lunatic-Hai
MP/MW SK Telecom T1
EP Team Liquid

Best eSports Player

ALL IN Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok - SK Telecom T1, League of Legends
Marcelo “coldzera” David - SK Gaming, Counter-Strike: GO
Nikola ‘NiKo’ Kovac - FaZe Clan, Counter-Strike: GO
Ryu “ryujehong” Je-hong - Seoul Dynasty, Overwatch
Kuro “KuroKy” Salehi Takhasomi - Team Liquid, DOTA 2

Best eSports Game

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive - Valve
DOTA2 - Valve
MP League of Legends - Riot
EP/EW/MW Overwatch - Blizzard
Rocket League - Psyonix

Trending Gamer

EP/EW Andrea Rene - What’s Good Games
Clint Lexa - “Halfcoordinated”
Guy Beahm - “Dr. Disrespect”
Mike Grzesiek - “Shroud”
MP Steven Spohn - AbleGamers

Best Student Game

MP Falling Sky - Jonathan Nielssen, Nikolay Savoy, Mohsen Shah / National Film & TV School
From Light - Alejandro Grossman, Steven Li, Sherveen Uduwana / USC
EP 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 Independent Game

MW/EW Cuphead - Studio MDHR Entertainment
EP Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice - Ninja Theory
MP Night in the Woods - Infinite Fall
Pyre - Supergiant Games
What Remains of Edith Finch - Giant Sparrow / Annapurna Interactive

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
EW/MW Red Dead Redemption II - Rockstar Games
EP The Last of Us Part II - Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment

Best Multiplayer

Call of Duty: WWII - Sledgehammer Games / Activision
EP Destiny 2 - Bungie / Activision
MP Fortnite - Epic Games
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe - Nintendo EAD / Nintendo
MW/EW PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds - PUBG Corp.
Splatoon 2 - Nintendo EPD / Nintendo

Best Sports/Racing Game

EW FIFA 18 - EA Vancouver / EA
MW Forza Motorsport 7 - Turn 10 Studios / Microsoft Studios
Gran Turismo Sport - Polyphony Digital / Sony Interactive Entertainment
NBA 2K18 - Visual Concepts / 2K Sports
MP Pro Evolution Soccer 2018 - PES Productions / Konami
EP Project Cars 2 - Slightly Mad Studios / Bandai Namco Entertainment

Best Strategy Game

Halo Wars 2 - Creative Assembly, 343 Industries / Microsoft Studios
MW/EP/EW Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle - Ubisoft Paris + Milan / Ubisoft
Total War: Warhammer II - Creative Assembly / Sega
MP Tooth and Tail - Pocketwatch Games
XCOM 2: War of the Chosen - Firaxis Games / 2K

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
ALL IN Super Mario Odyssey - Nintendo EAD / Nintendo

Best Fighting Game

ARMS - Nintendo EPD / Nintendo
EP/EW Injustice 2 - NetherRealm Studios / Warner Bros. Interactive Ent
MW Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite - Capcom
Nidhogg 2 - Messhof Games
MP Tekken 7 - Bandai Namco Studios / Bandai Namco Entertainment

Best Role Playing Game

Divinity: Original Sin II - Larian Studios
MW Final Fantasy XV - Square Enix Business Division 2 / Square Enix
NieR: Automata - Platinum Games / Square Enix
EP/EW/MP Persona 5 - Atlus
South Park: The Fractured But Whole - Ubisoft San Francisco / Ubisoft

Best Action/Adventure Game

MP Assassin’s Creed: Origins - Ubisoft Montreal / Ubisoft
EP/EW Horizon Zero Dawn - Guerrilla Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment
Super Mario Odyssey - Nintendo EPD / Nintendo
MW The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - Nintendo EPD / Nintendo
Uncharted: The Lost Legacy - Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment

Best Action Game

Cuphead - Studio MDHR Entertainment
EW Destiny 2 - Bungie / Activision
Nioh - Team Ninja / Sony Interactive Entertainment
Prey - Arkane Studios / Bethesda
EP/MP/MW Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus - MachineGames / Bethesda

Best VR/AR Game

Farpoint - Impulse Gear / Sony Interactive Entertainment
Lone Echo - Ready at Dawn / Oculus Studios
MW/EP/EW Resident Evil 7: Biohazard - Capcom
Star Trek: Bridge Crew - Red Storm Entertainment / Ubisoft
MP SUPERHOT VR - SUPERHOT Team

Best Handheld Game

MP Ever Oasis - Grezzo / Nintendo
EP Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia - Intelligent Systems / Nintendo
EW/MW Metroid: Samus Returns - MercurySteam / Nintendo
Monster Hunter Stories - Marvelous / Capcom / Nintendo
Poochy and Yoshi’s Woolly World - Good-Feel / Nintendo

Best Mobile Game

MP/EP/EW Fire Emblem Heroes - Intelligent Systems / Nintendo
Hidden Folks - Adriaan de Jongh / Sylvain Tegroeg
Monument Valley 2 - ustwo games
Old Man’s Journey - Broken Rules
MW Super Mario Run - Nintendo

Best Ongoing Game

Destiny 2 - Bungie / Activision
Grand Theft Auto Online - Rockstar Games
EP Overwatch - Blizzard
EW/MW PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds - PUBG. Corp
MP Rainbow Six: Siege - Ubisoft Montreal / Ubisoft
Warframe - Digital Extremes

Games for Impact

Bury Me, My Love - The Pixel Hunt / Figs / ARTE / Playdius
Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice - Ninja Theory
MW/EW Life is Strange: Before the Storm - Deck Nine / Square Enix
MP/EP Night in the Woods - Infinite Fall
Please Knock on My Door - Levall Games AB
What Remains of Edith Finch - Giant Sparrow / Annapurna Interactive

Best Performance

EP/EW Ashly Burch, Horizon: Zero Dawn - As Aloy
Brian Bloom, Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus - as BJ Blazkowicz
MP Claudia Black, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy - as Chloe Frazer
Laura Bailey, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy - as Nadine Ross
MW Melina Juergens, Hellblade - as Senua

Best Audio Design

Destiny 2 - Bungie
ALL IN 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 Score / Music

MW Cuphead - Kristofer Maddigan
EW Destiny 2 - Mike Salvatori, Skye Lewin, C Paul Johnson
NieR: Automata - Keiichi Okabe, Keigo Hoashi
EP/MP 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 Art Direction

ALL IN 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 Narrative

Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice - Tameem Antoniades, Elizabeth Ashman-Rowe / Ninja Theory
EP Horizon Zero Dawn - John Gonzalez / Ninja Theory
MP NieR: Automata - Yoko Taro, Hana Kikuchi, Yoshiho Akabane / Platinum Games
What Remains of Edith Finch - Ian Dallas / Giant Sparrow
EW/MW Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus - Jen Matthies, Tommy Tordsson Bjork / MachineGames

Best Game Direction

MW/EW Horizon Zero Dawn - Guerrilla Games
Resident Evil 7: Biohazard - Capcom
Super Mario Odyssey - Nintendo EPD
EP The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - Nintendo EPD
MP Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus - MachineGames / Bethesda

Game of the Year

Horizon Zero Dawn - Guerrilla Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment
ALL IN 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

Fallen out of gaming? Just don't have the time? This is the podcast for you! Every other week, we'll be bringing you information and discussions on five topics from the world of gaming, so you can stay up-to-date and hold real conversations with your video-game-loving friends!