The Game Awards

The Game Awards
The Game Awards 2014
Awarded for	Outstanding achievements in the video game industry
Country	United States
Presented by	Geoff Keighley
First awarded	December 5, 2014
Official website	thegameawards.com
Television/Radio coverage
Network	YouTube (2014–present)

The Game Awards is an annual video game award show honoring select titles released throughout the year, as well as featuring the premieres of new titles and an in-depth look at previously announced games. The show was solely produced and hosted by Geoff Keighley, who formerly worked on the decade-long Spike Video Game Awards.

The first show was held on December 5, 2014 in Las Vegas at The AXIS auditorium. A special tribute was held for Ken and Roberta Williams, founders of Sierra On-Line.

The show concluded with Imagine Dragons performing songs from The Legend of Zelda series, followed by "It's Time", with Nintendo composer Koji Kondo on piano.

2014 awards

The first Game Awards was held on December 5, 2014 at The AXIS in Las Vegas, Nevada. Geoff Keighley reprised his host position from the VGAs. Unlike its predecessor, the awards were broadcast exclusively on the internet and were not available on any television channel. The show is available to the public, with tickets going for USD $45. The categorical nominations for The Game Awards were revealed on November 20.^[1] Keighley's advisory board members include Reggie Fils-Aime from Nintendo of America, Yves Guillemot from Ubisoft, Hideo Kojima from Konami and Kojima Productions, Shawn Layden from SCEA, Peter Moore from Electronic Arts, Phil Spencer from Xbox and Microsoft, Martin Tremblay from Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment as well as the presence of Rockstar Games and Valve.^[2] The 2014 The Game Awards world premieres included Nintendo's Mario Maker, Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. and The Legend of Zelda, Konami's Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Electronic Arts' Battlefield Hardline, Sony Computer Entertainment's Bloodborne, Until Dawn and The Order: 1886, Square Enix's Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment's The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Sierra Entertainment's King's Quest, 505 Games' ADR1FT and Bandai Namco Games' Godzilla: The Game, as well as Before, The Banner Saga 2, Tacoma, Human Element and No Man's Sky.^[3]

List of wins & nominations

The following games received multiple nominations. (Bold = win)

Nominations	Game	Categories
rowspan=7 style-"text-align:center" \|3	Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS & Wii U	Best Fighting Game*, Best Handheld Game
Dark Souls 2	Game of the Year, Best Role-Playing Game, Best Online Experience
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor	Game of the Year, Best Performance, Best Action-Adventure Game
Destiny	Best Shooter, Best Score/Music, Best Online Experience
South Park: Stick of Truth	Best Role-Playing Game, Best Performance, Best Narrative
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare	Best Shooter, Best Performance, Best Online Experience
Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft	Game of the Year, Best Handheld/Mobile Game, Best Online Experience
rowspan=13 style-"text-align:center" \|2	Bayonetta 2	Game of the Year, Best Action-Adventure Game
Mario Kart 8	Best Sports/Racing Game, Best Family Game
Dragon Age: Inquisition	Game of the Year, Best Role-Playing Game
Bravely Default	Best Handheld/Mobile Game, Best Role-Playing Game
Monument Valley	Games for Change, Best Independent Game
Titanfall	Best Online Experience, Best Shooter
Alien Isolation	Best Score/Music, Best Action-Adventure Game
Wolfenstein: A New Order	Best Narrative, Best Shooter
Sunset Overdrive	Best Action-Adventure Game, Best Original Score
The Wolf Among Us	Best Narrative, Best Performance
The Walking Dead: Season 2	Best Narrative, Best Performance
Valiant Hearts: The Great War	Best Narrative, Games for Change
Transistor	Best Score/Music, Best Independent Game

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U was nominated twice

Jury voted awards

Winners are listed first and highlighted in boldface.^[4]

Game of the Year	Developer of the Year
Dragon Age: Inquisition – developed by BioWare Bayonetta 2 – developed by Platinum Games Dark Souls II – developed by From Software Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft – developed by Blizzard Entertainment Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor – developed by Monolith Productions	Nintendo Blizzard Entertainment Monolith Productions Telltale Games Ubisoft Montreal
Best Independent Game	Best Mobile/Handheld Game
Shovel Knight – developed by Yacht Club Games Broken Age Act I – developed by Double Fine Productions Monument Valley – developed by Ustwo Transistor – developed by Supergiant Games The Vanishing of Ethan Carter – developed by The Astronauts	Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft – developed by Blizzard Entertainment Bravely Default – developed by Silicon Studio and Square Enix Monument Valley – developed by Ustwo Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS – developed by Sora Ltd and Bandai Namco Games Threes – developed by Sirvo
Best Narrative	Best Score/Soundtrack
Valiant Hearts: The Great War – South Park: The Stick of Truth – written by Trey Parker and Matt Stone The Walking Dead: Season Two – written by Nick Breckon and Andrew Grant The Wolf Among Us – written by Pierre Shorette Wolfenstein: The New Order – written by Jerk Gustafsson, Tom Keegan and Jens Matthies	Destiny – composed by Michael Salvatori, C. Paul Johnson, Martin O'Donnell and Paul McCartney Alien: Isolation - composed by Byron Bullock, Sam Cooper, Jeff van Dyck, Christian Henson, Joe Henson, Haydn Payne and Alexis Smith Child of Light - composed by Béatrice Martin Sunset Overdrive - composed by Boris Salchow Transistor - composed by Darren Korb
Best Performance	Games for Change
Trey Parker as Various Voices – in South Park: The Stick of Truth Adam Harrington as Bigby Wolf – in The Wolf Among Us Kevin Spacey as Jonathan Irons – in Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Melissa Hutchison as Clementine – in The Walking Dead: Season Two Troy Baker as Talion – in Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor	Valiant Hearts: The Great War – developed by Ubisoft Montpellier Mountain – developed by David OReilly Never Alone – developed by Upper One Games and E-Line Media The Last of Us: Left Behind – developed by Naughty Dog This War of Mine – developed by 11 bit studios
Best Remaster	Best Shooter
Grand Theft Auto V – originally developed / redeveloped by Rockstar North Halo: The Master Chief Collection – originally developed by Bungie and 343 Industries; redeveloped by 343 Industries Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire – originally developed / redeveloped by Game Freak The Last of Us Remastered – originally developed / redeveloped by Naughty Dog Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition – originally developed by Crystal Dynamics; redeveloped by Nixxes Software and United Front Games	Far Cry 4 – developed by Ubisoft Montreal Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare – developed by Sledgehammer Games Destiny – developed by Bungie Titanfall – developed by Respawn Entertainment Wolfenstein: The New Order – developed by MachineGames
Best Action/Adventure	Best Role Playing Game
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor – developed by Monolith Productions Assassin's Creed Unity – developed by Ubisoft Montreal Alien: Isolation – developed by The Creative Assembly Bayonetta 2 – developed by Platinum Games Sunset Overdrive – developed by Insomniac Games	Dragon Age: Inquisition – developed by BioWare Bravely Default – developed by Silicon Studio and Square Enix Dark Souls II – developed by From Software Divinity: Original Sin – developed by Larian Studios South Park: The Stick of Truth – developed by Obsidian Entertainment and South Park Digital Studios
Best Fighting Game	Best Family Game
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U – developed by Sora Ltd. and Bandai Namco Games Killer Instinct: Season Two – developed by Double Helix Games, Iron Galaxy Studios, Rare Ltd. and Microsoft Studios Persona 4 Arena Ultimax - developed by Arc System Works Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS – developed by Sora Ltd. and Bandai Namco Games Ultra Street Fighter IV – developed by Capcom	Mario Kart 8 – developed by Nintendo EAD Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes – developed by Avalanche Software Fantasia: Music Evolved – developed by Harmonix Skylanders: Trap Team – developed by Toys for Bob and Beenox Tomodachi Life – developed by Nintendo SPD
Best Sports/Racing Game	Best Online Experience
Mario Kart 8 – developed by Nintendo EAD FIFA 15 – developed by EA Canada Forza Horizon 2 – developed by Playground Games, Sumo Digital and Turn 10 Studios NBA 2K15 – developed by Visual Concepts Trials Fusion – developed by RedLynx, Ubisoft Shanghai and Ubisoft Ukraine	Destiny – developed by Bungie Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare – developed by Sledgehammer Games, High Moon Studios and Raven Software Dark Souls II – developed by From Software Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft – developed by Blizzard Entertainment Titanfall – developed by Respawn Entertainment

Fan voted awards

Most Anticipated Game	Best Fan Creation
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – in development by CD Projekt RED Batman: Arkham Knight – in development by Rocksteady Studios Uncharted 4: A Thief's End – in development by Naughty Dog Evolve – in development by Turtle Rock Studios Bloodborne – in development by From Software	Twitch Plays Pokémon – by Anonymous Luigi Death Stare – by CZBwoi and Rizupicorr "It's Dangerous to Go Alone" – by Starbomb Minecraft - Titan City – by Colonial Puppet "Mine the Diamond (Minecraft Song)" – by Tobuscus
ESports Player of the Year	ESports Team of the Year
Matt “NaDeSHoT” Haag Christopher "GeT_RiGhT" Alesund Martin ‘Rekkles’ Larsson James “Firebat” Kostesich Xu “Fy” Linsen	Ninjas in Pyjamas Evil Geniuses Samsung White Newbee Edward Gaming
Trending Gamer
TotalBiscuit Evan "Vanoss" Fong Jeff Gerstmann PewDiePie StampyLongHead

Honorary awards

Industry Icon Award
Ken and Roberta Williams (Sierra Entertainment)

References

↑ Keighley, Geoff. "Nominees announced for The Game Awards 2014". The Game Awards. Retrieved 29 November 2014.
↑ Takahashi, Dean. "Geoff Keighley unveils The Game Awards 2014 to replace the VGAs". VentureBeat. Retrieved 29 November 2014.
↑ "Check Out the World Premiere Trailers and Winners from The Game Awards 2014! - ComingSoon.net". ComingSoon.net.
↑ Sarkar, Samit. "Here are the winners of The Game Awards 2014". Polygon. Retrieved 6 December 2014.