It was video games’ big night on December 1st, with the 2016 Game Awards taking place at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.
The show opened up with Metal Gear Solid series creator, Hideo Kojima, accepting the Industry Icon Award. After his speech, he revealed an “early Christmas present” — the trailer for his upcoming game, Death Stranding. The trailer featured Hellboy director, Guillermo Del Toro, and The Walking Dead’s Norman Reedus. Both were seen carrying babies; although, Guillermo’s baby was contained in some sort of machine. The game is highly anticipated since it’s Kojima’s first game released under his new independent studio, Kojima Productions.
Hideous Kojima awarded Industry Icon award. Photo by Sally Bojorquez/MUSE
Other first looks included:
- ï‚· Trailer and gameplay of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild coming out next year on Nintendo Switch and Wii U
- ï‚· First look of the Starbase ARC in Rocket League coming out on December 7, 2016 on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One
- ï‚· Trailer for Bulletstorm, the first game under Gearbox’s new publishing label, Gearbox Publishing
- ï‚· Gameplay of Mass Effect: AndromedaÂ
- ï‚· Trailers for The Walking Dead: A New Frontier (1st episode out 12/20), Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment, Halo Wars 2 (February 2017), Prey , Guardians of the Galaxy, Dauntless, Warframe, LawBreakers, and clips from the upcoming Assassin’s Creed film.
Kicking off the musical performances was hip-hop duo, Run the Jewels, performing “Nobody Speak” and “Talk to Me”. They announced their new album, Run the Jewels 3, dropping January 13, 2017. The pair was featured in Gears of War where players could play as either El-P or Killer Mike. Mick Gordon delivered an electric performance of the Doom soundtrack (which also took the award home for Best Music/Sound Design). Rae Sremmurd performed their #1 hit song, “Black Beatles”, with a stage decorated with old arcade games.
Overwatch was the big winner of the night. Besides taking home the big prize of Game of the Year, they also won Best Game Direction, Best Multiplayer, and ESports Game of the Year.
Another big winner of the night was Ryan Green. His game That Dragon, Cancer won Games for Impact. Green delivered a heartbreaking speech about losing his son, Joel, from a battle with cancer which was the inspiration for the game.
GAME OF THE YEAR:Â
- ï‚· DOOM (id Software/Bethesda)
- ï‚· Inside (Playdead)
- ï‚· Winner: Overwatch (Blizzard)Â
- ï‚· Titanfall 2 (Respawn/Electronic Arts)
-  Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (Naughty Dog/Sony Interactive Entertainment)
BEST GAME DIRECTION:Â
- ï‚· Winner: Blizzard (for Overwatch)Â
- ï‚· DICE (for Battlefield 1)
- ï‚· id Software (for DOOM)
-  Naughty Dog (for Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End)
- ï‚· Respawn (for Titanfall 2)
