The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Wins “Game of the Year” at the 2017 Game Awards

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Cuphead, and Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice dominated this year’s Game Awards, which were hosted by Geoff Keighley last night in Los Angeles.

Breath of the Wild kickstarted the launch of the Nintendo Switch in a big way this past March, so it’s not surprising that it also won “Game of the Year” at the Game Awards. Link’s latest adventure also claimed victory in two additional categories last night, “Best Game Direction” and “Best Action/Adventure Game.”

Studio MDHR’s Cuphead was released to quite a bit of fanfare earlier this Fall, and the side-scrolling shooter delivered at the Game Awards with wins for “Best Art Direction” (thanks to its beautiful 1930s-inspired animation), “Best Independent Game,” and the fan-voted “Best Debut Indie Game.”

Finally, Ninja Theory has been touting Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice as their “AAA Indie,” and the game lived up to that billing with victories for “Best Audio Design,” “Games For Impact” (for a storyline that dealt with mental illness), and “Best Performance” for Melina Juergens’s voicework as Senua.

Congratulations to the development teams responsible for all this year’s nominees, and you can find the full list (along with all the winners) after the break.

Jury-Voted Categories

Game of The Year

Recognizing a game that delivers the absolute best experience across all creative and technical fields.

  • WINNER: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
  • Horizon: Zero Dawn
  • Persona 5
  • PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds
  • Super Mario Odyssey

Best Game Direction

Awarded to a game studio for outstanding creative vision and innovation in game direction and design.

  • WINNER: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
  • Horizon: Zero Dawn
  • Resident Evil 7: Biohazard
  • Super Mario Odyssey
  • Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus

Best Narrative

For outstanding storytelling and narrative development in a game.

  • WINNER: What Remains of Edith Finch
  • Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice
  • Horizon: Zero Dawn
  • Nier: Automata
  • Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus

Best Art Direction

For outstanding creative and/or technical achievement in artistic design and animation.

  • WINNER: Cuphead
  • Destiny 2
  • Horizon: Zero Dawn
  • The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
  • Persona 5

Best Score/Music

For outstanding music, inclusive of score, original song and/or licensed soundtrack.

  • WINNER: Nier: Automata
  • Cuphead
  • Destiny 2
  • The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
  • Persona 5
  • Super Mario Odyssey

Best Audio Design

Recognizing the best in-game audio and sound design.

  • WINNER: Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice
  • Destiny 2
  • The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
  • Resident Evil 7: Biohazard
  • Super Mario Odyssey

Best Performance

Awarded to an individual for voice-over acting, motion and/or performance capture.

  • WINNER: Melina Juergens (As Senua) – Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice
  • Ashly Burch (As Aloy) – Horizon: Zero Dawn
  • Brian Bloom (As BJ Blazkowicz) – Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus
  • Claudia Black (As Chloe Frazer) – Uncharted: The Lost Legacy
  • Laura Bailey (As Nadine Ross) – Uncharted: The Lost Legacy

Games For Impact

For a thought provoking game with a profound pro-social meaning or message.

  • WINNER: Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice
  • Bury Me, My Love
  • Life Is Strange: Before the Storm
  • Night in the Woods
  • Please Knock on My Door
  • What Remains of Edith Finch

Best Ongoing Game

Awarded to a game for outstanding development of ongoing content that evolves the player experience over time.

  • WINNER: Overwatch
  • Destiny 2
  • Grand Theft Auto V
  • PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds
  • Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege
  • Warframe

Best Mobile Game

For the best game playable on a dedicated mobile device.

  • WINNER: Monument Valley 2
  • Fire Emblem Heroes
  • Hidden Folks
  • Old Man’s Journey
  • Super Mario Run

Best Handheld Game

For the best game playable on a dedicated portable gaming system.

  • WINNER: Metroid: Samus Returns
  • Ever Oasis
  • Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia
  • Monster Hunter Stories
  • Poochy and Yoshi’s Woolly World

Best VR/AR Game

For the best game experience playable in virtual or augmented reality, irrespective of platform.

  • WINNER: Resident Evil 7: Biohazard
  • Farpoint
  • Lone Echo/Echo Arena
  • Star Trek: Bridge Crew
  • Superhot VR

Best Action Game

For the best game in the action genre focused on combat.

  • WINNER: Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus
  • Cuphead
  • Destiny 2
  • Nioh
  • Prey

Best Action/Adventure Game

For the best action/adventure game, combining combat with traversal and puzzle solving.

  • WINNER: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
  • Assassin’s Creed Origins
  • Horizon: Zero Dawn
  • Super Mario Odyssey
  • Uncharted: The Lost Legacy

Best Role Playing Game

For the best game designed with rich player character customization and progression, including massively multiplayer experiences.

  • WINNER: Persona 5
  • Divinity: Original Sin 2
  • Final Fantasy XV
  • Nier: Automata
  • South Park: The Fractured But Whole

Best Fighting Game

For the best game designed primarily around head-to-head combat.

  • WINNER: Injustice 2
  • Arms
  • Marvel Vs Capcom: Infinite
  • Nidhogg 2
  • Tekken 7

Best Family Game

For the best game appropriate for family play, irrespective of genre or platform.

  • WINNER: Super Mario Odyssey
  • Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle
  • Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
  • Sonic Mania
  • Splatoon 2

Best Strategy Game

Best game focused on real time or turn-based strategy gameplay, irrespective of platform.

  • WINNER: Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle
  • Halo Wars 2
  • Tooth and Tail
  • Total War: Warhammer II
  • XCOM 2: War of the Chosen

Best Sports/Racing Game

For the best traditional and non-traditional sports and racing game.

  • WINNER: Forza Motorsport 7
  • FIFA 18
  • Gran Turismo Sport
  • NBA 2K18
  • Pro Evolution Soccer 2018
  • Project CARS 2

Best Multiplayer

For outstanding online multiplayer gameplay and design, including co-op and massively multiplayer experiences, irrespective of game genre.

  • WINNER: PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds
  • Call of Duty: WWII
  • Destiny 2
  • Fortnite
  • Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
  • Splatoon 2

Best Independent Game

For outstanding creative and technical achievement in a game made outside the traditional publisher system.

  • WINNER: Cuphead
  • Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice
  • Night in the Woods
  • Pyre
  • What Remains of Edith Finch

Best Student Game

Awarded the best student project created at the high school or college level.

  • WINNER: Level Squared
  • Falling Sky
  • From Light
  • Hollowed
  • Impulsion
  • Meaning

Fan-Voted Categories

Most Anticipated Game

Awarded to an upcoming game that has shown significant ambition and promise. Title must be announced and scheduled for release after December 7, 2017.

  • WINNER: The Last of Us Part II
  • God of War
  • Monster Hunter: World
  • Red Dead Redemption II
  • Spider-Man

Trending Gamer

For a streamer, influencer, or media member who has made an important impact on the industry this calendar year.

  • WINNER: Guy Beahm (Dr. Disrepect)
  • Andrea Rene (What’s Good Games)
  • Clint Lexa (Halfcoordinated)
  • Mike Grzesiek (Shroud)
  • Steven Spohn (AbleGamers)

Best Esports Game

For the game that has delivered the best overall eSports experience to players (inclusive of tournaments, community support and content updates), irrespective of genre or platform.

  • WINNER: Overwatch
  • Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
  • DOTA 2
  • League of Legends
  • Rocket League

Best Esports Player (Presented by Omen by HP)

The eSports player judged to be the most outstanding performer in 2017, irrespective of game.

  • WINNER: Lee “Faker” Sang-Hyeok – League of Legends
  • Je-hong “ryujehong” Ryu – Overwatch
  • Kuro “KuroKy” Salehi Takhasomi – DOTA 2
  • Marcelo “coldzera” David – Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
  • Nikola “NiKo” Kovac – Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

Best Esports Team

The eSports team judged to be the most outstanding for performance in 2017, inclusive of multi-team organizations.

  • WINNER: Cloud 9
  • FaZe Clan
  • Lunatic-Hai
  • SK Telecom 1
  • Team Liquid

Best Debut Indie Game (Presented by Schick Hydro)

Recognizing a new independent studio that released its first game in 2017.

  • WINNER: Cuphead
  • Golf Story
  • Hollow Knight
  • Mr. Shifty
  • Slime Rancher

Best Chinese Game

A fan-voted award to recognize the most popular game in China, as judged by The Game Awards viewers in China.

  • WINNER: JX3 HD
  • Gumballs
  • ICEY
  • King of Glory
  • Monument Valley 2

Author: VGC | John

John Scalzo has been writing about video games since 2001, and he co-founded Warp Zoned in 2011. Growing out of his interest in game history, the launch of Video Game Canon followed in 2017.