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(Mirror Daily, United States) – The epic fantasy is in the lead, as ‘The Witcher 3’ is 2015’s big winner in game awards, a welcome news to fans of the franchise, although perhaps an expected result. The third installment of the open word role playing game provided with stunning visuals, intricate storyline, and exciting quests, as per their habit.
The Game Awards this year were held in Los Angeles, hosted by their creator Geoff Keighley, and revealed some expected results among the dark horses of the competition. The awards were a blend of announcement of upcoming games, and a look into this year’s hits. The night was marked by potentially thrilling future projects, and a bit of drama concerning the Konami vs. Kojima conflict that has sparked up the gaming world.
According to Keighley, the award-winning game designer Hideo Kojima was expected to attend, but developer and former employer Konami forbade his presence at the awards. This was saddening news, especially since Kojima’s last contribution on ‘Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain’ was awarded twice during the night. The game designer, thus, fortunately did not get to celebrate with his teammates.
‘Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain’ went on to win Best Score/Soundtrack, along with the Best Action/Adventure Game of 2015. Konami’s game, however, was not the biggest winner of the night. That distinction went to CD Projekt Red’s ‘The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt’.
The third installment of the epic franchise was deemed the Best Role-Playing Game, defeating ‘Fallout 4’, ‘Bloodborne’, ‘Undertale’, and ‘Pillars of Eternity’. Even more, it gained the highly sought-after title of Game of the Year, once again surpassing ‘Fallout 4’, ‘Bloodborne’, ‘Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain’, and ‘Super Mario Maker’. These incredible achievements propelled CD Projekt Red to win Developer of the Year. It was a big night for the Polish gamemaker.
Best Narrative, however, did not go to the fantasy epic. Instead, the prize went out to ‘Her Story’, along with Best Performance by Viva Seifert. The indie title managed to defeat big names among the gaming community. ‘Life is Strange’ snatched the Games for Change award in return.
Among the surprises of the night arrived ‘Rocket League’. The car-driving soccer simulator actually won Best Sports/Racing Game, taking down long-standing titles such as FIFA or Pro Evolution Soccer. The little engine that could indeed. The relatively new-comer to the table also won the Best Independent Game of the year.
Another surprise arrived at the Best Shooter category. While most would’ve expected ‘Call of Duty’, ‘Halo 5’, or even ‘Star Wars: Battlefront’ to take the award, instead it went to Nintendo’s ‘Splatoon’, along with Best Multiplayer. The company commemorating their former CEO after his recent passing went home with two prizes. The second was more expected, for Best Family Game in the form of ‘Super Mario Maker’.
In terms of future developments, the most notable were Telltale’s ‘Batman’, and ‘Squadron 42’ set in the world of the ‘Starcraft’ series. Not to mention ‘No Man’s Sky’ who won the Most Anticipated Game category.
The Game Awards are shown online, and are voted on my a good number of media organizations. This year, ‘The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt’ was deemed as the best.