E3 has come and gone and while we are still talking about what we played , the Game Critics Awards has released the winners. While Nintendo exclusive games didn’t have a strong showcase of games this year, they walked away with eight nominations and one of them being a win, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Marvel’s Spider-Man and Anthem each winning two awards.
Based on the rules, games being “hands-on playable” for at least 5 minutes to be considered for votes,. Here’s the list of winners and nominated games per category.
Best of Show
- Anthem (BioWare/EA for PC, PS4, Xbox One)
- Marvel’s Spider-Man (Insomniac Games/SIE for PlayStation 4)
- Resident Evil 2 (Capcom for PC, PS4, Xbox One) – Winner
- Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (FromSoftware/Activision for PC, PS4, Xbox One)
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Bandai Namco Studios/Sorta Ltd./Nintendo for Switch)
Best Original Game
- Anthem (BioWare/EA for PC, PS4, Xbox One)
- Days Gone (SIE Bend Studio/SIE for PlayStation 4)
- Dreams (Media Molecule/SIE for PlayStation 4) – Winner
- Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (FromSoftware/Activision for PC, PS4, Xbox One)
- Skull & Bones (Ubisoft Singapore/Ubisoft for PC, PS4, Xbox One)
Best Console Game
- Assassin’s Creed Odyssey (Ubisoft Quebec/Ubisoft for PS4, Xbox One)
- Dreams (Media Molecule/SIE for PlayStation 4)
- Marvel’s Spider-Man (Insomniac Games/SIE for PlayStation 4) – Winner
- Resident Evil 2 (Capcom for PS4, Xbox One)
- Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (FromSoftware/Activision for PS4, Xbox One)
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Bandai Namco Studios/Sorta Ltd./Nintendo for Switch)
Best VR/AR Game
- Astro Bot: Rescue Mission (SIE Japan Studio/SIE for PSVR)
- Déraciné (FromSoftware/SIE Japan Studio/SIE for PSVR)
- Echo Combat (Ready at Dawn/Oculus Studios for PC)
- Tetris Effect (Resonair/Enhance Inc for PSVR) – Winner
- Trover Saves the Universe (Squanch Games for PlayStation 4/PSVR)
Best PC Game
- Anthem (BioWare/EA) – Winner
- Battlefield V (EA DICE/EA)
- Metro: Exodus (4A Games/Deep Silver)
- Rage 2 (Avalanche/id/Bethesda)
- Total War: Three Kingdoms (Creative Assembly/Sega)
Best Hardware/Peripheral
- NEO GEO Mini (SNK)
- Poké Ball Plus (Nintendo for Switch)
- Starlink: Battle for Atlas (Ubisoft Toronto/Ubisoft for PS4, Switch, Xbox One)
- Vantage Controller for PS4 (SCUF Gaming)
- Xbox Adaptive Controller (Microsoft) – Winner
Best Action Game
- Anthem (BioWare/EA for PC, PS4, Xbox One) – Winner
- Battlefield V (EA DICE/EA for PC, PS4, Xbox One)
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 (Treyarch/Activision for PC, PS4, Xbox One)
- Metro: Exodus (4A Games/Deep Silver for PC, PS4, Xbox One)
- Rage 2 (Avalanche/id/Bethesda for PC, PS4, Xbox One)
Best Action/Adventure
- Assassin’s Creed Odyssey (Ubisoft Quebec/Ubisoft for PC, PS4, Xbox One)
- Marvel’s Spider-Man (Insomniac Games/SIE for PlayStation 4) – Winner
- Resident Evil 2 (Capcom for PC, PS4, Xbox One)
- Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (FromSoftware/Activision for PC, PS4, Xbox One)
- Shadow of the Tomb Raider (Eidos Montreal/Square Enix for PC, PS4, Xbox One)
- Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 (Massive Entetainment/Ubisoft for PC, PS4, Xbox One)
Best RPG
- Divinity: Original Sin II (Larian Studios/Bandai Namco for PS4, Xbox One)
- Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age (Square Enix for PC, PS4, Switch)
- Kingdom Hearts III (Square Enix for PS4, Xbox One) – Winner
- Octopath Traveler (Square Enix/Acquire/Nintendo for Switch)
- Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Eevee! (Game Freak/Nintendo for Switch)
Best Fighting Game
- Dead or Alive 6 (Team Ninja/Koei Tecmo for PC, PS4, Xbox One)
- Jump Force (Spike Chunsoft/Bandai Namco for PC, PS4, Xbox One)
- SOUL CALIBUR VI (Bandi Namco for PC, PS4, Xbox One)
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Bandai Namco Studios/Sorta Ltd./Nintendo for Switch) – Winner
Best Racing Game
- F1 2018 (Codemasters for PC, PS4, Xbox One)
- Forza Horizon 4 (Playground Games/Turn 10/Microsoft Studios for PC, Xbox One) – Winner
- Team Sonic Racing (Sumo Digital/Sega for PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One)
- The Crew 2 (Ivory Tower/Ubisoft for PC, PS4, Xbox One)
- Trials Rising (Red Lynx/Ubisoft for PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One)
Best Sports Game
- FIFA 19 (EA Vancouver/EA for PS4, Xbox One) – Winner
- Mario Tennis Aces (Camelot Software Planning/Nintendo for Switch)
- Pro Evolution Soccer 2019 (PES Productions/Konami for PC, PS4, Xbox One)
Best Strategy Game
- Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden (The Bearded Ladies/Funcom for PC, PS4, Xbox One)
- Total War: Three Kingdoms (Creative Assembly/Sega for PC) – Winner
- Two Point Hospital (Two Point Studios/Sega for PC)
- Wargroove (Chuckle Fish for PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One)
Best Family/Social Game
- Dreams (Media Molecule/SIE for PlayStation 4)
- LEGO DC Super-Villains (Traveler’s Tales/WBIE for PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One)
- Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Eevee! (Game Freak/Nintendo for Switch)
- Overcooked 2 (Ghost Town Games/Team 17 for PS4, Switch, Xbox One) – Winner
- Mario Tennis Aces (Camelot Software Planning/Nintendo for Switch)
Best Online Mulitplayer
- Anthem (BioWare/EA for PC, PS4, Xbox One)
- Battlefield V (EA DICE/EA for PC, PS4, Xbox One) – Winner
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 (Treyarch/Activision for PC, PS4, Xbox One)
- Destiny 2: Forsaken (Bungie/Activision for PC, PS4, Xbox One)
- Skull & Bones (Ubisoft Singapore/Ubisoft for PC, PS4, Xbox One)
- Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 (Massive Entertainment/Ubisoft for PC, PS4, Xbox One)
Best Independent Game
- Ori and the Will of Wisps (Moon Studios/Microsoft for PC, Xbox One) – Winner
- Outer Wilds (Mobius Digital/Annapurna Interactive for PC, Xbox One)
- Overcooked 2 (Ghost Town Games/Team 17 for PS4, Switch, Xbox One)
- Sable (Shedworks/Raw Fury for PC)
- Tunic (Andrew Shouldice/Finji for PC, Xbox One)
Best Ongoing Game
- Destiny 2: Forsaken (Bungie/Activision for PC, PS4, Xbox One)
- For Honor (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft for PC, PS4, Xbox One)
- Fortnite (Epic for iOS, Mac, PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One) – Winner
- PLAYERUNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS (PUBG Corp for Android, iOS, PC, Xbox One)
- Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft for PC, PS4, Xbox One)
So who was disqualified? Here’s the games that didn’t make the cut due to the critic’s rules:
- Battletoads (Xbox)
- Beyond Good and Evil 2 (Ubisoft)
- Control (505 Games)
- Crackdown 3 (Microsoft)
- Cyberpunk 2077 (CD Projekt Red)
- Daemon x Machina (Nintendo)
- Death Stranding (PlayStation)
- Devil May Cry 5 (Capcom)
- DOOM Eternal (Bethesda)
- Dying Light 2 (Techland)
- Fallout 76 (Bethesda)
- Fire Emblem: Three Houses (Nintendo)
- Gears 5 (Xbox); Gears POP! (Xbox)
- Gears Tactics (Xbox)
- Ghost of Tsushima (PlayStation)
- Halo Infinite (Xbox)
- Just Cause 4 (Square Enix)
- Madden NFL 19 (EA)
- NBA Live 19 (EA)
- Nioh 2 (PlayStation)
- Super Mario Party (Nintendo)
- Stormland (Insomniac Games)
- The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit (Square Enix)
- The Last of Us Part II (PlayStation)
- Wolfenstein: Youngblood (Bethesda)
While the games were disqualified doesn’t mean they couldn’t win something right? Here are the winners for special commendation for graphics, sound, and innovation.
Special Commendations for Graphics
- Cyberpunk 2077 (CD PROJEKT RED for PC, PS4, Xbox One)
- The Last of Us Part II (Naughty Dog/SIE for PlayStation 4)
- Ghost of Tsushima (Sucker Punch/SIE for PlayStation 4)
Special Commendation for Sound
- The Last of Us Part II (Naughty Dog/SIE for PlayStation 4)
Special Commendation for Innovation
- Cyberpunk 2077 (CD PROJEKT RED for PC, PS4, Xbox One)
Based by publishers, Sony Interactive Entertainment won the most awards with six. Electronic Arts with four, Microsoft with three, and CD PROJEKT RED with two.
So how did the platforms itself do? Here’s a list below which also includes multiplatform games:
- PlayStation 4: 17 (+5 more games from 2017 E3)
- Xbox One: 12 (+6 more from 2017 E3)
- PC: 10 (+1 more game from 2017 E3)
- Switch: 4 (-1 from 2017 E3)