CD Projekt Red’s open-world RPG The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt took home top honors at The Game Awards last night, edging out competition from high-profile titles like Bloodborne, Fallout 4, and Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain and emerging as the industry event’s Game of the Year.
Other big winners at last night’s awards ceremony include Nintendo’s multiplayer shooter Splatoon, indie adventure game Her Story, and genre-melding sports sim Rocket League.
The Witcher 3 dominated The Game Awards 2015, winning the event’s “Game of the Year” and “Best Role-Playing Game” categories. Studio CD Projekt Red was also named “Developer of the Year” for its achievements.
Nintendo’s Splatoon earned surprise victories in two categories at this year’s show, winning 2015’s “Best Multiplayer Game” and “Best Shooter” awards. Nintendo’s territory-grabbing shooter faced tough competition, but was ultimately victorious over genre favorites like Halo 5, Destiny, Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 and Star Wars Battlefront.
Nintendo additionally won the “Best Family Game” category with Super Mario Maker, a Wii U-exclusive platformer design toolkit with level-sharing capabilities. Super Mario Maker was also nominated for the event’s Game of the Year award.
Konami’s Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain won awards for “Best Action/Adventure Game” and “Best Score/Soundtrack” over the course of last night’s ceremony, while Psyonix’s vehicle-powered soccer sim Rocket League was named “Best Indie Game” and “Best Sports/Racing Game.”
Indie developer Sam Barlow’s adventure game Her Story topped The Game Awards’ “Best Narrative” category, and its starring actress Viva Seifert won “Best Performance.” Other award-winning indies at last night’s show include “Games for Change” champ Life is Strange and “Best Art Direction” honoree Ori and the Blind Forest.
The Game Awards additionally named Mortal Kombat X as “Best Fighting Game,” while Square Enix Montreal won “Best Mobile/Handheld Game” with its Tomb Raider series spinoff Lara Croft Go.