A marquee upcoming release for the Nintendo Switch has once again claimed “Best of Show” from the Game Critics Awards at the E3 Expo. Super Mario Odyssey took home the big prize this year, along with additional wins for “Best Console Game” and “Best Action/Adventure Game.”
Altogether, Nintendo took home top honors in six categories. Super Mario Odyssey’s trio of statues were joined by “Best Handheld Game” for Metroid: Samus Returns, and “Best Original Game” and “Best Strategy Game” for Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle.
The editors that make up the Game Critics Awards panel made a lot of obvious picks in the rest of the categories, but they also threw in a few surprises. Strong debuts from Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus (“Best Action Game”), Destiny 2 (“Best PC Game”), and Forza Motorsport 7 (“Best Racing Game”) lead to a few big wins, but I’m not anyone was expecting Arc System Works to surprise the crowd with Dragon Ball Fighter Z.
All of this year’s winners can be found after the break.
Best of Show
- Assassin’s Creed: Origins (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft)
- WINNER: Super Mario Odyssey (Nintendo)
- Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle (Ubisoft Paris/Ubisoft Milan/Ubisoft)
- Middle-Earth: Shadow of War (Monolith/Warner Bros Interactive Ent.)
- Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus (Machine Games/Bethesda)
Best Original Game
- Detroit: Become Human (Quantic Dream/Sony Interactive Entertainment)
- Dragon Ball Fighter Z (Arc System Works/Bandai Namco Entertainment)
- WINNER: Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle (Ubisoft Paris/Ubisoft Milan/Ubisoft)
- Sea of Thieves (Rare/Microsoft)
- Skull & Bones (Ubisoft Singapore/Ubisoft)
Best Console Game
- Assassin’s Creed: Origins (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft)
- WINNER: Super Mario Odyssey (Nintendo)
- Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle (Ubisoft Paris/Ubisoft Milan/Ubisoft)
- Middle-Earth: Shadow of War (Monolith/Warner Bros Interactive Ent.)
- Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus (Machine Games/Bethesda)
Best PC Game
- WINNER: Destiny 2 (Bungie/Activision)
- Middle-Earth: Shadow of War (Monolith/Warner Bros. Interactive Ent)
- Mount & Blade II: Bannerlords (TaleWorlds Entertainment)
- Total War: Warhammer II (Creative Assembly/Sega)
- Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus (Machine Games/Bethesda)
Best VR Game
- Doom VFR (id Software/Bethesda)
- Fallout 4 VR (Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda)
- WINNER: Lone Echo (Ready at Dawn/Oculus Studio)
- Moss (Polyarc)
- Transference (SpectreVision/Ubisoft)
Best Handheld Game
- Durango (What Studio/Nexon)
- Metroid: Samus Returns (MercurySteam/Nintendo)
- Hidden Agenda (Supermassive Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment)
- King’s Knight: Wrath of the Dark Dragon (Square Enix)
Best Action Game
- Call of Duty: WWII (Sledgehammer Games/Activision)
- Destiny 2 (Bungie/Activision)
- Far Cry 5 (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft)
- Star Wars Battlefront II (EA DICE/Motive/Criterion/Electronic Arts)
- WINNER: Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus (Machine Games/Bethesda)
Best Action/Adventure Game
- Assassin’s Creed: Origins (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft)
- Detroit: Become Human (Quantic Dream/Sony Interactive Entertainment)
- Days Gone (SIE Bend Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment)
- Middle-Earth: Shadow of War (Monolith/Warner Bros. Interactive Ent).
- WINNER: Super Mario Odyssey (Nintendo)
Best RPG
- Battle Chasers: Nightwar (Airship Syndicate/THQ Nordic)
- Kingdom Come: Deliverance (Warhorse Studios/Deep Silver)
- Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlords (TaleWorlds Entertainment)
- WINNER: Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom (Level-5/Bandai Namco Entertainment)
- South Park: The Fractured But Whole (Ubisoft SF/South Park Digital Studios/Ubisoft)
- Vampyr (Dotnod Entertainment/Focus Home Interactive)
Best Fighting Game
- Arms (Nintendo)
- WINNER: Dragon Ball Fighter Z (Arc System Works/Bandai Namco Entertainment)
- Marvel vs Capcom: Infinite (Capcom)
- Pokken Tournament DX (Bandai Namco Studios/The Pokemon Company)
Best Racing Game
- WINNER: Forza Motorsport 7 (Turn 10 Studios/Microsoft Studios)
- Gran Turismo Sport (Polyphony Digital/Sony Interactive Entertainment)
- Need for Speed Payback (Ghost Games/Electronic Arts)
- Project CARS 2 (Slighty Mad Studios/Bandai Namco Entertainment)
- The Crew 2 (Ivory Tower/Ubisoft Reflections/Ubisoft)
Best Sports Game
- WINNER: FIFA 18 (EA Canada/Electronic Arts)
- Madden NFL 18 (EA Tiburon/Electronic Arts)
- Pro Evolution Soccer 2018 (PES Productions/Konami)
Best Strategy Game
- Battletech (Harebrained Schemes/Paradox Interactive)
- Frostpunk (11 bit Studios)
- WINNER: Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle (Ubisoft)
- Total War: Arena (Creative Assembly/Sega/Wargaming)
- Total War: Warhammer II (Creative Assembly/Sega)
Best Family/Social Game
- DropMix (Harmonix/Hasbro)
- Just Dance 2018 (Ubisoft)
- Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2 (TT Games/Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment)
- WINNER: Hidden Agenda (Supermassive Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment)
- That’s You (Wish Studios/Sony Interactive Ent.)
Best Online Multiplayer
- Call of Duty: WWII (Sledgehammer Games/Activision)
- Destiny 2 (Bungie/Activision)
- WINNER: Star Wars: Battlefront II (EA DICE/Motive/Criterion/Electronic Arts)
- Sea of Thieves (Rare/Microsoft)
- Skull & Bones (Ubisoft Singapore/Ubisoft)
Best Independent Game
- Ashen (Aurora 44/Annapurna Interactive)
- Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night (Inti Creates/505 Games)
- Donut County (Ben Esposito/Annapurna Interactive)
- Laser League (Roll7/505 Games)
- WINNER: The Artful Escape (Beethoven & Dinosaur/Annapurna Interactive)
Best Hardware
- Astro A10 Gaming Headset (Astro)
- DisplayLink XR (DisplayLink)
- Razer Thresher Ultimate (Razer)
- Logitech PowerPlay Mat (Logitech)
- WINNER: Xbox One X (Microsoft)
