E3 2017 was the host to hundreds of new gaming experiences to look forward to in the coming year, and the annual Game Critics Awards for E3 2017 nominations have been revealed to give out the high honors to some of the event's best games.
The full list of nominations for the Game Critics Awards honoring the best titles of E3 2017 have been announced, with the top contenders among games being Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, and Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus grabbing the most nominations at four each. All of those titles received nominations for the Best of Show award, alongside Assassin's Creed Origins and Super Mario Odyssey.
Among publishers, Ubisoft took the top spot with 14 overall nods, while PS4 and PC took the top number of nominations at 49 nominations each by platform, while Xbox One and Nintendo Switch followed at 44 nominations and 17 nominations, respectively.
Nominations for the Game Critics Awards were decided by judges from a variety of gaming media outlets across North America and internationally prior to E3 2017. Notably, one of the biggest eligibility requirements for titles considered is that the games must have been playable in a hands-on fashion for a minimum of five minutes for judges, while presentations or hands-off demos were not considered for eligibility, leading to some titles being excluded from the nominations list, such as God of War, Anthem, Spider-Man, and more.
The winners of the E3 2017 Game Critics Awards will be announced on Wednesday, June 28th, 2017 - in the meantime, you can check out the full list of nominees for this year's show below:
Best of Show
- Assassin’s Creed: Origins (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft)
- 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 FighterZ (Arc System Works/Bandai Namco Entertainment)
- 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)
- 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
- 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)
- Lone Echo (Ready at Dawn/Oculus Studio)
- Moss (Polyarc)
- Transference (SpectreVision/Ubisoft)
Best Mobile/Handheld
- 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)
- Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey Redux (Atlus)
Best Hardware
- Astro A10 Gaming Headset (Astro)
- DisplayLink XR (DisplayLink)
- Razer Thresher Ultimate (Razer)
- Logitech PowerPlay Mat (Logitech)
- Xbox One X (Microsoft)
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)
- 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).
- 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)
- 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)
- Dragon Ball FighterZ (Arc System Works/Bandai Namco Entertainment)
- Marvel vs Capcom: Infinite (Capcom)
- Pokken Tournament DX (Bandai Namco Studios/The Pokemon Co.)
Best Racing Game
- Forza Motorsport 7 (Turn 10 Studios/Microsoft Studios)
- Gran Turismo Sport (Polyphony Digital/Sony Interactive Ent)
- 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
- 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)
- 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 Ent.)
- Hidden Agenda (Supermassive Games/Sony Interactive Ent.)
- That’s You (Wish Studios/Sony Interactive Ent.)
Best Online Multiplayer
- Call of Duty: WWII (Sledgehammer Games/Activision)
- Destiny 2 (Bungie/Activision)
- 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)
- The Artful Escape of Francis Vendetti (Beethoven & Dinosaur/Annapurna Interactive)
Please note: To be eligible for nomination, games must be available to voting publications for at least 5 minutes of hands-on time at E3. The following annnounced games were not made playable to voting publications at E3 and were therefore disqualified from award consideration: Absolver (Devolver); Age of Empires: Definitive Edition (Microsoft); Anthem (EA); A Way Out (EA); Beyond Good & Evil 2 (Ubisoft); Cuphead (Studio MDHR); God of War (PlayStation); Hunt: Showdown (Crytek); Kingdom Hearts 3 (Square Enix); Life is Strange: Before the Storm (Square Enix); Metroid Prime 4 (Nintendo); Metro Exodus (Deep Silver); Monster Hunter World (Capcom); NBA Live 18 (EA); Ori and the Will of Wisps (Microsoft); Shadow of the Colossus (PlayStation); Marvel's Spider-Man (PlayStation); State of Decay 2 (Microsoft); The Evil Within 2 (Bethesda); Uncharted: Lost Legacy (PlayStation); XCOM 2: War of the Chosen (2K Games); Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (Nintendo)