At every single E3 since 1998, a group of games journalists gathers to vote on the best games of that year’s showcase. The Game Critics Awards, an annual awards ceremony held immediately following the extravagance of the Electronic Entertainment Expo, spits out approximately a few winners amongst hundreds (or maybe thousands) of games shown that year, with each of the winners typically being backed by a AAA publisher.
At this year’s Game Critics Awards, 51 outlets voted , with Sony Interactive Entertainment taking the top spot with six overall wins. And, it may come as no surprise to some, the PlayStation 4 itself outshone the other platforms, with the system taking home 17 wins when compared to Xbox One’s 12 wins, PC’s 10 wins, and the Switch’s four wins (it’s worth noting that a portion of the system wins include awards from 2017: PS4 had five, Xbox One had six, and PC and Switch both had one).
Many of the awards were multiplatform, celebrating the third-party developers that showed off amazing games like Anthem and Cyberpunk 2077.
Don’t miss our own Best of E3 awards, where we picked highlighted ten things we saw at E3 this year.
Below is the list of Game Critics Awards winners. Note that all nominees must have been playable by the judges in order to qualify for the awards.
Best of Show
Resident Evil 2
(Capcom for PC, PS4, Xbox One)
Best Original Game
Dreams
(Media Molecule/SIE for PlayStation 4)
Best Console
Marvel’s Spider-Man
(Insomniac Games/SIE for PlayStation 4)
Best VR/AR Game
Tetris Effect
(Resonair/Enhance Inc for PSVR)
Best PC Game
Anthem
(BioWare/EA for PC, PS4, Xbox One)
Best Hardware/Peripheral
Xbox Adaptive Controller
(Microsoft)
Best Action Game
Anthem
(BioWare/EA for PC, PS4, Xbox One)
Best Action/Adventure
Marvel’s Spider-Man
(Insomniac Games/SIE for PlayStation 4)
Best RPG
Kingdom Hearts III
(Square Enix for PS4, Xbox One)
Best Fighting Game
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
(Bandai Namco Studios/Sorta Ltd./Nintendo for Switch)
Best Racing Game
Forza Horizon 4
(Playground Games/Turn 10/Microsoft Studios for PC, Xbox One)
Best Sports Game
FIFA 19
(EA Vancouver/EA for PS4, Xbox One)
Best Strategy Game
Total War: Three Kingdoms
(Creative Assembly/Sega for PC)
Best Family/Social Game
Overcooked 2
(Ghost Town Games/Team 17 for PS4, Switch, Xbox One)
Best Online Multiplayer
Battlefield V
(EA DICE/EA for PC, PS4, Xbox One)
Best Independent Game
Ori and the Will of Wisps
(Moon Studios/Microsoft for PC, Xbox One)
Best Ongoing Game
Fortnite
(Epic for iOS, Mac, PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One)
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)
What do you think of this year’s Game Critics Awards winners? Note that the Special Commendations were added by the judges for games that were not playable (therefore ineligible for awards).
[Source: Game Critics Awards]
Biggest E3 Surprises in Sony History
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A Glimpse Into the Sony Archives
From an erratic Kevin Butler to Final Fantasy VII HD Remake, here are just some of the moments from E3 past that took us by surprise.
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PlayStation Price Reveal
We begin with one from the gaming archives: Sony’s reveal of the PlayStation price tag. More than 20 years ago, executive Steve Race walked on stage to announce that the PlayStation, a landmark machine that would go on to redraw the lines of console gaming, was to be priced at $299 – a full $100 cheaper than the Sega Saturn. It was the equivalent of dropping the mic…in 1995.
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PS3, Starting at $599
Proving that 10 years is a lifetime in the video game industry, Sony's E3 2006 press conference wrote its name in the history book for all the wrong reasons, whether it’s Kaz Hirai's half-hearted cry of "Riiiiiidge Racer!” or the mere mention of PS3’s eye-watering price point which, at $599, would’ve required two jobs to afford at launch. Yeesh!
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Valve Chief Gabe Newell Swings By Sony
To say that Gabe Newell was left disappointed by the PS3 would be to deal in wild understatement. For one, the Valve boss deemed Sony’s flagship hardware to be a “total disaster” and even suggested that the company cancel it and start over. Ouch!
So you can imagine our surprise when Newell swung by Sony’s E3 2010 presser to talk Portal 2. His appearance helped stoke excitement among the crowd, and it certainly helped that he was announcing one of the most beloved sequels of all time.
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Final Fantasy Jumps Airship
For the first time in the franchise's decorated history, XIII marked the first Final Fantasy title to go multiplatform, meaning Lightning's adventure was also available for Xbox owners.
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That Killzone 2 Trailer
Before the PS3 even hit store shelves, Guerrilla Games was already swinging for the fences – so much so, in fact, that the studio created a by-now infamous E3 trailer for Killzone 2 without actually knowing the PS3's final specs.
And sure enough, the sizzle reel blew everyone away with its deft animation and character models, though it later transpired that the studio was really playing fast and loose with its graphics benchmark for Killzone 2.
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Kiefer Sutherland Supplants David Hayter As Snake
For many Metal Gear fans, David Hayter is Solid Snake…and Big Boss, and Naked Snake, and Old Snake and, well, you get the drift. Fast forward to E3, though, and Konami announced changing of the guard. No longer would the gravel-voiced Hayter portray Metal Gear’s beloved lead; instead, the Powers That Be had chosen 24 actor Kiefer Sutherland. And Metal Gear would never be the same again.
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Kevin Butler’s Epic E3 Speech of 2010
With each passing year, E3 tends to serve up a headline-worhty speech (here's looking at you, Jason VandenBerghe), but none more memorable than Kevin Butler's epic speech of 2010.
Butler, a fictional marketing character brought to life with real glee by Jerry Lambert, took to the stage at E3 2010 to deliver a celebration of the gaming industry and all of its many quirks.
Cheesy? You betcha'. But there hasn't been another E3 speech like it.
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Sony Stakes a Claim For the Console Throne
If the Playstation powerhouse stole headlines left, right and center in 1995, only to drop the ball quite spectacularly in 2006, then E3 2013 marked Sony's claim for the console throne.
With the industry still reeling from Microsoft's newly-unveiled DRM policies and online requirements, all of which formed the basis of the Xbox One architecture, former Sony boss Jack Tretton executed what is perhaps the perfect PR coup, one which allowed PS4 to become the most sought-after console of 2013.
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E3 2015 and its Many Megatons
If Sony's 2013 presentation was all about hardware, then E3 2015 brought what will now be referred to as the hat trick of PS4 megatons: an HD remaster of Final Fantasy 7, The Last Guardian, and Shenmue 3.
Only one of those titles has made it to release (and even it took close to 10 years), though we'll be damned if Sony's E3 2015 presser wasn't one for the ages.
