GOTY Flashback: 2015 Game Awards

Geoff Keighley will present the 2020 Game Awards to the best games from this past year on December 10th. But first, let’s travel back in time to an earlier incarnation of the show and see what was big in gaming in… 2015.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt racked up more nominations than any other title at the 2015 Game Awards, and it easily waltzed away with the “Game of the Year” prize. The game also secured the “Best Role Playing Game” statuette during the show, as well as “Developer of the Year” honors for CD Projekt Red.

While The Witcher 3 is known for its massive size, two smaller games also collected multiple awards during the 2015 ceremony. Sam Barlow’s Her Story took home the awards for “Best Narrative” and “Best Performance” (which was given to actress Viva Seifert). And Rocket League knocked two into the goal when it won for both “Best Independent Game” and “Best Sports/Racing Game.”

Nintendo also had a good night at the Game Awards in 2015 as Splatoon earned a pair of awards for its unique take on the multiplayer shooter (specifically, “Best Multiplayer” and “Best Shooter”), and “Best Family Game” went to Super Mario Maker.

Mortal Kombat X (“Best Fighting Game”), Life Is Strange (“Games For Change Award”), Ori and the Blind Forest (“Best Art Direction”), and Lara Croft Go (“Best Mobile/Handheld Game”) each won a single award.

Finally, Hideo Kojima’s Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain won “Best Action/Adventure Game” and “Best Score/Soundtrack,” though host Geoff Keighley explained that he couldn’t accept either award in person as Konami had barred him from the event. While that turn of events was a bit shocking (and frankly, rather petty), the biggest surprise from the 2015 Game Awards might have been that Bethesda’s Fallout 4 was completely shut out.

A complete list of all the winners and nominees from the 2015 Game Awards can be found after the break.

Jury-Voted Categories

Game of the Year

  • WINNER: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
  • Bloodborne
  • Fallout 4
  • Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
  • Super Mario Maker

Developer of the Year

  • WINNER: CD Projekt Red
  • Bethesda Game Studios
  • From Software
  • Kojima Productions
  • Nintendo

Best Independent Game

  • WINNER: Rocket League
  • Axiom Verge
  • Her Story
  • Ori and the Blind Forest
  • Undertale

Best Mobile/Handheld Game

  • WINNER: Lara Croft Go
  • Downwell
  • Fallout Shelter
  • Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate
  • Pac-Man 256

Best Narrative

  • WINNER: Her Story
  • Life is Strange
  • Tales From the Borderlands
  • The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
  • Until Dawn

Best Performance

  • WINNER: Viva Seifert (As Hannah Smith) – Her Story
  • Ashly Burch (As Chloe Price) – Life Is Strange
  • Camilla Luddington (As Lara Croft) – Rise of the Tomb Raider
  • Doug Cockle (As Geralt) – The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
  • Mark Hamill (As The Joker) – Batman: Arkham Knight

Best Art Direction

  • WINNER: Ori and the Blind Forest
  • Batman: Arkham Knight
  • Bloodborne
  • Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
  • The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

Best Score /Soundtrack

  • WINNER:Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain – Ludvig Forssell, Justin Burnett, and Daniel James
  • Fallout 4 – Inon Zur
  • Halo 5: Guardians – Kazuma Jinnouchi
  • Ori and the Blind Forest – Gareth Coker
  • The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Marcin Przybyłowicz, Mikolai Stroinski, and Percival

Best Shooter

  • WINNER: Splatoon
  • Call of Duty: Black Ops III
  • Destiny: The Taken King
  • Halo 5: Guardians
  • Star Wars: Battlefront

Best Action/Adventure Game

  • WINNER: Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
  • Assassin’s Creed Syndicate
  • Batman: Arkham Knight
  • Ori and the Blind Forest
  • Rise of the Tomb Raider

Best Role-Playing Game

  • WINNER: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
  • Bloodborne
  • Fallout 4
  • Pillars of Eternity
  • Undertale

Best Fighting Game

  • WINNER: Mortal Kombat X
  • Guilty Gear Xrd Sign
  • Rise of Incarnates
  • Rising Thunder

Best Family Game

  • WINNER: Super Mario Maker
  • Disney Infinity: Star Wars
  • Lego Dimensions
  • Skylanders SuperChargers
  • Splatoon

Best Sports/Racing Game

  • WINNER: Rocket League
  • FIFA 16
  • Forza Motorsport 6
  • NBA 2K16
  • Pro Evolution Soccer 2016

Best Multiplayer

  • WINNER: Splatoon
  • Call of Duty: Black Ops III
  • Destiny: The Taken King
  • Halo 5: Guardians
  • Rocket League

Games For Change

  • WINNER: Life Is Strange
  • Cibele
  • Her Story
  • Sunset
  • Undertale

Fan’s Choice

Most Anticipated Game

  • WINNER: No Man’s Sky
  • Horizon: Zero Dawn
  • Quantum Break
  • The Last Guardian
  • Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End

Esports Player of the Year

  • WINNER: Kenny “KennyS” Schrub (Team EnVyUs) – Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
  • Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok (SK Telecom T1) – League of Legends
  • Olof “olofmeister” Kajbjer (Fnatic) – Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
  • Peter “ppd” Dager (Evil Geniuses) – Dota 2
  • Syed Sumail “Suma1L” Hassan (Evil Geniuses) – Dota 2

Esports Team of the Year

  • WINNER: Optic Gaming
  • Evil Geniuses
  • Fnatic
  • SK Telecom T1
  • Team SoloMid

Esports Game of the Year

  • WINNER: Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
  • Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
  • Dota 2
  • Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft
  • League of Legends

Trending Gamer

  • WINNER: Greg Miller
  • Total Biscuit
  • Christopher “MonteCristo” Mykles
  • Markiplier
  • PewDiePie

Best Fan Creation

  • WINNER: Portal Stories: Mel
  • Grand Theft Auto V: Targets
  • Real Grand Theft Auto
  • Super Mario Maker e-Reader Levels
  • Twitch Plays Dark Souls

Author: VGC | John

John Scalzo has been writing about video games since 2001, and he co-founded Warp Zoned in 2011. Growing out of his interest in game history, the launch of Video Game Canon followed in 2017.