The eSports industry were out in force at the 2015 Game Awards in Los Angeles where Kenny “KennyS” Schrub walked out with the Player of the Year award.
The Microsoft Theatre, in Los Angeles, California was the scene for the second iteration of the awards ceremony. Schrub – a Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) player representing Team EnVyUs – outvoted League of Legends (LOL) player Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok, CS:GO player Olof “olofmeister” Kajbjer, and Dota 2 player’s Peter “ppd” Dager and Syed Sumail “Suma1L” Hassan.
It was an exceptional evening for the team behind CS:GO. Not only did Schrub win the top eSports player award, but they also walked away with the eSports Game of the Year award. Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, Dota 2, Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft and League of Legends were also on the short list.
Schrub wasn’t able to pick up the double in the eSports Team of the Year category. His team: EnVyUs didn’t make the shortlist. Evil Geniuses, Fnatic, SK Telecom T1 and Team SoloMid did. American team Optic Gaming beat them all to take the title. Optic Gaming is a Call of Duty and Halo team.
The Best of the Rest
The most sought after award was Game of the Year. The short list saw Bloodborne, Fallout 4, Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain, Super Mario Maker and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt compete. The award went to The Witcher 3, and their creators CD Projekt Red/Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. The Witcher 3 cost $81 million to create and sold 6 million copies in the first six weeks of sales.
Here is a full rundown of the award winners:
• Game of the Year: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
• Developer of the Year: CD Projekt Red
• Best Independent Game: Rocket League
• Best Mobile/Handheld Game: Lara Croft Go
• Best Narrative: Her Story
• Best Art Direction: Ori and the Blind Forest
• Best Score/Soundtrack: Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
• Best Performance: Viva Seifert (Her Story)
• Games for Change Award: Life Is Strange
• Best Shooter: Splatoon
• Best Action/Adventure: Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
• Best Role Playing Game: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
• Best Fighting Game: Mortal Kombat X
• Best Family Game: Super Mario Maker
• Best Sports/Racing Game: Rocket League
• Best Multiplayer: Splatoon
• Most Anticipated Game: No Man’s Sky
• Esports Player of the Year: Kenny “kennyS” Schrub
• Esports Team of the Year: Optic Gaming
• Esports Game of the Year: Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
• Trending Gamer: Greg Miller
• Best Fan Creation: Portal Stories: Mel (Prism Studios)
Metal Gear Solid Guru Banned From Attending
The biggest story of the night came from the microphone of the awards host Geoff Keighley after it transpired that Metal Gear Solid V won the best action/adventure game.
Keighley told the audience that the games creator Hideo Kojima ‘had every intention’ of attending the awards ceremony, but was ‘informed by lawyers representing Konami’ that he would not be allowed to. Actor Keifer Sutherland, the voice of Snake, accepted the award on behalf of Kojima and Konami.
The news didn’t go down well within the gaming community. It wasn’t only fans sharing their displeasure on Social Media. Top dogs from Infinity Ward, Ready at Dawn, Ubisoft and Far Cry also rallied in their support for a legend in the gaming industry.
News reports suggest that Kojima has since parted ways with Konami.
Kojima responded like a real gentlemen.
Thank you very much.
— HIDEO_KOJIMA (@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN) December 4, 2015
