Mario + Rabbids, Wolfenstein 2, Shadow of War lead E3 critics’ nominations

Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, Middle-earth: Shadow of War and Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus were three of the best games of E3 2017, according to the world’s foremost gaming publications.

In the list of nominees for the 2017 Game Critics Awards, the aforementioned titles each received nods in four categories, including the coveted Best of Show. The other two games in that field are Assassin's Creed Origins and Super Mario Odyssey, each of which landed three nominations alongside Destiny 2.

Ubisoft led all publishers with a whopping 14 nominations — 11 more than it received last year. That was twice as many as the second-place finisher, Sony Interactive Entertainment. In the platform breakdown, which does not include the hardware category, the number of nominations was similar across PC (49), PlayStation 4 (49) and Xbox One (44); games for the Nintendo Switch, which launched less than four months ago, picked up 17 nominations.

If you’re wondering why some of the biggest games of E3 2017 are missing from the list of nominees, the organization stipulates that a game must be available to judges for at least five minutes. Titles that weren’t playable — by judges, on the E3 show floor — included a number of games with 2018 release dates, but also titles that are launching rather soon, such as BioWare’s Anthem, Studio MDHR’s Cuphead, SIE Santa Monica Studio’s God of War, Deck Nine Games’ Life is Strange: Before the Storm, EA Tiburon’s NBA Live 18, Insomniac Games’ Spider-Man and Naughty Dog’s Uncharted: The Lost Legacy.

You can see the full list of nominees, which includes a total of 58 products — 53 games and five pieces of hardware — below. The judging outlets that determine the Game Critics Awards comprise 38 publications from around the world, including Polygon and its sister site The Verge.

Best of Show
- Assassin’s Creed Origins (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft)
- Super Mario Odyssey (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
- Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle (Ubisoft Paris/Ubisoft Milan/Ubisoft)
- Middle-earth: Shadow of War (Monolith Productions/Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment)
- Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus (MachineGames/Bethesda Softworks)

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 Studios)
- Skull & Bones (Ubisoft Singapore/Ubisoft)

Best Console Game
- Assassin’s Creed Origins (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft)
- Super Mario Odyssey (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
- Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle (Ubisoft Paris/Ubisoft Milan/Ubisoft)
- Middle-earth: Shadow of War (Monolith Productions/Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment)
- Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus (MachineGames/Bethesda Softworks)

Best PC Game
- Destiny 2 (Bungie/Activision)
- Middle-earth: Shadow of War (Monolith Productions/Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment)
- Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord (TaleWorlds Entertainment)
- Total War: Warhammer 2 (The Creative Assembly/Sega)
- Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus (MachineGames/Bethesda Softworks)

Best VR Game
- Doom VFR (id Software/Bethesda Softworks)
- Fallout 4 VR (Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda Softworks)
- 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 2 (EA DICE/Motive/Criterion/Electronic Arts)
- Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus (MachineGames/Bethesda Softworks)

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 Productions/Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment)
- Super Mario Odyssey (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)

Best RPG
- Battle Chasers: Nightwar (Airship Syndicate/THQ Nordic)
- Kingdom Come: Deliverance (Warhorse Studios/Deep Silver)
- Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord (TaleWorlds Entertainment)
- Ni No Kuni 2: Revenant Kingdom (Level-5/Bandai Namco Entertainment)
- South Park: The Fractured But Whole (Ubisoft San Francisco/South Park Digital Studios/Ubisoft)
- Vampyr (Dotnod Entertainment/Focus Home Interactive)

Best Fighting Game
- Arms (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
- Dragon Ball FighterZ (Arc System Works/Bandai Namco Entertainment)
- Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite (Capcom)
- Pokkén 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 Entertainment)
- Need for Speed Payback (Ghost Games/Electronic Arts)
- Project CARS 2 (Slightly Mad Studios/Bandai Namco Entertainment)
- The Crew 2 (Ivory Tower/Ubisoft Reflections/Ubisoft)

Best Sports Game
- FIFA 18 (EA Vancouver/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 Paris/Ubisoft Milan/Ubisoft)
- Total War: Arena (The Creative Assembly/Sega/Wargaming)
- Total War: Warhammer 2 (The Creative Assembly/Sega)

Best Family/Social Game
- DropMix (Harmonix/Hasbro)
- Just Dance 2018 (Ubisoft Paris/Ubisoft)
- Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2 (TT Games/Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment)
- Hidden Agenda (Supermassive Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment)
- That’s You (Wish Studios/Sony Interactive Entertainment)

Best Online Multiplayer
- Call of Duty: WWII (Sledgehammer Games/Activision)
- Destiny 2 (Bungie/Activision)
- Star Wars Battlefront 2 (EA DICE/Motive/Criterion/Electronic Arts)
- Sea of Thieves (Rare/Microsoft Studios)
- 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)