Cuphead, the first game from Ontario and Saskatchewan-based Studio MDHR Entertainment, won three trophies at the glittering 2017 Game Awards, including Best Independent Game.
The Game Awards 2017 was a video game award ceremony and the fourth incarnation of The Game Awards, honoring the best video games and their achievements of 2017. The event was live streamed around the world across various platforms, with 11.5 million viewers in total watching the event. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild won three awards, including Game of the Year and Best Game Direction. Two indie games, Cuphead and Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, also won three awards each.
Cuphead is a run and gun indie video game developed and published by StudioMDHR. StudioMDHR is a video game company created by two brothers: Chad & Jared Moldenhauer.
As the title character Cuphead, along with his brother, Mugman, one or two players fight a series of bosses in order to repay a debt to the devil. It runs on Xbox One and Microsoft Windows platforms. The game was heavily inspired by the rubber hose style of animation used in cartoons of the 1930s, such as the work of studios Fleischer and Walt Disney Animation, seeking to emulate their subversive and surrealist qualities.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild which is a Nintendo platform game got three trophies for Game of the Year, Best Game Direction, and Best Action/Adventure Game.
Video game designer Carol Shaw won the industry icon award amid tremendous applause.
Many other popular games won awards at the ceremony. A full list of Game Awards 2017 nominees and winners is below.
Game of the Year
Winner: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)
Horizon Zero Dawn (Guerrilla Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Persona 5 (Atlus)
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG Corp.)
Super Mario Odyssey (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)
Best Game Direction
Winner: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo EPD)
Horizon Zero Dawn (Guerrilla Games)
Resident Evil 7: biohazard (Capcom)
Super Mario Odyssey (Nintendo EPD)
Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus (MachineGames / Bethesda)
Best Narrative
Winner: What Remains of Edith Finch (Ian Dallas / Giant Sparrow)
Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice (Tameem Antoniades, Elizabeth Ashman-Rowe / Ninja Theory)
Horizon Zero Dawn (John Gonzalez / Ninja Theory)
Nier: Automata (Yoko Taro, Hana Kikuchi, Yoshiho Akabane / Platinum Games)
Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus (Jen Matthies, Tommy Tordsson Bjork / MachineGames)
Best Art Direction
Winner:Cuphead (Studio MDHR Entertainment)
Destiny 2 (Bungie / Activision)
Horizon Zero Dawn (Guerrilla Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Persona 5 (Atlus)
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)
Best Score/Music
Winner: Nier: Automata (Keiichi Okabe, Keigo Hoashi)
Cuphead (Kristofer Maddigan)
Destiny 2 (Mike Salvatori, Skye Lewin, C Paul Johnson)
Persona 5 (Shoji Meguro)
Super Mario Odyssey (Naoto Kubo, Shiho Fujii, Koji Kondo)
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Manaka Kataoka, Yasuaki Iwata)
Best Audio Design
Winner: Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice (Ninja Theory)
Destiny 2 (Bungie)
Resident Evil 7: biohazard (Capcom)
Super Mario Odyssey (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)
Best Performance
Winner: Melina Juergens, Hellblade (as Senua)
Ashly Burch, Horizon: Zero Dawn (As Aloy)
Brian Bloom, Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus (as BJ Blazkowicz)
Claudia Black, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy (as Chloe Frazer)
Laura Bailey, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy (as Nadine Ross)
Games for Impact
Winner:Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice (Ninja Theory)
Bury Me, My Love (The Pixel Hunt / Figs / ARTE / Playdius)
Life is Strange: Before the Storm (Deck Nine / Square Enix)
Night in the Woods (Infinite Fall)
Please Knock on My Door (Levall Games AB)
What Remains of Edith Finch (Giant Sparrow / Annapurna Interactive)
Best Ongoing Game
Winner:Overwatch (Blizzard)
Destiny 2 (Bungie / Activision)
Grand Theft Auto Online (Rockstar Games)
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG. Corp)
Rainbow Six: Siege (Ubisoft Montreal / Ubisoft)
Warframe (Digital Extremes)
Best Independent Game
Winner: Cuphead (Studio MDHR Entertainment)
Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice (Ninja Theory)
Night in the Woods (Infinite Fall)
Pyre (Supergiant Games)
What Remains of Edith Finch (Giant Sparrow / Annapurna Interactive)
Best Mobile Game
Winner: Monument Valley 2 (ustwo games)
Fire Emblem Heroes (Intelligent Systems / Nintendo)
Hidden Folks (Adriaan de Jongh / Sylvain Tegroeg)
Old Man’s Journey (Broken Rules)
Super Mario Run (Nintendo)
Best Handheld Game
Winner: Metroid: Samus Returns (MercurySteam / Nintendo)
Ever Oasis (Grezzo / Nintendo)
Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia (Intelligent Systems / Nintendo)
Monster Hunter Stories (Marvelous / Capcom / Nintendo)
Poochy and Yoshi’s Woolly World (Good-Feel / Nintendo)
Best VR/AR Game
Winner: Resident Evil 7: biohazard (Capcom)
Farpoint (Impulse Gear / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Lone Echo (Ready at Dawn / Oculus Studios)
Star Trek: Bridge Crew (Red Storm Entertainment / Ubisoft)
Superhot VR (SUPERHOT Team)
Best Action Game
Winner:Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus (MachineGames / Bethesda)
Cuphead (Studio MDHR Entertainment)
Destiny 2 (Bungie / Activision)
Nioh (Team Ninja / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Prey (Arkane Studios / Bethesda)
Best Action/Adventure Game
Winner: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)
Assassin’s Creed Origins (Ubisoft Montreal / Ubisoft)
Horizon Zero Dawn (Guerrilla Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Super Mario Odyssey (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)
Uncharted: The Lost Legacy (Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Best Role-Playing Game
Winner:Persona 5 (Atlus)
Divinity: Original Sin II (Larian Studios)
Final Fantasy 15 (Square Enix Business Division 2 / Square Enix)
Nier: Automata (Platinum Games / Square Enix)
South Park: The Fractured But Whole (Ubisoft San Francisco / Ubisoft)
Best Fighting Game
Winner: Injustice 2 (NetherRealm Studios / Warner Bros. Interactive Ent)
Arms (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)
Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite (Capcom)
Nidhogg 2 (Messhof Games)
Tekken 7 (Bandai Namco Studios / Bandai Namco Entertainment)
Best Family Game
Winner:Super Mario Odyssey (Nintendo EAD / Nintendo)
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Nintendo EAD / Nintendo)
Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle (Ubisoft Paris + Milan / Ubisoft)
Sonic Mania (PagodaWest Games, Headcannon / Sega)
Splatoon 2 (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)
Best Strategy Game
Winner:Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle (Ubisoft Paris + Milan / Ubisoft)
Halo Wars 2 (Creative Assembly, 343 Industries / Microsoft Studios)
Total War: Warhammer 2 (Creative Assembly / Sega)
Tooth and Tail (Pocketwatch Games)
XCOM 2: War of the Chosen (Firaxis Games / 2K)
Best Sports/Racing Game
Winner: Forza Motorsport 7 (Turn 10 Studios / Microsoft Studios)
FIFA 18 (EA Vancouver / EA)
Gran Turismo Sport (Polyphony Digital / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
NBA 2K18 (Visual Concepts / 2K Sports)
Pro Evolution Soccer 2018 (PES Productions / Konami)
Project Cars 2 (Slightly Mad Studios / Bandai Namco Entertainment)
Best Multiplayer
Call of Duty: WWII (Sledgehammer Games / Activision)
Destiny 2 (Bungie / Activision)
Fortnite (Epic Games)
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Nintendo EAD / Nintendo)
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG Corp.)
Splatoon 2 (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)
Most Anticipated Game
Winner:The Last of Us Part 2 (Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
God of War (Santa Monica Studio / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Marvel’s Spider-Man (Insomniac Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Monster Hunter: World (Capcom)
Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)
Trending Gamer
Winner: Guy Beahm (“Dr. Disrespect”)
Andrea Rene (What’s Good Games)
Clint Lexa (“Halfcoordinated”)
Mike Grzesiek (“Shroud”)
Steven Spohn (AbleGamers)
Best eSports Game
Winner:Overwatch (Blizzard)
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (Valve)
Dota 2 (Valve)
League of Legends (Riot)
Rocket League (Psyonix)
Best eSports Player
Winner: Lee Sang-hyeok “Faker” (SK Telecom 1, League of Legends)
Marcelo “coldzera” David (SK Gaming, Counter-Strike: GO)
Nikola ‘NiKo’ Kovac (FaZe Clan, Counter-Strike: GO)
Je-hong “ryujehong” Ryu (Seoul Dynasty, Overwatch)
Kuro “KuroKy” Salehi Takhasomi (Team Liquid, Dota 2)
Best eSports Team
Winner: Cloud 9
FaZe Clan
Lunatic-Hai
SK Telecom T1
Team Liquid
Student Game Award
Winner:Level Squared (Kip Brennan, Stephen Scoglio, Dane Perry Svendsen / Swinburne University)
Falling Sky (Jonathan Nielssen, Nikolay Savoy, Mohsen Shah / National Film & TV School)
From Light (Alejandro Grossman, Steven Li, Sherveen Uduwana / USC)
Hollowed (Erin Marek, Jerrick Flores, Charley Choucard / University of Central Florida)
Impulsion (Hugo Verger, Remi Bertrand, Maxime Lupinski / IIM)
Meaning (Hariz Yet / DigiPen Institute of Technology Singapore)
Best Debut Indie Game
Winner: Cuphead (Studio MDHR Entertainment)
Golf Story (Sidebar Games)
Hollow Knight (Team Cherry)
Mr. Shifty (Team Shifty)
Slime Rancher (Monomi Park)
Chinese Fan Game Award
Winner:jx3 HD《剑网3》重制版 (Kingsoft Corporation)
Honor of Kings《王者荣耀》 (Timi Studio Group)
ICEY《艾希》(FantaBlade Network)
Gumballs & Dungeons《不思议迷宫》(QcPlay Limited)
Monument Valley 2《纪念碑谷2》(ustwo games)
