Even though Elden Ring won Game of the Year, five Nintendo Switch exclusives managed to take home an award.
Kirby & The Forgotten Land won Best Family Game and was nominated against Lego Star Wars: Skywalker Saga, Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope, Nintendo Switch Sports, and Splatoon 3. This marks the first time Kirby has received a Game Award.
Bayonetta 3 won Best Action Game and was nominated against Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, Neon White, Sifu, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge.
Splatoon 3 won Best Multiplayer Game and was nominated against Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, MultiVersus, Overwatch 2, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge. This is not the first time a Splatoon game won at The Game Awards since the first Splatoon had won the awards for both Best Multiplayer AND Best Shooter back in 2015.
Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope won Best Sim/Strategy and was nominated against Dune: Spice Wars, Total War: WARHAMMER III, Two Point Campus, and Victoria 3.
Finally, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom won Most Anticipated Game and was nominated against Final Fantasy XVI, Hogwarts Legacy, Resident Evil 4, and Starfield.
Another Switch exclusive, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 was nominated for Game of the Year, Best Score/Music, and Best Role Playing Game; however, it went home empty. It lost to Elden Ring for the GOTY and RPG categories and God of War: Ragnarok for the Best Score/Music category. Regardless, Nintendo Switch had a lot more wins this year when compared to last year’s awards.
The full list of winners can be found here.
Dave’s first Nintendo platform was the GameCube when he was age 7; however, he was introduced to Nintendo through Duck Hunt on NES.