NowTV’s Esports Industry Awards are back for a second year, with 12 judges and an audience vote to decide the most important people, names, and games of 2017.
With the aim to “honour and enhance their legacy in esports”, the stage one names and companies nominated in stage one consist of the following 11 categories:
Breakthrough Game of the Year
From PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds immediate explosion onto the top of Twitch’s viewer charts to Rainbow Six Siege’s slow, steady competitive growth, this category recognizes the games that have really made their mark on esports in the past year. Included in this category are nods to H1Z1, Quake Champions, Paragon, Injustice 2, and Vainglory – the mobile MOBA that’s seen a shockingly competent professional scene emerge.
Esports Commercial Partner of the Year
One of the most populous categories, the companies named in this category essentially make esports run. While the list is filled with mostly endemic computer and esports brands like Corsair, Logitech, ASUS, Scuf Gaming, and Steelseries, a few outside names make the list as well, including Gillette, Monster, and Arby’s, the latter of whom has sponsored Eleague since last year. All of the companies on this list have one thing in common: a close relationship within esports and a real, genuine interest in the scene’s growth.
Esports Coverage Website of the Year
The websites nominated for this category include ESPN Esports, Team Liquid, theScore Esports, PVP live, Slingshot Esports, GosuGamers, Dexerto, HLTV, Dot Esports, Red Bull Esports, and the The Esports Observer. It’s been an uphill battle for esports journalism to receive the credibility other areas of journalism might have, and the nominees in this category are notable for either pioneering a wave of credible, reliable esports journalism, or taking their level of professionalism up a notch.
Esports Journalist of the Year
In the same vein as the previous category, the Journalist of the Year award shines its spotlight on the individuals who have driven critical discussion in esports over the past year. The finalists include strident community figures Richard Lewis and Duncan “Thorin” Shields, plus Jacob Wolf and Tyler “Fionn” Erzberger – ESPN’s figureheads of their growing esports division. Other nominees include Ollie Ring, Tomi “lurppis” Kovanen, Mike Kent, Travis Gafford, Kelsey Moser, Tyler “Fionn” Erzberger, Aaron Mickunas and Steven “stuchiu” C.hiu
Esports Game of the Year
The usual suspects populate this list of nominations, to no one’s surprise. League of Legends, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, and Dota 2 have been perennial mainstays in the world of esports for years, but newcomers Overwatch have attempted to reclaim Blizzard’s esports crown. Also included are Street Fighter V, Capcom’s crown jewel of the Fighting Game community, and Rocket League, the breakout phenomenon from 2015.
Esports Hardware Provider of the Year
Similar to the Commercial Partner award, this award seeks to recognize the hardware companies that focus their efforts on esports performance. Including huge names like NVIDIA, AMD, Razer, HyperX, and Turtle Beach, esports would be a fragment of itself were it not for the support of many of these companies.
Esports Publisher of the Year
Behind great esports titles are publishers willing to embrace the culture and growth of the scene. Names like Riot Games, Blizzard Entertainment, and Valve are as essential to the industry’s expansion as the games and players themselves. Also on the list is fledgling company Psyonix, who pivoted their surprise hit Rocket League into a competitive circuit similar to Riot’s LCS system, and Super Evil Mecacorp, the developers behind Vainglory. Surprisingly, however, Nintendo received a nod, despite only recently verbally committing to esports at all.
Esports Photographer of the Year
In the first of two categories aimed at recognizing the behind-the-scenes names and faces, photographer of the year’s nominations include Robert Paul, Helena Kristiansson, Patrick Strack, Adela Sznajder, João Ferreira, and Joe Brady. These finalists set a standard of quality for any aspiring photographers breaking into the esports scene.
Esports Videographer of the Year
Team Solo Mid’s video director Max Olivo, Room on Fire’s Philipp Neubauer, and former Call of Duty pro and Drop the Bomb producer Tom Newman round out this category of content creators, alongside
Streamer of the Year
Enormous personalities headline this category’s nominations, with former League of Legends pro and 2016 winner Michael “imaqtpie” Santana, Dota 2 world champion Henrik “AdmiralBulldog” Ahnberg, Saqib “Lirik” Zahid, and Chance “Sodapoppin” Morris are all among some of the most watched streaming personalities in the world, and the niche culture and community that develops within each streamer’s channel deserves to be recognized. Other streamers who made the cut include Dr DisRespect, Paul ‘Ice_Poseidon’ Denino, Adam ‘Loop’ Bahriz, Christopher ‘Sacriel’ Ball, Joshua ‘Steel’ Nissan, Jaryd ‘Summit1G’ Lazar and Edwin ‘Castro_1021’ Castro.
Streaming Platform of the Year
The fact that this category exists and isn’t just a place to praise Twitch for its growth and dominance as a streaming platform speaks volumes. With Youtube’s strong appearance as a competitor, and Blizzard’s partnership with Facebook to allow integrated streaming through the Blizzard app, Twitch no longer has the monopoly it once enjoyed.
You can see all of the nominees and vote at Now TV’s Esports Industry Awards website, and watch the winners announced live in London on 13th Nov, 2017.
