Canadian eSports organizer Northern Arena’s first-ever Annual Canadian Game Awards (CGAs) took place Friday evening. Originally set to be a live event in April, Northern Arena postponed the awards and later transition to a pre-recorded digital event due to COVID-19.
The CGAs honoured several AAA and indie titles from a variety of Canadian developers. In case you missed it, we’ve got all the winners and losers down below.
Before we get into it, however, it’s worth noting that ahead of the event, the CGA Twitter account shared a statement noting that following a discussion with Ubisoft Montréal, it determined it was “no longer appropriate to include them in the Studio of the Year category.”
Statement about the Studio of the Year Category pic.twitter.com/ZeWeuF2dde
— The Canadian Game Awards (@cgameawards) September 18, 2020
The decision likely stems from several recent controversies regarding Ubisoft executives from various studios, including Ubisoft Toronto and Montréal. Polygon reports that Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot issued an apology earlier this month. While Guillemot didn’t specifically mention any individual or incident, the publication points to controversies which resulted in the resignations of Serge Hascoet, former editorial chief and Maxime Béland, editorial vice president at Ubisoft Toronto, as well as the dismissal of Ashraf Ismail, creative director of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla at Ubisoft Montréal. The company also fired vice president for editorial and creative services, Tommy Francois.
Canadian Game Award winners
Best Art Direction
The CGAs awarded Dauntless with the award for Best Art Direction. Phoenix Labs, an independent game studio with locations in Vancouver, B.C. as well as California and Washington, was the studio behind the game. Dauntless is available to play for free on Epic Games.
Best Game Design
Vancouver-based independent game studio Brace Yourself Games’ Cadence of Hyrule won the award for Best Game Design. Published by Nintendo, Cadence is a rhythm-based action adventure game featuring characters from the Legend of Zelda series. It’s available for $31.49 on the Nintendo Switch.
Best Score/Soundtrack
Outward won the award for Best Score at the CGAs. From Québec’s Nine Dots Studio, Outward is an open-world RPG with the premise that your character isn’t a powerful ‘chosen one’ hero, but instead a regular person. Outward is available on PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4 — it’s currently on sale for $16.99 on Steam (regular $49.99).
Best Performance
Leslie Miller won the CGA for Best Performance for her work as Lou, one of the main antagonists in Far Cry New Dawn. New Dawn is a first-person shooter from Ubisoft Montréal and a spin-off from the Far Cry series. It serves as a narrative sequel to Far Cry 5. New Dawn is available on PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4.
Best Narrative
Vancouver-based Piranha Games’ MechWarrior 5 Mercenaries won the CGA for Best Narrative. MW5M takes place in the year 3015, and puts players in the pilot seat of hulking ‘BattleMechs’ as they follow a path of “interstellar intrigue.” MW5M is available on Epic Games.
Best Audio Design
Ubisoft Montréal’s Far Cry New Dawn won the award for Best Audio Design as well, making it a good night for the game.
Best Canadian eSports Player
Russel ‘Twistzz’ van Dulken took home the CGA for Best Canadian eSports Player. Dulken is a professional Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player for Team Liquid.
Best Canadian eSports Host
Following up Best eSports Player was the award for Best Canadian eSports Host, which went to Marissa ‘MRob’ Roberto. Roberto hosts Digital SportsCentre on TSN.
Best Canadian eSports Organization
Toronto’s official Overwatch League team, Toronto Defiant, took home the CGA for Best Canadian eSports Organization.
Best Canadian eSports Event
CGA awarded Get On My Level (GOML) the Best Canadian eSports Event. GOML styles itself as “the North’s biggest” annual grassroots tournament.
Best Canadian Content Creator / Show
Vancouver-based YouTuber ‘DangerouslyFunny‘ took the award for Best Canadian Content Creator / Show. DangerouslyFunny takes gaming to a new level by exploring some silly ways of playing games, whether that’s by increasing the speed in every game of Among Us or turning Sims 4 into a battle royale game.
Best Canadian Streamer
Montréal’s Alicia ‘EightBitBlonde’ Alexandra won the CGA for Best Canadian Streamer.
Best Canadian Personality
Vancouver’s Cherry Thompson took home the CGA for Best Canadian Personality.
PC Game of the Year
Far Cry New Dawn returned to claim the CGA for PC Game of the Year, making the night a big one for Ubisoft Montréal.
Console Game of the Year
It was also a big night for Vancouver’s Brace Yourself Games, which took home the Console Game of the Year award for Cadence of Hyrule.
Mobile Game of the Year
Montréal-based Outerminds’ Pixelings won the award for Mobile Game of the Year. Pixelings has players team up with YouTuber PewDiePie to protect Pixeland from invaders. It’s available for free on iOS and Android.
Indie Game of the Year
Cadence of Hyrule also had a big night, taking home the award for Indie Game of the Year.
Game of the Year
Brace Yourself Games and its Cadence of Hyrule truly cleaned up, taking home a total of four awards including the CGA for Game of the Year.
Studio of the Year
Finally, CGA handed out the Studio of the Year award to Vancouver-based Klei Entertainment. The studio is responsible for games like Don’t Starve, Mark of the Ninja, Griftlands and more.
Those interested in learning more about the CGAs can check out its Twitter page. You can also head to the CGA website to see all the nominations for each category.
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