IGN, the leading games coverage platform, released its Best of 2017 Awards results on Wednesday. The awards spanned dozens of categories across gaming, movies, television, and technology. Several results mirrored those of The Game Awards themselves, but there were several surprises as well. In addition to the official awards from the staff, People’s Choice Awards were given to the nominees with the highest tally of popular votes in each category.
The biggest honor was also probably the least shocking development. After raking in Game of the Year honors from the Game Awards and numerous other outlets, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild took home IGN’s top honor as well, both as the staff and people’s choice. The wildly successful Switch launch title also took home Best Action/Adventure Game and Most Innovative titles, though it fell to Cuphead in the Best Art Direction category.
Another game to rack up three victories was PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, the 100-man game of survival that became one of the most-played games ever, all while still in the Early Access phase. PUBG took home Best PC Game, Best Multiplayer, and Best Spectator Game. Interestingly enough considering its popularity, the game won no People’s Choice Awards.
While many of the overlapping categories between The Game Awards and IGN’s Best of 2017 yielded the same results, the truly unpredictable factor came from the People’s Choice Awards. The biggest beneficiary from the popular vote was none other than Doki Doki Literature Club, the free-to-play cult favorite from Dan Salvato.
Part anime dating sim, part psychological horror (more of the latter, really), DDLC racked up four People’s Choice Awards: Best PC Game, Best Story, Most Innovative, and Best Adventure Game. Whether because of the lack of price tag, acclaimed story, or mind-bending horror moments, it seems DDLC has acquired quite the following. Defeating games like Zelda and PUBG in popular votes is no small feat.
Headlined by the success of Breath of the Wild, Nintendo received numerous honors from both the IGN staff and the masses. Super Mario Odyssey, Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle, Metroid: Samus Returns, and Snipperclips joined Zelda as official awards recipients, with Fire Emblem Heroes also receiving a People’s Choice Award.
While it was utterly snubbed at The Game Awards, Horizon: Zero Dawn was not without recognition at IGN’s Best of 2017. The open-world masterpiece from Guerilla Games was awarded Best PS4 Game and Best Graphics, as well as runner-up for Best Action/Adventure game.