Tonight, the Nordic Game Awards 2020 was held in Malmö, Sweden with a livestream of the remotely-held ceremony available to watch on Facebook, Twitter, and Twitch. Control and Sayonara Wildhearts were two games to look out for; both starting the evening with five nominations each.
The shortlist for the awards were announced in mid-April and saw Control nominated in the Game of the Year, Best Art, Best Design, Best Technology, and Best Audio categories.
The competition was tough, but Control took home two incredible and well-deserved awards; Best Technology (runners up include: Deep Rock Galactic, Minecraft Earth, Tom Clancy's The Division 2, and Trailmakers) and the coveted Nordic Game of the Year 2020 (runners up include: Baba is You, LEGO Builder's Journey, Mosiac, Sayonara Wildhearts).
Remedy's technology has always gotten a lot of love, and Control's tech especially has received positive feedback from the community and critics since the game's launch last year. In selecting the game, the judges mirrored a lot of those comments stating, "new technology brings new opportunities. Sometimes it's a foundation for something original, but other times it's an opportunity to take something great and make it spectacular. Control amplifies the atmosphere of the game world while simultaneously adding depth and richness to the gameplay."
Similarly, on the topic of choosing Control as their Game of the Year, the judges said, "All departments of the studio came together to create scenes containing immense godlike freedom in this year’s Nordic Game of the Year, Control. Though not groundbreaking the game offers a unique atmosphere that draws players into a mystic and surreal world that David Lynch would be proud to call his own." As David Lynch's work has been an inspiration to many of the developers at the studio, that's a comment that I bet they're going to enjoy.
Congratulations to the whole Control development team on their success at this year's Nordic Game Awards!
