Game of the Year Awards 2016

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Our staff-selected winners in 13 categories, plus our personal picks of the year.

We debated, we argued, we scuffled (actually it was a pleasant conference call), and we've come to a consensus: these are our favorite games of 2016. Every day we'll be posting a new 2016 award—as well as an individual staff pick—until we've celebrated all the best this year gave us.

As usual, we've started with our overall Game of the Year. No suspense here: the PC Gamer staff, as a whole, enjoyed Dishonored 2 the most this year. But there are many more games to celebrate, and we'll be updating this hub with each new award throughout the rest of December.

The awards

Game of the Year 2016: Dishonored 2
Best Strategy Game: XCOM 2
Best Puzzle Game: The Witness
Best Shortform Game: Inside
Best Racing Game: Forza Horizon 3
Best Writing: Firewatch
Best Expansion: The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine
Best Comeback: Doom
Best RPG: Darkest Dungeon
Best Setting: Dark Souls 3
Best Shooter: Titanfall 2
Spirit of the PC: Stardew Valley
Best Multiplayer: Overwatch

Staff picks

These games didn't quite make it into our main awards—there can only be one 'best RPG,' after all—but they still deserve celebrating. Each of our GOTY voters has chosen one game of 2016 to highlight as their personal staff pick for the year. We'll be posting new picks throughout the rest of December along with the primary awards above.

Chris Livingston: Duskers
James Davenport: Thumper
Tom Senior: Total War: Warhammer
Wes Fenlon: Overcooked
Tim Clark: The Elder Scrolls: Legends
Tyler Wilde: Civilization 6
Chris Thursten: Devil Daggers
Joe Donnelly: Kentucky Route Zero Act 4
Shaun Prescott: N++
Tom Marks: Duelyst
Samuel Roberts: Superhot
Andy Kelly: Hitman
Evan Lahti: Arma 3 Apex
Phil Savage: Watch Dogs 2

Past awards

Game of the Year Awards 2015
Game of the Year Awards 2014
Game of the Year Awards 2013

Phil Savage
Phil Savage
Editor-in-Chief

Phil has been writing for PC Gamer for nearly a decade, starting out as a freelance writer covering everything from free games to MMOs. He eventually joined full-time as a news writer, before moving to the magazine to review immersive sims, RPGs and Hitman games. Now he leads PC Gamer's UK team, but still sometimes finds the time to write about his ongoing obsessions with Destiny 2, GTA Online and Apex Legends. When he's not levelling up battle passes, he's checking out the latest tactics game or dipping back into Guild Wars 2. He's largely responsible for the whole Tub Geralt thing, but still isn't sorry.