Gamescom Scraps Best Nintendo Game Award Because It Has "Too Few" Games

Summary

• Gamescom scraps Best Nintendo Switch Game award due to lack of submissions, marking first year without category since Switch launch.
• Big triple-A titles like Little Nightmares 3, Dune: Awakening, and Star Wars: Outlaws lead nominations at Gamescom this year.
• Nintendo's absence from Gamescom awards signals Switch nearing end of life cycle, successor in the works.

It's clear the Nintendo Switch is in the last phases of its life cycle. Nintendo has already confirmed a successor is due, the rumor mill is truly turning, and Nintendo's slate, while still containing some great games, is lacking that big triple-A punch.

Hollow Knight: Silksong Won't Be At Gamescom

Put your clown makeup away, Hollow Knight fans.

Now, ahead of its yearly award ceremony, Gamescom has confirmed to TheGamer that it is scrapping its "Best Nintendo Switch Game" award because it received "too few submissions".

Gamescom Scraps Its Best Nintendo Game Award

Earlier today, the Gamescom organizers revealed their nominations for its yearly Gamescom awards. There were a number of general categories, like Best Visuals and Best Audio, alongside platform-specific awards. These awards included Best Xbox Game, Best PC Game, Best PlayStation Game, and Best Mobile Game, but the Nintendo Switch was inconspicuously missing.

In a statement to TheGamer, the show's organizers said, "There were too few submissions for the Best Nintendo Switch category this year. The award committee, therefore, decided to cancel the category."

There were too few submissions for the Best Nintendo Switch category this year. The award committee, therefore, decided to cancel the category.

It marks the first year since the Nintendo Switch launched that the platform doesn't have its own award category, and the first time since 2011, when platform-specific awards were just split into console and PC, that Nintendo hasn't appeared at all.

Last year, Nintendo hit Gamescom in a big way, with The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom scooping up four awards — Best Audio, Best Gameplay, Most Epic and Best Nintendo Game — and Pikmin 4 grabbing the Most Wholesome award.

This year looks a little lighter on the big triple-A titles. Little Nightmares 3 and Dune: Awakening lead the way with four nominations each, with Star Wars: Outlaws close behind, grabbing three.

Both 11-Bit Studios and Bandai Namco lead the way for total games nominated with three each. 11-Bit has The Alters, Creatures of Ava, and Frostpunk 2 all nominated, and Bandai Namco has Little Nightmares 3, Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero and Unknown 9: Awakening nominated.

Gamescom

Gamescom is the largest games industry event in the world, taking place each summer in Cologne, Germany. With attendances of over 300,000, it's often a who's who of developers, publishers and media.