#Noonies2021 Awards: The List of Winners in the Gaming Category

HackerNoon went all out for its annual Noonies Awards in 2021, making it the most exciting Noonies to date.

This year we had more awards than ever before. That means more winners too! In case you don’t believe us, here are some stats for ya’ll:

• 4,961 nominees.
• 586 HackerNoon awards.
• Across 6 award categories: Decentralization, Gaming, Internet Heroes, Internet, Software Development, and Technology.
• A monumental 105,122 votes cast over at noonies.tech

The Noonies Winners Announcement series will announce some of the top founders, hackers, and makers in all 6 categories.

But for now, let’s focus our attention on the gaming category:

The gaming industry seems to be growing faster both the cinema and music industries combined.

Yes, they called us losers. Yes, they told us we'd forever live in our mother's basements. But look who's laughing now!

In 2021, you can literally make a living by playing video games and streaming your gameplay on Twitch, YouTube, Mixer, and more. A single hit video game can turn a development studio no one's ever heard of into a household name in the gaming community.

Throughout the pandemic, we saw Triple-A studios provide us with the escape we needed in games like Call of Duty: Warzone, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and the long-awaited Final Fantasy 7 Remake.

To give recognition to the hard-working game developers and studios out there that are bringing us the games we love, the games we need, and the games that take our breath away, we've added Gaming as a category to this year's Noonies Technology Awards.

Please see the awards below, nominate, and vote for the devs you're most thankful for and the devs you respect the most!

Grab your popcorn, and get ready for the enjoyment!

Best Gaming Discord Community

From Twitch streamers and YouTubers to MMORPGs and E-Sports communities, Discord helps gamers connect with like-minded individuals all over the world.

Discord has become almost synonymous with Twitch and these communities help us feel truly connected when enjoying the games we love.

And the best Discord community is,

Ethermore 🎉

Ethermore is a collection of unique NFT characters that are your passport to participate in the evolving world and lore of a fantasy metaverse.

Blockchain Game Developer of the Year

From building the metaverse to giving players the ability to own their in-game items, blockchain game developers are working to create the next iteration of video games and the games-as-a-service model.

This award highlights some of the most prominent players in the blockchain gaming industry today and the awesome projects they're working on.

The winner from this category is:

Splinterlands 😎

Splinterlands makes it easy to earn on a daily basis. Players can win rewards from Tournaments, Ranked play, and Quests! No matter what your skill level or collection size, there is always an opportunity to earn!

Mobile Game Developer of the Year

Without a doubt, the rise of the mobile gaming market helped skyrocket the total number of "gamers" worldwide.

Both the casual gaming market and triple-A mobile games have turned non-gamers into gamers and have had seasoned gamers reaching for their mobile phones to play the pocket versions of their favorite franchises.

The Mobile Game Developer of the year is:

Supercell

Supercell has been in the mobile space for a while now.

They are the developers behind the hit game Clash of Clans alongside other hit mobile titles. They are often underrated and are still top of the game in terms of developing quality mobile games.

VR Game Developer of the Year

It's undeniable that the next leap in the video game industry is going to come from the rapidly growing virtual reality gaming market.

We are still in the genre's early stages, and thus it is like we are the lucky ones who get to experience Disney Land as it's getting built. This award honors the VR game devs whose passion has helped the VR game industry grow to become what it is today.

XR Games

XR Games was established in 2017, and is the studio behind VR titles ‘Angry Birds Under Pressure’, ‘All-Star Fruit Racing VR’, and ‘Zombieland VR: Headshot Fever’. Zombieland VR hit $1m revenue within five months and is a ‘Game of the Year’ finalist at the 2021 VR Awards.

Gaming Twitch Streamer of the Year

With streamers from all over the world making quality content in almost every gaming genre imaginable, there are tons of amazing content creators to choose from. Let's honor the Twitch streamers that gave their all this year by nominating them for Gaming Twitch Streamer of the Year

Corporate Streamer

After climbing the corporate ladder at Canada’s largest Media company, I went on to work for 2 Fortune 500 companies. My 15 year Corporate Sales career has blessed me with world-class training, connections, and skills I've refined over the years. I'm a talker, not a gamer, so come exchange advice.

Multiplayer Game of the Year

With many of us stuck inside throughout 2021, multiplayer video games were a form of connection that provided a much-needed escape from the gong show of a year we've had. For some of us, chatting with our friends over a video game was our only way to keep in touch. Which multiplayer game did you play most in 2021?

Let's honor the games that helped connect us with friends from all over the world by nominating them for Multiplayer Game of the Year.

And the winner is... wait! it looks kinda sus to me.

Among Us

Among Us is a party game of teamwork and betrayal. Crewmates work together to complete tasks before one or more Impostors can kill everyone aboard.

Gaming YouTuber of the Year

From retro game collectors to pro Twitch streamers, YouTube Gaming has grown tremendously over the years. With a myriad of content available on the platform, there's a channel for everyone no matter your gaming tastes. Which Gaming YouTuber do you watch religiously? Help them out by nominating them for Gaming YouTuber of the Year.

BMFVR

BMF is the unofficial home of all things Oculus Quest! Whether it's game reviews, first impressions, tips & tricks, or even random thoughts on the Oculus Quest you will find it here. The future of Virtual Reality is here with the coming of the Oculus Quest and we want to help document it and show people the amazing world that exists in VR through this amazing breakthrough.

Free-to-Play Game of the Year

From Fortnite and COD: Warzone to Rocket League and Genshin Impact, the free-to-play gaming market is bigger than ever before. Which free-to-play game provided the best gaming experience in 2021? Nominate your favorites for Free-to-Play Game of the Year!

And the Free to Play Game of the Year is...

Hearthstone

Hearthstone is one of the most popular online card games available today.

Indie Game Developer of the Year

True art comes from passion, and indie game developers pour their heart, soul, and lives into their games. This award honors the hardworking indie game devs that help make the video game industry what it is today, and bring us the titles we couldn't live without.

Some of the best games ever created didn't come from triple-A studios with multi-million dollar budgets. Sometimes passion, dedication, and love for the medium are enough to make something magical.

The Best Indie Game Developer of the Year award goes to...

Starchi

Voted as the leading IDO launchpad incubator and investor network based on average ROI by CryptoRank, Starter presents Starchi, their first play-to-earn blockchain game featuring nostalgic battle leagues that promote societal values inspired by the original Tamagotchi.

HackerNoon Contributor of the Year - GAMING

Oh, you're a gaming nerd? Finally, you found us. Read along what the rest of the HackerNoon gaming community has to say about your current and future favorite video games.

Jack Boreham

Jack is a freelance writer and content creator. You can check out his work on his website PixelPolitics.co.uk

HackerNoon Contributor of the Year - GAME DEVELOPMENT

The Noonies celebrates the amazing people who power the technology industry. And especially those who write, those who shine a spotlight on triumphs, fumbles, hacks, why's that, how-tos and breakthroughs. This award is for the highest quality GAME DEVELOPMENT stories on HackerNoon

And the winner is,

Tigerchops

Bought some NFTs, The SandBox 1 week Challenge runner-up.

HackerNoon Contributor of the Year - GAMES

The Noonies celebrates the amazing people who power the technology industry. And especially those who write, those who shine a spotlight on triumphs, fumbles, hacks, why's that, how-tos and breakthroughs.

This award is for the highest quality GAMES stories on HackerNoon

Jose

Jose is an entertainment writer. Loves games, movies, and comics. Also loves talking in the third person.

HackerNoon Contributor of the Year - VIDEO-GAMES

The Noonies celebrates the amazing people who power the technology industry. And especially those who write, those who shine a spotlight on triumphs, fumbles, hacks, why's that, how-tos, and breakthroughs. This award is for the highest quality VIDEO-GAMES stories on HackerNoon

Jack Boreham

Jack is a freelance writer and content creator. You can check out my work on my website PixelPolitics.co.uk

Game of the Year

With such a wide array of amazing game releases in 2021, how do you crown just 1 title "Game of the Year"? Maybe you're a lover of stories and you gravitate to the games with the best narrative.

Maybe you're a VR-fanatic and the games with the best immersion top your list, or maybe you just like squading up with your friends and wreaking havoc in military sims.

Games are subjective.

What you may like others may hate and vice versa, and that's ok. So together, let's nominate and vote for the game release we enjoyed the most in 2021, and honor the hardworking developers behind them!

Out of all the games released this year, on all the platforms of all the genres, there could be only one game that has the crown of the best game. And the game is...

It Takes Two 🎉🥳

It Takes Two is an action-adventure game developed by Hazelight Studios and published by Electronic Arts under the EA Originals label. The game was released for Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S in March 2021.

More Information:

If you’re a winner, please answer this interview! If you’re a reader, participant, or just a curious individual, consider answering one of our other interviews here.

Read about the Noonies here. To see all of the winners you may visit this site, pick any award, and view the name that appears at the top.

Or follow this account for posts with the list of names released over the course of the week of February 14, 2022.

The Noonies Winners Annoucement series will announce some of the top founders, hackers, and makers in all 6 categories.

Thank you to all of our sponsors!

We truly appreciate your contribution to the tech world and thus the future! The Noonies Awards are sponsored by: Bybit, Avast, TECH Domains and hosted by: HackerNoon!

This post was written/compiled by Kaushal Joshi, Limarc Ambalina, and edited by Ellen Stevens.