Four games nominated for the 2016 Writers Guild of America Awards

As video games become more and more prestigious around the world, they begin to gather more and more attention from respectable organizations. The Writers Guild of America has acknowledged video games as a legitimate source of storytelling for several years now, and it is back with a list of nominees for the best written game of 2015.

To win a Videogame Writing Award, video game writers must have applied for membership, and they must have been given on-screen writing credits for the game.

I think it’s safe to assume that the front-runner heading into the award show is The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. The game has been a fan favorite all year, and it has torn up the competition in other award ceremonies. Joining it are other major console hits Assassin’s Creed Syndicate and Rise of the Tomb Raider.

And then there is the curious case of Pillars of Eternity, which I think has been sailing under the radar throughout much of the year. I haven’t played it yet, but I know that Obsidian is made up of very capable storytellers. And if it is anything like the games of old it was modeling itself after, like Baldur’s Gate and Icewind Dale, then that’s a force that shouldn’t be taken lightly.

Check out the full list of nominees below.

• Assassin’s Creed Syndicate: Story by Marc-Alexis Cote, Hugo Giard, Corey May, Jeffrey Yohalem; Narrative Director Corey May; Lead Writer Jeffrey Yohalem; Assistant Narrative Director Melissa MacCoubrey; Scriptwriters Russell Lees, Mark Llabres Hill, James Nadiger, Jared Schincariol, Travis Stout, Ceri Young; Additional Writing Judith Flanders, C.J. Kershner, Gabrielle Shrager, Danny Wallace; Additional Senior Writer Paul Monk; Ubisoft
• Pillars of Eternity: Lead Writer Eric Fenstermaker; Writers Carrie Patel, Olivia Veras; Additional Writing Chris Avellone, Jeff Husges, Matt MacLean, Jorge Salgado, Josh Sawyer, George Ziets; Obsidian Entertainment
• Rise of the Tomb Raider: Lead Narrative Designer John Stafford; Narrative Designer Cameron Suey; Lead Writer Rhianna Pratchett; Additional Writer Philip Gelatt; Microsoft
• The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt: Lead Writer Marcin Blacha; Lead English Writer Borys Pugacz-Muraszkiewicz; Writers Arkadiusz Borowik, Aleksandra Motyka, Bartosz Ochman, Karolina Stachyra, Jakub Szamalek; Additional Writers Marcin Batylda, Michal Galek, Tomasz Marchewka, Robert Oglodzinski, Rafal Praszalek, Artur Sliwinski, Stanislaw Swiecicki, Pawel Zych; Story Marcin Blacha, Jakub Szamalek; CD Projekt

The 2016 Writers Guild Awards will take place on Feb. 12 in both Los Angeles and New York.