The award for "Interactive Title of the Year" was renamed "Game of the Year". The award for "Outstanding Achievement in Character or Story Development" was introduced. There were some changes to the content awards for PC. Only finalists for "PC Action", "PC Adventure", "PC Role-Playing", "PC Simulation", "PC Sport", and "PC Strategy" were eligible for "Computer Entertainment Title of the Year". "Family/Kids Title of the Year" was separated into "Children's Entertainment Title of the Year" and "Family Title of the Year". "Edutainment Title of the Year" and "Skills Building Title of the Year" were replaced with "Educational Title of the Year (0-8 years)" and "Educational Title of the Year (9-16 years)". The content award for "Online Game of the Year" was separated into three genre-specific online content awards for "Action/Strategy", "Role-Playing", and "Family/Board".[2][3]
Any game that was nominated for a console genre award was also a nominee for "Console Game of the Year". Only finalists for "PC Action", "PC Adventure", "PC Role-Playing", "PC Simulation", "PC Sports", and "PC Strategy" were eligible for "Computer Entertainment Title Game of the Year".