2017 gaming awards – App Trigger superlatives edition

Studio of the Year – Nintendo EPD

In its first year on store shelves, Nintendo EPD has produced The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Splatoon 2 and Super Mario Odyssey; all titles worthy of picking up a brand-new console in their own rights. On top of Metroid: Samus Returns, a disappointing title in ARMS and the port of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, the studio has been working with a number of great teams to produce some of the most monumentally important, and excellent, titles of 2017 gaming.

In a year where the Nintendo Switch is primed to eclipse the Wii U’s lifetime sales in the first 12 months on store shelves, it is the efforts of Nintendo EPD consistently keeping Nintendo’s publishing schedule in line. As the studio expands to mobile development with Fire Emblem Heroes and Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp, the EPD division of the company has been firing on all cylinders in 2017.

Sure, Nintendo EPD doesn’t operate in the same way other development studios do around the world, but the management of all of its properties this year have nailed (and exceeded) all targets imaginable, turning the Nintendo Switch into the success story of the year.

Runners-up: PlatinumGames, Studio MDHR