In Toronto last Friday (Nov. 21), the Canadian Videogame Awards were handed out for 2013 and 2014. (I was a member of the jury for both years, it should be noted.)

Montreal’s Ubisoft was the big winner, taking home the awards for Game of the Year in both years, for Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag in 2013 and Watch_Dogs in 2014. (The full list of winners is below.)

The only Lower Mainland studio taking home an award was Next Level for Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon. Electronic Arts, which has a sizeable campus in Burnaby, was shut out, despite producing popular games like FIFA and NHL.

On the phone from EA Canada, Colin Macrae said he was “disappointed”.

“We submitted games under a number of different categories,” explained Macrae, the senior director of communications for the studio.

“It’s up the game community to nominate themselves,” said Victor Lucas, a co-producer of the CVAs. In a phone interview he said that he was disappointed that judges weren’t able to consider Dragon Age: Inquisition or Far Cry 4 for the 2014 awards, because the publishers weren’t able to provide the jury with copies of the games in time.

Producers moved the CVAs from the spring to the fall to accommodate publishers who wanted to capitalize on the promotional bang that can come from an award-show win during the holiday buying season. Handing out awards for both 2013 and 2014 in the same event was a way to reconcile the schedule.

Lucas said that going forward he’d like to hold the CVAs in the last week of November, to give developers a couple of extra weeks to submit materials.

If games aren’t ready to be played by jury members by early November, reasoned Lucas, they won’t be ready to release to the public in time for the holiday buying season. “Or the games will be broken,” he added.

Macrae said that EA is looking forward to next year’s CVAs, when he expects Dragon Age: Inquisition to be in competition. “It just came out and is globally in the conversation,” he said, adding that it’s been nominated for Best Role Playing Game and Game of the Year in The Game Awards, which debuts in Las Vegas next month.

Actor Mark Meer hosted last week’s awards show, and presenters included other actors with experience working on video game productions, including Kate Drummond, Jennifer Hale, Roger Craig Smith, and Eliax Toufexis, as well as on-air personalities from EP Media.

The CVAs were streamed on Twitch and EPN.tv, and will be broadcast on G4 Canada on Saturday, November 29 (6 p.m., 9 p.m., and midnight local time) and Sunday, November 30 (2 p.m., 7 p.m., and 11 p.m. local time).

Winners of the 2014 Canadian Videogame Awards

Best Console Game

Watch_Dogs

Best Downloadable Game

Child of Light

Best Game on the Go

Skylanders Trap Team

Best iOS Game

Hitman GO

Best Social/Casual Game

i saw her across the world

Best Animation

Child of Light

Best Audio

Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag Freedom Cry

Best Game Design

Hitman GO

Best Game Innovation

Super Time Force

Best Indie Game

Always Sometimes Monsters

Best New Character

Child of Light (Aurora)

Best Original Music

Child of Light: Aurora’s Theme

Best Technology

Watch_Dogs

Best Visual Arts

Child of Light

Best Writing

Always Sometimes Monsters

Game of the Year

Watch_Dogs

Fans’ Choice Award

Dragons: Rise of Berk

Winners of the 2013 Canadian Videogame Awards

Best Console Game

Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag

Best Downloadable Game

Guacamelee!

Best Game on the Go

Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon

Best iOS Game

Baldur’s Gate II: Enhanced Edition

Best Social/Casual Game

UNO & Friends

Best Animation

Batman: Arkham Origins

Best Audio

Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon

Best Game Design

Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag

Best Game Innovation

Contrast

Best Indie Game

Guacamelee!

Best New Character

Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag (Edward Kenway)

Best Original Music

Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon (Power Core by Power Glove)

Best Technology

Dead Rising 3

Best Visual Arts

Batman: Arkham Origins

Best Writing

Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag

Game of the Year

Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag

Fans’ Choice Award

Outlast

Cross-posted at the Georgia Straight