After almost 100,000 votes, these are the games that were elected the best of 2012 in each of their respective categories. It's important to note that no game here offered in-game items, or any other sort of unfair advantage in return for their players' votes. Every game did indeed ask their players to go vote for them however, which is always encouraged. As in any election, without campaigning you can't expect to win. Congrats to all the winners, and this just goes to show what a devoted company with loyal fans and a solid campaign can do when they pull together.
Without anymore commentary, here are the 2012 MMORPG.com Player's Choice Winners. If you'd like to check the final tallies on the votes, you can view the now closed polls HERE.
GAME OF THE YEAR: Pirate101
With 27.8% of the vote (0.5% more than Guild Wars 2), KingsIsle (home of some of the devs that brought us Shadowbane) proved that a family friendly MMO can have a legion of loyal fans behind a deceptively deep and engaging strategy MMORPG. Congrats to P101 for this fantastic upset.
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Runner Up: Guild Wars 2
MOST ANTICIPATED: Elder Scrolls Online
The Most Anticipated category was not so close as GotY. Elder Scrolls Online dominated the competition with 29.2% of the vote, and Star Citizen coming in a distant 2nd with 12.7%. Congrats to Zenimax Online Studios. Now you'd better not let us down when the game launches at the end of 2013!
Runner Up: Star Citizen
MOST INNOVATIVE: Guild Wars 2
In another very close race, ArenaNet's Guild Wars 2 eeked our Pirate101 to take home the Most Innovative title this year. With its shunning of standard MMO conventions, ArenaNet managed to build the most critically acclaimed MMORPG in years. Congrats, ANet and NCsoft!
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Runner Up: Pirate101
RISING STAR: Star Citizen
This year's Rising Star (could also be called "The Dark Horse Award") goes to Chris Roberts' incredibly ambitious space-sim MMO. Crowdfunded for over $7mln, and promising a feature-set that would make most hardcore gamers cry with joy if even half of them came to fruition, Star Citizen looks to be one of the PC gaming world's next big things.
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Runner Up: DayZ
BEST HYBRID MMO: League of Legends
With over 30% of the total votes, Riot Games' League of Legends is crowned this year's Best Hybrid MMO. And considering it's also the worlds most played game even over World of Warcraft, did you expect anything less? Congratulations to LoL and Riot for an absolutely monumental 2012.
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Runner Up: World of Tanks
