| ENNIES | |
| Country: | United Kingdom & United States |
| Awarded For: | Best role-playing games of previous year |
| Presenter: | Gen Con |
| Year: | 2001 |
| Former Name: | ENnie Awards |
The ENNIE Awards (previously stylized as ENnie Awards)[1] [2] are awards for role-playing game (RPG) products (including game-related accessories, publications, and art) and their creators. The awards were created in 2001 by Russ Morrissey of EN World in partnership with Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D Third Edition News.[3] The ceremony has been hosted at Gen Con in Indianapolis since 2002. Since 2018, EN World is no longer associated with the awards.
The ENNIES comprise two rounds. In the first round, publishers submit their products for nomination. Entries are judged by five democratically elected judges. The nominated products are voted on by the public in the second round. Winners of the annual awards are then announced at a ceremony at Gen Con.
The award ceremony initially focused on the d20 System products and publishers. It has come to include "all games, supplements, and peripheral enterprises".[4] Since 2002, the awards have been announced at a live ceremony at Gen Con. It is now considered a "signature part" of the convention. Author George R. R. Martin referred to the ENNIE Awards as "the most prestigious honors in role-playing" in 2010.[5]
The nominees are chosen by a panel of judges, and the winners are voted on by the public and presented at an award show done in collaboration between Gen Con and EN World.[6]
In 2007, the ENNIES were sponsored by the corporation Your Games Now, followed by Avatar Art in 2008. In 2010, 2011, and 2012, they were sponsored by both Indie Press Revolution and DriveThruRPG. From 2013 to 2016, they were sponsored by DriveThruRPG alone. In 2015, Campaign Coins made the medals as a sponsorship; Lone Wolf Development became a sponsor in 2017. The awards were run and owned by Morrissey until 2019.[7]
In 2015, the awards disqualified the unofficially licensed Mass Effect RPG for copyright violations.[8]
In 2020, Massif Press withdrew its RPG Lancer from the competition over a 2017 controversy, where a game module for the Lamentations of the Flame Princess system titled Blood in the Chocolate received a Gold award in the Adventure category, despite being widely described as 'offensive', 'particularly icky', and 'simply ridiculous' by press, industry members and the publisher itself.[9] [10] Charlie Hall commented for Polygon in 2020:[11]
The ENNIE Awards bestow a Gold Winner and a Silver Winner for 1st and 2nd place winners, respectively., the current categories are:[12]
The categories change yearly, depending on the nominations.