The 17th annual Game Developers Choice Awards will take place at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco on March 1, and the nominees for each category have been revealed. Hosted once again by Double Fine’s Tim Schafer, a Best VR/AR Game category will be new this year to the list of awards.
Playdead’s Inside leads the list of games with six nominations. Other popular games this year include the fantastic Firewatch and iDigitalTimes’ Game of the Year for 2016: Overwatch. Probably most surprising is the inclusion of No Man’s Sky, which managed to get two nominations this year for best innovation and best technology. The list of awards and nominees are as follows:
BEST AUDIO
Battlefield 1 (EA DICE / Electronic Arts)
Thumper (Drool)
DOOM (id Software / Bethesda Softworks)
Inside (Playdead)
Overwatch (Blizzard Entertainment)
Honorable Mentions: Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment), Rez Infinite (Monstars / Enhance Games), Hyper Light Drifter (Heart Machine), Firewatch (Campo Santo / Panic), Dishonored 2 (Arkane Studios / Bethesda Softworks), The Last Guardian (JAPAN Studio / Sony Interactive Entertainment), Titanfall 2 (Respawn Entertainment / Electronic Arts)
BEST DEBUT
Heart Machine (Hyper Light Drifter)
Campo Santo (Firewatch)
ConcernedApe (Stardew Valley)
Drool (Thumper)
Night School Studio (Oxenfree)
Honorable Mentions: SUPERHOT Team (SUPERHOT), Numinous Games (That Dragon, Cancer), Giant Squid Studios (Abzu), Ghost Town Games (Overcooked), iNK Stories (1979 Revolution: Black Friday)
BEST DESIGN
Overwatch (Blizzard Entertainment)
Dishonored 2 (Arkane Studios / Bethesda Softworks)
The Witness (Thekla)
Inside (Playdead)
DOOM (id Software / Bethesda Softworks)
Honorable Mentions: Titanfall 2 (Respawn Entertainment / Electronic Arts), Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment), Dark Souls III (From Software / Bandai Namco Entertainment), Firewatch (Campo Santo / Panic), Hitman (IO Interactive / Square Enix)
BEST MOBILE/HANDHELD GAME
Super Mario Run (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)
Clash Royale (Supercell)
Pokémon Go (Niantic)
Reigns (Nerial / Devolver Digital)
Pokémon Sun/Moon (Game Freak / The Pokémon Company)
Honorable Mentions: Mini Metro (Dinosaur Polo Club), Severed (DrinkBox Studios), Deus Ex: Go (Square Enix Montreal / Square Enix), Fire Emblem Fates (Intelligent Systems and Nintendo SPD / Nintendo), Imbroglio (Michael Brough), Swap Sword (AP Thomson and Diego Garcia)
INNOVATION AWARD
The Witness (Thekla)
Inside (Playdead)
No Man’s Sky (Hello Games)
Firewatch (Campo Santo / Panic)
Pokémon Go (Niantic)
Honorable Mentions: That Dragon, Cancer (Numinous Games), The Last Guardian (JAPAN Studio / Sony Interactive Entertainment), SUPERHOT (SUPERHOT Team), Thumper (Drool), Quadrilateral Cowboy (Blendo Games)
BEST NARRATIVE
The Last Guardian (JAPAN Studio / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Oxenfree (Night School Studio)
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Inside (Playdead)
Firewatch (Campo Santo / Panic)
Honorable Mentions: That Dragon, Cancer (Numinous Games), Dishonored 2 (Arkane Studios / Bethesda Softworks), The Witcher 3: Blood & Wine (CD Projekt RED / CD Projekt), Kentucky Route Zero - Act IV (Cardboard Computer), Mafia III (Hangar 13 / 2K Games)
BEST TECHNOLOGY
Battlefield 1 (EA DICE / Electronic Arts)
No Man’s Sky (Hello Games)
Overwatch (Blizzard Entertainment)
DOOM (id Software / Bethesda Softworks)
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Honorable Mentions: Inside (Playdead), Pokemon Go (Niantic), The Last Guardian (JAPAN Studio / Sony Interactive Entertainment), Dishonored 2 (Arkane Studios / Bethesda Softworks), The Witness (Thekla)
BEST VISUAL ART
Firewatch (Campo Santo / Panic)
The Last Guardian (JAPAN Studio / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Overwatch (Blizzard Entertainment)
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Inside (Playdead)
Honorable Mentions: The Witness (Thekla), Battlefield 1 (EA DICE / Electronic Arts), Abzu (Giant Squid Studios), Thumper (Drool), DOOM (id Software / Bethesda Softworks)
BEST VR/AR GAME
Rez Infinite (Monstars / Enhance Games)
Superhot VR (SUPERHOT Team)
Job Simulator: The 2050 Archives (Owlchemy Labs)
Pokémon Go (Niantic)
Fantastic Contraption (Radial Games / Northway Games)
Honorable Mentions: Thumper (Drool), Superhypercube (Kokoromi / Polytron Corporation), Batman Arkham VR (Rocksteady Studios / Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment), Space Pirate Trainer (I-Illusions), The Lab (Valve)
GAME OF THE YEAR
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Overwatch (Blizzard Entertainment)
Inside (Playdead)
Dishonored 2 (Arkane Studios / Bethesda Softworks)
Firewatch (Campo Santo / Panic)
Honorable Mentions: DOOM (id Software / Bethesda Softworks), The Witness (Thekla), Battlefield 1 (EA DICE / Electronic Arts), The Last Guardian (JAPAN Studio / Sony Interactive Entertainment), Titanfall 2 (Respawn Entertainment / Electronic Arts)
So what do you think? Do you agree with the nominees for this year’s Game Developers Choice Awards? Will you be tuning in on March 1 to watch the show? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
