Nominees for the Game Developers Choice Awards released

The 18th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards  have released their nominees, and Zelda and Horizon Zero Dawn are leading (of course). The awards will take place at the San Francisco GDC (Game Developer Conference) on Wednesday, March 21, 2018.

There’s 14 categories involved; Best Audio, Best Debut, Best Design, Best Mobile Games, Innovation Award, Best Narrative, Best Technology, Best Visual art, Best VR/AR, and finally the Game Of The Year.

So, not quite done with 2017’s games yet? Want to see some more praise for them? Why not compare this list to our very own Games of the Year list and see how your favourite games measure up.

The nominees are as follows.

BEST AUDIO

“For the overall excellence of audio in a game – including, but not limited to, sound effects, musical composition, sound design, orchestration, etc.”

• Cuphead (StudioMDHR)
• Nier: Automata (PlatinumGames / Square Enix)
• Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice (Ninja Theory)
• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)
• Horizon Zero Dawn (Guerrilla Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)

Honorable Mentions:  

• Super Mario Odyssey (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)
• Star Wars: Battlefront II (EA DICE / Electronic Arts)
• Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (Capcom)
•  Destiny 2 (Bungie / Activision)
• Persona 5 (P-Studio / Atlus)
• Night in the Woods (Infinite Fall / Finji)

 

BEST DEBUT

“For the best game from any development studio which released its first publicly available title.”

• Team Cherry (Hollow Knight)
• Sidebar Games (Golf Story)
• StudioMDHR (Cuphead)
• Infinite Fall (Night in the Woods)
• Jason Roberts / Buried Signal (Gorogoa)
  
  

Honorable Mentions: 

• Game Grumps (Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator)
•  Terrible Toybox (Thimbleweed Park)
•  Team Salvato (Doki Doki Literature Club!)
•  Lizardcube(Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap)

 

BEST DESIGN

“For the overall excellence of design in a game – including, but not limited to, gameplay mechanics, playability, play balancing, and level design.”

• Super Mario Odyssey (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)
• Horizon Zero Dawn (Guerrilla Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG Corporation)
• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)
• Nier: Automata (PlatinumGames / Square Enix)

Honorable Mentions: 

• Cuphead (StudioMDHR)
• Gorogoa (Jason Roberts / Buried Signal / Annapurna Interactive)
• What Remains of Edith Finch (Giant Sparrow / Annapurna Interactive)
• Divinity: Original Sin 2 (Larian Studios)
• Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy (Bennett Foddy)
• Prey (Arkane Studios / Bethesda Softworks)

BEST MOBILE GAME

“For the overall best game commercially released on any mobile smartphone.”

• Reigns: Her Majesty (Nerial / Devolver Digital)
• Hidden Folks (Adriaan de Jongh and Sylvain Tegroeg)
• Monument Valley 2 (ustwo games)
• Gorogoa (Jason Roberts / Buried Signal / Annapurna Interactive)
• Bury Me, My Love (The Pixel Hunt / Figs / ARTE France / Playdius)

Honorable Mentions: 

• Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)
• Fire Emblem Heroes (Intelligent Systems and Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)
• Old Man’s Journey (Broken Rules)
• Flipflop Solitaire (Zach Gage)
• Gnog (KO_OP / Double Fine Productions)

 

INNOVATION AWARD

“For the single game that demonstrates true innovation, advances the state of the art, and pushes the boundaries of games as an expressive medium.”

• Gorogoa (Jason Roberts / Buried Signal / Annapurna Interactive)
• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)
• What Remains of Edith Finch (Giant Sparrow / Annapurna Interactive)
• Everything (David OReilly / Double Fine Productions)
• PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG Corporation)

Honorable Mentions: 

• Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice (Ninja Theory)
• Cuphead (StudioMDHR)
• Nier: Automata (PlatinumGames / Square Enix)
• Horizon Zero Dawn (Guerrilla Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Super Mario Odyssey (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)
• Tacoma (Fullbright)
• Pyre (Supergiant Games)

 

BEST NARRATIVE

“For the overall excellence of storytelling in a game – including, but not limited to, scenario, plot construction, story, dialogue, and other major factors.”

• Night in the Woods (Infinite Fall / Finji)
• Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice (Ninja Theory)
• What Remains of Edith Finch (Giant Sparrow / Annapurna Interactive)
• Horizon Zero Dawn (Guerrilla Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus (MachineGames / Bethesda Softworks)

Honorable Mentions:

•  Nier: Automata (PlatinumGames / Square Enix)
• Tacoma (Fullbright), Persona 5 (P-Studio / Atlus)
• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)
• Divinity: Original Sin 2 (Larian Studios)
• Uncharted: The Lost Legacy (Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment)

 

BEST TECHNOLOGY

“For the overall excellence of technology in a game – including, but not limited to, graphics programming, artificial intelligence, networking, and physics.”

• Destiny 2 (Bungie / Activision)
• Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice (Ninja Theory)
• Assassin’s Creed: Origins (Ubisoft Montreal / Ubisoft)
• Horizon Zero Dawn (Guerrilla Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)

Honorable Mentions: 

• Star Wars Battlefront II (EA DICE / Electronic Arts)
• Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus (MachineGames / Bethesda Softworks)
• Uncharted: The Lost Legacy (Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Nier: Automata (PlatinumGames / Square Enix)
• Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (Capcom)

 

BEST VISUAL ART

“For the overall excellence of visual art in a game – including, but not limited to, art direction, animation, modelling, character design, texture creation, and so on.”

• Persona 5 (P-Studio / Atlus)
• Cuphead (StudioMDHR)
• Horizon Zero Dawn (Guerrilla Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)
• Night in the Woods (Infinite Fall / Finji)

Honorable Mentions: 

• Gorogoa (Jason Roberts / Buried Signal / Annapurna Interactive)
• Star Wars Battlefront II (EA DICE / Electronic Arts)
• Assassin’s Creed Origins (Ubisoft Montreal / Ubisoft)
• Destiny 2 (Bungie / Activision)
• Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice (Ninja Theory)
• Super Mario Odyssey (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)

 

BEST VR/AR GAME

“For the best game commercially released for any VR or AR platform.”

• Superhot VR (SUPERHOT Team)
• Star Trek: Bridge Crew (Red Storm Entertainment / Ubisoft)
• Lone Echo (Ready at Dawn / Oculus Studios)
• Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (Capcom)
• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR (Bethesda Game Studios / Bethesda Softworks)

Honorable Mentions:

•  Farpoint (Impulse Gear / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality (Owlchemy Labs / Adult Swim Games)
• Luna(Funomena)
• Robo Recall (Epic Games)
• Gnog (KO_OP/ Double Fine Productions)
• Doom VFR (id Software / Bethesda Softworks)

And finally…

GAME OF THE YEAR

“For the overall best game release.”

• PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG Corporation)
• Nier: Automata (PlatinumGames / Square Enix)
• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)
• Horizon Zero Dawn (Guerrilla Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Super Mario Odyssey (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)

Honorable Mentions: 

• Cuphead (StudioMDHR)
• What Remains of Edith Finch (Giant Sparrow / Annapurna Interactive)
• Persona 5 (P-Studio / Atlus)
• Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice (Ninja Theory)
• Gorogoa (Jason Roberts / Buried Signal / Annapurna Interactive)
• Divinity: Original Sin 2 (Larian Studios)
• Night in the Woods (Infinite Fall / Finji)

The Game Developers Choice Awards also have a Pioneer, Ambassador and Lifetime Achievement. This is specifically for individual games devs to recognise their achievements in the industry. The nominees are yet to be announced.

If you’re looking to get involved and cast your vote, there’s also the Audience Award category.  This is open to all Choice Award finalists, and will open for online voting in late January.  If you want to learn more about this event and the awards, check out the offical GDC page.