Tag: GDC Awards

GDC Awards: All the Winners from 1996 to Today

Chris Crawford opened the doors to the very first Computer Game Developers Conference after welcoming two dozen other developers into his living room in 1988. The annual gathering has grown considerably in the years since (including being rechristened the Game Developers Conference in 1999), though Crawford bowed out of organizing the event in 1994.

UBM TechWeb, a company that specialized in trade shows and conferences, took over organizing the Game Developers Conference in the 1990s and they launched the Game Developers Choice Awards (GDC Awards) in 2001. Informa Tech, a British publishing company, took over as the organizer of the Game Developers Conference in 2020.

The GDC Awards are awarded every Spring at the Game Developers Conference, and both the nominees and the winners are selected by a group of “leading game creators from all parts of the industry.” Membership in this panel, which is known as the International Choice Awards Network, is available by invitation-only.

Before the creation of the GDC Awards, the Game Developers Conference hosted the Spotlight Awards from 1997 through 1999.

All the “Game of the Year” winners from the GDC Awards and the Spotlight Awards can be found here…

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Baldur’s Gate 3 Cruises to its Third “Game of the Year” Award of the Season at the 2023-2024 GDC Awards

The voters at the Game Developer’s Choice Awards have thrown their lot in with the biggest RPG of the year for the second straight year, bestowing “Game of the Year” honors on Larian’s Baldur’s Gate 3 earlier this week at the Game Developer Conference in San Francisco.

This is the third major “Game of the Year” trophy that Larian has collected this season (including the DICE Awards in February and The Game Awards in December). We’ll know if they can complete the sweep after the conclusion of the BAFTA Games Awards in a few weeks.

That said, Larian wasn’t quite done with the 2023-2024 GDC Awards. Members of the development team took the stage an additional three times to collect “Best Design”, “Best Narrative”, and the “Audience Award”. But Baldur’s Gate 3 couldn’t win them all, and there were six other awards up for grabs during this year’s ceremony.

Two of those prizes went to Nintendo for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, which took home the “Best Technology” trophy and the “Innovation Award”. Venba, from Visai Games, also bested the competition in a pair of categories. The game’s story of an immigrant family and the food they cook to preserve their culture won “Best Debut” and the “Social Impact Award”.

That leaves just two awards, and they were split between a pair of impressive titles. “Best Audio” went to Tango Gameworks’s Hi-Fi Rush, while “Best Visual Art” belonged to Remedy’s Alan Wake II.

The 2023-2024 GDC Awards were hosted by Alanah Pearce, and you can view the ceremony, along with a complete list of all winners, nominees, and honorable mentions, after the break.

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Elden Ring Wins “Game of the Year” at 2022-2023 GDC Awards

Hold on to your hats, but From Software’s Elden Ring is now three-for-three at the major year-end awards after it collected a total of three awards, including “Game of the Year,” at the 2022-2023 Game Developers Choice Awards. In addition to the top prize, the development team will need to find room in their trophy case for the “Best Design” and “Best Visual Arts” statuettes.

“Three” was the theme of the night as things definitely happened in threes during the ceremony, starting right at the top with the hosting duties of Leslee Sullivant, a triple threat Game Producer, Writer, and TikTok creator (you’ve absolutely seen at least one of her “stories from the games industry” videos).

The other big winner last night was Sony Santa Monica’s God of War: Ragnarok, which also won three awards. The godlike technical feats performed by Kratos netted “Best Audio” and “Best Technology” for the developer, while a public vote secured the “Audience Award.”

Finally, four other awards went to four very deserving games (the theme suffers when your program has ten awards). Obsidian’s tale of medieval murder, Pentiment, won “Best Narrative.” Immortality‘s innovative use of video was the snared an “Innovation Award” for Half Mermaid. BlueTwelve continued their streak with another “Best Debut” award for Stray. And Citizen Sleeper was given the “Social Impact Award.”

Congratulations also to John Romero, who was given the Lifetime Achievement Award for Doom, Quake, and a laundry list of other games; and to the family of Mabel Addis, who was posthumously awarded the Pioneer Award for her work on The Sumerian Game.

The full list of winners, nominees, and honorable mentions from the 2022-2023 GDC Awards can be found after the break.

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Inscryption Wins “Game of the Year” at the 2021-2022 GDC Awards

A new player got dealt into the game at this year’s Game Developers Conference. Just an hour after claiming the “Seumas McNally Grand Prize” at the Independent Games Festival, Daniel Mullins Games’s Inscrpytion also took home “Game of the Year” honors at the 2021-2022 Game Developers Choice Awards.

Even though we’re more than a decade removed from the rise of the indie movement, this is the first time a game has won both awards in the same year.

While Inscrpytion made history, Insomniac’s Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart continued to do what it’s done at nearly every ceremony this year, collecting statuettes for “Best Visual Art” and “Best Technology.”

But the GDC Awards usually gives the spotlight over to a lot of unique games, and that certainly happened this year. Other winners from last night’s ceremony include Iron Gate’s Valheim (“Best Debut” and the “Audience Award”), Witch Beam’s Unpacking (“Best Audio” and the “Innovation Award”), Double Fine’s Psychonauts 2 (“Best Narrative”), Kitfox’s Boyfriend Dungeon (the “Social Impact Award”), and Hazelight’s It Takes Two (“Best Design”).

A full list of all the nominees at the 2021-2022 GDC Awards can be found after the break, along with a replay of the ceremony.

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Supergiant’s Hades Collects Another “Game of the Year” Statuette at the 2020-2021 GDC Awards

This year’s Game Developers Conference is operating slightly out of sync with its normal spot on the calendar, but it was still business as usual (in more ways than one) for the 2020-2021 Game Developers Choice (GDC) Awards.

Ghost of Tsushima, Hades, and The Last of Us Part II tied for the most nominations with six apiece, so competition was stiff for the night’s biggest prize, but it was Hades that took home “Game of the Year” (as well as “Best Audio” and “Best Design”) during last night’s virtual ceremony.

Supergiant’s roguelike just narrowly missed a clean sweep of all the major year-end awards, and the only statuette to elude the veteran developers was the “rising angel” from The Game Awards, which instead went to Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us Part II.

As you may have guessed, Sony’s one-two punch from the PS4’s final Summer didn’t go home empty-handed. The Last of Us Part II was selected as the recipient of the “Best Narrative” award, while Ghost of Tsushima picked up “Best Visual Art” and the “Audience Award.”

Other games that expanded their trophy case last night included Genshin Impact (“Best Mobile Game”), Half-Life: Alyx (“Best VR/AR Game”), Microsoft Flight Simulator (“Best Technology”), Dreams (“Innovation Award”), and Phasmophobia (“Best Debut”)

You can find a full list of all the winners, nominees, and Honorable Mentions from the 2020-2021 Game Developers Choice Awards, as well as a video replay of the show (which was hosted by writer Sam Maggs), after the break.

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Untitled Goose Game Wins “Game of the Year” at 2019-2020 GDC Awards

The 2020 Game Developers Conference isn’t happening in San Francisco this year due to global health concerns, but the event’s organizers still put together a a pre-recorded version of the Game Developers Choice Awards, and House House’s Untitled Goose Game won “Game of the Year.”

In addition to The Goose running away with yet another “Game of the Year” award, the rest of the indie world had a pretty good night as well.

Hempuli’s Baba Is You collected statuettes for “Best Design” and the “Innovation Award,” ZA/UM’s Disco Elysium danced away with “Best Debut” and “Best Narrative,” and thatgamecompany’s Sky: Children of the Light claimed the “Audience Award.”

But the most-decorated game of the night was Remedy’s Control, which won in three categories. The mindbending action-adventure game was honored with awards for “Best Visual Art,” “Best Audio,” and “Best Technology.”

A full list of winners, nominees, and Honorable Mentions from the 2019-2020 Game Developers Choice Awards, as well as a video replay of the show, can be found after the break.

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God of War Wins “Game of the Year” at 2018-2019 GDC Awards

Red Dead Redemption 2 may have received the most nominations, but Sony Santa Monica’s God of War walked away with “Game of the Year” at the 2018-2019 Game Developers Choice Awards. But while these two juggernauts battled it out across a half-dozen categories, a parade of independent developers were the big winners of the night.

Mountains’s Florence captured two awards, “Best Mobile Game” and “Best Debut.” The black-and-white world of Lucas Pope’s Return of the Obra Dinn won “Best Narrative” while the wild colors of Nomada Studio’s Gris won “Best Visual Art.” Meanwhile, Subset’s Into the Breach won for “Best Design,” Matt Makes Games’s Celeste claimed “Best Audio,” and Beat Games’s Beat Saber took home “Best VR/AR Game.”

Red Dead Redemption 2 did manage to capture one prize at the 2018-2019 GDC Awards. Rockstar Games can claim to have the “Best Technology.”

The complete list of winners, nominees, and Honorable Mentions from this year’s Game Developers Choice Awards can be found after the break.

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No Surprise… The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Won “Game of the Year” at 2017-2018 GDC Awards

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild continued its sweep of this year’s “Game of the Year” awards, as it won the top honor at last night’s Game Developers Choice Awards. Developers for the adventure game also strode on stage to collect awards for “Best Audio” and “Best Design” during the ceremony.

The unique visual styling of Jason Roberts’s Gorogoa was honored with the “Innovation Award,” as well as with the “Best Mobile/Handheld Game” prize for the puzzle game’s portability. Studio MDHR also carried home multiple trophies during last night’s GDC Awards ceremony for Cuphead, including “Best Debut” and “Best Visual Art.”

“Every year sees countless amazing games worthy of recognition, but this year in particular has seen some of the strongest titles to arrive this generation. The GDCAs give us an opportunity to reflect on and honor the games that provided us with endless joy,” said Katie Stern, the General Manager of the Game Developers Conference. “The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild helped us rediscover a childlike sense of adventure and discovery. Titles like Gorogoa and What Remains of Edith Finch offered us distinct creative visions that can only be experienced in games, and games like Cuphead and Horizon: Zero Dawn crafted worlds we could lose ourselves in. Congratulations to all of tonight’s nominees and winners and thank you for your creativity and dedication.”

A replay of the 2017-2018 GDC Awards ceremony can be viewed at the Twitch channel for the Game Developers Conference. And a complete list of all the winners (and nominees) can be found after the break.

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Overwatch is “Game of the Year” at the 2016-2017 GDC Awards

Overwatch continues to rack up year-end awards for Blizzard Entertainment, and it picked up two more statuettes last night during the Game Developers Choice Awards.

After more than a month of deliberations, the GDC committee choose to bestow “Game of the Year” status on the team-based shooter, as well as “Best Design” for its colorful world.

Two other games collected multiple awards at last night’s GDC Awards. Playdead’s platformer, Inside, earned “Best Audio” and “Best Visual Art.” And later in the night, Campo Santo’s Firewatch was selected as “Best Debut” and its story was honored with “Best Narrative.”

“This year’s amazing slate of winners is a testament to the diversity of experiences in games,” said Meggan Scavio, General Manager of the Game Developers Conference.

Scavio added: “Pokemon Go [“Best Mobile/Handheld Game”] took gaming outdoors using AR, while Job Simulator [“Best VR/AR Game”] showed how lo-fi aesthetics could meet cutting edge tech for a winning VR experience. Overwatch once again proved Blizzard’s uncanny ability to make a perfectly balanced multiplayer game, and Inside delved deep into our dark psyches to unearth our scariest nightmares. These nominees speak to the strength of games as a medium, but also show the various textures and possible creative outlets that interactive entertainment can provide. Congrats to all of the winners and nominees for following their visions and thanks to all developers who strive to make amazing games for us day in and day out.”

The full list of winners and nominees from the 2016-2017 Game Developers Choice Awards can be found after the break.

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