(VENN) – The Game Developers Conference is the world’s largest professional game industry event, replete with market-defining content for programmers, artists, producers, game designers, audio professionals, business decision makers and others involved in the development of interactive games and immersive experiences.
It’s annual Game Developers Choice Awards is a leading peer-based video game event celebrating the industry’s top games and developers.
The 21st Annual Game Developers Choice Awards has announced its final list of nominees. Winners in all categories will be honored at the Game Developers Choice Awards (GDCA), held in conjunction with the Independent Games Festival Awards.
Any game released during the 2020 calendar year is eligible for nomination, and both nominees and winners are selected by the Choice Awards Network, composed of leading game creators from all parts of the industry.
The list of finalists is led by a three way tie between Ghost of Tsushima, Hades and The Last of Us Part II with six nominations each, followed closely by Half-Life: Alyx which received five. All four titles are nominated for game of the year.
Winners will be announced at the GDCA ceremony July 21 at 4:30 p.m. PT.
The full list of award finalists and honorable mentions can be seen below.
BEST AUDIO
Hades (Supergiant Games)
The Last of Us Part II (Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Doom Eternal (id Software / Bethesda Softworks)
Final Fantasy VII: Remake (Square Enix)
Ghost of Tsushima (Sucker Punch Productions / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Honorable Mentions: Half-Life: Alyx (Valve), Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Nintendo EPD/ Nintendo), Ori and the Will of the Wisps (Moon Studios / Xbox Game Studios / iam8bit), Fuser (Harmonix Music Systems / NCsoft)
BEST DEBUT
Phasmophobia (Kinetic Games)
Umurangi Generation (Origame Digital / Playism, Origame Digital)
Carrion (Phobia Game Studio / Devolver Digital)
Mortal Shell (Cold Symmetry / Playstack)
Raji: An Ancient Epic (Nodding Heads Games / Super!Com)
Honorable Mentions: Call of the Sea (Out of the Blue / Raw Fury), Röki (Polygon Treehouse / CI Games), If Found… (Dreamfeel / Annapurna Interactive)
BEST DESIGN
Ghost of Tsushima (Sucker Punch Productions / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
The Last of Us Part II (Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Hades (Supergiant Games)
Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Nintendo EPD/ Nintendo)
Half-Life: Alyx (Valve)
Honorable Mentions: Final Fantasy VII: Remake (Square Enix), Crusader Kings III (Paradox Development Studio / Paradox Interactive), Spelunky 2 (Blitworks, Mossmouth / Mossmouth), Dreams (Media Molecule / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
INNOVATION AWARD
Microsoft Flight Simulator (Asobo Studio / Xbox Game Studios)
Dreams (Media Molecule / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
|Half-Life: Alyx (Valve)
Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout (Mediatonic / Devolver Digital)
Hades (Supergiant Games)
Honorable Mentions: Astro’s Playroom (Sony Japan Studio/Team Asobi / Sony Interactive Entertainment), Ghost of Tsushima (Sucker Punch Productions / Sony Interactive Entertainment), The Last of Us Part II (Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment), Watch Dogs: Legion (Ubisoft Toronto / Ubisoft)
BEST MOBILE GAME
The Pathless (Giant Squid / Annapurna Interactive)
Genshin Impact (miHoYo)
Legends of Runeterra (Riot Games)
Alba: A Wildlife Adventure (ustwo / PID Publishing)
If Found… (Dreamfeel / Annapurna Interactive)
Honorable Mentions: Pokémon Café Mix (Genius Sonority / Nintendo / The Pokémon Company), Reigns: Beyond (Nerial / Devolver Digital)
BEST NARRATIVE
Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition (Cardboard Computer / Annapurna Interactive)
Final Fantasy VII: Remake (Square Enix)
Hades (Supergiant Games)
The Last of Us Part II (Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Ghost of Tsushima (Sucker Punch Productions / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Honorable Mentions: Spiritfarer (Thunder Lotus Games), Half-Life: Alyx (Valve), Cyberpunk 2077 (CD Projekt RED / CD Projekt), If Found… (Dreamfeel / Annapurna Interactive), Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales (Insomniac Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment), 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim (Vanillaware / Atlus)
BEST TECHNOLOGY
The Last of Us Part II (Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Half-Life: Alyx (Valve)
Dreams (Media Molecule / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Ghost of Tsushima (Sucker Punch Productions / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Microsoft Flight Simulator (Asobo Studio / Xbox Game Studios)
Honorable Mentions: Final Fantasy VII: Remake (Square Enix), Astro’s Playroom (Sony Japan Studio/Team Asobi / Sony Interactive Entertainment), Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales (Insomniac Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
BEST VISUAL ART
Ghost of Tsushima (Sucker Punch Productions / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Hades (Supergiant Games)
The Last of Us Part II (Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Ori and the Will of the Wisps (Moon Studios / Xbox Game Studios / iam8bit)
Cyberpunk 2077 (CD Projekt RED / CD Projekt)
Honorable Mentions: Final Fantasy VII: Remake (Square Enix), Spiritfarer (Thunder Lotus Games), Umurangi Generation (Origame Digital / Playism, Origame Digital), Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales (Insomniac Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
BEST VR/AR GAME
The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners (Skydance Interactive)
Paper Beast (Pixel Reef)
Dreams (Media Molecule / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Half-Life: Alyx (Valve)
Star Wars: Squadrons (Motive Studios / Electronic Arts)
Honorable Mentions: Phasmophobia (Kinetic Games), The Room VR: A Dark Matter (Fireproof Games), Iron Man VR (Camouflaj / Sony Interactive Entertainment), Microsoft Flight Simulator (Asobo Studio / Xbox Game Studios), Until You Fall (Schell Games)
GAME OF THE YEAR
Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Nintendo EPD/ Nintendo)
The Last of Us Part II (Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Half-Life: Alyx (Valve)
Hades (Supergiant Games)
Ghost of Tsushima (Sucker Punch Productions / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Honorable Mentions: Spelunky 2 (Blitworks, Mossmouth / Mossmouth), Doom Eternal (id Software / Bethesda Softworks), Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales (Insomniac Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment), Microsoft Flight Simulator (Asobo Studio / Xbox Game Studios), Final Fantasy VII: Remake (Square Enix), Genshin impact (miHoYo)