The Game Developers Choice Awards ceremony takes place at the 2023 Game Developers Conference (GDC) on Wednesday, March 22nd, and is held in conjunction with the Independent Games Festival Awards (IGF).
Award season is nearing its close for all of 2022s game releases, with GDC’s finalists being one of the last to dish out honours as the new year begins — along with our own Game of the Year winner here at CGMagazine here.
The nominees, picked by developers from across the industry, are led by FromSoftware’s Elden Ring and Stray by BlueTwelve Studio with six total nominations each, followed closely by God of War Ragnarök with five nominations. These three titles are also contenders for the coveted Game of the Year prize, accompanied in that category by IMMORTALITY, Pentiment, and TUNIC.
The complete list of nominees, including honourable mentions, for the 23rd annual Game Developers Choice Awards is as follows:
BEST AUDIO
Elden Ring (FromSoftware Inc./Bandai Namco Entertainment)
God of War Ragnarök (Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Metal: Hellsinger (The Outsiders/Funcom)
Stray (BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna Interactive)
Honorable Mentions: A Plague Tale: Requiem (Asobo Studio/Focus Entertainment), Neon White (Angel Matrix/Annapurna Interactive), Persona 5 Royal (ATLUS/SEGA), Splatoon 3 (Nintendo), TUNIC (TUNIC Team/Finji)
BEST DEBUT
Neon White (Angel Matrix/Annapurna Interactive)
NORCO (Geography of Robots/Raw Fury)
Stray (BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna Interactive)
TUNIC (TUNIC Team/Finji)
Vampire Survivors (poncle)
Honorable Mentions: Chained Echoes (Matthias Linda/Deck13), Cult of the Lamb (Massive Monster/Devolver Digital), Marvel Snap (Second Dinner Studios, Inc./Nuverse), The Case of the Golden Idol (Color Gray Games/Playstack), Trombone Champ (Holy Wow Studios LLC)
BEST DESIGN
Elden Ring (FromSoftware Inc./Bandai Namco Entertainment)
Marvel Snap (Second Dinner Studios, Inc./Nuverse)
Neon White (Angel Matrix/Annapurna Interactive)
Stray (BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna Interactive)
TUNIC (TUNIC Team/Finji)
Honorable Mentions: Cult of the Lamb (Massive Monster/Devolver Digital), Dwarf Fortress (Bay 12 Games/Kitfox Games), God of War Ragnarök (Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment), IMMORTALITY (Sam Barlow/Half Mermaid), Vampire Survivors (poncle)
INNOVATION AWARD
Elden Ring (FromSoftware Inc./Bandai Namco Entertainment)
IMMORTALITY (Sam Barlow/Half Mermaid)
Neon White (Angel Matrix/Annapurna Interactive)
Pentiment (Obsidian Entertainment/Xbox Game Studios)
Stray (BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna Interactive)
Honorable Mentions: Cult of the Lamb (Massive Monster/Devolver Digital), Dwarf Fortress (Bay 12 Games/Kitfox Games), God of War Ragnarök (Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment), Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment), Trombone Champ (Holy Wow Studios LLC)
BEST NARRATIVE
God of War Ragnarök (Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment)
I Was a Teenage Exocolonist (Northway Games/Finji)
IMMORTALITY (Sam Barlow/Half Mermaid)
Pentiment (Obsidian Entertainment/Xbox Game Studios)
Return to Monkey Island (Terrible Toybox/Devolver Digital)
Honorable Mentions: A Plague Tale: Requiem (Asobo Studio/Focus Entertainment), Citizen Sleeper (Jump Over The Age/Fellow Traveller), Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment), NORCO (Geography of Robots/Raw Fury), Roadwarden (Moral Anxiety Studio /Assemble Entertainment)
SOCIAL IMPACT AWARD
As Dusk Falls (INTERIOR/NIGHT/Xbox Game Studios)
Citizen Sleeper (Jump Over The Age/Fellow Traveller)
Endling – Extinction Is Forever (Herobeat Studios/HandyGames)
I Was A Teenage Exocolonist (Northway Games/Finji)
OlliOlli World (Roll7/Private Division)
We Are OFK (Team OFK)
Honorable Mentions: Before Your Eyes (GoodbyeWorld Games/Skybound Games), God of War Ragnarök (Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment), Hindsight (Team Hindsight/Annapurna Interactive), NORCO (Geography of Robots/Raw Fury), Terra Nil (Free Lives/Devolver Digital)
BEST TECHNOLOGY
A Plague Tale: Requiem (Asobo Studio/Focus Entertainment)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (Infinity Ward, Raven Software, Beenox, Treyarch, High Moon Studios, Sledgehammer Games, Activision Shanghai, Demonware, Toys for Bob/Activision)
Elden Ring (FromSoftware Inc./Bandai Namco Entertainment)
God of War Ragnarök (Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Honorable Mentions: Dwarf Fortress (Bay 12 Games/Kitfox Games), Hardspace: Shipbreaker (Blackbird Interactive/Focus Entertainment), IMMORTALITY (Sam Barlow/Half Mermaid), Stray (BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna Interactive), Teardown (Tuxedo Labs)
BEST VISUAL ART
Elden Ring (FromSoftware Inc./Bandai Namco Entertainment)
God of War Ragnarök (Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Pentiment (Obsidian Entertainment/Xbox Game Studios)
Stray (BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna Interactive)
Honorable Mentions: A Plague Tale: Requiem (Asobo Studio/Focus Entertainment), Cult of the Lamb (Massive Monster/Devolver Digital), Neon White (Angel Matrix/Annapurna Interactive), OlliOlli World (Roll7/Private Division), TUNIC (TUNIC Team/Finji)
GAME OF THE YEAR
Elden Ring (FromSoftware Inc./Bandai Namco Entertainment)
God of War Ragnarök (Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment)
IMMORTALITY (Sam Barlow/Half Mermaid)
Pentiment (Obsidian Entertainment/Xbox Game Studios)
Stray (BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna Interactive)
TUNIC (TUNIC Team/Finji)
Honourable Mentions: Citizen Sleeper (Jump Over The Age/Fellow Traveller), Cult of the Lamb (Massive Monster/Devolver Digital), Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment), Marvel Snap (Second Dinner Studios, Inc./Nuverse), Neon White (Angel Matrix/Annapurna Interactive), Vampire Survivors (poncle)
Any video game that was released and made publicly available during the 2022 calendar year is eligible for free nomination for the 2023 Game Developers Choice Awards. In addition to the categories listed below, the Audience Award welcomes the GDC audience to cast their vote for their favourite game of the year. The public can cast their vote from the Audience Award ballot here.
The ceremony is available to watch for all GDC 2023 pass-holders and will be streamed on the official GDC Twitch channel. The 37th edition of GDC will be held at San Francisco’s Moscone Convention Center from March 20 – 24.
