Game Developers Choice Awards
Game Developers Choice Awards | |
---|---|
Awarded for | Outstanding game developers and games |
Presented by | Game Developers Conference |
First awarded | 2001 |
Official website | gamechoiceawards.com |
The Game Developers Choice Awards are annually presented by the Game Developers Conference for outstanding game developers and games.[1] Introduced in 2001, the Game Developers Choice Awards were preceded by the Spotlight Awards, which were presented from 1997 to 1999.[2]
The 2013 award presentation was held on March 19, 2014, at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, California, USA.The Nominees were announced on January 9, 2014 with The Last of Us, Gone Home and Tearaway leading the nominees.[3] The 2014 award presentation was held on March 4, 2015.[4]
Nomination and voting process
In 2007, gamasutra.com took over management of the awards from the IGDA.[5] An advisory board selected by the editors of gamasutra.com and Game Developer magazine oversees the selection process.
Nominations are accepted from those registered gamasutra.com users confirmed by Choice Award organizers to be game developers, and from the advisory board. Once the nomination process is complete, the advisory board identifies five finalists for each regular category.
The recipients of the Lifetime Achievement, First Penguin (Pioneer since 2007) and Maverick awards are selected by the advisory board. For the other awards, a vote open to all those who participated in the nomination process chooses a recipient from each category's finalists.[6]
List of winners
Note: Events held for awards are held early in the following year. Winners are listed first and highlighted in bold.
Game of the Year/Best Game
The Best Game award recognized the overall best game released during the previous calendar year, as interpreted by the members of the Game Developers Association.
- 2014:
- Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor
- Bayonetta 2
- Destiny
- Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft
- Alien: Isolation
- 2013:
- The Last of Us
- Gone Home
- Grand Theft Auto V
- Super Mario 3D World
- Tomb Raider
- 2012:
- Journey
- Dishonored
- The Walking Dead
- Mass Effect 3
- XCOM: Enemy Unknown
- 2011:
- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
- Batman: Arkham City
- Portal 2
- Deus Ex: Human Revolution
- Dark Souls
- 2010:
- Red Dead Redemption
- Mass Effect 2
- Call of Duty: Black Ops
- Limbo
- Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
- 2009:
- Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
- Dragon Age: Origins
- Batman: Arkham Asylum
- Demon's Souls
- Assassin's Creed II
- 2008:
- Fallout 3
- Fable II
- LittleBigPlanet
- Left 4 Dead
- Grand Theft Auto IV
- 2007:
- Portal
- BioShock
- Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
- Rock Band
- Super Mario Galaxy
- 2006:
- Gears of War
- Ōkami
- The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
- The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
- Wii Sports
- 2005:
- Shadow of the Colossus
- Animal Crossing: Wild World
- God of War
- Guitar Hero
- The Movies
- 2004:
- Half-Life 2
- Burnout 3: Takedown
- Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
- Katamari Damacy
- World of Warcraft
- 2003:
- Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
- Beyond Good & Evil
- Call of Duty
- Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
- The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
- 2002:
- Metroid Prime
- Battlefield 1942
- Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
- Neverwinter Nights
- Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell
- 2001:
- Grand Theft Auto III
- Black & White
- Halo: Combat Evolved
- Ico
- Max Payne
- 2000:
- The Sims
- Deus Ex
- Jet Grind Radio
- No One Lives Forever
- Shenmue
Best Debut Game
The Best Debut Game Award recognizes the best game from any development studio which released its first publicly available title during the calendar year. This was formally known as the New Studio of the Year Award. In years prior to 2008, the award was awarded to the studio name, as opposed to the game title.
- 2015: Stoic Studio (for The Banner Saga)
- 2014: The Fullbright Company (for Gone Home)
- 2013: Subset Games (for FTL: Faster Than Light)
- 2012: Supergiant Games (for Bastion)
- 2011: Mojang (for Minecraft)
- 2010: Runic Games (for Torchlight)
- 2009: Media Molecule (for LittleBigPlanet)
- 2008: Realtime Worlds / Microsoft Game Studios (for Crackdown)
- 2007: Iron Lore Entertainment (for Titan Quest)
- 2006: Double Fine Productions (for Psychonauts)
- 2005: Crytek (for Far Cry)
- 2004: Infinity Ward (for Call of Duty)
- 2003: Retro Studios (for Metroid Prime)
- 2002: Bohemia Interactive Studio (for Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis)
- 2001: Counter-Strike team (for Counter-Strike)
Best Handheld Game
Best Handheld Game Award recognizes the overall best game commercially released on any handheld platform.
- 2015: Monument Valley
- 2014: The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
- 2013: The Room
- 2012: Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP
- 2011: Cut the Rope
- 2010: Scribblenauts
- 2009: God of War: Chains of Olympus
- 2008: The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
Best Downloadable Game
Best Downloadable Game Award recognizes the overall best game released on console or PC platforms specifically and solely for digital download - with an emphasis on smaller, more 'casual'-friendly titles.
- 2014: Papers, Please
- 2013: Journey
- 2012: Bastion
- 2011: Minecraft
- 2010: Flower
- 2009: World of Goo
- 2008: flOw
Excellence in Audio
The Excellence in Audio award recognizes the overall excellence of audio in a game, including sound effects, musical composition, sound design and orchestration.
- 2015: Alien Isolation
- 2014: BioShock Infinite
- 2013: Journey
- 2012: Portal 2
- 2011: Red Dead Redemption
- 2010: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
- 2009: Dead Space
- 2008: BioShock
- 2007: Guitar Hero II
- 2006: Guitar Hero
- 2005: Halo 2
- 2004: Call of Duty
- 2003: Medal of Honor: Allied Assault
- 2002: Halo: Combat Evolved
- 2001: Diablo II
Excellence in Game Design/Best Design
The Excellence in Game Design award recognizes the overall excellence of design in a game, including gameplay, mechanics, puzzles, play balancing and scenarios.
- 2015: Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft
- 2014: The Last of Us
- 2013: Journey
- 2012: Portal 2
- 2011: Red Dead Redemption
- 2010: Batman: Arkham Asylum
- 2009: LittleBigPlanet
- 2008: Portal
- 2007: Wii Sports
- 2006: Shadow of the Colossus
- 2005: Katamari Damacy
- 2004: Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
- 2003: Battlefield 1942
- 2002: Grand Theft Auto III
- 2001: Deus Ex
Best Technology
The Technology award recognizes the overall excellence of technology in a game, including graphics programming, artificial intelligence, networking and physics.
- 2015: Destiny
- 2014: Grand Theft Auto V
- 2013: Far Cry 3
- 2012: Battlefield 3
- 2011: Red Dead Redemption
- 2010: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
- 2009: LittleBigPlanet
- 2008: Crysis
- 2007: Gears of War
- 2006: Nintendogs
- 2005: Half-Life 2
Excellence in Visual Arts
The Excellence in Visual Arts award recognizes the overall excellence of visual art in a game, including animation, modeling, art direction and textures.
- 2015: Monument Valley
- 2014: BioShock Infinite
- 2013: Journey
- 2012: Uncharted 3
- 2011: Limbo
- 2010: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
- 2009: Prince of Persia
- 2008: BioShock
- 2007: Gears of War
- 2006: Shadow of the Colossus
- 2005: World of Warcraft
- 2004: The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
- 2003: Kingdom Hearts
- 2002: ICO
- 2001: Jet Grind Radio
Excellence in Writing/Best Narrative
The Excellence in Writing award recognizes the quality of writing in a game, including story, plot construction, dialogue and branching narratives.
- 2015: Kentucky Route Zero: Episode 3
- 2014: The Last of Us
- 2013: The Walking Dead
- 2012: Portal 2
- 2011: Mass Effect 2
- 2010: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
- 2009: Fallout 3
- 2008: BioShock
- 2007: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
- 2006: Psychonauts
- 2005: Half-Life 2
- 2004: Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
- 2003: Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell
Game Innovation Spotlights
The Game Innovation Spotlights recognize games that demonstrate innovation and push the boundaries of games as an expressive medium. Multiple awards are given each year.
- 2015: Monument Valley
- 2014: Papers, Please
- 2013: Journey
- 2012: Johann Sebastian Joust
- 2011: Minecraft
- 2010: Scribblenauts
- 2009: LittleBigPlanet
- 2008: Portal
- 2007: Line Rider; Ōkami; Wii Sports
- 2006: Nintendogs; Guitar Hero
- 2005: Donkey Konga; I Love Bees; Katamari Damacy
- 2004: EyeToy: Play; Viewtiful Joe; WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$!
- 2003: Animal Crossing; Battlefield 1942; Medal of Honor: Allied Assault; The Thing
- 2002: Black and White; Grand Theft Auto III; ICO; Majestic; Rez
- 2001: Counter-Strike; Crazy Taxi; Deus Ex; Jet Grind Radio; No One Lives Forever
Special Awards Recipients
Lifetime Achievement Award
The Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes the achievements of a developer who has impacted games and game development.
- 2015: Hironobu Sakaguchi (Final Fantasy series)
- 2014: Ken Kutaragi
- 2013: Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk (Bioware)
- 2012: Warren Spector (Deus Ex, System Shock, Thief: The Dark Project)
- 2011: Peter Molyneux (God games)
- 2010: John Carmack (Doom series)
- 2009: Hideo Kojima (Metal Gear series)
- 2008: Sid Meier (Civilization series and many different simulators)
- 2007: Shigeru Miyamoto (creator of Mario, Donkey Kong and The Legend of Zelda)
- 2006: Richard Garriott (Ultima)
- 2005: Eugene Jarvis (Defender and Robotron: 2084)
- 2004: Mark Cerny (Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon)
- 2003: Gunpei Yokoi (1941–1997) (Game Boy, Super Mario Land series, Metroid series)
- 2002: Yuji Naka (Sonic the Hedgehog)
- 2001: Will Wright (Sim games)
The Pioneer Award
Known as the First Penguin award until 2007, the Pioneer Award celebrates individuals who developed a breakthrough technology, game concept or gameplay design.
- 2015: David Braben (Founder of Frontier Developments, co-creator of the Elite series)
- 2014:Brandon Beck and Marc Merrill (creators of Riot Games)[7]
- 2013: Steve Russell (creator of Spacewar!)
- 2012: Dave Theurer
- 2011: Yu Suzuki
- 2010: Gabe Newell (founder of Valve Corporation)
- 2009: Alex Rigopulos and Eran Egozy (founders of Harmonix)
- 2008: Ralph Baer (inventor of the Magnavox Odyssey)
- 2007: Alexey Pajitnov (creator of Tetris)
- 2006: Don Woods, Will Crowther (creators of the early text game Adventure)
- 2005: Richard Bartle (co-creator of MUD, ancestor to MMOs)
- 2004: Masaya Matsuura (founder of NanaOn-Sha, pioneer of music/game integration)
- 2003: David Crane, Larry Kaplan, Jim Levy, Alan Miller, Bob Whitehead (founders of Activision)
- 2002: Hubert Chardot ("for his risk-taking work on Alone in the Dark")
- 2001: Chip Morningstar and Randy Farmer (creators of Lucasfilm's Habitat)
Ambassador Award
The Ambassador Award is given to individuals within or outside the industry who helped video games "advance to a better place."[8] It replaced the IGDA Award for Community Contribution after 2008.[9]
- 2015: Brenda Romero
- 2014: Anita Sarkeesian (Feminist Frequency)[7]
- 2013: Chris Melissinos (Sun Microsystems)
- 2012: Kenneth Doroshow and Paul M. Smith (the lawyers in Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association who argued for the Entertainment Merchants Association in the US Supreme Court.)
- 2011: Tim Brengle and Ian Mackenzie (Organizers of the Game Developers Conference volunteer program for 20+ years[10])
- 2010: Jerry Holkins, Mike Krahulik and Robert Khoo
- 2009: Tommy Tallarico
- 2008: Jason Della Rocca
Audience Award
These awards are voted by the audience for best game of that year.
- 2015: Elite: Dangerous
- 2014: Kerbal Space Program
- 2013: Dishonored
Retired awards
The following award categories have been retired or replaced with a different focus.
Character Design
The Character Design award recognizes the overall excellence of non-licensed character design in a game, including originality, character arc and emotional depth.
- 2007: Ōkami
- 2006: Shadow of the Colossus
- 2005: Half-Life 2
Excellence in Level Design
- 2003: Metroid Prime
- 2002: ICO
- 2001: American McGee's Alice
Excellence in Programming
- 2004: Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
- 2003: Neverwinter Nights
- 2002: Black and White
- 2001: The Sims
IGDA Award for Community Contribution
The IGDA Award for Community Contribution recognized developers for significant efforts "building community, sharing knowledge, speaking on behalf of developers and/or contributing to the art form of game development".[9] The Ambassador Award replaced it after 2007.[8]
- 2007: George Sanger
- 2006: Chris Hecker
- 2005: Sheri Graner Ray
- 2004: Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk
- 2003: Doug Church (Eidos Interactive)
- 2002: Jeff Lander
- 2001: John Carmack
Original Game Character of the Year
- 2004: "HK-47" from Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
- 2003: "Sly Cooper" from Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus
- 2002: "Daxter" from Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy
- 2001: "Seaman" from Seaman
Maverick Award
The Maverick Award recognizes the current achievements of a developer who exhibits independence in thought and action while experimenting with alternate/emerging forms of digital games.
- 2007: Greg Costikyan
- 2006: Mike Dornbrook, Eran Egozy, Greg LoPiccolo, and Alex Rigopulos (Harmonix Music Systems)
- 2005: Matt Adams, Ju Row Farr, and Nick Tandavanitj (Blast Theory)
- 2004: Brian Fiete, Jason Kapalka, and John Vechey (PopCap Games)
Best New Social/Online Game
- 2010: FarmVille
References
- ↑ "Game Developers Choice Awards". Retrieved February 2009.
- ↑ "Archive". Retrieved February 2009.
- ↑ "14th-annual-game-developers-choice-awards-nominees-announced.aspx". Retrieved January 2014.
- ↑ "Shadow of Mordor takes top prize at Game Developers Choice Awards". Game Developers Conference. March 4, 2015. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
- ↑ "Press Release:THE 2008 GAME DEVELOPERS CHOICE AWARDS". December 20, 2007. Retrieved February 2009.
- ↑ "rules and regulations". Retrieved February 2009.
- 1 2 "Anita Sarkeesian, Riot co-founders win GDCA 2014 Special Awards". www.gamasutra.com. Gamasutra. February 11, 2014. Retrieved February 17, 2014.
- 1 2 "Ambassador Award Archive". http://www.gamechoiceawards.com. Game Developers Choice Awards. 2014. Retrieved April 4, 2014. External link in
|website=
(help) - 1 2 "Community Contribution Archive". http://www.gamechoiceawards.com. Game Developers Choice Awards. 2014. Retrieved April 4, 2014. External link in
|website=
(help) - ↑ www.gamechoiceawards.com (March 2011). "Ambassador Award Archive". Retrieved 16 January 2012.