The Game Developers Conference has grown an incredible amount since its beginnings 27 years ago where 25 developers met in a living room. The trade show now hosts thousands of attendees, all sorts of exciting premieres, and of course, the annual Game Developers Choice Awards, a peer-based video game event celebrating the video game industry’s top releases and the creative talent behind them.
The 15th annual Game Developers Choice Awards (GDCA) has revealed the final nominations for 2015, the winners of which will be unveiled Wednesday, March 4th, 2015 at 6:30pm at the San Francisco Moscone Center during the 2015 Game Developers Conference alongside the Independent Games Festival Awards.
The finalists for 2015’s Game Developers Choice Awards are led by Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor (Monolith Productions) with five nominations; Alien: Isolation (Creative Assembly) and Destiny (Bungie) with four nods each, and Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft with three nominations.
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Honorable Mentions: Titanfall (Respawn/Electronic Arts), Valiant Hearts: The Great War (Ubisoft Montpellier/Ubisoft), Far Cry 4 (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft), Dragon Age: Inquisition (BioWare/Electronic Arts), Super Smash Bros. for Wii U (Sora Ltd. and BANDAI NAMCO/Nintendo)
Honorable Mentions: Crypt of the Necrodancer (Brace Yourself Games), Extrasolar (Lazy 8 Studios), Elite: Dangerous (Frontier Developments), Elegy For A Dead World (Dejobaan Games), 80 Days (Inkle Studios)
Honorable Mentions: Dynamighty (CounterSpy), Hinterland Games (The Long Dark), 1337 & Senri (Leo’s Fortune), MachineGames (Wolfenstein: The New Order), Hipster Whale (Crossy Road)
Honorable Mentions: Mario Kart 8 (Nintendo EAD Tokyo/Nintendo), Alien: Isolation (Creative Assembly/Sega), Destiny (Bungie/Activision), Monument Valley (Ustwo), Far Cry 4 (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft)
Honorable Mentions: Bounden (Game Oven), Bravely Default (Silicon Studio and Square Enix/Nintendo and Square Enix), Desert Golfing (Blinkbat Games), Velocity 2X (FuturLab), Fantasy Life (Level-5/Nintendo)
Honorable Mentions: Never Alone (Upper One Games/E-Line Media), The Vanishing of Ethan Carter (The Astronauts), Transistor (Supergiant Games), Broken Age: Act 1 (Double Fine Productions), Destiny (Bungie/Activision)
Honorable Mentions: Dragon Age: Inquisition (BioWare/Electronic Arts), Valiant Hearts: The Great War (Ubisoft Montpellier/Ubisoft), Tales From The Borderlands: Episode 1 (Gearbox Software/Telltale Games), D4: Dark Dreams Don’t Die (Access Games/Microsoft), Hatoful Boyfriend (Mediatonic/Devolver Digital)
Honorable Mentions: Child of Light (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft), Far Cry 4 (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft), D4: Dark Dreams Don’t Die (Access Games/Microsoft), Bayonetta 2 (Platinum Games/Nintendo), Crypt of the Necrodancer (Brace Yourself Games)
Honorable Mentions: Assassin’s Creed Unity (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft), The Last of Us: Remastered (Naughty Dog/Sony), Sunset Overdrive (Insomniac Games/Microsoft), Alien: Isolation (Creative Assembly/Sega), Infamous: Second Son (Sucker Punch Productions/Sony)
The Game Developers Choice Awards also gives out three Special Awards yearly: the Pioneer, Ambassador and Lifetime Achievement awards, all of which will be announced in the near future. The Audience Award for the Choice Awards – open to all finalists for this year – will also return and will open for online voting in February.
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Note the increased presence of Nintendo titles with Smash Bros, Captain Toad and Bayonetta 2 earning major recognition. Indie titles from small team also struck it big with nominations or honorable mentions in all categories but one. Share your thoughts on who should win each in the comments below!
The 2015 Game Developers Choice Awards ceremony takes place alongside the Independent Games Festival Awards on Wednesday, March 4, 2015 at 6:30pm at San Francisco’s Moscone Convention Center during the 2015 Game Developers Conference. The GDC is produced by the UBM Tech Game Network.
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