Game Developer Choice Awards Game of the Year Nominees

By Sarah Fields 26 December 2015

The Game Developers Conference releases the final list of their nominees for the 16th annual Game Developer Choice Awards, including Game of the Year.

The nominees for the 16th annual Game Developers Choice Awards have been announced, including those for 2015’s Game of the Year. While most of the Game of the Year nominations are fairly expected, the indie upstart Rocket League has managed to make its way onto the list.

The Game Developers Choice Awards nominees are chosen by fellow game developers, so choosing Rocket League says a lot about their opinion on the dark horse. Rocket League is continuing to impress, starting out as an indie game and eventually growing to earn 50 million dollars. While the idea of playing soccer with cars initially seemed strange at best, gamers have flocked to it, declaring it one of the best games of 2015.

However, it remains to be seen if an indie multiplayer game like Rocket League can overcome the single-player, AAA title games it’s up against. Fan-favorites Fallout 4, The Witcher 3, Bloodborne, and Metal Gear Solid V are also all in the running for Game of the Year. Considering Bloodborne, Fallout 4 and Metal Gear Solid V fell to The Witcher 3 in The Game Awards, where it took game of the year, it may be a tough fight for Rocket League.

Admittedly, the developers seem to have a great deal of respect for Rocket League, which is inventive and fresh, and they’ve acknowledged these aspects of the title, nominating it for Best Design and giving it an honorable mention for the Innovation Award.

The remainder of the nominations for the Game Developers Choice Awards are as follows:

Innovation Award

Her Story (Sam Barlow)
Super Mario Maker (Nintendo EAD Group No. 4 / Nintendo)
Undertale (Toby Fox)
Splatoon (Nintendo EAD Group No. 2 / Nintendo)
The Beginner’s Guide (Everything Unlimited Ltd.)
Honorable Mentions: Rocket League (Psyonix), Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes (Steel Crate Games) Cibele (Star Maid Games), Life is Strange (Dontnod Entertainment / Square Enix), Metal Gear Solid V (Kojima Productions / Konami)

Best Debut

Studio Wildcard (ARK: Survival Evolved)
Toby Fox (Undertale)
Moon Studios (Ori and the Blind Forest)
Moppin (Downwell)
Steel Crate Games (Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes)
Honorable Mentions: Asteroid Base (Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime), Question (The Magic Circle), Thomas Happ (Axiom Verge), Dinosaur Polo Club (Mini Metro), MidBoss (Read Only Memories)

Best Design

Rocket League (Psyonix)
Metal Gear Solid V (Kojima Productions / Konami)
Bloodborne (FromSoftware / Sony Computer Entertainment)
Fallout 4 (Bethesda Game Studios/ Bethesda Softworks)
Splatoon (Nintendo EAD Group No. 2 / Nintendo)
Honorable Mentions: Her Story (Sam Barlow), Super Mario Maker (Nintendo EAD Group No. 4 / Nintendo), Undertale (Toby Fox), The Witcher 3 (CD Projekt RED / CD Projekt), Ori and the Blind Forest (Moon Studios / Microsoft Studios)

Best Handheld/Mobile Game

Lara Croft: GO (Square Enix Montréal / Square Enix)
Fallout Shelter (Bethesda Game Studios / Bethesda Softworks)
Downwell (Moppin / Devolver Digital)
Her Story (Sam Barlow)
AlphaBear (Spry Fox)
Honorable Mentions: Prune (Joel McDonald), The Room Three (Fireproof Games), Subterfuge (Ron Carmel and Noel Llopis), Pac-Man 256 (Hipster Whale and 3 Sprockets / BANDAI NAMCO), Sage Solitaire (Zach Gage), SteamWorld Heist (Image and Form), You Must Build a Boat (EightyEight Games)

Best Visual Art

Ori and the Blind Forest (Moon Studios / Microsoft Studios)
The Witcher 3 (CD Projekt RED / CD Projekt)
Star Wars Battlefront (DICE / Electronic Arts)
Bloodborne (FromSoftware / Sony Computer Entertainment)
Splatoon (Nintendo EAD Group No. 2 / Nintendo)
Honorable Mentions: Metal Gear Solid V (Kojima Productions / Konami), Rise of the Tomb Raider (Crystal Dynamics / Square Enix), Batman: Arkham Knight (Rocksteady Studios / Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment), The Order: 1886 (Ready at Dawn / Sony Computer Entertainment), Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture (The Chinese Room / Sony Computer Entertainment), Fallout 4 (Bethesda Game Studios / Bethesda Softworks)

Best Narrative

Her Story (Sam Barlow)
The Witcher 3 (CD Projekt RED / CD Projekt)
Life is Strange (Dontnod Entertainment / Square Enix)
Undertale (Toby Fox)
The Beginner’s Guide (Everything Unlimited Ltd.)
Honorable Mentions: Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture (The Chinese Room / Sony Computer Entertainment), Fallout 4 (Bethesda Game Studios / Bethesda Softworks), Until Dawn (Supermassive Games / Sony Computer Entertainment), Cibele (Star Maid Games), Soma (Frictional Games)

Best Audio

Star Wars Battlefront (DICE / Electronic Arts)
Ori and the Blind Forest (Moon Studios / Microsoft Studios)
Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture (The Chinese Room / Sony Computer Entertainment)
Metal Gear Solid V (Kojima Productions / Konami)
Crypt of the NecroDancer (Brace Yourself Games)
Honorable Mentions: Fallout 4 (Bethesda Game Studios / Bethesda Softworks), The Witcher 3 (CD Projekt RED / CD Projekt), Life is Strange (Dontnod Entertainment / Square Enix), SOMA (Frictional Games), Bloodborne (FromSoftware / Sony Computer Entertainment), Splatoon (Nintendo EAD Group No. 2 / Nintendo)

Best Technology

Metal Gear Solid V (Kojima Productions / Konami)
The Witcher 3 (CD Projekt RED / CD Projekt)
Star Wars Battlefront (DICE / Electronic Arts)
Fallout 4 (Bethesda Game Studios / Bethesda Softworks)
Just Cause 3 (Avalanche Studios / Square Enix)
Honorable Mentions: Rise of the Tomb Raider (Crystal Dynamics / Square Enix), Batman: Arkham Knight (Rocksteady Studios / Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment), Splatoon (Nintendo EAD Group No. 2 / Nintendo), Super Mario Maker (Nintendo EAD Group No. 4 / Nintendo), Halo 5: Guardians (343 Industries / Microsoft Studios)

With four nominations and two honorable mentions, one can hope that Hideo Kojima is able to attend this award ceremony in case of any wins. Kojima was previously banned by Konami from attending the Video Game Awards, despite winning Best Action Game. Unfortunately, there’s every possibility that Konami may also refuse to allow Kojima to attend this award show as well.

Perhaps the most intriguing question at this time is whether Fallout 4 and Bethesda will regain any ground on The Witcher 3 and CD Projekt Red. While both went head-to-head in many categories at The Game Awards, CD Projekt Red came away with three awards, while Bethesda went home empty-handed.

What games are you rooting for at the Game Developers Choice Awards? Are there any you were hoping to see that didn’t make the cut? Let us know in the comments below.

Source: GDC