2013 Game Developers Choice Awards Nominees Unveiled

By Brian Sipple 07 January 2013

Running from March 25-29, the 2013 Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, California, looks to be a major discussion driver for some of the year’s hottest topics. Bungie will be on hand with a glimpse into the world of Destiny; Valve was rumored to be staging talks on its forthcoming Steam console; and with any luck we might finally see the next-generation rumor mill euthanized by official Xbox 720 and PlayStation 4 announcements (although, according to said mill, those odds are a bit slimmer).

But part of the event is also a time for reflection, for celebration of the last calendar year in gaming. March 27 marks the 13th annual Game Developers Choice Awards — a revelry of 2012’s best games and brightest developers, as voted upon by their industry peers. The list of nominees has been announced today, and it places Journey, Dishonored, and The Walking Dead in contention for the most trophies while scattering a healthy mix of triple-A and indie names across each category.

A few examples of the diversity: Journey, Assassin’s Creed III, and Halo 4, are in the mix for Best Audio… right alongside Hotline Miami and Sound Shapes; Dishonored, XCOM: Enemy Unknown and Journey are competing for Best Game Design… as are Mark Of The Ninja and Spelunky; Best Narrative features nominees like Spec Ops: The Line, Mass Effect 3, Dishonored and The Walking Dead… but then tosses in a nod for Virtue’s Last Reward, Japanese developer Chunsoft’s visual-novel adventure tale on the Nintendo 3DS. Not unlike the UK’s BAFTA awards, the broader scope of the GDC’s candidates and categories paints a stark contrast to gaming’s predominant mainstream ceremony, the Spike VGA’s.

Here’s the full list of categories and nominees, which is capped off by Game-of-the-Year bids for Dishonored, The Walking Dead, Mass Effect 3, Journey and (our Game of the Year) XCOM: Enemy Unknown.

Best Audio

Journey (Thatgamecompany/Sony Computer Entertainment)
Hotline Miami (Dennaton Games/Devolver Digital)
Sound Shapes (Queasy Games/Sony Computer Entertainment)
Assassin’s Creed III (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft)
Halo 4 (343 Industries/Microsoft Studios)

Best Debut

Humble Hearts (Dust: An Elysian Tail)
Polytron Corporation (Fez)
Giant Sparrow (The Unfinished Swan)
Subset Games (FTL: Faster Than Light)
Fireproof Games (The Room )

Best Game Design

Dishonored (Arkane Studios/Bethesda Softworks)
Mark Of The Ninja (Klei Entertainment/Microsoft Studios)
Spelunky (Derek Yu/Andy Hull)
Journey (Thatgamecompany/Sony Computer Entertainment)
XCOM: Enemy Unknown (Firaxis Games/2K Games)

Best Downloadable Game

The Walking Dead (Telltale Games)
Spelunky (Derek Yu/Andy Hull)
Trials: Evolution (RedLynx/Microsoft Studios)
Mark Of The Ninja (Klei Entertainment/Microsoft Studios)
Journey (Thatgamecompany/Sony Computer Entertainment)

Best Technology

Far Cry 3 (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft)
PlanetSide 2 (Sony Online Entertainment)
Halo 4 (343 Industries/Microsoft Studios)
Call of Duty: Black Ops II (Treyarch/Activision)
Assassin’s Creed III (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft)

Best Handheld/Mobile Game

Gravity Rush (SCE Japan Studio/Sony Computer Entertainment)
Hero Academy (Robot Entertainment)
Sound Shapes (Queasy Games/Sony Computer Entertainment)
The Room (Fireproof Games)
Kid Icarus: Uprising (Sora/Nintendo)

Best Narrative

Spec Ops: The Line (Yager Entertainment/2K Games)
Mass Effect 3 (BioWare/Electronic Arts)
Dishonored (Arkane Studios/Bethesda Softworks)
The Walking Dead (Telltale Games)
Virtue’s Last Reward (Chunsoft/Aksys Games)

Best Visual Arts

Borderlands 2 (Gearbox Software/2K Games)
Journey (Thatgamecompany/Sony Computer Entertainment)
Far Cry 3 (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft)
Dishonored (Arkane Studios/Bethesda Softworks)
Halo 4 (343 Industries/Microsoft Studios)

Innovation

Mark of the Ninja (Klei Entertainment/Microsoft Studios)
Journey (Thatgamecompany/Sony Computer Entertainment)
FTL: Faster Than Light (Subset Games)
The Unfinished Swan (Giant Sparrow/Sony Computer Entertainment)
ZombiU (Ubisoft Montpellier/Ubisoft)

Game of the Year

Dishonored (Arkane Studios/Bethesda Softworks)
The Walking Dead (Telltale Games)
Mass Effect 3 (BioWare/Electronic Arts)
XCOM: Enemy Unknown (Firaxis Games/2K Games)
Journey (Thatgamecompany/Sony Computer Entertainment)

Winners will be announced on Wednesday, March 27th at 6:30 pm Pacific Time during the official, invitation-only ceremony at GDC 2013. February will see the nominees revealed for three Special Award categories: the Pioneer, Ambassador and Lifetime Achievement awards. It will also mark the beginning of a first-ever online vote for an “Audience Award,” which all finalists are eligible for.

No explanation was given on the specific nature of the Audience Award, but we’re guessing it’s related more closely to a fan-voted Game of the Year than, say, 2012’s best gaming fanbase. Either way, we’ll cover all of the results once the trophies handed out; be sure to check to back!

What’s your take on the Game Developers Choice Awards nominees for 2013?

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Follow Brian on Twitter @Brian_Sipple.