God of War, Red Dead Redemption 2, Spider-Man receive multiple nods for 2019 GDC Awards
The annual GDC Awards will be held in March, and nominations for Game of the Year are Celeste, God of War, Red Dead Redemption 2, Spider-Man, and Return of the Obra Dinn.
Each of the aforementioned games received multiple Game Developers Choice nominations for the year 2018.
Red Dead Redemption 2 leads with seven nominations, followed by God of War and Spider-Man with six each. Challenging platformer Celeste and the whodunnit puzzler Return of the Obra Dinn also received multiple nods.
Two specialty awards are also handed out yearly: Pioneer and Lifetime Achievement. Amy Hennig will be honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award this year.
GDC opted to skip the Pioneer Award in 2017 after controversy erupted over the committee's choice of Atari co-founder Nolan Bushnell. The 2018 recipient will be announced at a later date.
Winners in all categories will be honored at the Game Developers Choice Awards on Wednesday, March 20. The ceremony will be hosted once again by Tim Schafer. It kicks off at 6:30pm PST, 9:30pm EST and 2:30am UK (March 21). It will be streamed live on Twitch with other streaming platforms to be announced.
Nominees and winners for the GDC awards are chosen by game developers and industry peers. Last year, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild won 2017 Game of the Year, along with Best Audio and Best Design awards.
The complete list of nominees for the 19th annual Game Developers Choice Awards, including honorable mentions, can be found below.
Games nominated for each category had to have released and made publicly available during the 2018 calendar year.
GDC 2019 runs March 18-22.
2019 GDC Awards Nominees
Game of the Year
- Celeste (Matt Makes Games)
- God of War (Sony Santa Monica / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
- Marvel's Spider-Man (Insomniac Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
- Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)
- Return of the Obra Dinn (Lucas Pope / 3909)
Honorable Mentions: Assassin's Creed Odyssey (Ubisoft Quebec / Ubisoft), Florence (Mountains / Annapurna Interactive), Into the Breach (Subset Games), Monster Hunter: World (Capcom), Super Smash Bros Ultimate (Bandai Namco Studios & Sora / Nintendo), Tetris Effect (Monstars and Resonair / Enhance)
Best Audio
- Celeste (Matt Makes Games)
- God of War (Sony Santa Monica / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
- Marvel's Spider-Man (Insomniac Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
- Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)
- Tetris Effect (Monstars and Resonair / Enhance)
Honorable Mentions: Battlefield 5 (EA DICE / Electronic Arts), Beat Saber (Beat Games), Forza Horizon 4 (Playground Games and Turn 10 Studios / Microsoft Studios), Return of the Obra Dinn (Lucas Pope / 3909), Wandersong (Greg Lobanov / Humble Bundle)
Best Debut
- Florence (Mountains)
- Gris (Nomada Studio)
- Moss (Polyarc)
- The Messenger (Sabotage)
- Yoku's Island Express (Villa Gorilla)
Honorable Mentions: Beat Games (Beat Saber), Digital Sun (Moonlighter), Okomotive (Far: Lone Sails), Two Point Studios (Two Point Hospital)
Best Design
- Celeste (Matt Makes Games)
- God of War (Sony Santa Monica / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
- Into the Breach (Subset Games)
- Marvel's Spider-Man (Insomniac Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
- Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)
Honorable Mentions: Frostpunk (11 bit studios), Minit (Kitty Calis, Jan Willem Nijman, Jukio Kallio & Dominik Johann / Devolver Digital), Return of the Obra Dinn (Lucas Pope / 3909), Astro Bot Rescue Mission (SIE Japan Studio / Sony Interactive Entertainment), Monster Hunter: World (Capcom)
Best Mobile Game
- Alto's Odyssey (Snowman)
- Donut County (Ben Esposito / Annapurna Interactive)
- Florence (Mountains / Annapurna Interactive)
- Holedown (Grapefrukt Games)
- Reigns: Game of Thrones (Nerial / Devolver Digital)
Honorable Mentions: Furistas Cat Cafe (Runaway), The Room: Old Sins (Fireproof Studios), Pocket Run Pool (Zach Gage), Alphabear 2 (Spry Fox), Twinfold (Kenny Sun)
Best Narrative
- Florence (Mountains/Annapurna Interactive)
- God of War (Sony Santa Monica / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
- Marvel's Spider-Man (Insomniac Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
- Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)
- Return of the Obra Dinn (Lucas Pope / 3909)
Honorable Mentions: Assassin's Creed Odyssey (Ubisoft Quebec / Ubisoft), Detroit: Become Human (Quantic Dream / Sony Interactive Entertainment), Celeste (Matt Makes Games), Life is Strange 2 (Dontnod Entertainment / Square Enix), Where the Water Tastes Like Wine (Dim Bulb Games and Serenity Forge / Good Shepherd Entertainment)
Best Technology
- Assassin's Creed Odyssey (Ubisoft Quebec / Ubisoft)
- Forza Horizon 4 (Turn 10 Studios and Playground Games / Microsoft Studios)
- God of War (Sony Santa Monica / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
- Marvel's Spider-Man (Insomniac Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
- Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)
Honorable Mentions: Sea of Thieves (Rare / Microsoft Studios), Far Cry 5 (Ubisoft Montreal and Ubisoft Toronto / Ubisoft), Battlefield V (EA DICE / Electronic Arts), Detroit: Become Human (Quantic Dream / Sony Interactive Entertainment), Return of the Obra Dinn (Lucas Pope / 3909)
Best Visual Art
- God of War (Sony Santa Monica / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
- Gris (Nomada Studio / Devolver Digital)
- Marvel's Spider-Man (Insomniac Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
- Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)
- Return of the Obra Dinn (Lucas Pope / 3909)
Honorable Mentions: Battlefield 5 (EA DICE / Electronic Arts), Tetris Effect (Monstars and Resonair / Enhance), Dragon Ball FighterZ (Arc System Works / Bandai Namco Entertainment), Assassin's Creed Odyssey (Ubisoft Quebec / Ubisoft), Below (Capybara Games)
Best VR/AR Game
- Astro Bot Rescue Mission (SIE Japan Studio / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
- Beat Saber (Beat Games)
- Budget Cuts (Neat Corporation)
- Moss (Polyarc)
- Tetris Effect (Monstars and Resonair / Enhance)
Honorable Mentions: Jurassic World Alive (Ludia), In Death (Sólfar Studios), Tendar (Tender Claws), Firewall Zero Hour (First Contact Entertainment / Sony Interactive Entertainment), Deracine (FromSoftware / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Innovation Award
- Florence (Mountains / Annapurna Interactive)
- Nintendo Labo (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)
- Return of the Obra Dinn (Lucas Pope / 3909)
- Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)
- Tetris Effect (Monstars and Resonair / Enhance)
Honorable Mentions: Minit (Kitty Calis, Jan Willem Nijman, Jukio Kallio & Dominik Johann / Devolver Digital), Celeste (Matt Makes Games), God of War (Sony Santa Monica / Sony Interactive Entertainment), Astro Bot Rescue Mission (SIE Japan Studio / Sony Interactive Entertainment), Moss (Polyarc), A Way Out (Hazelight Studios / Electronic Arts)