Due to the outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19), a lot of different gatherings and events were canceled or postponed. The same almost happened to the Game Developers Choice (GDC) Awards. However, they choose another approach. They held it online while the physical conference was moved to April 4th and is now called GDC Summer.
If you are not familiar with this annual awards ceremony, it happens every year. Mostly focused on the genius and creativity of developers who make games, indie or AAA, and awarding them for their hard work and dedication to making the gaming industry better.
GDC 2020 virtual talks, awards streaming for free all week! Here's the lineuphttps://t.co/oVl5gZGMmA
— Official_GDC (@Official_GDC) March 15, 2020
They presented over forty game demos, which were made in collaboration with indie and triple-A developers. Demos will be available to download through Steam for seven days after this event has finished.
This year’s Game Developers Choice Awards were given to (winners in bold format):
Game of the Year:
- Death Stranding (Kojima Productions/Sony Interactive Entertainment)
- Control (Remedy Entertainment/505 Games)
- Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (FromSoftware/Activision)
- Untitled Goose Game (House House/Panic)
- Outer Wilds (Mobius Digital/Annapurna Interactive)
Best Audio:
- Death Stranding (Kojima Productions/Sony Interactive Entertainment)
- Sayonara Wild Hearts (Simogo/Annapurna Interactive)
- Control (Remedy Entertainment/505 Games)
- Untitled Goose Game (House House/Panic)
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (Infinity Ward/Activision)
Best Debut Developer:
- ZA/UM (Disco Elysium)
- Mobius Digital (Outer Wilds)
- William Chyr Studio (Manifold Garden)
- Foam Sword Games (Knights and Bikes)
- Chance Agency (Neo Cab)
Best Design:
- Baba Is You (Hempuli)
- Outer Wilds (Mobius Digital/Annapurna Interactive)
- Death Stranding (Kojima Productions/Sony Interactive Entertainment)
- Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (FromSoftware/Activision Publishing)
- Untitled Goose Game (House House/Panic)
Best Mobile Game:
- Sayonara Wild Hearts (Simogo/Annapurna Interactive)
- What the Golf? (Triband Productions/The Label Limited)
- Grindstone (Capybara Games)
- Sky: Children of the Light (thatgamecompany)
- Call of Duty: Mobile (TiMi Studios/Activision)
Innovation Award:
- Untitled Goose Game (House House/Panic)
- Disco Elysium (ZA/UM)
- Baba Is You (Hempuli)
- Death Stranding (Kojima Productions/Sony Interactive Entertainment)
- Outer Wilds (Mobius Digital/Annapurna Interactive)
Best Narrative:
- Disco Elysium (ZA/UM)
- Control (Remedy Entertainment/505 Games)
- Death Stranding (Kojima Productions/Sony Interactive Entertainment)
- The Outer Worlds (Obsidian Entertainment/Private Division)
- Outer Wilds (Mobius Digital/Annapurna Interactive)
Best Technology:
- Death Stranding (Kojima Productions/Sony Interactive Entertainment)
- Control (Remedy Entertainment/505 Games)
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (Infinity Ward/Activision)
- Apex Legends (Respawn Entertainment/Electronic Arts)
- Noita (Nolla Games)
Best Visual Art:
- Control (Remedy Entertainment/505 Games)
- Death Stranding (Kojima Productions/Sony Interactive Entertainment)
- Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (FromSoftware/Activision)
- Sayonara Wild Hearts (Simogo/Annapurna Interactive)
- Disco Elysium (ZA/UM)
Best VR/AR Game:
- Vader Immortal (ILMxLAB/Disney)
- Blood & Truth (SCEE Studio London/Sony Interactive Entertainment)
- Asgard’s Wrath (Sanzaru Games/Oculus Studios)
- Boneworks (Stress Level Zero)
- Pistol Whip (Cloudhead Games)
Audience Game Developers Choice Awards went to Sky: Children of the Light and Ambassador Award to Kate Edwards for her past work and all the good she brought to the gaming industry, as a former head of International Game Developers Association.
Coronavirus is making us all stay at home, so at least you can spend your time playing some games on this list. My personal favorites are Untitled Goose Game, and Disco Elysium, so make sure to try them out. You won’t be disappointed.
YouTube: 2020 Independent Games Festival & Game Developers Choice Awards
Photo credit: The feature image has been provided by GDC under CC BY 2.0 license.
Source: Corresponding article on Wikipedia / GDC Awards website
Editorial notice: The feature image has been taken at the event in 2019, as this year’s event was partially postponed and done online.
