Following the Independent Games Festival Awards last night was the annual Game Developers Choice Awards. This is at close as it gets to the Oscars for video gaming – awards given by peers in the industry. Blizzard’s popular multiplayer hero shooter Overwatch won the overall Game of the Year awards, as well as Best Design.
Another big winner was Playdead’s intriguing platformer Inside. Its immersive world won Best Audio and Best Visual Art. Firewatch was the only other multi-award winner. The first-person adventure won Best Debut and Best Narrative. Campo Santo’s isolated adventure was praised for its deep storytelling and visual style.
Other winners include Pokémon GO for Best Mobile/Handheld. Despite its rocky and controversial release, No Man’s Sky earned developers Hello Games the Innovation Award. The winner of the online voting Audience Award among all GDCA finalists was Battlefield 1.
“This year’s amazing slate of winners is a testament to the diversity of experiences in games,” said Meggan Scavio, GM of GDC. “These nominees speak to the strength of games as a medium, but also show the various textures and possible creative outlets that interactive entertainment can provide. Congrats to all of the winners and nominees for following their visions and thanks to all developers who strive to make amazing games for us day in and day out.”
Here is a full list of all the winners from the 2017 Game Developers Choice Awards:
Best Audio
Inside (Playdead)
Best Debut
Campo Santo (Firewatch)
Best Design
Overwatch (Blizzard Entertainment)
Best Mobile/Handheld Game
Pokemon Go (Niantic)
Innovation Award
No Man’s Sky (Hello Games)
Best Narrative
Firewatch (Campo Santo)
Best Technology
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (Naughty Dog)
Best Visual Art
Inside (Playdead)
Best VR/AR Game
Job Simulator: The 2050 Archives (Owlchemy Labs)
Audience Award
Battlefield 1 (EA DICE)
Game of the Year
Overwatch (Blizzard Entertainment)
Pioneer Award
Jordan Mechner
Ambassador Award
Mark DeLoura
Lifetime Achievement Award
Tim Sweeney
The last three awards are given to individual members of the video game industry each year. Jordan Mechner earned the Pioneer Award for his work creating the Prince of Persia series. The Ambassador Award was awarded to Mark Deloura for advancing education in video games and technology. He was Senior Adviser for Digital Media for the Obama Administration.
The Lifetime Achievement Award went to Tim Sweeney. Sweeney founded Epic Games and co-created 1998 shooter Unreal and the very popular Unreal Engine. If you’ve played any action game in the last two decades, you’ve enjoyed his work.
