The Game Developers Choice Awards are awards annually presented at the Game Developers Conference for outstanding game developers and games. Introduced in 2001, the Game Developers Choice Awards were preceded by the Spotlight Awards, which were presented from 1997 to 1999. Since then, the ceremony for the Independent Games Festival is held just prior to the Choice Awards ceremony.

Winner selection process

Nominations for games are made by International Choice Awards Network (ICAN), a group of leading game creators. Votes are then additionally made by editors of Game Developer. Any video game released in the preceding calendar year, regardless of medium, is eligible to be nominated, though upgrades, expansions, and mission packs are not eligible to be nominated. This group may consider recommendations from ICAN members.

An advisory board selected by the editors of gamasutra.com and Game Developer magazine oversees the selection process.

In the past, nominations are accepted from registered gamasutra.com users, confirmed to be game developers, and from the advisory board.

Once the nomination process is complete, the advisory board identifies five finalists for each regular category.

The recipients of the Lifetime Achievement, Pioneer (formerly known as First Penguin) and Maverick awards are selected by the advisory board.

For the other awards, a vote open to all those who participated in the nomination process chooses a recipient from each category's finalists.

List of winners

Note: Events held for awards are held early in the following year. Winners are listed first and highlighted in bold.

Game of the Year

The Game of the Year Award recognizes the overall best game released during the previous calendar year, as interpreted by the members of the Game Developers Conference.

{| class="wikitable"

|-

! Year

! Game

! Genre

! Developer(s)

|-

| 2000|| The Sims || Life simulation || Maxis

|-

| 2001|| Grand Theft Auto III || Action-adventure || DMA Design

|-

| 2002|| Metroid Prime || Action-adventure || Retro Studios

|-

| 2003|| Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic || Role-playing || BioWare

|-

| 2004|| Half-Life 2 || First-person shooter || Valve

|-

| 2005|| Shadow of the Colossus || Action-adventure || Team Ico

|-

| 2006|| Gears of War || Third-person shooter || Epic Games

|-

| 2007|| Portal || Puzzle-platformer || Valve

|-

| 2008|| Fallout 3 || Action role-playing || Bethesda Game Studios

|-

| 2009|| Uncharted 2: Among Thieves || Action-adventure || Naughty Dog

|-

| 2010|| Red Dead Redemption || Action-adventure || Rockstar San Diego

|-

| 2011|| The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim || Action role-playing || Bethesda Game Studios

|-

| 2012|| Journey || Adventure || Thatgamecompany

|-

| 2013|| The Last of Us || Action-adventure || Naughty Dog

|-

| 2014|| Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor || Action-adventure || Monolith Productions

|-

| 2015|| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt || Action role-playing || CD Projekt Red

|-

| 2016|| Overwatch || First-person shooter || Blizzard Entertainment

|-

| 2017|| The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild || Adventure || Nintendo

|-

| 2018 || God of War || Action-adventure || Santa Monica Studio

|-

| 2019 || Untitled Goose Game || Puzzle || House House

|-

| 2020 || Hades || Action role-playing || Supergiant Games

|-

| 2021 || Inscryption || Roguelike Deck-Builder || Daniel Mullins Games

|-

| 2022 || Elden Ring || Action role-playing || FromSoftware

|-

| 2023 || Baldur's Gate 3|| Role-playing || Larian Studios

|-

| 2024 || Balatro || Roguelike Deck-Builder || LocalThunk

|-

|2025

| Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

|Role-playing

|Sandfall Interactive / Kepler Interactive

|}

Best Audio

Best Audio award recognizes the overall excellence of audio in a game, including sound effects, musical composition, sound design and orchestration.

  • 2000: Diablo II
  • 2001: Halo: Combat Evolved
  • 2002: Medal of Honor: Allied Assault
  • 2003: Call of Duty
  • 2004: Halo 2
  • 2005: Guitar Hero
  • 2006: Guitar Hero II
  • 2007: BioShock
  • 2008: Dead Space
  • 2009: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
  • 2010: Red Dead Redemption
  • 2011: Portal 2
  • 2012: Journey
  • 2013: BioShock Infinite
  • 2014: Alien: Isolation
  • 2015: Crypt of the NecroDancer
  • 2016: Inside
  • 2021: Unpacking
  • 2011: Johann Sebastian Joust
  • 2012: Journey
  • 2013: Papers, Please
  • 2014: Monument Valley
  • 2015: Her Story
  • 2016: No Man's Sky
  • 2014: David Braben, founder of Frontier Developments, co-creator of the Elite series
  • 2015: Markus "Notch" Persson, creator of Minecraft
  • 2016: Jordan Mechner, creator of Prince of Persia
  • 2019: Roberta Williams, co-founder of Sierra On-line and early developer of the adventure game genre
  • 2020: Tom Fulp, creator of Newgrounds and co-founder of The Behemoth
  • 2021: None given
  • 2022: Mabel Addis, first female video game designer However, after several people asked the GDC to reconsider this in light of documented sexist activities in Bushnell's past in light of the current #MeToo movement, GDC opted to not award the Pioneer Award and instead "will dedicate this year's award to honor the pioneering and unheard voices of the past".

Ambassador Award

The Ambassador Award is given to individuals within or outside the industry who helped video games "advance to a better place." It replaced the IGDA Award for Community Contribution after 2007.

  • 2007: Jason Della Rocca (former head of International Game Developers Association)
  • 2008: Tommy Tallarico (video game musician and composer)
  • 2009: Jerry Holkins, Mike Krahulik and Robert Khoo (creators and founders of Penny Arcade)
  • 2010: Tim Brengle and Ian Mackenzie (Organizers of the Game Developers Conference volunteer program for 20+ years
  • 2020: None given
  • 2021: Steven Spohn (founder of AbleGamers)
  • 2022: None given
  • 2023: Fawzi Mesmar (creative director, game designer, leader, and author, known for his work in the video game industry)
  • 2025: Rebecca Heineman (Trailblazer, co-founder of Interplay, a passionate advocate for diversity and inclusion.)

Lifetime Achievement Award

The Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes the achievements of a developer who has impacted games and game development.

  • 2000: Will Wright (Sim games)
  • 2001: Yuji Naka (Sonic the Hedgehog series)
  • 2002: Gunpei Yokoi (1941–1997) (Game Boy, Super Mario Land series, Metroid series)
  • 2003: Mark Cerny (Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon)
  • 2004: Eugene Jarvis (Defender and Robotron: 2084)
  • 2005: Richard Garriott (Ultima)
  • 2006: Shigeru Miyamoto (creator of Mario, Donkey Kong, The Legend of Zelda, Star Fox, F-Zero, and Pikmin)
  • 2007: Sid Meier (Civilization series and many different simulators)
  • 2008: Hideo Kojima (Metal Gear series)
  • 2009: John Carmack (Doom series)
  • 2010: Peter Molyneux (God games)
  • 2011: Warren Spector (Deus Ex, System Shock, Thief: The Dark Project)
  • 2012: Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk (co-founders of BioWare)
  • 2013: Ken Kutaragi ("father" of the PlayStation console line)
  • 2014: Hironobu Sakaguchi (Final Fantasy series)
  • 2015: Todd Howard (Elder Scrolls, Fallout)
  • 2016: Tim Sweeney (founder of Epic Games)
  • 2017: Tim Schafer (developer for LucasArts adventure games, founder of Double Fine)
  • 2020: Laralyn McWilliams, creative director of Free Realms and lead director of Full Spectrum Warrior
  • 2023: Yoko Shimomura, composer of Street Fighter II and the Kingdom Hearts series
  • 2024: Sam Lake, Creative Director at Remedy Entertainment
  • 2025: Don Daglow, Emmy® Award winning game designer with a 55-year career covering over 100 games.

Retired awards

The following award categories have been retired or replaced with a different focus.

Best Downloadable Game

Best Downloadable Game Award recognizes the overall best game released on console or PC platforms specifically and solely for digital download - with an emphasis on smaller, more 'casual'-friendly titles.

  • 2007: flOw
  • 2008: World of Goo
  • 2009: Flower
  • 2011: Minecraft
  • 2012: Bastion
  • 2013: Journey
  • 2014: Papers, Please

Character Design

The Character Design award recognizes the overall excellence of non-licensed character design in a game, including originality, character arc and emotional depth.

  • 2004: Half-Life 2
  • 2005: Shadow of the Colossus
  • 2006: Ōkami

Excellence in Level Design

  • 2000: American McGee's Alice
  • 2001: ICO
  • 2002: Metroid Prime

Excellence in Programming

  • 2000: The Sims
  • 2001: Black and White
  • 2002: Neverwinter Nights
  • 2003: Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

IGDA Award for Community Contribution

The IGDA Award for Community Contribution recognized developers for significant efforts "building community, sharing knowledge, speaking on behalf of developers and/or contributing to the art form of game development". The Game Developers Choice Online Awards were also introduced to recognize technical excellence and innovation in online games. In addition to the awards of the competitive categories, special awards were given out to pioneering online games and creators. In 2012 it was announced that GDC Online would be replaced by GDC Next in Los Angeles in 2013, and the awards were subsequently discontinued.

2010

The 2010 awards ceremony took place on October 7, 2010. League of Legends by Riot Games led the winners with five awards from six nominations, including the publicly voted Audience Award. Richard Bartle received the Online Game Legend award for his work on the first MUD and the 2003 book Designing Virtual Worlds. The massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) Ultima Online was inducted into the GDC Online Awards Hall of Fame for being "a specific online game that has resulted in the long-term advancement of the medium, pioneering major shifts in online game development and games as a whole."

{| class="wikitable"

! Award

! Game

! Publisher

|-

| Best Online Technology

| League of Legends

| Riot Games

|-

| Best Social Network Game

| Social City

| Playdom

|-

| Best Online Visual Arts

| League of Legends

| Riot Games

|-

| Best Audio for an Online Game

| Aion

| NCSoft

|-

| Best Community Relations

| World of Warcraft

| Blizzard Entertainment

|-

| Best Online Game Design

| League of Legends

| Riot Games

|-

| Best Live Game

| Eve Online

| CCP Games

|-

| Best New Online Game

| League of Legends

| Riot Games

|-

| Audience Award

| League of Legends

| Riot Games

|}

{| class="wikitable"

|+ Special Awards

! Award

! Recipient

|-

| Online Game Legend Award

| Richard Bartle

|-

| GDC Online Awards Hall of Fame

| Ultima Online (Electronic Arts)

|}

2011

thumb|right|upright=1.2|[[Kelton Flinn receiving the Online Game Legend Award]]

The 2011 awards ceremony took place on October 12, 2011. All the awards from the previous year returned, and a new award for Online Innovation was introduced. Minecraft and Rift by Mojang and Trion Worlds respectively took home the most awards, with two each. Kelton Flinn and John Taylor received the special Online Game Legend award as founders of Kesmai and creators of Island of Kesmai and Air Warrior. Additionally, the MMORPG EverQuest was inducted into the GDC Online Awards Hall of Fame.

{| class="wikitable"

! Award

! Game

! Publisher

|-

| Best Online Game Design

| Spiral Knights

| Three Rings Design/Sega

|-

| Best Online Visual Arts

| DC Universe Online

| Sony Online Entertainment

|-

| Best Community Relations

| Minecraft

| Mojang

|-

| Best Online Technology

| Rift

| Trion Worlds

|-

| Best Social Network Game

| Gardens of Time

| Playdom

|-

| Best Audio for an Online Game

| Clone Wars Adventures

| Sony Online Entertainment

|-

| Best New Online Game

| Rift

| Trion Worlds

|-

| Best Live Game

| Minecraft

| Mojang

|-

| Online Innovation

| Shadow Cities

| Grey Area

|-

| Audience Award

| Wizard101

| KingsIsle Entertainment

|}

{| class="wikitable"

|+ Special Awards

! Award

! Recipient

|-

| Online Game Legend

| Kelton Flinn and John Taylor

|-

| GDC Online Awards Hall of Fame

| EverQuest (Sony Online Entertainment)

|}

2012

thumb|right|upright=1.2|[[Raph Koster at GDC Online 2012]]

The 2011 awards ceremony took place on October 10, 2012. Star Wars: The Old Republic, developed by BioWare Austin, became the top winner at four awards, with League of Legends by Riot Games trailing slightly behind at three awards. The Online Game Legend award was given to Raph Koster, developer of previous Hall of Fame inductee Ultima Online as well as Star Wars: Galaxies. MMORPG World of Warcraft was inducted into the GDC Online Awards Hall of Fame.

{| class="wikitable"

! Award

! Game

! Developer

|-

| Best Online Game Design

| Star Wars: The Old Republic

| BioWare Austin

|-

| Best Online Visual Arts

| Star Wars: The Old Republic

| BioWare Austin

|-

| Best Community Relations

| League of Legends

| Riot Games

|-

| Best Online Technology

| Star Wars: The Old Republic

| BioWare Austin

|-

| Best Social Network Game

| Draw Something

| OMGPOP/Zynga

|-

| Best Audio for an Online Game

| Diablo III

| Blizzard Entertainment

|-

| Best New Online Game

| Star Wars: The Old Republic

| BioWare Austin

|-

| Best Live Game

| League of Legends

| Riot Games

|-

| Online Innovation

| Journey

| Thatgamecompany

|-

| Audience Award

| League of Legends

| Riot Games

|}

{| class="wikitable"

|+ Special Awards

! Award

! Recipient

|-

| Online Game Legend

| Raph Koster

|-

| GDC Online Awards Hall of Fame

| World of Warcraft (Blizzard Entertainment)

|}

References

  • Official website