Winners in all categories will be honored at the Game Developers Choice Awards (GDCA) ceremony, taking place at the 2023 Game Developers Conference (GDC) on Wednesday, March 22 and held in conjunction with the Independent Games Festival Awards (IGF). The ceremony is available to watch for all GDC 2023 pass-holders, and will be streamed on the official GDC Twitch channel. The 37th edition of GDC will be held at San Francisco’s Moscone Convention Center from March 20 - 24.
The nominees, picked by developers from across the industry, are led by FromSoftware’s Elden Ring and BlueTwelve Studio’s Stray with six total nominations each, followed closely by God of War Ragnarök with five nominations. These three titles are also contenders for the coveted Game of the Year prize, accompanied in that category by IMMORTALITY, Pentiment and TUNIC.
FromSoftware and Bandai Namco Entertainment’s smash hit Elden Ring is the latest game from the team who created the challenging yet rewarding Dark Souls series. The title is directed by Hidetaka Miyazaki, who pioneered the so-called “Soulsborne” genre itself and features writing and world-building from fantasy novelist and writer/producer George R. R. Martin (A Song of Ice and Fire, Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon). Developer BlueTwelve Studio and Annapurna Interactive’s Stray sees players take control of a cat through a decaying cybercity inhabited by robots. Players journey to the surface to reunite with the group of cats they were separated from while avoiding Zurks, the mutant bacteria that have evolved to devour both organic life and robots. Santa Monica Studio’s God of War Ragnarök continues the story of the demigod Kratos and his son Atreus as they face down powerful foes from Norse Mythology while the world approaches Ragnarök, the world-ending cataclysmic battle.
Any video game that was released and made publicly available during the 2022 calendar year is eligible for free nomination for the 2023 Game Developers Choice Awards. Both nominees and winners are selected by the Game Developers Choice Awards-specific International Choice Awards Network (ICAN), which is an invitation-only organization, composed of leading game creators from all parts of the industry.
In addition to the categories listed below, the Audience Award welcomes the GDC audience to cast their vote for favorite game of the year. The public can cast their vote from the Audience Award ballot here.
The complete list of nominees, including honorable mentions, for the 23rd annual Game Developers Choice Awards is as follows:
BEST AUDIO
- Elden Ring (FromSoftware Inc./Bandai Namco Entertainment)
- God of War Ragnarök (Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment)
- Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment)
- Metal: Hellsinger (The Outsiders/Funcom)
- Stray (BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna Interactive)
Honorable Mentions: A Plague Tale: Requiem (Asobo Studio/Focus Entertainment), Neon White (Angel Matrix/Annapurna Interactive), Persona 5 Royal (ATLUS/SEGA), Splatoon 3 (Nintendo), TUNIC (TUNIC Team/Finji)
BEST DEBUT
- Neon White (Angel Matrix/Annapurna Interactive)
- NORCO (Geography of Robots/Raw Fury)
- Stray (BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna Interactive)
- TUNIC (TUNIC Team/Finji)
- Vampire Survivors (poncle)
Honorable Mentions: Chained Echoes (Matthias Linda/Deck13), Cult of the Lamb (Massive Monster/Devolver Digital), Marvel Snap (Second Dinner Studios, Inc./Nuverse), The Case of the Golden Idol (Color Gray Games/Playstack), Trombone Champ (Holy Wow Studios LLC)
BEST DESIGN
- Elden Ring (FromSoftware Inc./Bandai Namco Entertainment)
- Marvel Snap (Second Dinner Studios, Inc./Nuverse)
- Neon White (Angel Matrix/Annapurna Interactive)
- Stray (BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna Interactive)
- TUNIC (TUNIC Team/Finji)
Honorable Mentions: Cult of the Lamb (Massive Monster/Devolver Digital), Dwarf Fortress (Bay 12 Games/Kitfox Games), God of War Ragnarök (Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment), IMMORTALITY (Sam Barlow/Half Mermaid), Vampire Survivors (poncle)
INNOVATION AWARD
- Elden Ring (FromSoftware Inc./Bandai Namco Entertainment)
- IMMORTALITY (Sam Barlow/Half Mermaid)
- Neon White (Angel Matrix/Annapurna Interactive)
- Pentiment (Obsidian Entertainment/Xbox Game Studios)
- Stray (BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna Interactive)
Honorable Mentions: Cult of the Lamb (Massive Monster/Devolver Digital), Dwarf Fortress (Bay 12 Games/Kitfox Games), God of War Ragnarök (Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment), Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment), Trombone Champ (Holy Wow Studios LLC)
BEST NARRATIVE
- God of War Ragnarök (Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment)
- I Was a Teenage Exocolonist (Northway Games/Finji)
- IMMORTALITY (Sam Barlow/Half Mermaid)
- Pentiment (Obsidian Entertainment/Xbox Game Studios)
- Return to Monkey Island (Terrible Toybox/Devolver Digital)
Honorable Mentions: A Plague Tale: Requiem (Asobo Studio/Focus Entertainment), Citizen Sleeper (Jump Over The Age/Fellow Traveller), Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment), NORCO (Geography of Robots/Raw Fury), Roadwarden (Moral Anxiety Studio /Assemble Entertainment)
SOCIAL IMPACT AWARD
- As Dusk Falls (INTERIOR/NIGHT/Xbox Game Studios)
- Citizen Sleeper (Jump Over The Age/Fellow Traveller)
- Endling - Extinction Is Forever (Herobeat Studios/HandyGames)
- I Was A Teenage Exocolonist (Northway Games/Finji)
- OlliOlli World (Roll7/Private Division)
- We Are OFK (Team OFK)
Honorable Mentions: Before Your Eyes (GoodbyeWorld Games/Skybound Games), God of War Ragnarök (Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment), Hindsight (Team Hindsight/Annapurna Interactive), NORCO (Geography of Robots/Raw Fury), Terra Nil (Free Lives/Devolver Digital)
BEST TECHNOLOGY
- A Plague Tale: Requiem (Asobo Studio/Focus Entertainment)
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (Infinity Ward, Raven Software, Beenox, Treyarch, High Moon Studios, Sledgehammer Games, Activision Shanghai, Demonware, Toys for Bob/Activision)
- Elden Ring (FromSoftware Inc./Bandai Namco Entertainment)
- God of War Ragnarök (Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment)
- Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Honorable Mentions: Dwarf Fortress (Bay 12 Games/Kitfox Games), Hardspace: Shipbreaker (Blackbird Interactive/Focus Entertainment), IMMORTALITY (Sam Barlow/Half Mermaid), Stray (BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna Interactive), Teardown (Tuxedo Labs)
BEST VISUAL ART
- Elden Ring (FromSoftware Inc./Bandai Namco Entertainment)
- God of War Ragnarök (Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment)
- Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment)
- Pentiment (Obsidian Entertainment/Xbox Game Studios)
- Stray (BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna Interactive)
Honorable Mentions: A Plague Tale: Requiem (Asobo Studio/Focus Entertainment), Cult of the Lamb (Massive Monster/Devolver Digital), Neon White (Angel Matrix/Annapurna Interactive), OlliOlli World (Roll7/Private Division), TUNIC (TUNIC Team/Finji)
GAME OF THE YEAR
- Elden Ring (FromSoftware Inc./Bandai Namco Entertainment)
- God of War Ragnarök (Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment)
- IMMORTALITY (Sam Barlow/Half Mermaid)
- Pentiment (Obsidian Entertainment/Xbox Game Studios)
- Stray (BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna Interactive)
- TUNIC (TUNIC Team/Finji)
Honorable Mentions: Citizen Sleeper (Jump Over The Age/Fellow Traveller), Cult of the Lamb (Massive Monster/Devolver Digital), Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment), Marvel Snap (Second Dinner Studios, Inc./Nuverse), Neon White (Angel Matrix/Annapurna Interactive), Vampire Survivors (poncle)
For more information about the 23rd annual Game Developers Choice Awards, visit here. As in years past, the Game Developers Choice Awards will be live-streamed alongside the Independent Games Festival Awards on the official GDC Twitch channel.
For more details on the Game Developers Conference, please visit the GDC’s official website,