2016 Game Developers Choice Awards nominees announced

Geralt in the tub

The nominees for the 2016 Game Developers Choice Awards have been announced, with Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt leading the pack with four nominations each. Other noteworthy PC games up for awards include Star Wars Battlefront, Fallout 4, and even a couple of indie games you may have heard of.

GDC Awards nominations are open to “any video game that was released and made publicly available to customers during the 2015 calendar year, irrespective of platform or delivery medium.” And while Her Story and Undertale don't have the budget or massive player base of games like MGS5 or Fallout 4, they each received multiple nominations for their “novel approach to game design”: Best Handheld/Mobile, Best Narrative, and Innovation Award for Her Story, and Best Narrative, Best Debut, and Innovation Award for Undertale.

They're far from the only indie games in the running for awards. Ark: Survival Evolved, Ori and the Blind Forest, Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes, Rocket League, and many others are in there too. Rocket League, in fact, is up for the Game of the Year gong, alongside heavy-hitters Fallout 4, The Witcher 3, Metal Gear Solid V, and Bloodborne. The Witcher 3 is also up for Best Visual Art, Best Narrative, and Best Technology, while MGS5 has nominations for Best Audio, Best Design, and Best Technology.

The 16th annual Game Developers Choice Awards show will take place on March 16, and will be livestreamed on Twitch.

Andy Chalk
US News Lead

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.

Latest in Events & Conferences
Nolan North and Jennifer English, who will be hosting the Future Games Show's Spring Showcase.
Jennifer English (Shadowheart) and Nolan North (Nathan Drake) will be the illustrious hosts of the Future Games Show this year
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree's Rellana
AGDQ 2025 kicks off this weekend, featuring an Elden Ring saxophone boss rush, an 'All Romances' run of Fallout: New Vegas, and some of the worst games ever made
Key art for the PC Gaming Show: Most Wanted
How to watch the PC Gaming Show: Most Wanted 2024
Golden Joystick awards 2024 banner
The 42nd annual Golden Joystick Awards are live now—watch the whole show here
Promo for the PC Gaming Show: Most Wanted, showing host Frankie Ward.
The PC Gaming Show: Most Wanted returns with announcements and reveals galore this December 5
Key art for the PC Gaming Show: Most Wanted
Here are the nominees for PC Gaming Show: Most Wanted
Latest in News
Image of Cersei Lanniser from Game of Thrones: Kingsroad Steam early access trailer
A new Game of Thrones RPG is coming to Steam today with a cast of 'familiar faces,' which is good because it's really the only way to tell it's a GoT game at all
The new Prime Asset featured in the upcoming update for the Outlast Trials.
The Outlast Trials puts its already paranoid players under surveillance for a time-limited story event
A Viera looking confused in Final Fantasy 14.
Old armor continues to fall victim to Final Fantasy 14's bizarre two-channel dye system, unless you're super into changing the colour of teeny-tiny eyelets: 'Why even bother at this point?'
Starfield: Shattered Space
By the time Bethesda was on Starfield, you'd 'basically get in trouble' for breaking schedule, says former dev: 'A lot of the great stuff within Skyrim came from having the freedom to do what you want'
Otter AI Meeting Agent
As if your work meetings weren't already fun enough, now Otter has a new all-hearing AI agent that remembers everything anyone has said and can join in the discussion
Monster Hunter Wilds' stockpile master studying a manifest
As layoffs and studio closures continue to deathroll the western AAA industry, analyst points out 5 of 8 major Japanese companies hit all-time share prices this year