Yesterday, the finalists for the 2020 Independent Games Festival awards were announced, led by indie hits including Mutazione, Untitled Goose Games, and A Short Hike. Now it's time to take a look at the shortlist for this year's Game Developers Choice Awards.
Death Stranding leads the pack this time around with nominations in seven categories, followed by Control and Outer Wilds, with five each. Disco Elysium is up for four awards, as is Untitled Goose Game, which is also in the running for a couple of IGF awards. Sayonara Wild Hearts and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, which won game of the year in December 2019 at The Game Awards, are nominated in three categories each.
The 20th annual Game Developers Choice Awards ceremony will take place at 6:30 pm PT/9:30 pm ET on March 18, in conjunction with the IGF awards, and will be livestreamed on Twitch. For your argument-starting convenience, here's the full list of nominees, and my own deeply-held conviction that Control should win everything and everyone else should just go home and think about trying again next year:
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:
- ZA/UM (Disco Elysium)
- Mobius Digital (Outer Wilds)
- William Chyr Studios (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, FromSoftware)
- Untitled Goose Game (House House/Panic)
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 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)
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)
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)
