Death Stranding leads the nominations for the 20th annual Game Developers Choice Awards

The nominees for the 20th annual Game Developers Choice Awards have been unveiled.

Winners in all categories will be announced at the Game Developers Choice Awards (GDCA) ceremony on Wednesday, March 18th, 2020, during the 2020 Game Developers Conference.

Kojima Productions’ Death Stranding leads the charge with seven nominations – more than other any other title this year – including nominations for Best Audio, Best Design, the Innovation Award, Best Narrative Game, Best Technology, Best Visual Art, and Game of the Year.

Control from Remedy Entertainment follows closely behind, with five nominations for Best Audio, Best Narrative, Best Technology, Best Visual Art, and Game of the Year. Mobius Digital’s Outer Wilds also received five nominations for Best Debut, Best Design, the Innovation Award, Best Narrative, and Game of the Year.

The complete list of nominees is as follows:

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)

Honourable Mentions: Cadence of Hyrule: Crypt of the NecroDancer featuring the Legend of Zelda (Brace Yourself Games/Nintendo), Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (Respawn Entertainment/Electronic Arts), Disco Elysium (ZA/UM), Ape Out (Gabe Cuzzillo, Bennett Foddy, Matt Boch/Devolver Digital), Outer Wilds(Mobius Digital/Annapurna Interactive)

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)

Honourable Mentions: Disco Elysium (ZA/UM), Control (Remedy Entertainment/505 Games), Apex Legends (Respawn Entertainment/Electronic Arts), The Outer Worlds (Obsidian Entertainment/Private Division), Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (Respawn Entertainment/Electronic Arts), Luigi’s Mansion 3 (Next Level Games/Nintendo)

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)

Honourable Mentions: Control (Remedy Entertainment/505 Games), Hypnospace Outlaw (Tendershoot, ThatWhichIs Media/No More Robots), Kind Words (Popcannibal), Ring Fit Adventure (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo), Wattam (Funomena/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)

Honourable Mentions: Mutazione (Die Gute Fabrik/Akupara Games), Assemble with Care (ustwo), Pilgrims (Amanita Design), Archero (Habby), Card of Darkness (Choice Provisions), Mini Motorways (Dinosaur Polo Club)

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)

Honourable Mentions: Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (Respawn Entertainment/Electronic Arts), Fire Emblem: Three Houses (Intelligent Systems, Koei Tecmo Games/Nintendo), A Plague Tale: Innocence(Asobo Studio/Focus Home Interactive), Heaven’s Vault (inkle), Mutazione (Die Gute Fabrik/Akupara Games), Telling Lies (Drowning a Mermaid Productions, Furious Bee/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)

Honourable Mentions: Gears 5 (The Coalition/Xbox Game Studios), Resident Evil 2 (Capcom), Manifold Garden (William Chyr Studios), Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (FromSoftware/Activision), The Outer Worlds(Obsidian Entertainment/Private Division), Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (Respawn Entertainment/Electronic Arts), Outer Wilds (Mobius Digital/Annapurna Interactive)

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)

Honourable Mentions: Outer Wilds (Mobius Digital/Annapurna Interactive), Untitled Goose Game (House House/Panic), The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening (Grezzo/Nintendo), Luigi’s Mansion 3 (Next Level Games/Nintendo), Void Bastards (Blue Manchu/Humble Bundle)

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)

Honourable Mentions: Trover Saves the Universe (Squanch Games), Falcon Age (Outerloop Games), Ghost Giant (Zoink), Vacation Simulator (Owlchemy Labs), Stormland (Insomniac Games/Oculus Studios)

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)

Honourable Mentions: Disco Elysium (ZA/UM), The Outer Worlds (Obsidian Entertainment/Private Division), Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (Respawn Entertainment/Electronic Arts), Apex Legends (Respawn Entertainment/Electronic Arts)

The Game Developers Choice Awards (GDCA) has already revealed the recipient of 2020’s Ambassador Award is Kate Edwards. Formerly executive director of the non-profit International Game Developers Association between 2012 and 2017, Edwards is now executive director of the Global Game Jam. They also worked at Microsoft for 13 years as a geopolitical strategist before establishing their own consultancy, Geogrify, which helps developers maximise their international reach by “making content accessible to local markets through translation”. Edwards is also on the board for gaming mental health advocacy charity, Take This.

The Ambassador Award is rewarded for “helping video games advance to a better place through advocacy and action” and is selected each year by the Game Developers Choice Special Awards Jury, which currently includes Frank Cifaldi (The Video Game History Foundation), Ed Fries (1Up Ventures), Tracy Fullerton (USC Games), Raph Koster (Playable Worlds), and Erin Robinson (Guerrilla Games).

Yesterday, we announced the shortlist for our newly-rebranded MCV/DEVELOP awards. Following our name change, we’ve taken the chance to entirely revamp the awards based on industry feedback over the last couple of years. That means: new categories, no time-consuming entries and an industry-wide voting system. All culminating in the awards ceremony on the 5th of March.