Developers vote: the Game Developers Choice Awards nominees
Awards season rolled on, and the 2016 Game Developers Choice Awards — voted by developers themselves, handed out the same night as the Independent Games Festival Awards in mid-March — set up a heavyweight title fight.
The clear favorites: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, four nominations each including Game of the Year. But the depth showed in the chase pack — Her Story, Star Wars Battlefront, Bloodborne, Nintendo’s new IP Splatoon, and Bethesda’s Fallout 4, three nominations apiece.
The full ballot, preserved for posterity. Place your bets:
Game of the Year
- Fallout 4 (Bethesda Game Studios / Bethesda Softworks)
- The Witcher 3 (CD Projekt RED / CD Projekt)
- Metal Gear Solid V (Kojima Productions / Konami)
- Bloodborne (FromSoftware / Sony Computer Entertainment)
- Rocket League (Psyonix)
Innovation Award
- Her Story (Sam Barlow)
- Super Mario Maker (Nintendo EAD Group No. 4 / Nintendo)
- Undertale (Toby Fox)
- Splatoon (Nintendo EAD Group No. 2 / Nintendo)
- The Beginner’s Guide (Everything Unlimited Ltd.)
Best Debut
- Studio Wildcard (ARK: Survival Evolved)
- Toby Fox (Undertale)
- Moon Studios (Ori and the Blind Forest)
- Moppin (Downwell)
- Steel Crate Games (Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes)
Best Design
- Rocket League (Psyonix)
- Metal Gear Solid V (Kojima Productions / Konami)
- Bloodborne (FromSoftware / Sony Computer Entertainment)
- Fallout 4 (Bethesda Game Studios / Bethesda Softworks)
- Splatoon (Nintendo EAD Group No. 2 / Nintendo)
Best Handheld/Mobile Game
- Lara Croft GO (Square Enix Montréal / Square Enix)
- Fallout Shelter (Bethesda Game Studios / Bethesda Softworks)
- Downwell (Moppin / Devolver Digital)
- Her Story (Sam Barlow)
- Alphabear (Spry Fox)
Best Visual Art
- Ori and the Blind Forest (Moon Studios / Microsoft Studios)
- The Witcher 3 (CD Projekt RED / CD Projekt)
- Star Wars Battlefront (DICE / Electronic Arts)
- Bloodborne (FromSoftware / Sony Computer Entertainment)
- Splatoon (Nintendo EAD Group No. 2 / Nintendo)
Best Narrative
- Her Story (Sam Barlow)
- The Witcher 3 (CD Projekt RED / CD Projekt)
- Life is Strange (Dontnod Entertainment / Square Enix)
- Undertale (Toby Fox)
- The Beginner’s Guide (Everything Unlimited Ltd.)
Best Audio
- Star Wars Battlefront (DICE / Electronic Arts)
- Ori and the Blind Forest (Moon Studios / Microsoft Studios)
- Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture (The Chinese Room / Sony Computer Entertainment)
- Metal Gear Solid V (Kojima Productions / Konami)
- Crypt of the NecroDancer (Brace Yourself Games)
Best Technology
- Metal Gear Solid V (Kojima Productions / Konami)
- The Witcher 3 (CD Projekt RED / CD Projekt)
- Star Wars Battlefront (DICE / Electronic Arts)
- Fallout 4 (Bethesda Game Studios / Bethesda Softworks)
- Just Cause 3 (Avalanche Studios / Square Enix)
History’s footnote: The Witcher 3 took Game of the Year, and Undertale’s Innovation nod looks even better a decade on than it did that night. Every nominee on that list is still worth playing — start with The Witcher 3 if you somehow haven’t.
More information | Game Developers Choice Awards