Today, the organizers of the 20th annual Game Developers Choice Awards have revealed the nominees for the GDCA ceremony which takes place on March 18, 2020, at 6:30 pm. The ceremony will be livestreamed on the official GDC Twitch channel. Death Stranding has been nominated for seven categories which are the most of any title for this year. Behind that, Control and Outer Wilds each received five nominations. Disco Elysium, which took multiple awards at The Game Awards 2019 last month, and Untitled Goose Game have four nominations; Sayonara: Wild Hearts and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, winner of the Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2019 have three nominations.
In addition to the games being nominated this year, two individuals will receive the Pioneer and Ambassador Special Awards. Kate Edwards, former head of the International Game Developers Association and current executive director at Global Game Jam, will receive the Ambassador Award for helping video games advance to a better place through advocacy and action. The Pioneer Award recipient will be announced at a later time.
The list of nominees and honorable mentions for each category for the 20th annual GDCA are:
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)
Honorable 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)
Honorable 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)
Honorable 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)
Honorable 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)
Honorable 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)
Honorable 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)
Honorable 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)
Honorable 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)
Honorable 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)