The GDC 2019 Choice Awards will take place on Wednesday, March 20th, 2019 at 6:30 PM at the San Francisco Moscone Center, as part of the overall GDC 2019 event (March 18th-22nd).
The organizers have revealed the list of nominations, which we've reported below. Rockstar's Red Dead Redemption 2 unsurprisingly leads with seven nominations, narrowly beating Sony Santa Monica's God of War and Insomniac's Marvel's Spider-Man, both nominated in six categories.
Other titles receiving multiple nominations include Tetris Effect, Florence, Celeste and Return to the Obra Dinn. The GDC 2019 Awards will be hosted by Tim Schafer, the esteemed founder of Double Fine Productions, known for his work on classics like Monkey Island, Grim Fandango and Psychonauts.
The GDC 2019 Lifetime Achievement Award will be granted to Amy Hennig, the renown writer and director of Legacy of Kain and Uncharted who recently left Visceral Studio upon its closure. On the other hand, the winner of the GDC 2019 Pioneer Award is still due to be announced.
BEST AUDIO
Celeste (Matt Makes Games)
Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)
God of War (Sony Santa Monica / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Marvel's Spider-Man (Insomniac Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Tetris Effect (Monstars and Resonair / Enhance)
Honorable Mentions: Beat Saber (Beat Games), Wandersong (Greg Lobanov / Humble Bundle), Return of the Obra Dinn (Lucas Pope / 3909), Battlefield V (EA DICE / Electronic Arts), ForzaHorizon 4 (Playground Games and Turn 10 Studios / Microsoft Studios)
BEST DEBUT
Polyarc (Moss)
Mountains (Florence)
Nomada Studio (Gris)
Villa Gorilla (Yoku's Island Express)
Sabotage (The Messenger)
Honorable Mentions: Beat Games (Beat Saber), Digital Sun (Moonlighter), Two Point Studios (Two Point Hospital), Okomotive (Far: Lone Sails)
BEST DESIGN
Marvel's Spider-Man (Insomniac Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Celeste (Matt Makes Games)
Into the Breach (Subset Games)
Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)
God of War (Sony Santa Monica / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Honorable Mentions: Frostpunk (11 bit studios), Minit (Kitty Calis, Jan Willem Nijman, Jukio Kallio & Dominik Johann / Devolver Digital), Return of the Obra Dinn (Lucas Pope / 3909), Astro Bot Rescue Mission (SIE Japan Studio / Sony Interactive Entertainment), Monster Hunter: World(Capcom)
BEST MOBILE GAME
Alto's Odyssey (Snowman)
Florence (Mountains / Annapurna Interactive)
Reigns: Game of Thrones (Nerial / Devolver Digital)
Holedown (Grapefrukt Games)
Donut County (Ben Esposito / Annapurna Interactive)
Honorable Mentions: Furistas Cat Cafe (Runaway), The Room: Old Sins (Fireproof Studios), Pocket Run Pool (Zach Gage), Alphabear 2 (Spry Fox), Twinfold (Kenny Sun)
INNOVATION AWARD
Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)
Florence (Mountains / Annapurna Interactive)
Nintendo Labo (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)
Tetris Effect (Monstars and Resonair / Enhance)
Return of the Obra Dinn (Lucas Pope / 3909)
Honorable Mentions: Minit (Kitty Calis, Jan Willem Nijman, Jukio Kallio & Dominik Johann / Devolver Digital), Celeste (Matt Makes Games), God of War (Sony Santa Monica / Sony Interactive Entertainment), Astro Bot Rescue Mission (SIE Japan Studio / Sony Interactive Entertainment), Moss (Polyarc), A Way Out (Hazelight Studios / Electronic Arts)
BEST NARRATIVE
Florence (Mountains/Annapurna Interactive)
God of War (Sony Santa Monica / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Marvel's Spider-Man (Insomniac Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Return of the Obra Dinn (Lucas Pope / 3909)
Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)
Honorable Mentions: Assassin's Creed Odyssey (Ubisoft Quebec / Ubisoft), Detroit: Become Human (Quantic Dream / Sony Interactive Entertainment), Celeste (Matt Makes Games), Life is Strange 2 (Dontnod Entertainment / Square Enix), Where the Water Tastes Like Wine (Dim Bulb Games and Serenity Forge / Good Shepherd Entertainment)
BEST TECHNOLOGY
Marvel's Spider-Man (Insomniac Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Assassin's Creed Odyssey (Ubisoft Quebec / Ubisoft)
Forza Horizon 4 (Turn 10 Studios and Playground Games / Microsoft Studios)
God of War (Sony Santa Monica / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)
Honorable Mentions: Sea of Thieves (Rare / Microsoft Studios), Far Cry 5 (Ubisoft Montreal and Ubisoft Toronto / Ubisoft), Battlefield V (EA DICE / Electronic Arts), Detroit: Become Human(Quantic Dream / Sony Interactive Entertainment), Return of the Obra Dinn (Lucas Pope / 3909)
BEST VISUAL ART
Gris (Nomada Studio / Devolver Digital)
Marvel's Spider-Man (Insomniac Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
God of War (Sony Santa Monica / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Return of the Obra Dinn (Lucas Pope / 3909)
Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)
Honorable Mentions: Battlefield V (EA DICE / Electronic Arts), Tetris Effect (Monstars and Resonair / Enhance), Dragon Ball FighterZ (Arc System Works / Bandai Namco Entertainment), Assassin's Creed Odyssey (Ubisoft Quebec / Ubisoft), Below (Capybara Games)
BEST VR/AR GAME
Budget Cuts (Neat Corporation)
Beat Saber (Beat Games)
Tetris Effect (Monstars and Resonair / Enhance)
Moss (Polyarc)
Astro Bot Rescue Mission (SIE Japan Studio / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Honorable Mentions: Jurassic World Alive (Ludia), In Death (Sólfar Studios), Tendar (Tender Claws), Firewall Zero Hour (First Contact Entertainment / Sony Interactive Entertainment), Deracine (FromSoftware / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
GAME OF THE YEAR
Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)
Return of the Obra Dinn (Lucas Pope / 3909)
Marvel's Spider-Man (Insomniac Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Celeste (Matt Makes Games)
God of War (Sony Santa Monica / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Honorable Mentions: Tetris Effect (Monstars and Resonair / Enhance), Super Smash Bros Ultimate (Bandai Namco Studios & Sora / Nintendo), Into the Breach (Subset Games), Assassin's Creed Odyssey (Ubisoft Quebec / Ubisoft), Florence (Mountains / Annapurna Interactive), Monster Hunter: World (Capcom)
