The ''20th Game Developers Choice Awards'' was an annual awards ceremony by

Game Developers Choice Awards The Game Developers Choice Awards are awards annually presented at the Game Developers Conference for outstanding game developers and games. Introduced in 2001, the Game Developers Choice Awards were preceded by the Spotlight Awards, which were ...

for outstanding game developers and

video games Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device to gener ...

held on March 18, 2020, hosted by

Kim Swift Kimberly Swift (born ) is an American video game designer best known for her work at Valve with games such as '' Portal'' and ''Left 4 Dead''. Swift was featured by ''Fortune'' as one of "30 Under 30" influential figures in the video game indust ...

. Though normally held at the

Game Developers Conference The Game Developers Conference (GDC) is an annual conference for video game developers. The event includes an expo, networking events, and awards shows like the Game Developers Choice Awards and Independent Games Festival, and a variety of tutori ...

, due to the 2020 coronavirus outbreak, the conference was postponed to later in 2020, and the awards were presented via online streaming media, alongside the

Independent Games Festival The Independent Games Festival (IGF) is an annual festival at the Game Developers Conference (GDC), the largest annual gathering of the independent video game industry. Originally founded in 1998 to promote independent video game developers, ...

awards.

Kate Edwards Kate Edwards (born 1965) is a geographer, writer, and content culturalization strategist, most active in information-based cartography and video game content. She was the executive director of the International Game Developers Association from D ...

, former head of the

International Game Developers Association The International Game Developers Association (IGDA) is a nonprofit professional association whose stated mission is to "support and empower game developers around the world in achieving fulfilling and sustainable careers." The IGDA is incorpo ...

and current head of the

Global Game Jam The Global Game Jam™️ (GGJ) is an annual distributed game jam. Inspired by the Nordic Game Jam, and created by Susan Gold, Ian Schreiber, Gorm Lai and Foaad Khosmood, originally developed under the International Game Developers Associat ...

, will receive the Ambassador Award for her past and current work in the industry. Following from a similar event with

The Game Awards 2019 The Game Awards 2019 was an award show that honored the best video games of 2019. The event was produced and hosted by Geoff Keighley, creator and producer of The Game Awards, and was held to an invited audience at the Microsoft Theater in Lo ...

Geoff Keighley Geoff Keighley () is a Canadian video game journalist and television presenter. He was most known for hosting the video game show '' GameTrailers TV'', and for co-hosting the now-defunct '' G4tv.com''. Keighley is also a freelance writer whose ...

worked with several of the games featured in the Awards as well as other indie developers to present forty game demos to be available from March 18 to March 23 through

Steam Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization ...

as part of the Steam Game Festival - Spring Edition. Keighley planned to offer further events throughout the year to tie to other award shows and game conferences. In addition to games that were featured as part of the GDC and IGF, the Steam Game Festival also featured demos from other GDC-sponsored events that had been affected by the pandemic such as the Indie Megabooth and the Day of the Devs.

Winners and Nominees

Nominees were announced on January 8, 2020, and winners (in bold below) named on March 18, 2020.

Game of the Year Game of the Year (GotY) is an award given by various award events and media publications to a video game that they feel represented the pinnacle of gaming that year. Events and ceremonies British Academy Games Awards (BAFTA Games Awards) ...

* ''

Untitled Goose Game ''Untitled Goose Game'' is a 2019 puzzle stealth game developed by House House and published by Panic Inc. Players control a goose who bothers the inhabitants of an English village. The player must use the goose's abilities to manipulate object ...

'' (House House/Panic) ** ''

Death Stranding ''Death Stranding'' is a 2019 action game developed by Kojima Productions and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment for the PlayStation 4. It is the first game from director Hideo Kojima and Kojima Productions after their split from Kona ...

'' (

Kojima Productions Kojima Productions Co., Ltd. is a Japanese Video game developer, video game development studio founded in 2015 by video game designer Hideo Kojima, creator of the ''Metal Gear'' series. It is the spiritual successor to a production team inside K ...

Sony Interactive Entertainment Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), formerly known as Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE), is a multinational video game industry, video game and digital entertainment company wholly owned by multinational conglomerate Sony. The SIE Group is ma ...

) ** ''

Control Control may refer to: Basic meanings Economics and business * Control (management), an element of management * Control, an element of management accounting * Comptroller (or controller), a senior financial officer in an organization * Controllin ...

'' (

Remedy Entertainment Remedy Entertainment Oyj, trading internationally as Remedy Entertainment Plc, is a Finnish video game developer based in Espoo. Notable games the studio has developed include the first two instalments in the '' Max Payne'' franchise, ''Alan ...

505 Games 505 Games S.p.A. is an Italian video game publisher based in Milan. It was founded in 2006 as a subsidiary of Milan-based Digital Bros. History 505 Games was founded in 2006 in Milan as a subsidiary of Digital Bros. The company found its earl ...

) ** '' Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice'' (

FromSoftware FromSoftware, Inc. is a Japanese video game development and publishing company based in Tokyo. Founded by Naotoshi Zin in November 1986, the company developed business software before releasing their first video game, ''King's Field (video game) ...

Activision Activision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California. It serves as the publishing business for its parent company, Activision Blizzard, and consists of several subsidiary studios. Activision is one o ...

) ** ''

Outer Wilds ''Outer Wilds'' is a 2019 action-adventure game developed by Mobius Digital and published by Annapurna Interactive. It first released for Windows, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 before releasing for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S in 2022. A Nin ...

'' (Mobius Digital/

Annapurna Interactive Annapurna Games, LLC (trade name: Annapurna Interactive) is an American video game publisher. The company is a division of Annapurna Pictures, and was founded in 2016. Notable games released by the company include ''Donut County'', ''Kentucky Rout ...

)

Best Audio

* ''

'' (

) ** ''

'' (

) ** ''

Sayonara Wild Hearts ''Sayonara Wild Hearts'' is a music-based action game created by Swedish developer Simogo and published by Annapurna Interactive. Described as a "pop album video game", ''Sayonara Wild Hearts'' follows the story of a heartbroken young woman thro ...

'' (

Simogo Simogo (formally known as Simogo AB) is a Swedish independent video game developer based in Malmö. The company was founded in 2010 and is best known for creating games for mobile devices, including ''Year Walk'' and ''Device 6''. Its name comes ...

) ** ''

'' (House House/Panic) ** '' Call of Duty: Modern Warfare'' (

Infinity Ward Infinity Ward, Inc. is an American video game developer. They developed the video game ''Call of Duty'', along with seven other installments in the ''Call of Duty'' series. Vince Zampella, Grant Collier, and Jason West established Infinity Ward ...

)

Best Debut Developer

* ZA/UM (''

Disco Elysium ''Disco Elysium'' is a 2019 role-playing video game developed and published by ZA/UM. Inspired by Infinity Engine–era games, particularly ''Planescape: Torment'', the game was written and designed by Estonians, Estonian novelist Robert Kurvitz ...

'') ** Mobius Digital (''

'') ** William Chyr Studios(''

Manifold Garden ''Manifold Garden'' is an indie first-person puzzle video game developed by American artist William Chyr. It was released on Windows, macOS, and iOS on October 18, 2019. The player must navigate an abstract series of structures that appear to rep ...

'') ** Foam Sword Games ('' Knights and Bikes'') ** Chance Agency ('' Neo Cab'')

Best Design

* '' Baba Is You'' (Hempuli) ** ''

'' (Mobius Digital/

) ** ''

'' (

) ** '' Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice'' (

) ** ''

'' (House House/Panic)

Best Mobile Game

* '' What the Golf?'' (Triband Productions/The Label Limited) ** ''

'' (

) ** ''

Grindstone A grindstone, also known as grinding stone, is a sharpening stone used for grinding or sharpening ferrous tools, used since ancient times. Tools are sharpened by the stone's abrasive qualities that remove material from the tool through friction ...

'' (

Capybara Games Capybara Games is an independent game studio based out of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The studio was founded in 2003 from a collection of Toronto IGDA members. The company is most known for developing 2011's '' Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP'' ...

) ** '' Sky: Children of the Light'' (

thatgamecompany Thatgamecompany, Inc. (stylized as thatgamecompany) is an American independent video game development company founded by University of Southern California students Jenova Chen and Kellee Santiago in 2006. The company was a developer for Sony Co ...

) ** '' Call of Duty: Mobile'' (TiMi Studios/

)

Innovation Award

* '' Baba Is You'' (Hempuli) ** ''

'' (House House/Panic) ** ''

'' (ZA/UM) ** ''

'' (

) ** ''

'' (Mobius Digital/

)

Best Narrative

* ''

'' (ZA/UM) ** ''

'' (

) ** ''

'' (

) ** ''

The Outer Worlds ''The Outer Worlds'' is a 2019 action role-playing game developed by Obsidian Entertainment and published by Private Division. The game was released for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Microsoft Windows in October 2019, with a Nintendo Switch ...

'' (

Obsidian Entertainment Obsidian Entertainment, Inc. is an American video game developer based in Irvine, California. It was founded in June 2003, shortly before the closure of Black Isle Studios, by ex-Black Isle employees Feargus Urquhart, Chris Avellone, Chris Par ...

Private Division Private Division is an American video game publisher based in New York City. The brainchild of Take-Two Interactive's Michael Worosz, the subsidiary was founded by Worosz and Allen Murray, and officially announced on December 14, 2017. Private ...

) ** ''

'' (Mobius Digital/

)

Best Technology

* ''

'' (

) ** ''

'' (

) ** '' Call of Duty: Modern Warfare'' (

) ** ''

Apex Legends ''Apex Legends'' is a free-to-play Battle royale game, battle royale-hero shooter game developed by Respawn Entertainment and published by Electronic Arts. It was released for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One in February 2019, for Nintendo ...

'' (

Respawn Entertainment Respawn Entertainment, LLC is an American video game development studio founded by Jason West and Vince Zampella. West and Zampella previously co-founded Infinity Ward and created the '' Call of Duty'' franchise, where they were responsible for ...

Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted the d ...

) ** '' Noita'' (Nolla Games)

Best Visual Art

* ''

'' (

) ** ''

'' (

) ** '' Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice'' (

) ** ''

'' (

) ** ''

'' (ZA/UM)

Best VR/AR Game

* '' Vader Immortal'' (ILMxLAB/

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

) ** ''

Blood & Truth ''Blood & Truth'' is a first-person shooter developed by London Studio and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. It was released on May 28, 2019 for the PlayStation 4's virtual reality headset PlayStation VR. Gameplay The game is a firs ...

'' ( SCEE Studio London/

) ** '' Asgard's Wrath'' (

Sanzaru Games Sanzaru Games, Inc. is an American video game development company that was founded in Foster City, California in 2006. Sanzaru also has a satellite studio based in Ottawa, Ontario called Kitazaru, as well as an office in Dublin, California. Th ...

Oculus Studios Reality Labs is a business of Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook Inc.) that produces virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) hardware and software, including virtual reality headsets such as Quest, and online platforms such as Horizon W ...

) ** ''

Boneworks ''Boneworks'' (stylized as BONEWORKS) is a 2019 first person shooter VR game developed and published by Stress Level Zero. The game is designed to be entirely physics-based, with the player having a full virtual body that responds not just to ...

'' (Stress Level Zero) ** ''

Pistol Whip Pistol-whipping or buffaloing is the act of using a handgun as a blunt weapon, wielding it as an improvised club. Such a practice dates to the time of muzzle loaders, which were brandished in such fashion in close-quarters combat once the weapon ...

'' (Cloudhead Games)

Audience Award

* '' Sky: Children of the Light'' (

Thatgamecompany Thatgamecompany, Inc. (stylized as thatgamecompany) is an American independent video game development company founded by University of Southern California students Jenova Chen and Kellee Santiago in 2006. The company was a developer for Sony Co ...

)

Pioneer Award

Roberta Williams Roberta Lynn Williams (; born February 16, 1953) is an American video game designer and writer, who co-founded Sierra On-Line with her husband, game developer Ken Williams. In 1980, her first game, ''Mystery House'', became a modest commerci ...

Ambassador Award

In Memorandum

The ceremony honored the following individuals that died over the prior year: * Stephan Ash * Keith Boesky * Ryan Brant * Jason Brookes * Craig Goodman * Anita Hamil Frazier * Kazuhisa Hashimoto * Steve Henifin * Takashi Iwade * Brad McQuaid * Patrick Munnik * Andy O'Neil * Tim Skelly * Mark Vitello * Jose Zambrano

External links

Official website

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Game Developers Choice Awards 20 2019 video game awards 2020 awards in the United States 2020 in video gaming March 2020 events in the United States Game Developers Choice Awards ceremonies