The Game Developers Choice Awards are awards annually presented at the Game Developers Conference for outstanding game developers and

games A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (such ...

. Introduced in 2001, the Game Developers Choice Awards were preceded by the

Spotlight Awards The Spotlight Awards (GDC) was hosted annually by the Game Developers Conference from 1997 to 1999. Its focus was on the video and computer game industry. GDC now hosts another video game award ceremony called Game Developers Choice Awards since 20 ...

, which were presented from 1997 to 1999. Since then, the ceremony for the Independent Games Festival is held just prior to the Choice Awards ceremony.

Winner selection process

Nominations for games are by made by International Choice Awards Network (ICAN), a group of leading game creators. Votes are then additionally made by editors of Game Developer. Any video game released in the preceding calendar year, regardless of medium, is eligible to be nominated, though upgrades, expansions, and mission packs are not eligible to be nominated. The top nominated games are assembled into the list of nominees, typically presented in December, are then voted on by final voting body, made up of ICANs, and editors of Game Developer. In this final stage of voting, games with the highest votes in a category are the winners. Winners for Special Awards (Lifetime Achievement, Pioneer, Ambassador) are decided by a "Special Awards Jury", which appears to consist of a variety of 5 people. This group may consider recommendations from ICAN members. The winners are announced during the Game Developers Conference, which is typically held in March of the calendar year. GDC related properties are owned by the UBM technology group.

Historical process

In 2007, gamasutra.com took over management of the awards from the IGDA. An advisory board selected by the editors of gamasutra.com and '' Game Developer'' magazine oversees the selection process. In the past, nominations are accepted from registered gamasutra.com users, confirmed to be game developers, and from the advisory board. Once the nomination process is complete, the advisory board identifies five finalists for each regular category. The recipients of the Lifetime Achievement, Pioneer (formerly known as First Penguin) and Maverick awards are selected by the advisory board. For the other awards, a vote open to all those who participated in the nomination process chooses a recipient from each category's finalists.

List of winners

''Note: Events held for awards are held early in the following year. Winners are listed first and highlighted in bold.''

Game of the Year

The Game of the Year Award recognizes the overall best game released during the previous calendar year, as interpreted by the members of the Game Developers Conference.

Best Audio

Best Audio award recognizes the overall excellence of audio in a game, including sound effects, musical composition, sound design and orchestration. * 2000: '' Diablo II'' * 2001: '' Halo: Combat Evolved'' * 2002: '' Medal of Honor: Allied Assault'' * 2003: ''

Call of Duty ''Call of Duty'' is a first-person shooter video game Media franchise, franchise published by Activision. Starting out in 2003, it first focused on games set in World War II. Over time, the series has seen games set in the midst of the Cold W ...

'' * 2004: '' Halo 2'' * 2005: '' Guitar Hero'' * 2006: '' Guitar Hero II'' * 2007: '' BioShock'' * 2008: ''

Dead Space ''Dead Space'' is a science fiction/horror fiction, horror media franchise created by Glen Schofield and Michael Condrey, developed by Visceral Games, and published and owned by Electronic Arts. The franchise's chronology is not presented in a lin ...

'' * 2009: '' Uncharted 2: Among Thieves'' * 2010: '' Red Dead Redemption'' * 2011: '' Portal 2'' * 2012: '' Journey'' * 2013: '' BioShock Infinite'' * 2014: '' Alien: Isolation'' * 2015: ''

Crypt of the NecroDancer ''Crypt of the NecroDancer'' is a roguelike rhythm video game developed and published by Canadian independent game studio Brace Yourself Games. The game takes fundamental elements of a roguelike dungeon exploration game and adds a beat-matching ...

'' * 2016: ''

Inside Inside may refer to: * Insider, a member of any group of people of limited number and generally restricted access Film * ''Inside'' (1996 film), an American television film directed by Arthur Penn and starring Eric Stoltz * ''Inside'' (2002 f ...

'' * 2017: '' The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild'' *

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

: ''

Celeste Celeste may refer to: Geography * Mount Celeste, unofficial name of a mountain on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada * Celeste, Texas, a rural city in North Texas ** Celeste High School, public high school located in the city of Celeste, ...

'' *

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

: ''

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 * Controlling ...

'' *

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

: ''

Hades Hades (; grc-gre, ᾍδης, Háidēs; ), in the ancient Greek religion and myth, is the god of the dead and the king of the underworld, with which his name became synonymous. Hades was the eldest son of Cronus and Rhea, although this also ...

'' *

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

: ''

Unpacking Unpacking may refer to: * Unpacking (linguistics), the separation of the features of a segment into distinct segments * ''Unpacking'' (video game), a 2021 puzzle game * Unpacking (computer science), unpacking programming variables See also * ...

Best Debut

The Best Debut Award recognizes the best game from any development studio which released its first publicly available title during the calendar year. This was formerly known as the New Studio of the Year Award. In years prior to 2008, the award was awarded to the studio name, as opposed to the game title. * 2000:

Valve A valve is a device or natural object that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid (gases, liquids, fluidized solids, or slurries) by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically fittings ...

Minh Le Minh Le (Vietnamese: Lê Minh), also known by his online nickname Gooseman, is a Vietnamese Canadian video game programmer who co-created the ''Half-Life'' mod ''Counter-Strike'' with Jess Cliffe in 1999 and started the ''Counter-Strike'' seri ...

Jess Cliffe Jess A. Cliffe (born June 27, 1981) is a video game designer who co-created the ''Half-Life'' mod ''Counter-Strike'' with Minh Le and started the ''Counter-Strike'' series. He is also the "voice of ''Counter-Strike''" via the radio commands, th ...

(for '' Counter-Strike'') * 2001:

Bohemia Interactive Bohemia Interactive a.s. is a Czech video game developer and video game publisher, publisher based in Prague. The company focuses on creating military simulation games such as ''Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis'' and the ''ARMA (series), A ...

(for '' Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis'') * 2002:

Retro Studios Retro Studios, Inc. is an American video game developer and subsidiary of Nintendo based in Austin, Texas. The studio is best known for its work on the ''Metroid Prime'' and ''Donkey Kong Country'' series, and has contributed to several other N ...

(for '' Metroid Prime'') * 2003:

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 ...

(for ''

'') * 2004: Crytek (for '' Far Cry'') * 2005:

Double Fine Productions Double Fine Productions, Inc. is an American First-party developer, first-party video game developer of Xbox Game Studios based in San Francisco, California. Founded in July 2000 by Tim Schafer shortly after his departure from LucasArts, Double ...

(for ''

Psychonauts ''Psychonauts'' is a 2005 platform video game developed by Double Fine Productions. The game was initially published by Majesco Entertainment and THQ for Microsoft Windows, Xbox and PlayStation 2. In 2011, Double Fine acquired the rights for t ...

'') * 2006:

Iron Lore Entertainment Iron Lore Entertainment was a video game developer that was founded in October 2000 by Brian Sullivan (game designer), Brian Sullivan and Paul Chieffo. In late June 2006, the company released ''Titan Quest'', an action role-playing video game for ...

(for '' Titan Quest'') * 2007: Realtime Worlds /

Microsoft Game Studios Xbox Game Studios (previously known as Microsoft Studios, Microsoft Game Studios, and Microsoft Games) is an American video game publisher and part of the Microsoft Gaming division based in Redmond, Washington. It was established in March 2000, ...

(for '' Crackdown'') * 2008: Media Molecule (for ''

LittleBigPlanet ''LittleBigPlanet'' (stylized as ''LittleBIGPlanet''; abbreviated ''LBP'') is a puzzle platform video game series created and produced by British developer Media Molecule and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Most games in the series ...

'') * 2009: Runic Games (for '' Torchlight'') * 2010:

Mojang Mojang Studios is a Swedish video game developer based in Stockholm. The studio is best known for developing the sandbox and survival game ''Minecraft'', the best-selling video game of all time. Mojang Studios was founded by the independent ...

(for ''

Minecraft ''Minecraft'' is a sandbox game developed by Mojang Studios. The game was created by Markus "Notch" Persson in the Java programming language. Following several early private testing versions, it was first made public in May 2009 before being ...

'') * 2011: Supergiant Games (for ''

Bastion A bastion or bulwark is a structure projecting outward from the curtain wall of a fortification, most commonly angular in shape and positioned at the corners of the fort. The fully developed bastion consists of two faces and two flanks, with fi ...

'') * 2012:

Subset Games ''FTL: Faster Than Light'' is a real-time strategy roguelite game created by independent game development, indie developer Subset Games, which was released for Microsoft Windows, macOS and Linux in September 2012. In the game, the player contro ...

(for '' FTL: Faster Than Light'') * 2013:

The Fullbright Company Arbor Hill Productions, LLC, trade name, doing business as Fullbright (formerly The Fullbright Company, LLC), is an American indie video game video game developer, developer based in Portland, Oregon, best known for their 2013 title ''Gone Home'' ...

(for '' Gone Home'') * 2014:

Stoic Studio Stoic is a video game development company located in Austin, Texas. Founded by three ex-BioWare staff in December 2011, Stoic is most known for developing the tactical role-playing video game ''The Banner Saga'' (2014) and its sequels, ''The Banne ...

(for '' The Banner Saga'') * 2015:

Moon Studios Moon Studios GmbH is an Austrian independent video game developer founded in 2010. They are best known for their 2015 title ''Ori and the Blind Forest'', for which the studio was awarded the Best Debut award at the 2016 Game Developers Choice Aw ...

(for ''

Ori and the Blind Forest ''Ori and the Blind Forest'' is a platform-adventure Metroidvania video game developed by Moon Studios and published by Microsoft Studios. The game was released for Xbox One and Microsoft Windows in March 2015, and for Nintendo Switch in Sep ...

'') * 2016: Campo Santo (for '' Firewatch'') * 2017: Studio MDHR (for '' Cuphead'') *

: Mountains (for ''

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

'') *

: ZA/UM (for '' Disco Elysium'') *

: Kinetic Games for '' Phasmophobia'' *

: Iron Gate Studio for '' Valheim''

Best Design

Best Design award recognizes the overall excellence of design in a game, including gameplay, mechanics, puzzles, play balancing and scenarios. * 2000: '' Deus Ex'' * 2001: ''

Grand Theft Auto III ''Grand Theft Auto III'' is a 2001 action-adventure game developed by DMA Design and published by Rockstar Games. It is the third main entry in the ''Grand Theft Auto'' series, following 1999's ''Grand Theft Auto 2'', and the fifth instalment o ...

'' * 2002: ''

Battlefield 1942 ''Battlefield 1942'' is a 2002 first-person shooter video game developed by DICE and published by Electronic Arts for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. The game can be played in single-player mode against the video game AI or in multiplayer mode a ...

'' * 2003: '' Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time'' * 2004: ''

Katamari Damacy () is a third-person puzzle-action video game developed and published by Namco for the PlayStation 2. It was released in Japan in March 2004 and in North America in September 2004. Designer Keita Takahashi struggled to pitch the game to Namco' ...

'' * 2005: ''

Shadow of the Colossus ''Shadow of the Colossus'' is a 2005 action-adventure game developed by Japan Studio and Team Ico, and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 2. It takes place in a fantasy setting and follows Wander, a young man who ente ...

'' * 2006: ''

Wii Sports ''Wii Sports'' is a 2006 sports simulation video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Wii video game console. The 1.0 (pre-release) version of the game was released in North America along with the Wii on November 19, 2006, and the 1. ...

'' * 2007: ''

Portal Portal often refers to: * Portal (architecture), an opening in a wall of a building, gate or fortification, or the extremities (ends) of a tunnel Portal may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Gaming * ''Portal'' (series), two video games ...

'' * 2008: ''

'' * 2009: '' Batman: Arkham Asylum'' * 2010: '' Red Dead Redemption'' * 2011: '' Portal 2'' * 2012: '' Journey'' * 2013: ''

The Last of Us ''The Last of Us'' is a 2013 action-adventure game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. Players control Joel, a smuggler tasked with escorting a teenage girl, Ellie, across a post-apocalyptic United States. ' ...

'' * 2014: '' Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft'' * 2015: '' Rocket League'' * 2016: ''

Overwatch ''Overwatch'' is a multimedia franchise centered on a series of online multiplayer first-person shooter (FPS) video games developed by Blizzard Entertainment: ''Overwatch'' released in 2016, and ''Overwatch 2'' released in 2022. Both games fea ...

'' * 2017: '' The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild'' *

: ''

Into the Breach ''Into the Breach'' is a turn-based strategy video game developed and published by indie studio Subset Games, consisting of Justin Ma and Matthew Davis. ''Into the Breach'' is their second game, following '' FTL: Faster Than Light''. It feature ...

'' *

: '' Baba Is You'' *

: ''

'' *

: '' It Takes Two''

Best Mobile/Handheld Game

Best Mobile/Handheld Game Award recognizes the overall best game commercially released on any handheld platform. * 2007: '' The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass'' * 2008: '' God of War: Chains of Olympus'' * 2009: ''

Scribblenauts ''Scribblenauts'' is a series of action puzzle video games primarily developed by 5th Cell. The series is owned and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. The first game in the series was titled '' Scribblenauts'' and was first rel ...

'' * 2010: ''

Cut the Rope Cut may refer to: Common uses * The act of cutting, the separation of an object into two through acutely-directed force ** A type of wound ** Cut (archaeology), a hole dug in the past ** Cut (clothing), the style or shape of a garment ** Cut ( ...

'' * 2011: '' Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP'' * 2012: ''

The Room ''The Room'' is a 2003 American drama film written, produced, executive produced and directed by Tommy Wiseau, who stars in the film alongside Juliette Danielle and Greg Sestero. The film centers on a melodramatic love triangle between amiable ...

'' * 2013: '' The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds'' * 2014: ''

Monument Valley Monument Valley ( nv, Tsé Biiʼ Ndzisgaii, , meaning ''valley of the rocks'') is a region of the Colorado Plateau characterized by a cluster of sandstone buttes, the largest reaching above the valley floor. It is located on the Utah-Arizona s ...

'' * 2015: '' Her Story'' * 2016: '' Pokémon Go'' * 2017: ''

Gorogoa ''Gorogoa'' is a puzzle video game developed by Jason Roberts and published by Annapurna Interactive. The game was released for Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, and iOS on 14 December 2017, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in March 2018, and s ...

'' *

: ''

'' *

: ''

What the Golf ''What the Golf?'' (stylized in all caps as ''WHAT THE GOLF?'') is a video game developed and published by Triband. It was originally published on Apple Arcade subscription by The Label on 19 September 2019. Gameplay The game revolves around ...

?'' *

: '' Genshin Impact''

Innovation Award

The Innovation Award recognizes games that demonstrate innovation and push the boundaries of games as an expressive medium. Multiple awards per year were given before 2007. * 2000: '' Counter-Strike''; ''

Crazy Taxi ''Crazy Taxi'' is a series of racing video games that was developed by Hitmaker and published by Sega. The first game appeared in arcades in 1999 and was very successful, prompting Sega to port the arcade version to their Dreamcast consol ...

''; '' Deus Ex''; ''

Jet Grind Radio (originally released in North America as ''Jet Grind Radio'') is a 2000 action game developed by Smilebit and published by Sega for the Dreamcast. The player controls a member of a youth gang, the GGs, as they use inline skates to traverse Tok ...

''; ''

No One Lives Forever ''The Operative: No One Lives Forever'' (abbreviated as ''NOLF'') is a first-person shooter video game with stealth gameplay elements, developed by Monolith Productions and published by Fox Interactive, released for Windows in 2000. The game w ...

'' * 2001: ''

Black and White Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...

''; ''

ICO is an action-adventure game developed by Japan Studio and Team Ico, and published by Sony Computer Entertainment, released for the PlayStation 2 video game console in 2001 and 2002 in various regions. It was designed and directed by Fumito U ...

''; '' Majestic''; '' Rez'' * 2002: '' Animal Crossing''; ''

''; '' Medal of Honor: Allied Assault''; '' The Thing'' * 2003: '' EyeToy: Play''; '' Viewtiful Joe''; '' WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$!'' * 2004: '' Donkey Konga''; '' I Love Bees''; ''

'' * 2005: '' Nintendogs''; '' Guitar Hero'' * 2006: '' Line Rider''; ''

Ōkami is an action-adventure video game developed by Clover Studio and published by Capcom. It was released for PlayStation 2 in 2006 in Japan and North America, and in 2007 in Europe and Australia. After the closure of Clover Studio a few months a ...

''; ''

'' * 2007: ''

'' * 2008: ''

'' * 2009: ''

'' * 2010: ''

'' * 2011: '' Johann Sebastian Joust '' * 2012: '' Journey'' * 2013: ''

Papers, Please ''Papers, Please'' is a puzzle simulation video game created by indie game developer Lucas Pope, developed and published through his production company, 3909 LLC. The game was released on August 8, 2013 for Microsoft Windows and OS X, for Li ...

'' * 2014: ''

'' * 2015: '' Her Story'' * 2016: '' No Man's Sky'' * 2017: ''

'' *

Nintendo Labo is a toys-to-life concept developed by Nintendo and released in April 2018. Labo consists of 2 parts, where one part is a game and one part is multiple sheets of cardboard. The games come as kits that include cardboard cut-outs and other materia ...

: '' Baba Is You'' *

: '' Dreams'' *

: ''

Best Narrative

Best Narrative award recognizes the quality of writing in a game, including story, plot construction, dialogue and branching narratives. * 2002: ''

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell ''Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell'' is a series of stealth action-adventure video games, the first of which was released in 2002, and their tie-in novels that were endorsed by Tom Clancy. The series follows Sam Fisher, a highly trained agent of a ...

'' * 2003: '' Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic'' * 2004: '' Half-Life 2'' * 2005: ''

'' * 2006: '' The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess'' * 2007: '' BioShock'' * 2008: '' Fallout 3'' * 2009: '' Uncharted 2: Among Thieves'' * 2010: '' Mass Effect 2'' * 2011: '' Portal 2'' * 2012: '' The Walking Dead'' * 2013: ''

'' * 2014: '' Kentucky Route Zero: Episode 3'' * 2015: '' Her Story'' * 2016: '' Firewatch'' * 2017: ''

What Remains of Edith Finch ''What Remains of Edith Finch'' is a First-person (video games), first-person adventure game developed by Giant Sparrow and published by Annapurna Interactive. The game was released in April 2017 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox On ...

'' *

: ''

Return of the Obra Dinn ''Return of the Obra Dinn'' is an adventure game, adventure and puzzle video game created by American video game designer Lucas Pope, and published by Japanese studio 3909. It was his second commercial game, following 2013's ''Papers, Please'', ...

'' *

: '' Disco Elysium'' *

: '' The Last of Us Part II'' *

: ''

Psychonauts 2 ''Psychonauts 2'' is a platform game developed by Double Fine and published by Xbox Game Studios. The game was announced at The Game Awards 2015 ceremony, and released on August 25, 2021 for PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox One and Xbox Series X and ...

Best Technology

Best Technology award recognizes the overall excellence of technology in a game, including graphics programming, artificial intelligence, networking and physics. * 2004: '' Half-Life 2'' * 2005: '' Nintendogs'' * 2006: ''

Gears of War ''Gears of War'' is a media franchise centered on a series of video games created by Epic Games, developed and managed by The Coalition, and owned and published by Xbox Game Studios. The franchise is best known for its third-person shooter vide ...

'' * 2007: '' Crysis'' * 2008: ''

'' * 2009: '' Uncharted 2: Among Thieves'' * 2010: '' Red Dead Redemption'' * 2011: '' Battlefield 3'' * 2012: '' Far Cry 3'' * 2013: ''

Grand Theft Auto V ''Grand Theft Auto V'' is a 2013 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the seventh main entry in the Grand Theft Auto, ''Grand Theft Auto'' series, following 2008's ''Grand Theft Auto IV'', and ...

'' * 2014: '' Destiny'' * 2015: '' The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt'' * 2016: '' Uncharted 4: A Thief's End'' * 2017: ''

Horizon Zero Dawn ''Horizon Zero Dawn'' is a 2017 action role-playing game developed by Guerrilla Games and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. The plot follows Aloy, a young hunter in a world overrun by machines, who sets out to uncover her past. The ...

'' *

: '' Red Dead Redemption 2'' *

: ''

'' *

: ''

Microsoft Flight Simulator ''Microsoft Flight Simulator'' is a series of amateur flight simulator programs for Microsoft Windows operating systems, and earlier for MS-DOS and Classic Mac OS. It was an early product in the Microsoft application portfolio and differed sig ...

'' *

: ''Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart''

Best Visual Art

Best Visual Art award recognizes the overall excellence of visual art in a game, including animation, modeling, art direction and textures. * 2000: ''

'' * 2001: ''

'' * 2002: ''Kingdom Hearts (video game), Kingdom Hearts'' * 2003: ''The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker'' * 2004: ''World of Warcraft'' * 2005: ''

'' * 2006: ''

'' * 2007: '' BioShock'' * 2008: ''Prince of Persia (2008 video game), Prince of Persia'' * 2009: '' Uncharted 2: Among Thieves'' * 2010: ''Limbo (video game), Limbo'' * 2011: ''Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception'' * 2012: '' Journey'' * 2013: '' BioShock Infinite'' * 2014: ''

'' * 2015: ''

'' * 2016: ''

'' * 2017: '' Cuphead'' *

: ''Gris (video game), Gris'' *

: ''

'' *

: ''Ghost of Tsushima'' *

: ''Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart''

Best VR/AR Game

* 2016: ''Job Simulator: The 2050 Archives'' * 2017: ''Superhot, Superhot VR'' *

: ''Beat Saber'' *

: ''Vader Immortal'' *

: ''Half-Life: Alyx''

Special Awards Recipients

Audience Award

These awards are voted by the audience for best game of that year. * 2012: ''Dishonored'' * 2013: ''Kerbal Space Program'' * 2014: ''Elite: Dangerous'' * 2015: ''Life Is Strange (video game), Life Is Strange'' * 2016: ''Battlefield 1'' * 2017: ''Nier: Automata'' *

: ''Beat Saber'' *

: ''Sky: Children of the Light'' * 2020: ''Ghost of Tsushima'' * 2021: '' Valheim''

The Pioneer Award

Known as the First Penguin award until 2007, the Pioneer Award celebrates individuals who developed a breakthrough technology, game concept or gameplay design. * 2000: Chip Morningstar and Randy Farmer (creators of LucasArts's ''Habitat (video game), Habitat'') * 2001: Hubert Chardot ("for his risk-taking work on ''Alone in the Dark''") * 2002: David Crane (programmer), David Crane, Larry Kaplan, Jim Levy, Alan Miller (game designer), Alan Miller, Bob Whitehead (founders of Activision) * 2003: Masaya Matsuura (founder of NanaOn-Sha, pioneer of music/game integration) * 2004: Richard Bartle (co-creator of MUD, ancestor to Massively multiplayer online game, MMOs) * 2005: Don Woods (programmer), Don Woods, Will Crowther (creators of the early text game Colossal Cave Adventure, ''Adventure'') * 2006: Alexey Pajitnov (creator of ''Tetris'') * 2007: Ralph Baer (inventor of the ''Magnavox Odyssey'') * 2008: Alex Rigopulos and Eran Egozy (founders of Harmonix) * 2009: Gabe Newell (co-founder of

) * 2010: Yu Suzuki (lead of Sega AM2 development team responsible for several arcade games and the ''Shenmue'' series) * 2011: Dave Theurer (developer of ''Missile Command'' and ''Tempest (video game), Tempest'') * 2012: Steve Russell (computer scientist), Steve Russell (creator of ''Spacewar!'') * 2013: Brandon Beck and Marc Merrill (creators of Riot Games) * 2014: David Braben (founder of Frontier Developments, co-creator of the Elite (video game), ''Elite'' series) * 2015: Markus "Notch" Persson (creator of ''

'') * 2016: Jordan Mechner (creator of ''Prince of Persia'') * 2017: None (see below) *

: Rieko Kodama (graphic artist/director/producer for several Sega titles) *

: Roberta Williams (co-founder of Sierra On-line and early developer of the adventure game genre) *

: Tom Fulp (creator of Newgrounds and co-founder of The Behemoth) GDC had announced their intention to award Nolan Bushnell (co-founder of Atari) the 2017 Pioneer Award. However, after several people asked the GDC to reconsider this in light of documented sexist activities in Bushnell's past in light of the current Me Too movement, #MeToo movement, GDC opted to not award the Pioneer Award and instead "will dedicate this year's award to honor the pioneering and unheard voices of the past".

Ambassador Award

The Ambassador Award is given to individuals within or outside the industry who helped video games "advance to a better place." It replaced the IGDA Award for Community Contribution after 2008. * 2007: Jason Della Rocca (former head of International Game Developers Association) * 2008: Tommy Tallarico (video game musician and composer) * 2009: Jerry Holkins, Mike Krahulik and Robert Khoo (creators and founders of ''Penny Arcade'') * 2010: Tim Brengle and Ian Mackenzie (Organizers of the Game Developers Conference volunteer program for 20+ years) * 2011: Kenneth Doroshow and Paul M. Smith (the lawyers which argued ''Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association'' to the US Supreme Court supporting the video game industry) * 2012: Chris Melissinos (developer at Sun Microsystems leading gaming-related Java (programming language), Java initiatives) * 2013: Anita Sarkeesian (creator of ''Feminist Frequency'') * 2014: Brenda Romero (game developer, one of the leads of Romero Games) * 2015: Tracy Fullerton (game developer and professor at USC Interactive Media & Games Division) * 2016: Mark DeLoura (former editor of '' Game Developer'' and served as Senior Advisor for Digital Media for the U.S. Office of Science and Technology Policy) * 2017: Rami Ismail (co-founder of Vlambeer, assistance to indie game development) * 2018: None given * 2019: Kate Edwards (former head of the International Game Developers Association) * 2021: Steven Spohn (founder of AbleGamers)

Lifetime Achievement Award

The Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes the achievements of a developer who has impacted games and game development. * 2000: Will Wright (game designer), Will Wright (List of Sim games, ''Sim'' games) * 2001: Yuji Naka (''Sonic the Hedgehog (16-bit), Sonic the Hedgehog'') * 2002: Gunpei Yokoi (1941–1997) (Game Boy, ''Super Mario Land'' series, Metroid (series), ''Metroid'' series) * 2003: Mark Cerny (''Crash Bandicoot'' and ''Spyro the Dragon (video game), Spyro the Dragon'') * 2004: Eugene Jarvis (''Defender (arcade game), Defender'' and ''Robotron: 2084'') * 2005: Richard Garriott (''Ultima (series), Ultima'') * 2006: Shigeru Miyamoto (creator of ''Mario (franchise), Mario'', ''Donkey Kong (series), Donkey Kong'', ''The Legend of Zelda (series), The Legend of Zelda'', ''Star Fox (series), Star Fox'', ''F-Zero (series), F-Zero'', and ''Pikmin (series), Pikmin'') * 2007: Sid Meier (''Civilization series'' and many different simulators) * 2008: Hideo Kojima (''Metal Gear series'') * 2009: John Carmack (''Doom series'') * 2010: Peter Molyneux (''God games'') * 2011: Warren Spector ('' Deus Ex'', ''System Shock'', ''Thief: The Dark Project'') * 2012: Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk (co-founders of BioWare) * 2013: Ken Kutaragi ("father" of the PlayStation console line) * 2014: Hironobu Sakaguchi (''Final Fantasy series'') * 2015: Todd Howard (video game designer), Todd Howard (''Elder Scrolls'', ''Fallout (series), Fallout'') * 2016: Tim Sweeney (game developer), Tim Sweeney (founder of Epic Games) * 2017: Tim Schafer (developer for LucasArts adventure games, founder of Double Fine) *

: Amy Hennig (video game writer/director, notably for the ''Uncharted'' series) *

: Laralyn McWilliams, creative director of ''Free Realms'' and lead director of ''Full Spectrum Warrior'' *

: Yuji Horii, creator of the ''Dragon Quest'' series

Retired awards

The following award categories have been retired or replaced with a different focus.

Best Downloadable Game

Best Downloadable Game Award recognizes the overall best game released on console or PC platforms specifically and solely for digital download - with an emphasis on smaller, more 'casual'-friendly titles. * 2007: ''Flow (video game), flOw'' * 2008: ''World of Goo'' * 2009: ''Flower (video game), Flower'' * 2011: ''

'' * 2012: ''

'' * 2013: '' Journey'' * 2014: ''

Character Design

The Character Design award recognizes the overall excellence of non-licensed character design in a game, including originality, character arc and emotional depth. * 2004: '' Half-Life 2'' * 2005: ''

'' * 2006: ''

Excellence in Level Design

* 2000: ''American McGee's Alice'' * 2001: ''

'' * 2002: '' Metroid Prime''

Excellence in Programming

* 2000: ''The Sims'' * 2001: ''

'' * 2002: ''Neverwinter Nights (2002 video game), Neverwinter Nights'' * 2003: '' Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time''

IGDA Award for Community Contribution

The IGDA Award for Community Contribution recognized developers for significant efforts "building community, sharing knowledge, speaking on behalf of developers and/or contributing to the art form of game development". The #Ambassador Award, Ambassador Award replaced it after 2007. * 2000: John D. Carmack, John Carmack * 2001: Jeff Lander * 2002: Doug Church (Eidos Interactive) * 2003: Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk * 2004: Sheri Graner Ray * 2005: Chris Hecker * 2006: George Sanger (musician), George Sanger

Original Game Character of the Year

* 2000: Seaman from ''Seaman (video game), Seaman'' * 2001: Daxter from ''Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy'' * 2002: Sly Cooper from ''Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus'' * 2003: HK-47 from '' Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic''

Maverick Award

The Maverick Award recognizes the current achievements of a developer who exhibits independence in thought and action while experimenting with alternate/emerging forms of digital games. * 2003: Brian Fiete, Jason Kapalka, and John Vechey (PopCap Games) * 2004: Matt Adams, Ju Row Farr, and Nick Tandavanitj (Blast Theory) * 2005: Mike Dornbrook, Eran Egozy, Greg LoPiccolo, and Alex Rigopulos (Harmonix Music Systems) * 2006: Greg Costikyan

Best New Social/Online Game

* 2009: ''FarmVille''

Game Developers Choice Online Awards

For its eight iteration in 2010, GDC Austin was rebranded as GDC Online, with a greater focus on Massively multiplayer online game, MMOs, and social-network game, social and casual games. The Game Developers Choice Online Awards were also introduced to recognize technical excellence and innovation in online games. In addition to the awards of the competitive categories, special awards were given out to pioneering online games and creators. In 2012 it was announced that GDC Online would be replaced by GDC Next in Los Angeles in 2013, and the awards were subsequently discontinued.

2010

The 2010 awards ceremony took place on October 7, 2010. ''League of Legends'' by Riot Games led the winners with five awards from six nominations, including the publicly voted Audience Award. Richard Bartle received the Online Game Legend award for his work on the first MUD1, MUD and the 2003 book ''Designing Virtual Worlds''. The massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) ''Ultima Online'' was inducted into the GDC Online Awards Hall of Fame for being "a specific online game that has resulted in the long-term advancement of the medium, pioneering major shifts in online game development and games as a whole."

2011

Kelton Flinn - Game Developers Choice Online Awards

The 2011 awards ceremony took place on October 12, 2011. All the awards from the previous year returned, and a new award for Online Innovation was introduced. ''

'' and ''Rift (video game), Rift'' by

and Trion Worlds respectively took home the most awards, with two each. Kelton Flinn and John R. Taylor III, John Taylor received the special Online Game Legend award as founders of Kesmai and creators of ''Island of Kesmai'' and ''Air Warrior''. Additionally, the MMORPG ''EverQuest'' was inducted into the GDC Online Awards Hall of Fame.

2012

The 2011 awards ceremony took place on October 10, 2012. ''Star Wars: The Old Republic'', developed by BioWare, BioWare Austin, became the top winner at four awards, with ''League of Legends'' by Riot Games trailing slightly behind at three awards. The Online Game Legend award was given to Raph Koster, developer of previous Hall of Fame inductee ''Ultima Online'' as well as ''Star Wars: Galaxies''. MMORPG ''World of Warcraft'' was inducted into the GDC Online Awards Hall of Fame.

Notes

References

{{reflist, 30em

External links

Official website
Game Developers Choice Awards, Video game awards Awards established in 2001 Informa brands