The nominees are in for the 16th annual Game Developers Choice Awards. Winners will be selected by the International Choice Awards Network (ICAN) and announced during the 2016 Game Developers Conference on Wednesday, March 16th on Twitch.
This year, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt tie for having the highest number of nominations with four categories each. Critically acclaimed independent titles, Undertale and Her Story, also found themselves hopeful to land multiple awards with several nominations resting in categories such as “Innovation” and “Best Narrative”.
Game of the Year
Fallout 4 (Bethesda Game Studios)
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (CD Projekt RED)
Metal Gear Solid V: Phantom Pain (Kojima Productions)
Bloodbourne (From Software)
Rocket League (Psyonix)
Honorable Mentions: Her Story (Sam Barlow), Super Mario Maker (Nintendo EAD Group No. 4), Undertale (Toby Fox), Splatoon (Nintendo EAD Group No. 2), Life is Strange (Dontnod Entertainment)
Innovation Award
Her Story (Sam Barlow)
Super Mario Maker (Nintendo EAD Group No. 4)
Undertale (Toby Fox)
Splatoon (Nintendo EAD Group No. 2)
The Beginner’s Guide (Everything Unlimited Ltd.)
Honorable Mentions: Rocket League (Psyonix), Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes (Steel Crate Games) Cibele (Star Maid Games), Life is Strange (Dontnod Entertainment / Square Enix), Metal Gear Solid V (Kojima Productions / Konami)
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)
Honorable Mentions: Asteroid Base (Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime), Question (The Magic Circle), Thomas Happ (Axiom Verge), Dinosaur Polo Club (Mini Metro), MidBoss (Read Only Memories)
Best Design
Rocket League (Psyonix)
Metal Gear Solid V (Kojima Productions)
Bloodborne (FromSoftware)
Fallout 4 (Bethesda Game Studios)
Splatoon (Nintendo EAD Group No. 2)
Honorable Mentions: Her Story (Sam Barlow), Super Mario Maker (Nintendo EAD Group No. 4), Undertale (Toby Fox), The Witcher 3 (CD Projekt RED), Ori and the Blind Forest (Moon Studios)
Best Handheld/Mobile Game
Lara Croft: GO (Square Enix Montréal)
Fallout Shelter (Bethesda Game Studios)
Downwell (Moppin)
Her Story (Sam Barlow)
AlphaBear (Spry Fox)
Honorable Mentions: Prune (Joel McDonald), The Room Three (Fireproof Games), Subterfuge (Ron Carmel and Noel Llopis), Pac-Man 256 (Hipster Whale and 3 Sprockets), Sage Solitaire (Zach Gage), SteamWorld Heist (Image and Form), You Must Build a Boat (EightyEight Games)
Best Visual Art
Ori and the Blind Forest (Moon Studios)
The Witcher 3 (CD Projekt RED)
Star Wars Battlefront (DICE)
Bloodborne (FromSoftware)
Splatoon (Nintendo EAD Group No. 2)
Honorable Mentions: Metal Gear Solid V (Kojima Productions), Rise of the Tomb Raider (Crystal Dynamics), Batman: Arkham Knight (Rocksteady Studios), The Order: 1886 (Ready at Dawn), Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture (The Chinese Room), Fallout 4 (Bethesda Game Studios)
Best Narrative
Her Story (Sam Barlow)
The Witcher 3 (CD Projekt RED)
Life is Strange (Dontnod Entertainment)
Undertale (Toby Fox)
The Beginner’s Guide (Everything Unlimited Ltd.)
Honorable Mentions: Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture (The Chinese Room), Fallout 4 (Bethesda Game Studios), Until Dawn (Supermassive Games), Cibele (Star Maid Games), Soma (Frictional Games)
Best Audio
Star Wars Battlefront (DICE)
Ori and the Blind Forest (Moon Studios)
Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture (The Chinese Room)
Metal Gear Solid V (Kojima Productions)
Crypt of the NecroDancer (Brace Yourself Games)
Honorable Mentions: Fallout 4 (Bethesda Game Studios), The Witcher 3 (CD Projekt RED), Life is Strange (Dontnod Entertainment), SOMA (Frictional Games), Bloodborne (FromSoftware), Splatoon (Nintendo EAD Group No. 2)
Best Technology
Metal Gear Solid V (Kojima Productions)
The Witcher 3 (CD Projekt RED)
Star Wars Battlefront (DICE)
Fallout 4 (Bethesda Game Studios)
Just Cause 3 (Avalanche Studios)
Honorable Mentions: Rise of the Tomb Raider (Crystal Dynamics), Batman: Arkham Knight (Rocksteady Studios), Splatoon (Nintendo EAD Group No. 2), Super Mario Maker (Nintendo EAD Group No. 4), Halo 5: Guardians (343 Industries)