The finalists for the 11th annual Game Developer Choice Awards have been announced! Leading the pack is Limbo with nominations in seven out of ten categories, followed by Red Dead Redemption with six and Mass Effect 2 with five nominations.
Winners will be selected by the Game Developers Choice Awards-specific International Choice Awards Network (ICAN); an invitation-only group consisting of “500 leading game creators from all parts of the video game industry”.
The awards will be handed out during GDC on March 2nd. Check out the full list of nominees below.
Best Game Design
Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Nintendo)
Mass Effect 2 (BioWare)
Limbo (Playdead)
Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar San Diego)
God of War III (SCE Santa Monica)
Innovation
Heavy Rain (Quantic Dream)
Kirby’s Epic Yarn (Good-Feel & HAL Laboratory)
Minecraft (Mojang)
Limbo (Playdead)
Dance Central (Harmonix)
Best Technology
Starcraft II (Blizzard)
Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar San Diego)
Heavy Rain (Quantic Dream)
Mass Effect 2 (BioWare)
God of War III (SCE Santa Monica)
Best Handheld Game
God of War: Ghost of Sparta (Ready At Dawn/SCE Santa Monica)
Cut the Rope (ZeptoLab)
Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker (Kojima Productions)
Game Dev Story (Kairosoft)
Dragon Quest IX (Level 5)
Best Audio
Limbo (Playdead)
Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar San Diego)
Halo: Reach (Bungie)
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (DICE)
Mass Effect 2 (BioWare)
Best Downloadable Game
Costume Quest (Double Fine)
Limbo (Playdead)
Super Meat Boy (Team Meat)
Minecraft (Mojang)
Monday Night Combat (Uber Entertainment)
Best Writing
Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar San Diego)
Heavy Rain (Quantic Dream)
Mass Effect 2 (BioWare)
Costume Quest (Double Fine)
Fallout: New Vegas (Obsidian)
Best Debut Game
Limbo (Playdead)
Darksiders (Vigil Games)
Minecraft (Mojang)
Monday Night Combat (Uber Entertainment)
Super Meat Boy (Team Meat)
Best Visual Arts
God of War III (SCE Santa Monica)
Limbo (Playdead)
Call of Duty: Black Ops (Treyarch)
Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood (Ubisoft Montreal)
Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar San Diego)
Game of the Year
Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar San Diego)
Mass Effect 2 (BioWare)
Call of Duty: Black Ops (Treyarch)
Limbo (Playdead)
Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood (Ubisoft Montreal)
I’m happy for Playdead that Limbo got its due recognition, and it’s a triumph for an indie developer to get this many nominations, but I do hope Mass Effect 2 wins Game of the Year or I’ll be a sad Krogan.
Shepard.
Limbo, Red Dead, Mass Effect 2 Lead 11th Annual Choice Awards Nominees [GDConf]
