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Game Developers Choice Awards
Wednesday, March 19, 2025

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15th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards

2015 Finalists & Winners

Honoring the Best Games of 2014

For photos, please browse our albums.

Lifetime Achievement Award

Hironobu Sakaguchi

The Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes the career and achievements of a developer who has made an indelible impact on the craft of game development and games as a whole.

Pioneer Award

David Braben

The Pioneer Award (formerly known as the First Penguin Award) celebrates those individuals who developed a breakthrough technology, game concept, or gameplay design at a crucial juncture video game history - paving the way for the myriads who followed them.

Ambassador Award

Brenda Romero

The Ambassador Award honors an individual or individuals who have helped the game industry advance to a better place, either through facilitating a better game community from within, or by reaching outside the industry to be an advocate for video games and help further our art.

Audience Award

Elite: Dangerous (Frontier Developments)

Game of the Year

Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor (Monolith Productions / Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment)

Finalists:

  • Bayonetta 2 (Platinum Games / Nintendo)
  • Destiny (Bungie / Activision)
  • Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft (Blizzard)
  • Alien: Isolation (Creative Assembly / Sega)

Honorable Mentions: Titanfall, Valiant Hearts, Far Cry 4, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Super Smash Bros., Wii-U

Innovation Award

Monument Valley (Ustwo)

Finalists:

  • Bounden (Game Oven)
  • Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor (Monolith Productions / Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment)
  • This War of Mine (11 bit studios)
  • The Vanishing of Ethan Carter (The Astronauts)

Honorable Mentions: Crypt Of The Necrodancer, Extrasolar, Elite: Dangerous, Elegy For A Dead World, 80 Days

Best Audio

Alien: Isolation (Creative Assembly/Sega)

Finalists:

  • Hohokum (Honeyslug / Sony)
  • Destiny (Bungie / Activision)
  • Transistor (Supergiant Games)
  • The Vanishing of Ethan Carter (The Astronauts)

Honorable Mentions: Child Of Light, Far Cry 4, D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die, Bayonetta 2, Crypt Of The Necrodancer

Best Debut

The Banner Saga (Stoic Studio)

Finalists:

  • Shovel Knight (Yacht Club Games)
  • Titanfall (Respawn Entertainment)
  • The Vanishing of Ethan Carter (The Astronauts)
  • Never Alone (Upper One Games)

Honorable mentions: CounterSpy, The Long Dark, Leo's Fortune, Wolfenstein: The New Order, Crossy Road

Best Design

Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft (Blizzard)

Finalists:

  • Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor (Monolith Productions / Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment)
  • Shovel Knight (Yacht Club Games)
  • Dragon Age: Inquisition (BioWare / Electronic Arts)
  • Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker (Nintendo EAD Tokyo and 1-Up Studio / Nintendo)

Honorable Mentions: Mario Kart 8, Alien: Isolation, Destiny, Monument Valley, Far Cry 4

Best Handheld/Mobile Game

Monument Valley (Ustwo)

Finalists:

  • Threes! (Sirvo)
  • Super Smash Bros. 3DS (Sora Ltd. and BANDAI NAMCO/Nintendo)
  • Hearthstone (Blizzard)
  • 80 Days (Inkle Studios)

Honorable Mentions: Bounden, Bravely Default Flying Fairy, Desert Golfing, Velocity 2X, Fantasy Life

Best Narrative

Kentucky Route Zero: Episode 3 (Cardboard Computer)

Finalists:

  • 80 Days (Inkle Studios)
  • This War of Mine (11 bit studios)
  • Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor (Monolith Productions / Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment)
  • The Vanishing of Ethan Carter (The Astronauts)

Honorable Mentions: Dragon Age: Inquisition, Valiant Hearts, Tales From The Borderlands, D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die, Hatoful Boyfriend

Best Technology

Destiny (Bungie / Activision)

Finalists:

  • Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor (Monolith Productions/Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment)
  • Wolfenstein: The New Order (MachineGames / Bethesda)
  • Elite: Dangerous (Frontier Developments)
  • Far Cry 4 (Ubisoft Montreal / Ubisoft)

Honorable Mentions: Assassin's Creed Unity, The Last Of Us: Remastered, Sunset Overdrive, Alien: Isolation, Infamous: Second Son

Best Visual Arts

Monument Valley (Ustwo)

Finalists:

  • Hohokum (Honeyslug and Sony Santa Monica / Sony)
  • Child of Light (Ubisoft Montreal / Ubisoft)
  • Bayonetta 2 (Platinum Games / Nintendo)
  • Alien: Isolation (Creative Assembly / Sega)

Honorable Mentions: Never Alone, The Vanishing Of Ethan Carter, Transistor, Broken Age: Episode 1, Destiny