18th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards

Honoring the Best Games of 2017

For photos, please browse our albums.

Lifetime Achievement Award

Tim Schafer

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.

Ambassador Award

Rami Ismail

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

NieR:Automata (PlatinumGames)

Game of the Year

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)

Finalists:

• PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG Corporation)
• NieR: Automata (PlatinumGames / Square Enix)
• Horizon Zero Dawn (Guerrilla Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Super Mario Odyssey (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)

Honorable Mentions: Cuphead (StudioMDHR), What Remains of Edith Finch (Giant Sparrow / Annapurna Interactive), Persona 5 (P-Studio / Atlus), Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice (Ninja Theory), Gorogoa (Jason Roberts / Buried Signal / Annapurna Interactive), Divinity: Original Sin 2 (Larian Studios), Night in the Woods (Infinite Fall / Finji)

Best Audio

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)

Finalists:

• Cuphead (StudioMDHR)
• NieR: Automata (PlatinumGames / Square Enix)
• Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice (Ninja Theory)
• Horizon Zero Dawn (Guerrilla Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)

Honorable Mentions: Super Mario Odyssey (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo), Star Wars: Battlefront II (EA DICE / Electronic Arts), Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (Capcom), Destiny 2 (Bungie / Activision), Persona 5 (P-Studio / Atlus), Night in the Woods (Infinite Fall / Finji)

Best Debut

Cuphead (StudioMDHR)

Finalists:

• Hollow Knight (Team Cherry)
• Golf Story (Sidebar Games)
• Night in the Woods (Infinite Fall / Finji)
• Gorogoa (Jason Roberts / Buried Signal)

Honorable Mentions: Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator (Game Grumps), Thimbleweed Park (Terrible Toybox), Doki Doki Literature Club! (Team Salvato), Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap (Lizardcube)

Best Design

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)

Finalists:

• Super Mario Odyssey (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)
• Horizon Zero Dawn (Guerrilla Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG Corporation)
• NieR: Automata (PlatinumGames / Square Enix)

Honorable Mentions: Cuphead (StudioMDHR), Gorogoa (Jason Roberts / Buried Signal / Annapurna Interactive), What Remains of Edith Finch (Giant Sparrow / Annapurna Interactive), Divinity: Original Sin 2 (Larian Studios), Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy (Bennett Foddy), Prey (Arkane Studios / Bethesda Softworks)

Innovation Award

Gorogoa (Jason Roberts / Buried Signal / Annapurna Interactive)

Finalists:

• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)
• What Remains of Edith Finch (Giant Sparrow / Annapurna Interactive)
• Everything (David OReilly / Double Fine Productions)
• PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG Corporation)

Honorable Mentions: Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice (Ninja Theory), Cuphead (StudioMDHR), NieR: Automata (PlatinumGames / Square Enix), Horizon Zero Dawn (Guerrilla Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment), Super Mario Odyssey (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo), Tacoma (Fullbright), Pyre (Supergiant Games)

Best Mobile Game

Gorogoa (Jason Roberts / Buried Signal / Annapurna Interactive)

Finalists:

• Reigns: Her Majesty (Nerial / Devolver Digital)
• Hidden Folks (Adriaan de Jongh and Sylvain Tegroeg)
• Monument Valley 2 (ustwo games)
• Bury Me, My Love (The Pixel Hunt / Figs / ARTE France / Playdius)

Honorable Mentions: Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo), Fire Emblem Heroes (Intelligent Systems and Nintendo EPD / Nintendo), Old Man's Journey (Broken Rules), Flipflop Solitaire (Zach Gage), Gnog (KO_OP / Double Fine Productions)

Best Narrative

What Remains of Edith Finch (Giant Sparrow / Annapurna Interactive)

Finalists:

• Night in the Woods (Infinite Fall / Finji)
• Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice (Ninja Theory)
• Horizon Zero Dawn (Guerrilla Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus (MachineGames / Bethesda Softworks)

Honorable Mentions: NieR: Automata (PlatinumGames / Square Enix), Tacoma (Fullbright), Persona 5 (P-Studio / Atlus), The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo), Divinity: Original Sin 2 (Larian Studios), Uncharted: The Lost Legacy (Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment)

Best Technology

Horizon Zero Dawn (Guerrilla Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)

Finalists:

• Destiny 2 (Bungie / Activision)
• Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice (Ninja Theory)
• Assassin's Creed: Origins (Ubisoft Montréal / Ubisoft)
• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)

Honorable Mentions: Star Wars Battlefront II (EA DICE / Electronic Arts), Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus (MachineGames / Bethesda Softworks), Uncharted: The Lost Legacy (Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment), NieR: Automata (PlatinumGames / Square Enix), Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (Capcom)

Best Visual Art

Cuphead (StudioMDHR)

Finalists:

• Persona 5 (P-Studio / Atlus)
• Horizon Zero Dawn (Guerrilla Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)
• Night in the Woods (Infinite Fall / Finji)

Honorable Mentions: Gorogoa (Jason Roberts / Buried Signal / Annapurna Interactive), Star Wars Battlefront II (EA DICE / Electronic Arts), Assassin's Creed Origins (Ubisoft Montreal / Ubisoft), Destiny 2 (Bungie / Activision), Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice (Ninja Theory), Super Mario Odyssey (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)

Best VR/AR Game

Superhot VR (SUPERHOT Team)

Finalists:

• Star Trek: Bridge Crew (Red Storm Entertainment / Ubisoft)
• Lone Echo (Ready at Dawn / Oculus Studios)
• Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (Capcom)
• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR (Bethesda Game Studios / Bethesda Softworks)

Honorable Mentions: Farpoint (Impulse Gear / Sony Interactive Entertainment), Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality (Owlchemy Labs / Adult Swim Games), Luna (Funomena), Robo Recall (Epic Games), Gnog (KO_OP/ Double Fine Productions), Doom VFR (id Software / Bethesda Softworks)