15th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards

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