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Overwatch wins GDC GotY, Quadrilateral Cowboy wins IGF Grand Prize

Overwatch is the first MP-only title to win this award.

http://www.gamespot.com/articles/overwatch-wins-game-of-the-year-full-list-of-gdca-/1100-6448326/

17th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards Nominees:

GAME OF THE YEAR

  • Uncharted 4: A Thief's End (Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
  • Overwatch (Blizzard Entertainment)
  • Inside (Playdead)
  • Dishonored 2 (Arkane Studios / Bethesda Softworks)
  • Firewatch (Campo Santo / Panic)

Honorable Mentions: Doom (id Software / Bethesda Softworks), The Witness (Thekla), Battlefield 1 (EA DICE / Electronic Arts), The Last Guardian (JAPAN Studio / Sony Interactive Entertainment), Titanfall 2 (Respawn Entertainment / Electronic Arts)

BEST AUDIO

  • Battlefield 1 (EA DICE / Electronic Arts)
  • Thumper (Drool)
  • Doom (id Software / Bethesda Softworks)
  • Inside (Playdead)
  • Overwatch (Blizzard Entertainment)

Honorable Mentions: Uncharted 4: A Thief's End (Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment), Rez Infinite (Monstars / Enhance Games), Hyper Light Drifter (Heart Machine), Firewatch (Campo Santo / Panic), Dishonored 2 (Arkane Studios / Bethesda Softworks), The Last Guardian (JAPAN Studio / Sony Interactive Entertainment), Titanfall 2 (Respawn Entertainment / Electronic Arts)

BEST DEBUT

  • Heart Machine (Hyper Light Drifter)
  • Campo Santo (Firewatch)
  • ConcernedApe (Stardew Valley)
  • Drool (Thumper)
  • Night School Studio (Oxenfree)

Honorable Mentions: SUPERHOT Team (SUPERHOT), Numinous Games (That Dragon, Cancer), Giant Squid Studios (Abzu), Ghost Town Games (Overcooked), iNK Stories (1979 Revolution: Black Friday)

BEST DESIGN

  • Overwatch (Blizzard Entertainment)
  • Dishonored 2 (Arkane Studios / Bethesda Softworks)
  • The Witness (Thekla)
  • Inside (Playdead)
  • Doom (id Software / Bethesda Softworks)

Honorable Mentions: Titanfall 2 (Respawn Entertainment / Electronic Arts), Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment), Dark Souls III (From Software / Bandai Namco Entertainment), Firewatch (Campo Santo / Panic), Hitman (IO Interactive / Square Enix)

BEST MOBILE/HANDHELD GAME

  • Super Mario Run (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)
  • Clash Royale (Supercell)
  • Pokemon Go (Niantic)
  • Reigns (Nerial / Devolver Digital)
  • Pokemon Sun/Moon (Game Freak / The Pokemon Company)

Honorable Mentions: Mini Metro (Dinosaur Polo Club), Severed (DrinkBox Studios), Deus Ex: Go (Square Enix Montreal / Square Enix), Fire Emblem Fates (Intelligent Systems and Nintendo SPD / Nintendo), Imbroglio (Michael Brough), Swap Sword (AP Thomson and Diego Garcia)

INNOVATION AWARD

  • The Witness (Thekla)
  • Inside (Playdead)
  • No Man’s Sky (Hello Games)
  • Firewatch (Campo Santo / Panic)
  • Pokemon Go (Niantic)

Honorable Mentions: That Dragon, Cancer (Numinous Games), The Last Guardian (JAPAN Studio / Sony Interactive Entertainment), Superhot (Superhot Team), Thumper (Drool), Quadrilateral Cowboy (Blendo Games)

BEST NARRATIVE

  • The Last Guardian (Japan Studio / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
  • Oxenfree (Night School Studio)
  • Uncharted 4: A Thief's End (Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
  • Inside (Playdead)
  • Firewatch (Campo Santo / Panic)

Honorable Mentions: That Dragon, Cancer (Numinous Games), Dishonored 2 (Arkane Studios / Bethesda Softworks), The Witcher 3: Blood & Wine (CD Projekt RED / CD Projekt), Kentucky Route Zero - Act IV (Cardboard Computer), Mafia III (Hangar 13 / 2K Games)

BEST TECHNOLOGY

  • Battlefield 1 (EA DICE / Electronic Arts)
  • No Man's Sky (Hello Games)
  • Overwatch (Blizzard Entertainment)
  • Doom (id Software / Bethesda Softworks)
  • Uncharted 4: A Thief's End (Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment)

Honorable Mentions: Inside (Playdead), Pokemon Go (Niantic), The Last Guardian (JAPAN Studio / Sony Interactive Entertainment), Dishonored 2 (Arkane Studios / Bethesda Softworks), The Witness (Thekla)

BEST VISUAL ART

  • Firewatch (Campo Santo / Panic)
  • The Last Guardian (Japan Studio / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
  • Overwatch (Blizzard Entertainment)
  • Uncharted 4: A Thief's End (Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
  • Inside (Playdead)

Honorable Mentions: The Witness (Thekla), Battlefield 1 (EA DICE / Electronic Arts), Abzu (Giant Squid Studios), Thumper (Drool), Doom (id Software / Bethesda Softworks)

BEST VR/AR GAME

  • Rez Infinite (Monstars / Enhance Games)
  • Superhot VR (SUPERHOT Team)
  • Job Simulator: The 2050 Archives (Owlchemy Labs)
  • Pokemon Go (Niantic)
  • Fantastic Contraption (Radial Games / Northway Games)

Honorable Mentions: Thumper (Drool), Superhypercube (Kokoromi / Polytron Corporation), Batman Arkham VR (Rocksteady Studios / Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment), Space Pirate Trainer (I-Illusions), The Lab (Valve)

AMBASSADOR AWARD

Mark DeLoura
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Jordan Mechner
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Tim Sweeney
AUDIENCE AWARD

Battlefield 1 (EA DICE / Electronic Arts)

2017 IGF Awards Nominees

Best Student Game

  • Diaries of a Spaceport Janitor (Sundae Month)
  • Lily, Colors of Santa Luz (Lily, Colors of Santa Luz Team)
  • Un Pas Fragile (PAF team)
  • FAR: Lone Sails (Mr. Whale's Game Service / Mixtvision)
  • Frog Climbers (TeamCrew)
  • Bamboo Heart (Sokpop Collective)

Honorable Mentions: Awkward Dimensions Redux (StevenHarmonGames); DYO (Team DYO); Code 7 - Episode 0: Allocation (Goodwolf Studio); You Must be 18 or Older to Enter (Seemingly Pointless)

Excellence in Audio

  • The Flame in the Flood (The Molasses Flood)
  • GoNNER (Art in Heart)
  • Virginia (Variable State)
  • Hyper Light Drifter (Heart Machine)
  • Everything (David OReilly)
  • Inside (Playdead)

Honorable Mentions: 1979 Revolution: Black Friday (iNK Stories); Kingdom: New Lands (Noio); Dropsy (Tendershoot, A Jolly Corpse); Diaries of a Spaceport Janitor (Sundae Month); Sentris (Timbre Interactive); TumbleSeed (TumbleSeed Team)

Excellence in Design

  • Imbroglio (Michael Brough)
  • Ultimate Chicken Horse (Clever Endeavour Games)
  • Duskers (Misfits Attic)
  • Overcooked (Ghost Town Games)
  • Event[0] (Ocelot Society)
  • Quadrilateral Cowboy (Blendo Games)

Honorable Mentions: She Remembered Caterpillars (jumpsuit entertainment); Elsinore (Golden Glitch Studios); Inside (Playdead); Antihero (Tim Conkling); Replica (Somi); Space Pirate Trainer (I-Illusions)

Excellence in Narrative

  • Ladykiller in a Bind (Love Conquers All Games)
  • 1979 Revolution: Black Friday (iNK Stories)
  • Virginia (Variable State)
  • Orwell (Osmotic Studios)
  • Event[0] (Ocelot Society)
  • One Night Stand (Kinmoku)

Honorable Mentions: A Normal Lost Phone (Accidental Queens); The Lion's Song (Mi'pu'mi Games); Far from Noise (George Batchelor); Inside (Playdead); Stardew Valley (ConcernedApe); Burly Men at Sea (Brain&Brain); Sorcery! 4 (inkle / Steve Jackson)

Excellence in Visual Art

  • The Flame in the Flood (The Molasses Flood)
  • Inside (Playdead)
  • Virginia (Variable State)
  • Old Man's Journey (Broken Rules)
  • Hyper Light Drifter (Heart Machine)
  • She Remembered Caterpillars (jumpsuit entertainment)

Honorable Mentions: Inks (State of Play); Night in the Woods (Infinite Fall); Mu Cartographer (Titouan Millet); Future Unfolding (Spaces of Play ); Sundered (Thunder Lotus Games); Un Pas Fragile (PAF team)

Nuovo Award

  • Islands: Non-Places (Carlburton)
  • Close (Tobias Zarges and Moritz Eberl)
  • Diaries of a Spaceport Janitor (Sundae Month)
  • Oiκοςpiel, Book I (David Kanaga)
  • Everything (David OReilly)
  • Virginia (Variable State)
  • Mu Cartographer (Titouan Millet)
  • Lieve Oma (Florian Veltman)

Honorable Mentions: Memoir En Code: Reissue (Alex Camilleri); Far from Noise (George Batchelor); Ladykiller in a Bind (Love Conquers All Games); Witchball (S.L.Clark); Project Perfect Citizen (Bad Cop Studios); Wheels of Aurelia (Santa Ragione); Quadrilateral Cowboy (Blendo Games)

Seumas McNally Grand Prize

  • Inside (Playdead)
  • Stardew Valley (ConcernedApe)
  • Quadrilateral Cowboy (Blendo Games)
  • Event[0] (Ocelot Society)
  • Hyper Light Drifter (Heart Machine)
  • Overcooked (Ghost Town Games)

Honorable Mentions: 1979 Revolution: Black Friday (iNK Stories); Orwell (Osmotic Studios); Imbroglio (Michael Brough); Virginia (Variable State); Duskers (Misfits Attic); Oiκοςpiel, Book I (David Kanaga)

Alt.Ctrl.GDC Award

Fear Sphere
For the full list of 20 nominees, head over to the Alt.Ctrl.GDC site.

ID@Xbox Gaming For Everyone Awards

A Hero's Call (Out of Sight Games)
We Are Chicago (Culture Shock Games)
I, Hope (Arconyx)


IGF Audience Award

Hyper Light Drifter (Heart Machine)
 

Mory Dunz

Member
Paper Mario again doesn't get nominated for a Best Visual art category.

I borderline hate what the game represents, but still.

edit:
this sounds more complainy than it is
 
the borderline non-game pokemon GO winning over the main series put me in some kind of trance, and I dont particularly love Sun and Moon to begin with. Its just really odd so see.
 

Vintage

Member
Nice to see Firewatch and Inside getting recognition they deserve. These and The Witness are the best smaller games I've played last year.
 

Ionic

Member
DooM got nothing

It had the best narrative of any game in a long time

It just needed to have a couple fewer required cutscenes for this to be the case. If Doom Guy could run out of story rooms and continue on while you instead get the story lectured to you by an annoyed voice over radio comm it would've been perfect.
 

spineduke

Unconfirmed Member
SuperHot VR deserves the VR win -truly the first innovative experience in VR.

Speaking of which, it should have been nominated and earning of the Innovation award. None of those make any sense, outside of Pokemon Go.
 

FiraB

Banned
Personally would have given best debut to stardew valley, considering one guy made that vs an entire team he nailed it like the hyperlight drifter developer. Firewatch isn't that impressive a debut considering the team behind it.
 

HotHamBoy

Member
What a shitshow.

Nominations for Mobile/Handheld are pretty insulting.

Pokemon GO wins? What does GDC rate on, popularity or quality?

As an avid handheld + mobile gamer I find the entire category to be a joke outside of Reigns. So many better games didn't get nominated.

Also, Firewatch, really?
 

spiritfox

Member
How the hell did Pokemon Go win over the other nominees? It's not the best mobile nor best Pokemon game on the list.
 
Firewatch / Campo Santo doesn't really diverse that praise but whatever. The push around the game has stank of nepotism since it was announced. Why stop now.


Stardrew easily should be best debut. Firewatch winning that in particular is a bit bullshit.

On on side you have Firewatch. A game made by industry vets with a network of contacts that where able to secure sweet marketing deals and funds.

On the other Stardew Valley. A game made by 1 guy in his spare time because he couldnt get a industry job after graduating college so he made it while working as a usher in a cinema.
 

StereoVsn

Gold Member
If it weren't for No Mans Sky I would have never learned how to get a refund on a PSN purchase.
See, not only has the game been in innovatove in terms of indie marketing, it's also quite educational. The true winner.
 

LordKano

Member
The IGF Awards are very interesting, some great picks. I'll have to try some of these games I never heard about before.
 

Skeletos311

Junior Member
I don't care if Pokemon Go was the most downloaded thing in the history of the planet or whatever, but it's definitely not a better game than Pokemon Sun and Moon.
 

spineduke

Unconfirmed Member
All this Firewatch backlash is giving me doubt if I ever should bother playing it. Funny since I was genuinely excited to play it when it first launched.
 

dstarMDA

Member
The IGF Awards are very interesting, some great picks. I'll have to try some of these games I never heard about before.

Don't forget to check out the Student Best Game winner Un Pas Fragile because:

1) it's pure gold
2) the dev team members are exactly as adorable as their game
 
All this Firewatch backlash is giving me doubt if I ever should bother playing it. Funny since I was genuinely excited to play it when it first launched.

its definitely worth playing if that kind of game appeals to you though. People being upset that it beat their personal pick shouldn't change that for you.
 

spekkeh

Banned
Can't disagree with most of those picks, even though I don't care for Overwatch at all, I understand why they picked it over the competition. That's the one thing I guess, the nominations for GotY are extremely whatever to me, but the same applied to most of last year.
 

peakish

Member
Christine Love still writing good stuff I see. (Haven't played Ladykiller yet, should pick it up once I get my proper PC online again)
 

moerser

Member
all i do the whole day is checking gaf and other game related sites. yet, i have never heard of inside...
 

Nista

Member
Ugh, Overwatch as GOTY irks me personally. Haven't disliked a game my SO has worked on as much as it, mostly due to its MP only nature and the terrible community. Not sure why it deserves a design award either, it's nothing particularly interesting or innovative across genres.
 

FiraB

Banned
All this Firewatch backlash is giving me doubt if I ever should bother playing it. Funny since I was genuinely excited to play it when it first launched.
Oh its a good game but it certainly didnt deserve something like best debut, that should be held for actual first timer, not veteran developers establishing a new studio.
 

Ghazi

Member
Ugh, Overwatch as GOTY irks me personally. Haven't disliked a game my SO has worked on as much as it, mostly due to its MP only nature and the terrible community. Not sure why it deserves a design award either, it's nothing particularly interesting or innovative across genres.
It being a multiplayer game doesn't bother me at all; I definitely think it gets far more credit than it deserves.
 
BEST AUDIO

Battlefield 1 (EA DICE / Electronic Arts)
Thumper (Drool)
Doom (id Software / Bethesda Softworks)
Inside (Playdead)
Overwatch (Blizzard Entertainment)


Honorable Mentions: Uncharted 4: A Thief's End (Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment), Rez Infinite (Monstars / Enhance Games), Hyper Light Drifter (Heart Machine), Firewatch (Campo Santo / Panic), Dishonored 2 (Arkane Studios / Bethesda Softworks), The Last Guardian (JAPAN Studio / Sony Interactive Entertainment), Titanfall 2 (Respawn Entertainment / Electronic Arts)

Not even a mention of Planet Coaster here.
I thought GDC was a little more serious with this things, but it just looks like some animated oscars nominations.
Planet Coaster has probably the best sound design ive seen in a game.
 
Award saltiness is always a thing to behold.
ID@Xbox Gaming For Everyone Awards

somebody enlighten me just what this award is suppose to be rewarding...
Diversity I believe.
Was part of a GDC 'Games For Everyone' event I think.

ID@Xbox is the platinum (highest) sponsor for the IGF this year and the IGF often have a sponsor based award.
 
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