Sono state annunciate le nomination per la 18° edizione dei Game Developers Choice Awards e, come prevedibile, tra i candidati ci sono The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild e Horizon: Zero Dawn, con sei nomination ciascuno, compresa la categoria più ambita di Game of the Year. Gli altri candidati nella categoria principale sono PUBG, Nier: Automata e Super Mario Odyssey.
Ciò che rende il Game Developers Choice Awards speciale è che molto simile agli Academy Awards per i film: infatti, questi premi sono selezionati da una giuria di professionisti del settore.
Best Audio
- Cuphead (StudioMDHR)
- Nier: Automata (PlatinumGames / Square Enix)
- Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice (Ninja Theory)
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)
- 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
- Team Cherry (Hollow Knight)
- Sidebar Games (Golf Story)
- StudioMDHR (Cuphead)
- Infinite Fall (Night in the Woods)
- Jason Roberts / Buried Signal (Gorogoa)
Honorable Mentions: Game Grumps (Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator), Terrible Toybox (Thimbleweed Park), Team Salvato (Doki Doki Literature Club!), Lizardcube(Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap)
Best Design
- Super Mario Odyssey (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)
- Horizon Zero Dawn (Guerrilla Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
- PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG Corporation)
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)
- 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)
Best Mobile Game
- Reigns: Her Majesty (Nerial / Devolver Digital)
- Hidden Folks (Adriaan de Jongh and Sylvain Tegroeg)
- Monument Valley 2 (ustwo games)
- Gorogoa (Jason Roberts / Buried Signal / Annapurna Interactive)
- 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)
Innovation Award
- Gorogoa (Jason Roberts / Buried Signal / Annapurna Interactive)
- 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 Narrative
- Night in the Woods (Infinite Fall / Finji)
- Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice (Ninja Theory)
- What Remains of Edith Finch (Giant Sparrow / Annapurna Interactive)
- 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
- Destiny 2 (Bungie / Activision)
- Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice (Ninja Theory)
- Assassin's Creed: Origins (Ubisoft Montreal / Ubisoft)
- Horizon Zero Dawn (Guerrilla Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
- 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
- Persona 5 (P-Studio / Atlus)
- Cuphead (StudioMDHR)
- 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)
- 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)
Game of the Year
- PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG Corporation)
- Nier: Automata (PlatinumGames / Square Enix)
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)
- 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)