Game Developers Choice Awards Nominees for 2021

The nominees and the nomi-nots.

The nominees for the 2021 Game Developers Choice Awards were unveiled today along with information about this year’s Game Developers Conference. The ceremony is scheduled for Wednesday, July 21 while GDC itself is scheduled to run virtually from July 19 to July 23.

Recommended Videos

While we wait, let’s take a look at all of the Game Developers Choice Awards nominees for 2021! 

Game Developers Choice Awards Nominees for 2021

The nominees for the 2021 Game Developers Choice Awards were revealed. Leading the pack in terms of the number of nominations are Ghost of Tsushima, Hades, and The Last of Us Part II which all received a total of six nominations.

Not far behind is Half-Life: Alyx with five nominations. Undoubtedly the category most people will be curious about is the one for “Game of the Year” and for 2021 this category features Hades, Ghost of Tsushima, Half-Life Alyx, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and The Last of Us Part II. 

Winners will be announced on Wednesday, July 21 at 4:30 p.m. in a ceremony held in conjunction with the Independent Games Festival Awards (IGF) with the ceremony being watchable by GDC 2021 pass-holders. With that out of the way, here are the nominees! 

BEST AUDIO

  • Hades (Supergiant Games)

  • The Last of Us Part II (Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment)

  • Doom Eternal (id Software / Bethesda Softworks)

  • Final Fantasy VII: Remake (Square Enix)

  • Ghost of Tsushima (Sucker Punch Productions / Sony Interactive Entertainment)

Honorable Mentions: Half-Life: Alyx (Valve), Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Nintendo EPD/ Nintendo), Ori and the Will of the Wisps (Moon Studios / Xbox Game Studios / iam8bit), Fuser (Harmonix Music Systems / NCsoft)

BEST DEBUT

  • Phasmophobia (Kinetic Games)

  • Umurangi Generation (Origame Digital / Playism, Origame Digital)

  • Carrion (Phobia Game Studio / Devolver Digital)

  • Mortal Shell (Cold Symmetry / Playstack)

  • Raji: An Ancient Epic (Nodding Heads Games / Super!Com)

Honorable Mentions: Call of the Sea (Out of the Blue / Raw Fury), Röki (Polygon Treehouse / CI Games), If Found… (Dreamfeel / Annapurna Interactive)

BEST DESIGN

  • Ghost of Tsushima (Sucker Punch Productions / Sony Interactive Entertainment)

  • The Last of Us Part II (Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment)

  • Hades (Supergiant Games)

  • Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Nintendo EPD/ Nintendo)

  • Half-Life: Alyx (Valve)

Honorable Mentions: Final Fantasy VII: Remake (Square Enix), Crusader Kings III (Paradox Development Studio / Paradox Interactive), Spelunky 2 (Blitworks, Mossmouth / Mossmouth), Dreams (Media Molecule / Sony Interactive Entertainment)

INNOVATION AWARD

  • Microsoft Flight Simulator (Asobo Studio / Xbox Game Studios)

  • Dreams (Media Molecule / Sony Interactive Entertainment)

  • Half-Life: Alyx (Valve)

  • Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout (Mediatonic / Devolver Digital)

  • Hades (Supergiant Games)

Honorable Mentions: Astro’s Playroom (Sony Japan Studio/Team Asobi / Sony Interactive Entertainment), Ghost of Tsushima (Sucker Punch Productions / Sony Interactive Entertainment), The Last of Us Part II (Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment), Watch Dogs: Legion (Ubisoft Toronto / Ubisoft)

BEST MOBILE GAME

  • The Pathless (Giant Squid / Annapurna Interactive)

  • Genshin Impact (miHoYo)

  • Legends of Runeterra (Riot Games)

  • Alba: A Wildlife Adventure (ustwo / PID Publishing)      

  • If Found… (Dreamfeel / Annapurna Interactive)

Honorable Mentions: Pokémon Café Mix (Genius Sonority / Nintendo / The Pokémon Company), Reigns: Beyond (Nerial / Devolver Digital)

BEST NARRATIVE

  • Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition (Cardboard Computer / Annapurna Interactive)

  • Final Fantasy VII: Remake (Square Enix)

  • Hades (Supergiant Games)

  • The Last of Us Part II (Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment)

  • Ghost of Tsushima (Sucker Punch Productions / Sony Interactive Entertainment)

Honorable Mentions: Spiritfarer (Thunder Lotus Games), Half-Life: Alyx (Valve), Cyberpunk 2077 (CD Projekt RED / CD Projekt), If Found… (Dreamfeel / Annapurna Interactive), Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales (Insomniac Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment), 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim (Vanillaware / Atlus)

BEST TECHNOLOGY

  • The Last of Us Part II (Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment)

  • Half-Life: Alyx (Valve)

  • Dreams (Media Molecule / Sony Interactive Entertainment)

  • Ghost of Tsushima (Sucker Punch Productions / Sony Interactive Entertainment)

  • Microsoft Flight Simulator (Asobo Studio / Xbox Game Studios)

Honorable Mentions: Final Fantasy VII: Remake (Square Enix), Astro’s Playroom (Sony Japan Studio/Team Asobi / Sony Interactive Entertainment), Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales (Insomniac Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)

BEST VISUAL ART

  • Ghost of Tsushima (Sucker Punch Productions / Sony Interactive Entertainment)

  • Hades (Supergiant Games)

  • The Last of Us Part II (Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment)

  • Ori and the Will of the Wisps (Moon Studios / Xbox Game Studios / iam8bit)

  • Cyberpunk 2077 (CD Projekt RED / CD Projekt)

Honorable Mentions: Final Fantasy VII: Remake (Square Enix), Spiritfarer (Thunder Lotus Games), Umurangi Generation (Origame Digital / Playism, Origame Digital), Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales (Insomniac Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)

BEST VR/AR GAME

  • The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners (Skydance Interactive)

  • Paper Beast (Pixel Reef)

  • Dreams (Media Molecule / Sony Interactive Entertainment)

  • Half-Life: Alyx (Valve)

  • Star Wars: Squadrons (Motive Studios / Electronic Arts)

Honorable Mentions: Phasmophobia (Kinetic Games), The Room VR: A Dark Matter (Fireproof Games), Iron Man VR (Camouflaj / Sony Interactive Entertainment), Microsoft Flight Simulator (Asobo Studio / Xbox Game Studios), Until You Fall (Schell Games)

GAME OF THE YEAR

  • Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Nintendo EPD/ Nintendo)

  • The Last of Us Part II (Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment)

  • Half-Life: Alyx (Valve)

  • Hades (Supergiant Games)

  • Ghost of Tsushima (Sucker Punch Productions / Sony Interactive Entertainment)

Honorable Mentions: Spelunky 2 (Blitworks, Mossmouth / Mossmouth), Doom Eternal (id Software / Bethesda Softworks), Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales (Insomniac Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment), Microsoft Flight Simulator (Asobo Studio / Xbox Game Studios), Final Fantasy VII: Remake (Square Enix), Genshin impact (miHoYo)

We’re so excited to see games like Hades, Ghost of Tsushima, and Half-Life: Alyx snag so many nominations, and we’re curious to see who will walk away with the most wins. What are your predictions for the 2021 Game Developers Choice Awards?

Let us know on our social media channels including Facebook and Twitter, and stay tuned for an update regarding the winners once they’re announced on July 21! 

Related: Ubisoft Announced E3 Ubisoft Forward Event Coming On June 12

 

About the Author

Morgan Shaver

Morgan is a writer, metalhead, horror lover, and indie game enthusiast. When it comes to games, they love nothing more than to wax poetic about all the latest and greatest indies to anyone who'll listen. They're also a Tetris fanatic who's fiercely competitive in games like Tetris 99... and all games in general. But mostly Tetris. You can follow Morgan on Twitter @Author_MShaver

More Stories by Morgan Shaver