Game Developers Conference Award Nominees Announced

Yesterday, the Independent Games Festival announced their nominees for the best indie games of the year. The IGF takes place at Game Developers Conference, so it should come as little surprise that the award nominees for that particular show were also announced just one day later! While the IGF awards focus solely on indie games, the GDC nominees run across the entire spectrum of the industry. As a result, both the GDC and IGF share a single game in common on their lists of nominees for the best overall games of the year, and that particular title should come as little surprise to most gamers!

• Death Stranding
• Untitled Goose Game
• Control
  
• Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
• Outer Wilds

Yes, once again Untitled Goose Game is making the rounds as a contender for Game of the Year! In fact, the game is also up for Best Audio, a category it could also receive from the IGF! Released in September, Untitled Goose Game surprised the entire industry with its simple concept of a goose causing trouble for the people in a small town. The game has already sold one million copies, and received a number of accolades.

Of course, the title has some very stiff competition in both categories, most notably Death Stranding. Hideo Kojima’s latest has secured an astonishing seven nominations in total, including Best Audio, Best Design, the Innovation Award, Best Narrative Game, Best Technology, Best Visual Art and Game of the Year. Death Stranding marks the first game from Kojima since his departure from Konami in 2015, and it has proven to be a return to form for the famed creator. The title has received strong acclaim and a number of award nominations since its release in November.

In addition to the Game of the Year category, award categories include Best Audio, Best Debut, Best Design, Innovation Award, Best Mobile Game, Best Narrative, Best Technology, Best Visual Art, and Best VR/AR Game. The full list of nominees for these categories can be found here.

The award winners will be announced during a ceremony on March 18th at 6:30 p.m. PST, and it will be livestreamed from the GDC Twitch channel. The conference kicks off on March 16th and runs through March 20th.

Have you played any of this year’s nominees? What was your favorite game of 2019? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk all things gaming!