GDC awards reveal the full list of nominees in all categories, and Deathloop leads with the most nominations

The Game Developers Choice Awards organisation has released the full list of nominees for the GDC 2022 Awards in all categories. These prestigious awards seek to reward excellence in the video game industry for all titles published in the calendar year of 2021. This year’s top nominees include Arkane Studios’ Deathloop, with six nominations; Hazelight Studios’ It Takes Two, with four nominations; and Playground Games and Xbox Game Studios’ Forza Horizon 5, with four nominations.

The GDC awards gala will take place 21-25 March; the event will be held in a hybrid format in San Francisco, California, with announcements, talks and other gatherings where game developers take centre stage. That’s the main peculiarity of the GDC 2022 Awards: it’s not the public or the press that chooses the winners, but the developers of the industry.

After the victory of Hades (Supergiant Games) in 2020, we will soon know which titles will win in 2021. The list, category by category, is as follows:

Game of the Year

• Inscryption (Daniel Mullins Games / Devolver Digital)
• Forza Horizon 5 (Playground Games / Xbox Game Studios)
• Resident Evil Village (Capcom)
• Deathloop (Arkane Studios / Bethesda Softworks)
• It Takes Two (Hazelight Studios / Electronic Arts)

Best Audio

• Returnal (Housemarque / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Unpacking (Witch Beam / Humble)
• Deathloop (Arkane Studios / Bethesda Softworks)
• Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy (Eidos-Montréal / Square Enix)
• Forza Horizon 5 (Playground Games / Xbox Game Studios)

Best Debut

• Kena: Bridge of Spirits (Ember Lab)
• Valheim (Iron Gate Studio / Coffee Stain Publishing)
• Wildermyth (Worldwalker Games / WhisperGames)
• The Artful Escape (Beethoven & Dinosaur / Annapurna Interactive)
• Sable (Shedworks / Raw Fury)

Best Design

• It Takes Two (Hazelight Studios / Electronic Arts)
• Psychonauts 2 (Double Fine / Xbox Game Studios)
• Halo Infinite (343 Industries / Xbox Game Studios)
• Deathloop (Arkane Studios / Bethesda Softworks)
• Inscryption (Daniel Mullins Games / Devolver Digital)

Innovation Award

• It Takes Two (Hazelight Studios / Electronic Arts)
• Wildermyth (Worldwalker Games / WhisperGames)
• Unpacking (Witch Beam / Humble)
• Inscryption (Daniel Mullins Games / Devolver Digital)
• Deathloop (Arkane Studios / Bethesda Softworks)

Best Narrative

• Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy (Eidos-Montréal / Square Enix)
• Deathloop (Arkane Studios / Bethesda Softworks)
• It Takes Two (Hazelight Studios / Electronic Arts)
• Psychonauts 2 (Double Fine / Xbox Game Studios)
• Unpacking (Witch Beam / Humble)

Social Impact Award

• Before Your Eyes (GoodbyeWorld Games / Skybound Games)
• It Takes Two (Hazelight Studios / Electronic Arts)
• Life is Strange: True Colors (Deck Nine / Square Enix)
• Boyfriend Dungeon (Kitfox Games)
• Chicory: A Colorful Tale (The Chicory: A Colorful Tale Team / Finji)

Best Technology

• Halo Infinite (343 Industries / Xbox Game Studios)
• Forza Horizon 5 (Playground Games / Xbox Game Studios)
• Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (Insomniac Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Returnal (Housemarque / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Hitman 3 (IO Interactive)

Best Visual Art

• Forza Horizon 5 (Playground Games / Xbox Game Studios)
• Kena: Bridge of Spirits (Ember Lab)
• Deathloop (Arkane Studios / Bethesda Softworks)
• Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (Insomniac Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Psychonauts 2 (Double Fine / Xbox Game Studios)

Source: as