Zelda, Horizon Zero Dawn lead GDC Award nominations

The Game Developers Choice Awards today released its final list of nominees for the 2018 show, with few surprises when it came to the Game of the Year category. Vying for top honors this year will be the Nintendo Switch standouts The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Odyssey, the survival shooter phenomenon PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, the PS4 hit Horizon Zero Dawn, and PlatinumGames' PS4 action game Nier: Automata.

As might be expected, these titles were also well represented in other categories. The Game of the Year finalists are also all up for the Best Design award, and while those are the only two categories for Super Mario Odyssey, the other titles were all received at least one extra nomination. Zelda and Horizon Zero Dawn led all games, garnering consideration in six categories each. Nier: Automata and PUBG each notched three nods a piece.

The winners will be announced March 21 at the Game Developers Choice Awards ceremony during the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. In addition to the main categories and nominees below, there will also be an Audience Award determined by an online poll, as well as special Pioneer, Ambassador, and Lifetime Achievement awards, recipients of which will be announced prior to the event.

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)

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)