Game Developers Choice Award for Game of the Year
The Game Developers Choice Award for the Game of the Year, also known as GDCA Game of the Year is the main video game award presented at the Game Developers Conference, the largest annual gathering of professional video game developers. The conference, usually held in or around March in San Francisco, presents the award as part of the Game Developers Choice Awards, a series of awards honoring outstanding achievements in video game design for games released during the previous calendar year.
Established in 2001, the award is considered the most prestigious peer-awarded accolade in the digital games industry, as the winners are selected by votes of game developers themselves.
As of the 17th GDC held in March 2017, only four studios have won the award more than once:
- Valve, for Half-Life 2 and Portal
- Bethesda Game Studios, for Fallout 3 and '
- Naughty Dog, for ' and The Last of Us
- Rockstar Games, for Grand Theft Auto III and Red Dead Redemption
The most successful video game publisher to date is Sony Interactive Entertainment with 11 nominations and 4 wins, followed by Nintendo, Electronic Arts and Rockstar Games.
List of winners
2000s
Note: From 2005 to 2007 the award was titled Best Game. Years listed represent calendar years for which the awards were given. Ceremonies are usually held in March the following year.Year | Game | Developer | Publisher | |
2000 | The Sims | Maxis | Electronic Arts | |
2000 | Deus Ex | Ion Storm | Eidos Interactive | |
2000 | Jet Set Radio | Smilebit | Sega | |
2000 | ' | Monolith Productions | Fox Interactive | |
2000 | Shenmue | Sega AM2 | Sega | |
2001 | Grand Theft Auto III | DMA Design | Rockstar Games | |
2001 | Black & White | Lionhead Studios | Electronic Arts | |
2001 | ' | Bungie | Microsoft Game Studios | |
2001 | Ico | Team Ico | Sony Computer Entertainment | |
2001 | Max Payne | Remedy Entertainment | Gathering of Developers / Rockstar Games | |
2002 | Metroid Prime | Retro Studios | Nintendo | |
2002 | Battlefield 1942 | Digital Illusions | Electronic Arts | |
2002 | ' | Rockstar North | Rockstar Games | |
2002 | Neverwinter Nights | BioWare | Atari, Inc. | |
2002 | Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell | Ubisoft Montreal | Ubisoft | |
2003 | BioWare | LucasArts | ||
2003 | Beyond Good & Evil | Ubisoft Montpellier / Ubisoft Milan | Ubisoft | |
2003 | Call of Duty | Infinity Ward | Activision | |
2003 | ' | Ubisoft Montreal | Ubisoft | |
2003 | ' | Nintendo EAD | Nintendo | |
2004 | Half-Life 2 | Valve | Valve | |
2004 | ' | Criterion Games | Electronic Arts | |
2004 | ' | Rockstar North | Rockstar Games | |
2004 | Katamari Damacy | Namco | Namco | |
2004 | World of Warcraft | Blizzard Entertainment | Blizzard Entertainment | |
2005 | Shadow of the Colossus | Team Ico | Sony Computer Entertainment | |
2005 | ' | Nintendo EAD | Nintendo | |
2005 | God of War | Santa Monica Studio | Sony Computer Entertainment | |
2005 | Guitar Hero | Harmonix | RedOctane | |
2005 | The Movies | Lionhead Studios | Activision | |
2006 | Gears of War | Epic Games | Microsoft Game Studios | |
2006 | ' | Bethesda Game Studios | Bethesda Softworks | |
2006 | ' | Nintendo EAD | Nintendo | |
2006 | Ōkami | Clover Studio | Capcom | |
2006 | Wii Sports | Nintendo EAD | Nintendo | |
2007 | Portal | Valve | Valve | |
2007 | BioShock | 2K Boston / 2K Australia | 2K Games | |
2007 | ' | Infinity Ward | Activision | |
2007 | Rock Band | Harmonix | MTV Games / Electronic Arts | |
2007 | Super Mario Galaxy | Nintendo EAD Tokyo | Nintendo | |
2008 | Fallout 3 | Bethesda Game Studios | Bethesda Softworks | |
2008 | Fable II | Lionhead Studios | Microsoft Game Studios | |
2008 | Grand Theft Auto IV | Rockstar North | Rockstar Games | |
2008 | LittleBigPlanet | Media Molecule | Sony Computer Entertainment | |
2008 | Left 4 Dead | Turtle Rock Studios | Valve | |
2009 | Naughty Dog | Sony Computer Entertainment | ||
2009 | Assassin's Creed II | Ubisoft Montreal | Ubisoft | |
2009 | ' | Rocksteady Studios | Eidos Interactive / Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment | |
2009 | Demon's Souls | FromSoftware | Sony Computer Entertainment | |
2009 | BioWare | Electronic Arts |