The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt won the Game of the Year Award at the Game Developer’s Choice Awards 2016, and dominated the nominations along with Sam Barlow’s Her Story.
The Witcher 3 received awards for Best Technology and the overall Game of the Year award, competing against other nominations such as Fallout 4, Bloodborne and Rocket League.
A full list of categories and nominees, winners as well as honorable mentions, is available below.
16th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards Nominees:
Game of the Year
- Fallout 4 (Bethesda Game Studios / Bethesda Softworks)
- WINNER: The Witcher 3 (CD Projekt RED / CD Projekt)
- Metal Gear Solid V (Kojima Productions / Konami)
- Bloodborne (From Software / Sony Computer Entertainment)
- Rocket League (Psyonix)
Honorable Mentions: Her Story (Sam Barlow), Super Mario Maker (Nintendo EAD Group No. 4 / Nintendo), Undertale (Toby Fox), Splatoon (Nintendo EAD Group No. 2 / Nintendo), Life is Strange (Dontnod Entertainment / Square Enix)
Innovation Award
- WINNER: Her Story (Sam Barlow)
- Super Mario Maker (Nintendo EAD Group No. 4 / Nintendo)
- Undertale (Toby Fox)
- Splatoon (Nintendo EAD Group No. 2 / Nintendo)
- The Beginner’s Guide (Everything Unlimited Ltd.)
Honorable Mentions: Rocket League (Psyonix), Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes (Steel Crate Games), Cibele (Star Maid Games), Life is Strange (Dontnod Entertainment / Square Enix), Metal Gear Solid V (Kojima Productions / Konami)
Best Debut
- Studio Wildcard (Ark: Survival Evolved)
- Toby Fox (Undertale)
- WINNER: Moon Studios (Ori and the Blind Forest)
- Moppin (Downwell)
- Steel Crate Games (Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes)
Honorable Mentions: Asteroid Base (Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime), Question (The Magic Circle), Thomas Happ (Axiom Verge), Dinosaur Polo Club (Mini Metro), MidBoss (Read Only Memories)
Best Design
- WINNER: Rocket League (Psyonix)
- Metal Gear Solid V (Kojima Productions / Konami)
- Bloodborne (From Software / Sony Computer Entertainment)
- Fallout 4 (Bethesda Game Studios / Bethesda Softworks)
Honorable Mentions: Her Story (Sam Barlow), Super Mario Maker (Nintendo EAD Group No. 4 / Nintendo), Undertale (Toby Fox), The Witcher 3 (CD Projekt RED / CD Projekt), Ori and the Blind Forest (Moon Studios / Microsoft Studios)
Best Handheld/Mobile Game
- Lara Croft: GO (Square Enix Montréal / Square Enix)
- Fallout Shelter (Bethesda Game Studios / Bethesda Softworks)
- Downwell (Moppin / Devolver Digital)
- WINNER: Her Story (Sam Barlow)
- AlphaBear (Spry Fox)
Honorable Mentions: Prune (Joel McDonald), The Room Three (Fireproof Games), Subterfuge (Ron Carmel and Noel Llopis), Pac-Man 256 (Hipster Whale and 3 Sprockets / Bandai Namco), Sage Solitaire (Zach Gage), SteamWorld Heist (Image and Form), You Must Build a Boat (EightyEight Games)
Best Visual Art
- WINNER: Ori and the Blind Forest (Moon Studios / Microsoft Studios)
- The Witcher 3 (CD Projekt RED / CD Projekt)
- Star Wars Battlefront (DICE / Electronic Arts)
- Bloodborne (From Software / Sony Computer Entertainment)
- Splatoon (Nintendo EAD Group No. 2 / Nintendo)
Honorable Mentions: Metal Gear Solid V (Kojima Productions / Konami), Rise of the Tomb Raider (Crystal Dynamics / Square Enix), Batman: Arkham Knight (Rocksteady Studios / Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment), The Order: 1886 (Ready at Dawn / Sony Computer Entertainment), Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture (The Chinese Room / Sony Computer Entertainment), Fallout 4 (Bethesda Game Studios / Bethesda Softworks)
Best Narrative
- WINNER: Her Story (Sam Barlow)
- The Witcher 3 (CD Projekt RED / CD Projekt)
- Life is Strange (Dontnod Entertainment / Square Enix)
- Undertale (Toby Fox)
- The Beginner’s Guide (Everything Unlimited Ltd.)
Honorable Mentions: Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture (The Chinese Room / Sony Computer Entertainment), Fallout 4 (Bethesda Game Studios / Bethesda Softworks), Until Dawn (Supermassive Games / Sony Computer Entertainment), Cibele (Star Maid Games), Soma (Frictional Games)
Best Audio
- Star Wars Battlefront (DICE / Electronic Arts)
- Ori and the Blind Forest (Moon Studios / Microsoft Studios)
- Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture (The Chinese Room / Sony Computer Entertainment)
- Metal Gear Solid V (Kojima Productions / Konami)
- WINNER: Crypt of the NecroDancer (Brace Yourself Games)
Honorable Mentions: Fallout 4 (Bethesda Game Studios / Bethesda Softworks), The Witcher 3 (CD Projekt RED / CD Projekt), Life is Strange (Dontnod Entertainment / Square Enix), SOMA (Frictional Games), Bloodborne (From Software / Sony Computer Entertainment), Splatoon (Nintendo EAD Group No. 2 / Nintendo)
Best Technology
- Metal Gear Solid V (Kojima Productions / Konami)
- WINNER The Witcher 3 (CD Projekt RED / CD Projekt)
- Star Wars Battlefront (DICE / Electronic Arts)
- Fallout 4 (Bethesda Game Studios / Bethesda Softworks)
- Just Cause 3 (Avalanche Studios / Square Enix)
Honorable Mentions: Rise of the Tomb Raider (Crystal Dynamics / Square Enix), Batman: Arkham Knight (Rocksteady Studios / Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment), Splatoon (Nintendo EAD Group No. 2 / Nintendo), Super Mario Maker (Nintendo EAD Group No. 4 / Nintendo), Halo 5: Guardians (343 Industries / Microsoft Studios)
Audience Award
- WINNER: Life is Strange (DONTNOD Entertainment)
Pioneer Award
- Markus “Notch” Persson
Ambassador Award
- Tracy Fullerton
Lifetime Achievement Award
- Todd Howard
For the IGF (Independent Games Festival), the winners were as follows:
- Excellence in Narrative: Her Story (Sam Barlow)
- Excellence in Audio: Mini Metro (Dinosaur Polo Club)
- Excellence in Design: Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes (Steel Crate Games)
- Excellence in Visual Art: Oxenfree (Night School Studio)
- ID@Xbox Rising Star Award: Girls Make Games – The Hole Story
- Nuovo Award: Cibele (Star Maid Games)
- Best Student Game: Beglitched (Jennifer Jiao Hsia and Alec Thomson)
- Audience Award: Undertale (Toby Fox)
- Seumas McNally Grand Prize: Her Story (Sam Barlow)
