It's always fascinating to see how reviews from those of us working in this industry sometimes differ from those of you who just love playing games on your free time, as we might be looking for different things. Do you know what intrigues me even more? Hearing what the developers themselves admire and enjoy. That's why tonight's announcement is cool.
Because thousands on developers from around the world will gather at the Game Developers Conference in March, and they won't just share their experiences and learn from each other while getting new connections. They'll also have their very own Game of the Year awards. The initial votes are now in, so the final nominees have been announced. Here they are with the developers (look at CoD: MWII :P) and publishers in brackets:
Best Debut
Neon White (Angel Matrix/Annapurna Interactive)
Norco (Geography of Robots/Raw Fury)
Stray (BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna Interactive)
Tunic (TUNIC Team/Finji)
Vampire Survivors (poncle)
Honorable Mentions: Chained Echoes (Matthias Linda/Deck13), Cult of the Lamb (Massive Monster/Devolver Digital), Marvel Snap (Second Dinner Studios, Inc./Nuverse), The Case of the Golden Idol (Color Gray Games/Playstack), Trombone Champ (Holy Wow Studios LLC)
Best Audio
Elden Ring (FromSoftware Inc./Bandai Namco Entertainment)
God of War: Ragnarök (Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Metal: Hellsinger (The Outsiders/Funcom)
Stray (BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna Interactive)
Honorable Mentions: A Plague Tale: Requiem (Asobo Studio/Focus Entertainment), Neon White (Angel Matrix/Annapurna Interactive), Persona 5 Royal (ATLUS/SEGA), Splatoon 3 (Nintendo), Tunic (TUNIC Team/Finji)
Best Design
Elden Ring (FromSoftware Inc./Bandai Namco Entertainment)
Marvel Snap (Second Dinner Studios, Inc./Nuverse)
Neon White (Angel Matrix/Annapurna Interactive)
Stray (BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna Interactive)
Tunic (TUNIC Team/Finji)
Honorable Mentions: Cult of the Lamb (Massive Monster/Devolver Digital), Dwarf Fortress (Bay 12 Games/Kitfox Games), God of War: Ragnarök (Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment), Immortality (Sam Barlow/Half Mermaid), Vampire Survivors (poncle)
Best Narrative
God of War: Ragnarök (Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment)
I Was a Teenage Exocolonist (Northway Games/Finji)
Immortality (Sam Barlow/Half Mermaid)
Pentiment (Obsidian Entertainment/Xbox Game Studios)
Return to Monkey Island (Terrible Toybox/Devolver Digital)
Honorable Mentions: A Plague Tale: Requiem (Asobo Studio/Focus Entertainment), Citizen Sleeper (Jump Over The Age/Fellow Traveller), Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment), Norco (Geography of Robots/Raw Fury), Roadwarden (Moral Anxiety Studio/Assemble Entertainment)
Best Technology
A Plague Tale: Requiem (Asobo Studio/Focus Entertainment)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (Infinity Ward, Raven Software, Beenox, Treyarch, High Moon Studios, Sledgehammer Games, Activision Shanghai, Demonware, Toys for Bob/Activision)
Elden Ring (FromSoftware Inc./Bandai Namco Entertainment)
God of War: Ragnarök (Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Honorable Mentions: Dwarf Fortress (Bay 12 Games/Kitfox Games), Hardspace: Shipbreaker (Blackbird Interactive/Focus Entertainment), Immortality (Sam Barlow/Half Mermaid), Stray (BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna Interactive), Teardown (Tuxedo Labs)
Best Visual Art
Elden Ring (FromSoftware Inc./Bandai Namco Entertainment)
God of War: Ragnarök (Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Pentiment (Obsidian Entertainment/Xbox Game Studios)
Stray (BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna Interactive)
Honorable Mentions: A Plague Tale: Requiem (Asobo Studio/Focus Entertainment), Cult of the Lamb (Massive Monster/Devolver Digital), Neon White (Angel Matrix/Annapurna Interactive), OlliOlli World (Roll7/Private Division), Tunic (TUNIC Team/Finji)
Innovation Award
Elden Ring (FromSoftware Inc./Bandai Namco Entertainment)
Immortality (Sam Barlow/Half Mermaid)
Neon White (Angel Matrix/Annapurna Interactive)
Pentiment (Obsidian Entertainment/Xbox Game Studios)
Stray (BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna Interactive)
Honorable Mentions: Cult of the Lamb (Massive Monster/Devolver Digital), Dwarf Fortress (Bay 12 Games/Kitfox Games), God of War: Ragnarök (Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment), Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment), Trombone Champ (Holy Wow Studios LLC)
Social Impact Award
As Dusk Falls (INTERIOR/NIGHT/Xbox Game Studios)
Citizen Sleeper (Jump Over The Age/Fellow Traveller)
Endling: Extinction is Forever (Herobeat Studios/HandyGames)
I Was a Teenage Exocolonist (Northway Games/Finji)
OlliOlli World (Roll7/Private Division)
We Are OFK (Team OFK)
Honorable Mentions: Before Your Eyes (GoodbyeWorld Games/Skybound Games), God of War: Ragnarök (Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment), Hindsight (Team Hindsight/Annapurna Interactive), Norco (Geography of Robots/Raw Fury), Terra Nil (Free Lives/Devolver Digital)
Game of the Year
Elden Ring (FromSoftware Inc./Bandai Namco Entertainment)
God of War: Ragnarök (Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Immortality (Sam Barlow/Half Mermaid)
Pentiment (Obsidian Entertainment/Xbox Game Studios)
Stray (BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna Interactive)
Tunic (TUNIC Team/Finji)
Honorable Mentions: Citizen Sleeper (Jump Over The Age/Fellow Traveller), Cult of the Lamb (Massive Monster/Devolver Digital), Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment), Marvel Snap (Second Dinner Studios, Inc./Nuverse), Neon White (Angel Matrix/Annapurna Interactive), Vampire Survivors (poncle).
It's also possible to give your vote for the Audience Award here.
Which games are you surprised and/or pleased to see among the nominees?