Thursday night the winners of the Game Developer’s Choice Online awards were announced at the ceremony in Austin, Texas. Taking many people (or at least me) by surprise, newcomers Riot Games and their debut title League of Legends managed to snag nearly half the awards given out – an impressive feat considering they were up against industry moguls like Blizzard. Hit the jump to check out the list of awards given out!

• Best Online Technology — League of Legends (Riot Games)
• Best Social Network Game — Social City (Playdom)
• Best Online Visual Arts – League of Legends (Riot Games)
• Hall of Fame — Ultima Online (Origin/Electronic Arts)
• Best Audio for an Online Game — Aion (NCsoft)
• Best Community Relations — World of Warcraft (Blizzard Entertainment)
• Best Online Game Design — League of Legends (Riot Games)
• Online Game Legend — Dr. Richard A. Bartle
• Audience Award — League of Legends (Riot Games)
• Best Live Game — EVE Online (CCP)
• Best New Online Game — League of Legends (Riot Games)

[Joystiq]

[GDC Online]