Today the organizers of the 17th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards announced via press release the list of nominations for the ceremony, that will be held on Wednesday, March 1st at San Francisco's Moscone Convention Center during the 2017 Game Developers Conference.
The awards ceremony will be hosted once more by Double Fine Productions Founder Tim Schafer, and will as usual be paired with the Independent Games Festival Award. Both will be aired on Twitch for everyone to see.
The game that received most nominations is PlayDead's Inside, that was nominated for Best Audio, Best Design, the Innovation Award, Best Narrative, Best Visual Art and Game of the Year.
Blizzard's Overwatch was nominated five times, for Best Audio, Best Design, Best Technology, Best Visual Art and Game of the Year.
Campo Santo's Firewatch also received five nominations for Best Debut, the Innovation Award, Best Narrative, Best Visual Art and Game of the Year.
Naughty Dog's Uncharted 4: A Thief's End received four nominations for Game of the Year, Best Technology, Best Narrative and Best Visual Art.
Below you can read the full list of nominees, including honorable mentions.
BEST AUDIOBattlefield 1 (EA DICE / Electronic Arts)Thumper (Drool)DOOM (id Software / Bethesda Softworks)Inside (Playdead)Overwatch (Blizzard Entertainment)Honorable Mentions: Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment), Rez Infinite (Monstars / Enhance Games), Hyper Light Drifter (Heart Machine), Firewatch (Campo Santo / Panic), Dishonored 2 (Arkane Studios / Bethesda Softworks), The Last Guardian (JAPAN Studio / Sony Interactive Entertainment), Titanfall 2 (Respawn Entertainment / Electronic Arts)
BEST DEBUTHeart Machine (Hyper Light Drifter)Campo Santo (Firewatch)ConcernedApe (Stardew Valley)Drool (Thumper)Night School Studio (Oxenfree)Honorable Mentions: SUPERHOT Team (SUPERHOT), Numinous Games (That Dragon, Cancer), Giant Squid Studios (Abzu), Ghost Town Games (Overcooked), iNK Stories (1979 Revolution: Black Friday)
BEST DESIGNOverwatch (Blizzard Entertainment)Dishonored 2 (Arkane Studios / Bethesda Softworks)The Witness (Thekla)Inside (Playdead)DOOM (id Software / Bethesda Softworks)Honorable Mentions: Titanfall 2 (Respawn Entertainment / Electronic Arts), Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment), Dark Souls III (From Software / Bandai Namco Entertainment), Firewatch (Campo Santo / Panic), Hitman (IO Interactive / Square Enix)
BEST MOBILE/HANDHELD GAMESuper Mario Run (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)Clash Royale (Supercell)Pokémon Go (Niantic)Reigns (Nerial / Devolver Digital)Pokémon Sun/Moon (Game Freak / The Pokémon Company)Honorable Mentions:Mini Metro (Dinosaur Polo Club), Severed (DrinkBox Studios), Deus Ex: Go (Square Enix Montreal / Square Enix), Fire Emblem Fates (Intelligent Systems and Nintendo SPD / Nintendo), Imbroglio (Michael Brough), Swap Sword (AP Thomson and Diego Garcia)
INNOVATION AWARDThe Witness (Thekla)Inside (Playdead)No Man’s Sky (Hello Games)Firewatch (Campo Santo / Panic)Pokemon Go (Niantic)Honorable Mentions: That Dragon, Cancer (Numinous Games), The Last Guardian (JAPAN Studio / Sony Interactive Entertainment), SUPERHOT (SUPERHOT Team), Thumper (Drool), Quadrilateral Cowboy (Blendo Games)
BEST NARRATIVEThe Last Guardian (JAPAN Studio / Sony Interactive Entertainment)Oxenfree (Night School Studio)Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment)Inside (Playdead)Firewatch (Campo Santo / Panic)Honorable Mentions: That Dragon, Cancer (Numinous Games), Dishonored 2 (Arkane Studios / Bethesda Softworks), The Witcher 3: Blood & Wine (CD Projekt RED / CD Projekt), Kentucky Route Zero - Act IV (Cardboard Computer), Mafia III (Hangar 13 / 2K Games)
BEST TECHNOLOGYBattlefield 1 (EA DICE / Electronic Arts)No Man’s Sky (Hello Games)Overwatch (Blizzard Entertainment)DOOM (id Software / Bethesda Softworks)Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment)Honorable Mentions: Inside (Playdead), Pokemon Go (Niantic), The Last Guardian (JAPAN Studio / Sony Interactive Entertainment), Dishonored 2 (Arkane Studios / Bethesda Softworks), The Witness (Thekla)
BEST VISUAL ARTFirewatch (Campo Santo / Panic)The Last Guardian (JAPAN Studio / Sony Interactive Entertainment)Overwatch (Blizzard Entertainment)Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment)Inside (Playdead)Honorable Mentions: The Witness (Thekla), Battlefield 1 (EA DICE / Electronic Arts), Abzu (Giant Squid Studios), Thumper (Drool), DOOM (id Software / Bethesda Softworks)
BEST VR/AR GAMERez Infinite (Monstars / Enhance Games)Superhot VR (SUPERHOT Team)Job Simulator: The 2050 Archives (Owlchemy Labs)Pokémon Go (Niantic)Fantastic Contraption (Radial Games / Northway Games)Honorable Mentions: Thumper (Drool), Superhypercube (Kokoromi / Polytron Corporation), Batman Arkham VR (Rocksteady Studios / Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment), Space Pirate Trainer (I-Illusions), The Lab (Valve)
GAME OF THE YEARUncharted 4: A Thief’s End (Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment)Overwatch (Blizzard Entertainment)Inside (Playdead)Dishonored 2 (Arkane Studios / Bethesda Softworks)Firewatch (Campo Santo / Panic)Honorable Mentions: DOOM (id Software / Bethesda Softworks), The Witness (Thekla), Battlefield 1 (EA DICE / Electronic Arts), The Last Guardian (JAPAN Studio / Sony Interactive Entertainment), Titanfall 2 (Respawn Entertainment / Electronic Arts)
The Pioneer, Ambassador and Lifetime Achievement awards will also be delivered during the ceremony, and their recipients will be announced "in the near future." The Audience Award, which will include all the finalists above, will open its voting in late January.
If you're wondering what games were eligible to be nominated, the pool includes "any video game which was released, and made publicly available to consumers, during the year 2016, irrespective of platform or delivery medium, is eligible for nomination. Upgrades, expansions and mission packs are not eligible." All professional developers who are part of the International Choice Awards Network were eligible to provide nominations.
Last year, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt was awarded as the Game of the Year at the Game Developers Choice Awards, and if you're curious, you can find a list with all the winners here.