Deathloop leads 2022 GDC awards with six nominations including GOTY

Today the Game Developers Choice Awards has announced its nominees for its 22nd annual awards, with the winners to be announced Wednesday, March 23.

As usual, the awards will be given out as part of the Game Developers Conference, which this year is scheduled to take place in-person and virtually at San Francisco's Moscone Convention Center from March 21 - 25. The Independent Games Festival awards will also be announced the same day.

Arkane Studios' Deathloop led this year with a total of six nominations, including for Game of the Year. Hazelight Studios' It Takes Two received the next-most nominations, up for five categories including Game of the Year whereas Playground Games' Forza Horizon 5 grabbed four award considerations.

Here are the finalists for each category of the 2022 Game Developers Choice Awards, as well as honorable mentions:

Game of the Year

• Inscryption (Daniel Mullins Games / Devolver Digital)
• Forza Horizon 5 (Playground Games / Xbox Game Studios)
• Resident Evil Village (Capcom)
• Deathloop (Arkane Studios / Bethesda Softworks)
• It Takes Two (Hazelight Studios / Electronic Arts)

Honorable Mentions: Halo Infinite (343 Industries / Xbox Game Studios), Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy (Eidos-Montréal / Square Enix), Psychonauts 2 (Double Fine / Xbox Game Studios), Chicory: A Colorful Tale (The Chicory: A Colorful Tale Team / Finji), Death's Door (Acid Nerve / Devolver Digital)

Best Audio

• Returnal (Housemarque / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Unpacking (Witch Beam / Humble)
• Deathloop (Arkane Studios / Bethesda Softworks)
• Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy (Eidos-Montréal / Square Enix)
• Forza Horizon 5 (Playground Games / Xbox Game Studios)

Honorable Mentions: Halo Infinite (343 Industries / Xbox Game Studios), It Takes Two (Hazelight Studios / Electronic Arts), Genesis Noir (Feral Cat Den / Fellow Traveller), Kid A Mnesia: Exhibition (Arbitrarily Good Productions, Namethemachine / Epic Games), Resident Evil Village (Capcom)

Best Debut

• Kena: Bridge of Spirits (Ember Lab)
• Valheim (Iron Gate Studio / Coffee Stain Publishing)
• Wildermyth (Worldwalker Games / WhisperGames)
• The Artful Escape (Beethoven & Dinosaur / Annapurna Interactive)
• Sable (Shedworks / Raw Fury)

Honorable Mentions: Genesis Noir (Feral Cat Den / Fellow Traveller), ElecHead (Tsuyomi / NamaTakahashi), Unsighted (Studio Pixel Punk, Humble)

Best Design

• It Takes Two (Hazelight Studios / Electronic Arts)
• Psychonauts 2 (Double Fine / Xbox Game Studios)
• Halo Infinite (343 Industries / Xbox Game Studios)
• Deathloop (Arkane Studios / Bethesda Softworks)
• Inscryption (Daniel Mullins Games / Devolver Digital)

Honorable Mentions: Resident Evil Village (Capcom), Unpacking (Witch Beam / Humble), Death's Door (Acid Nerve, Devolver Digital), Loop Hero (Four Quarters, Devolver Digital)

Innovation Award

• It Takes Two (Hazelight Studios / Electronic Arts)
• Wildermyth (Worldwalker Games / WhisperGames)
• Unpacking (Witch Beam / Humble)
• Inscryption (Daniel Mullins Games / Devolver Digital)
• Deathloop (Arkane Studios / Bethesda Softworks)

Honorable Mentions: Returnal (Housemarque / Sony Interactive Entertainment), Chicory: A Colorful Tale (The Chicory: A Colorful Tale Team / Finji), Loop Hero (Four Quarters, Devolver Digital)

Best Narrative

• Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy (Eidos-Montréal / Square Enix)
• Deathloop (Arkane Studios / Bethesda Softworks)
• It Takes Two (Hazelight Studios / Electronic Arts)
• Psychonauts 2 (Double Fine / Xbox Game Studios)
• Unpacking (Witch Beam / Humble)

Honorable Mentions: Kena: Bridge of Spirits (Ember Lab), Life is Strange: True Colors (Deck Nine / Square Enix), The Forgotten City (Modern Storyteller / Dear Villagers), Inscryption (Daniel Mullins Games / Devolver Digital), Wildermyth (Worldwalker Games / WhisperGames)

Social Impact Award

• Before Your Eyes (GoodbyeWorld Games / Skybound Games)
• It Takes Two (Hazelight Studios / Electronic Arts)
• Life is Strange: True Colors (Deck Nine / Square Enix)
• Boyfriend Dungeon (Kitfox Games)
• Chicory: A Colorful Tale (The Chicory: A Colorful Tale Team / Finji)

Honorable Mentions: Forza Horizon 5 (Playground Games / Xbox Game Studios)

Best Technology

• Halo Infinite (343 Industries / Xbox Game Studios)
• Forza Horizon 5 (Playground Games / Xbox Game Studios)
• Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (Insomniac Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Returnal (Housemarque / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Hitman 3 (IO Interactive)

Honorable Mentions: Battlefield 2042 (EA DICE / Electronic Arts), Resident Evil Village (Capcom)

Best Visual Art

• Forza Horizon 5 (Playground Games / Xbox Game Studios)
• Kena: Bridge of Spirits (Ember Lab)
• Deathloop (Arkane Studios / Bethesda Softworks)
• Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (Insomniac Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Psychonauts 2 (Double Fine / Xbox Game Studios)

Honorable Mentions: The Artful Escape (Beethoven & Dinosaur / Annapurna Interactive), Resident Evil Village (Capcom), Genesis Noir (Feral Cat Den / Fellow Traveller), Returnal (Housemarque / Sony Interactive Entertainment), Sable (Shedworks / Raw Fury)