Posted in: Awards Show, Games, GDC | Tagged: GDC, GDC Awards, nintendo, the legend of zelda: breath of the wild

This Year's GDC Awards Were Pointless Because of Breath of the Wild

Okay, we get it. Everyone loved The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Hell, we even considered it for Game of the Year 2017 ourselves. However, at this point in the award show season, giving a ton of awards to Breath of the Wild is pretty much just rubber stamping — which is what happened at this year's GDC Awards. Breath of the Wild took home three awards, including the coveted Game of the Year spot, and was nominated for six of the 10 categories. Horizon: Zero Dawn, our Game of the Year pick, was nominated for six as well, but took home only one award.

Now, I'm not saying that choosing Zelda as game of the year was a bad call. It was a great game on so many levels. However, coming at the end of March, there was only so much drama you could drum up for the GDC Awards. That Breath of the Wild was going to clean house was expected. There aren't a lot of GOTY crowns Breath of the Wild hasn't already won this year.

Honestly, the most interesting part of the night came when Gorgogoa took home the Innovation Award, purely because a mobile game has won an innovation award. That's always a bit of an upset over the mainstream games establishment. And I'm always down for that.

Ultimately however, every award show proves that award shows are pointless, but this time around that takeaway seems to be a bit more on the nose than usual.

The full list of nominees and winners from the 17th Annual Game Developer's Choice Awards is below:

Game of the Year

• PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds
• Nier: Automata
• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 
• Horizon Zero Dawn
• Super Mario Odyssey

Best Audio

• Cuphead
• Nier: Automata
• Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice
• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 
• Horizon Zero Dawn

Best Debut

• Team Cherry (Hollow Knight)
• Sidebar Games (Golf Story)
• StudioMDHR (Cuphead)
• Infinite Fall (Night in the Woods)
• Jason Roberts / Buried Signal (Gorogoa)

Best Design

• Super Mario Odyssey
• Horizon Zero Dawn
• PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds
• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 
• Nier: Automata

Innovation Award

• Gorogoa 
• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
• What Remains of Edith Finch
• Everything
• PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds

Best Mobile Game

• Reigns: Her Majesty
• Hidden Folks
• Monument Valley 2
• Gorogoa 
• Bury Me, My Love

Best Narrative

• Night in the Woods
• Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice
• What Remains of Edith Finch 
• Horizon Zero Dawn
• Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus

Best Technology

• Destiny 2
• Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice
• Assassin's Creed: Origins
• Horizon Zero Dawn 
• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Best Visual Art

• Persona 5
• Cuphead 
• Horizon Zero Dawn
• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
• Night in the Woods

Best VR/AR Game

• Superhot VR  
• Star Trek: Bridge Crew
• Lone Echo
• Resident Evil 7
• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR

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