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25th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards Nominees Revealed

Check out the entire list of nominees and honorable mentions for the 25th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards, happening this March

Organizers for the Game Developers Choice Awards have revealed their list of nominees for the 25th annual ceremony, taking place this March during GDC 2025. Unfortunately, for this year's awards, many of the nominees look pretty much the same, with a couple of exceptions to make them feel different. Across a total of nine categories, Astro Bot and Black Myth: Wukong has seven nominations each. No other games come close in nominations as the most the next game has is Animal Well with five.

It's almost glaringly apparent the people who nominated these games in the first place were pushing hard for one of the two to walk out with Game of the Year, and if they didn't, they'd still probably have three awards a piece to their name. A lot of the honorable mentions would have made for better representation in certain categories. We have the full list below, as the awards will happen on March 19.

25th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards Nominees

Best Audio

• Animal Well (Billy Basso / Bigmode)
• Astro Bot (Team ASOBI / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Black Myth: Wukong (Game Science)
• Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (Square Enix)
• Senua's Saga: Hellblade II (Ninja Theory / Xbox Game Studios)

Honorable Mentions: Balatro (LocalThunk / Playstack), Lorelei and the Laser Eyes (Simogo / Annapurna Interactive), Metaphor: ReFantazio (ATLUS / SEGA / Studio Zero), Neva (Nomada Studio / Devolver Digital), Silent Hill 2 (Bloober Teams SA / KONAMI)

Best Debut

• 1000xRESIST (Sunset Visitor / Fellow Traveller)
• Animal Well (Billy Basso / Bigmode)
• Balatro (LocalThunk / Playstack)
• Pacific Drive (Ironwood Studios / Kepler Interactive)
• Tiny Glade (Pounce Light)

Honorable Mentions: Manor Lords (Slavic Magic / Hooded Horse), Mullet Madjack (HAMMER95 / Epopeia Games), The Plucky Squire (All Possible Futures / Devolver Digital), Tiny Glade (Pounce Light)

Best Design

• Animal Well (Billy Basso / Bigmode)
• Astro Bot (Team ASOBI / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Balatro (LocalThunk / Playstack)
• Black Myth: Wukong (Game Science)
• Lorelai and the Laser Eyes (Simogo / Annapurna Interactive)

Honorable Mentions: Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (Square Enix), Helldivers 2 (Arrowhead Game Studios / PlayStation Publishing LLC), Satisfactory (Coffee Stain Studios / Coffee Stain Publishing), The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom (Grezzo, Nintendo Entertainment Planning & Development / Nintendo), UFO 50 (Mossmouth)

Innovation Award

• Animal Well (Billy Basso / Bigmode)
• Astro Bot (Team ASOBI / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Balatro (LocalThunk / Playstack)
• Black Myth: Wukong (Game Science)
• UFO 50 (Mossmouth)

Honorable Mentions: Helldivers 2 (Arrowhead Game Studios / PlayStation Publishing LLC), Lorelei and the Laser Eyes (Simogo / Annapurna Interactive), Thank Goodness You're Here! (Coal Supper /Panic), The Plucky Squire (All Possible Futures / Devolver Digital), Tiny Glade (Pounce Light)

Best Narrative

• 1000xRESIST (Sunset Visitor / Fellow Traveller)
• Black Myth: Wukong (Game Science)
• Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth (Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio / SEGA)
• Metaphor: ReFantazio (ATLUS / SEGA / Studio Zero)
• Mouthwashing (Wrong Organ / Critical Reflex)

Honorable Mentions: Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (Square Enix), Frostpunk 2 (11-bit studios), Life is Strange: Double Exposure (Deck Nine Games / Square Enix), Neva (Nomada Studio / Devolver Digital), Senua's Saga: Hellblade II (Ninja Theory / Xbox Game Studios)

Best Technology

• Astro Bot (Team ASOBI / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Black Myth: Wukong (Game Science)
• Helldivers 2 (Arrowhead Game Studios / PlayStation Publishing LLC)
• Senua's Saga: Hellblade II (Ninja Theory / Xbox Game Studios)
• Tiny Glade (Pounce Light)

Honorable Mentions: Animal Well (Billy Basso/ Bigmode), Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 (Threyarch, Raven Software, Beenox, High Moon Studios, Activision Shanghai, Sledgehammer Games, Infinity Ward, Demonware /Activision), Dragon Age: The Veilguard (BioWare / Electronic Arts), Satisfactory (Coffee Stain Studios / Coffee Stain Publishing), Tekken 8 (Bandai Namco Studios Inc / Bandai Namco Entertainment)

Best Visual Art

• Animal Well (Billy Basso / Bigmode)
• Astro Bot (Team ASOBI / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Black Myth: Wukong (Game Science)
• Metaphor: ReFantazio (ATLUS / SEGA / Studio Zero)
• Neva (Nomada Studio / Devolver Digital)

Honorable Mentions: Balatro (LocalThunk / Playstack), Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree (FromSoftware Inc. / Bandai Namco Entertainment), Senua's Saga: Hellblade II (Ninja Theory / Xbox Game Studios), Tiny Glade (Pounce Light), Ultros (Hadoque / Kepler Interactive)

Social Impact

• 1000xRESIST (Sunset Visitor / Fellow Traveller)
• Astro Bot (Team ASOBI / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Frostpunk 2 (11 bit studios)
• Life is Strange: Double Exposure (Deck Nine Games / Square Enix)
• Neva (Nomada Studio / Devolver Digital)

Honorable Mentions: Closer the Distance (Osmotic Studios / Skybound Games), Distant Bloom (Ember Trail / Kina Brave), Dragon Age: The Veilguard (BioWare / Electronic Arts), Tales of Kenzera: Zau (Surgent Studios / Electronic Arts)

Game of the Year

• Astro Bot (Team ASOBI / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Balatro (LocalThunk / Playstack)
• Black Myth: Wukong (Game Science)
• Helldivers 2 (Arrowhead Game Studios / PlayStation Publishing LLC)
• Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (Square Enix)
• Metaphor: ReFantazio (ATLUS / SEGA / Studio Zero)

Honorable Mentions: Animal Well (Billy Basso / Bigmode), Helldivers 2 (Arrowhead Game Studios / PlayStation Publishing LLC), Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth (Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio / SEGA), Satisfactory (Coffee Stain Studios / Coffee Stain Publishing), UFO 50 (Mossmouth)

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