SAN FRANCISCO – March 18, 2020 – House House’s runaway viral sensation, Untitled Goose Game, was honored by the game development community with the prize of Game of the Year at tonight’s 20th annual Game Developers Choice Awards (GDCA) ceremony.
Originally scheduled to take place during the now-postponed GDC, the Game Developers Choice Awards ceremony was reformatted as a virtual livestream to recognize the best and brightest games released in the last year.
Australian developer House House’s Untitled Goose Game has earned oodles of accolades and loving internet tributes for its charming portrayal of a playfully malevolent goose on the loose. Tonight, the team added the Game of the Year award to the list of goodies taken by the titular goose, alongside a stolen radio, broom and gardener’s hat. Untitled Goose Game won the hearts of game critics and fans alike with its colorful game design which incorporated elements of puzzle-solving, creative thinking and stealth gameplay.
The other big winners of the night include Remedy Entertainment’s ambitious action-adventure shooter, Control, which won the awards for Best Technology, Best Audio and Best Visual Art. The game expertly incorporates non-linear game progression and solid third-person shooter mechanics with a unique story of supernatural powers, dark conspiracies and transforming brutalist architecture. The narrative-driven role-playing game, Disco Elysium, won the awards for Best Narrative and Best Debut for developer ZA/UM. The game incorporates elaborate dialogue-based gameplay mechanics that manage to balance a carefully crafted story with full player agency over dialogue options and player characteristics.
Elsewhere, developer Hempuli’s imaginative puzzle game, Baba is You, won the Innovation Award and the award for Best Design. Baba is You uses clever word manipulation to let players change the written rulesets of each stage to change the objective to gain the upper hand, with each level representing another ingenious take on the underlying premise.
The full slate of winners of the 2020 GDCAs also includes the Best VR/AR Game, ILMxLAB & Oculus Studios’ Vader Immortal: A Star Wars VR Series, a VR experience that sees users cross paths (and lightsabers) with the most feared Sith Lord in the galaxy. The winner of Best Mobile Game went to developer Triband’s What the Golf?, the irreverently funny take on the usually staid sport of golf. And the Audience Award went to thatgamecompany’s Sky: Children of the Light, a beautifully artful and emotionally resonant exploration game with unique cooperative multiplayer gameplay.
The Game Developers Choice Awards honor the very best games of the year, and was created for and voted on by developers. Winners in all categories except the Audience Award and Special Awards are selected by the Game Developers Choice Awards-specific International Choice Awards Network (ICAN), which is an invitation-only organization, comprised of leading game creators from all parts of the industry.
In addition to the best games of the last year, the GDCAs also honor the dedicated individuals who have helped further the art, science and craft of video games with special awards. This year’s Ambassador Award, which honors those who help video games advance to a better place through advocacy and action, went to Kate Edwards, former head of the International Game Developers Association and current Global Game Jam executive director. Kate is particularly known for evangelizing the game community worldwide – both via speaking and mentoring at a multitude of game industry events yearly – and helping new and diverse initiatives across the entire worldwide community.
The Pioneer Award, which recognizes breakthrough tech and game design milestones, went to the trailblazing storyteller and game creator Roberta Williams, for her influential work in the graphical adventure game genre with titles like Mystery House, for creating the landmark King’s Quest game series and for co-founding Sierra On-Line with her husband Ken Williams.
“We are so happy to continue to honor the creative work of the finest game designers in the world by hosting the Game Developers Choice Awards online this year,” said Katie Stern, General Manager of the Game Developers Conference. “Games can help us connect, they can inspire us to create, and sometimes they help us to escape. There is perhaps no better time for us to appreciate what games mean to us than in trying times like these.”
“Games like Untitled Goose Game and Baba is You are unbridled in their joyful approach to play, while others like Control and Disco Elysium can offer compelling narrative experiences to delve into. We thank and honor the winners, nominees and all creators for their part in creating some of the best entertainment the world has to offer.”
The Game Developers Choice Awards winners are:
Best Audio
Control (Remedy Entertainment/505 Games)
Best Debut
ZA/UM (Disco Elysium)
Best Design
Baba is You (Hempuli)
Best Mobile Game
What the Golf? (Triband/The Label Limited)
Innovation Award
Baba is You (Hempuli)
Best Narrative
Disco Elysium (ZA/UM)
Best Technology
Control (Remedy Entertainment/505 Games)
Best Visual Art
Control (Remedy Entertainment/505 Games)
Best VR/AR Game
Vader Immortal: A Star Wars VR Series (ILMxLAB & Oculus Studios/Disney)
Audience Award
Sky: Children of the Light (thatgamecompany)
Game of the Year
Untitled Goose Game (House House/Panic)
Pioneer Award
Roberta Williams
Ambassador Award
Kate Edwards
The awards were livestreamed on the official Twitch channel for the Game Developers Conference (GDC) at Twitch.tv/GDC and are archived both on Twitch and on the official GDC YouTube Channel at http://www.youtube.com/c/
