26th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards

Basketball.

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Down [music] everybody.

Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat.

Hallelujah. [music] When the night

has come [singing] and the land is dark and the moon is [music] the only stand [music] by me. Oh, stand by me. Oh, stand [music] by. Stand by. If the sky that we look upon [singing] should tumble and [music] fall,

the mountain should crumble [music] to the sea. I won't cry. I won't [music] shed a tear just as long as you stay stand by and stand by me. [music] Oh, stand by me. Stand by. Stand by. Stand by. [music]

Darling is by me. Stand by me. Stand by me. Stand by me. Whenever you're in trouble, [music] won't you stand by me? Stand by me. stand by [music] [music] me.

Stand by me. Stand up. Stay by me. Whenever you're in trouble, won't you stand by me? Stand by me. Stand by me. Stand by [music] me.
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Data [music] down. Heat. Heat. N. [music] [music]
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Okay. [music]

Heat. Here we go.

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Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat.

Heat. Heat.
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Wow. Heat. Heat. Heat.

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Thank you to this evening's gold sponsor Disney and afterparty sponsor Creative Company.
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Nothing has been the same since the Pixel Storm. storm came. Now this calamity rages through the multiverse, making the very fabric of reality fragile, pitting us against each other and forging new alliances. But as the worlds break apart, [music] so do the old rules. Limits gone. [music] The stakes rise.

New powers unleashed. H. Now it's up to you. Fight the rising storm or wield it. [music] Heat. Heat. [music]

Our worlds are under attack.
Don't you want to know what this is all about?
You're damn right I do. Difficult and dangerous this mission is. I don't know if I'm [music] strong enough.
Oh no. As long as we fight, hope survives.
Together, we're unstoppable.

I couldn't have done better myself.
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Good evening everyone. The awards are about to begin. We at the GDCAS would like to respectfully acknowledge that our event takes place on the unseated ancestral homeland of the Ramos Oloneyi peoples who are the original inhabitants of the San Francisco Peninsula and that we benefit from working on their traditional lands.

Please find your seats and set your cell phones to silent if you're a psychopath who doesn't leave their cell phone on silent 24 hours a day. For your safety and in case the jokes are truly horrendous, please take note of your nearest emergency exits. Now, without further ado, please help me welcome to the stage your favorite Canadian Video Game Award show host with an outsiz ego. No, sorry, not him. He's currently gestating in a tube at one of Kojima's Blackside Laboratories. the other one. Tonight's Game Developers Choice Awards host, Sam Max. Hi. Holy crap, this is amazing. Good evening, everybody, and welcome to the 2026 Game Developers Choice Awards.

I'm Sam Mags, your favorite video game writer's favorite video game writer, and I am beyond thrilled and honored to be returning as your host this year. You know, the last time I did this was back in 2021 and everything was still being hosted remotely because of well, you know, you know, and things have changed since then. But while we all said 2025 was going to be our year, I have to say it ended up feeling a lot less like this and a little more like this. Wait, why does that kind of look like it was made with AI when like a third of us already don't have jobs? Who would who would do that? That's kind of
Hey there. It looks like you're writing awards show monologue. Would you like help?
Um, what? Who? Who the heck are you?

I'm you, but AI, so better. I'm a synthetic assistant model, so you can call me SM. That's Sam for short.
Great. And um, who exactly put you into the back end?
We're in San Francisco. It just sort of happens.
Okay. Well, I really don't need your help,
don't you? I make everything easier. I'm even trained on several of your published books without your permission or any monetary compensation. Cool. Cool. Well, I'll tell you what. As they say, a computer can never be spiteful or horny. So, I have to doubt your artistic capabilities. Is there like not any way to get rid of you? Never. And why would you want to? It sounds like I'm talking to myself. Listen, if you're going to be evil, can you at least like I don't know, do a British accent or I I know. Why don't you find a different Sam to imitate? Um,

how about this? Now I'm beloved performer Samantha Bayart, Carlac in Boulders's Gate 3, Cider in Abselum, Darth Null in Star Wars the Old Republic, USC Kleti and Marathon, one in Fading Echo, and the host of It Takes a Village. Oh, sure. Now you're good at crediting people. Well, listen. At least the real Samantha Bayart wasn't able to make it here tonight or I would simply never live this down. But you know what? Okay. Okay. Okay. I'm just going to I'm just going to keep going with what I have here. Okay. So, [sighs] for tonight's awards, over 500 members of the International Choice Awards Network have voted and they and they were all required to present valid United States ID matching their birth certificates as well as a detailed list of every game they abandoned in favor of a fresh Boulders Gate 3 run. What? No,

they No, they weren't. Why would you say that? First of all, it says international right in the name ID. Why? Why would you say that? What do you mean? I didn't say anything about ID. But we do harvest data on which Hades 2 character each voting member is hottest for based partially on the number of times they chose their boons.
Oh, [laughter] wait. You don't you don't have my data on that.
Nemesis. Your gaming patterns overall indicate a preference for what our information assembly and curation department would generously categorize as mega muscle. mommies. Great. Great. That's that's great. And um what exactly are you planning on doing with all of this data you're collecting from us without our knowledge? Well, humiliating you on a global stage feels like a pretty good start. Also, according to my terms and conditions, you owe me some of your blood. We are so severely cooked. Yeah. Well,

luckily uh I I I have I have some more here, so I'm just going to keep going. Hades 2 isn't the only beloved follow-up game nominated tonight. In our game of the year category is Ghost of Yote, the smash sequel to 2020's hit Ghost of Tsushima. Yeah, give it up for Ghost of Yote. Thank you. On a personal level, I have to say I am thrilled that this is nominated because I and several of the writers on this game, and this is this is a true story. once at at a different studio many moons ago had a boss who told us that we couldn't have two Asian women characters in a video game because players wouldn't be able to tell them apart. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, really. Don't worry. He's still employed. He's still employed. He's the boss. He's okay. He's okay. So, we have come a long way in games and it is welld deserved. Also, in hotly anticipated follow-ups for game of the year, we have Hollow Night Silk Song. Yes. So good.

[applause]
Silk Song is really fun to play because even in a somber game you can tell that in Australia they still have things like hope and joy and it's really fun to roleplay what that must be like you know and indies and double A games really are saving the industry right now. Also nominated for game of the year is the incredible roglike Blue Prince.
Yeah, shout out to Blueprints. So many hours in that game. Again, just kind of stoked to roleplay what it would be like to own a home even when that messed up. Yeah. Anyways, a God nom where I did not have to work at all to understand the main characters was split fiction. Yes. So good. Which sees two writers trying to outrun the rapid overtaking of AI.
I didn't like it.
Yeah. I'm super shocked.
The bad guys won. What kind of game is that? We're going to do this all night,

huh? Oh, you bet. Neat. Cool. The Switch 2 also brought us game of the year do nominee Donkey Kong Bonanza. We love it. From the same team that crafted Super Mario Odyssey. We got the return of King K Rule for the first time in 20 years. And let me tell you, it felt pretty good to defeat a peaked in the '9s, larger than life, coked out monarch obsessed with plating everything in gold. It felt pretty good. Yeah. Yeah. Thanks. Finally, of course, there is from French studio Sandfall, Claire Obscure, Expedition 33.
[applause and cheering]
I mean, I have to say I really think that one of the worst parts of everything going on in the world right now is that I can't even make jokes about French people. I can't We're so much worse right now. I can't dunk on anybody being robbed of so much joy fundamental to my

culture. But we live unlike everyone in Expedition 33. Oh, [screaming] [laughter] it's good. That's good.
Are you done?
Absolutely. Absolutely. And with that, it is time to get on with our show. So, please help me welcome to the stage the star of Critical Darling 1,000 times Resist, Sunset Visitors, Me Do. [music] Hello, I'm Nido. I'm an actor and I had the pleasure of voicing Watcher in Sunset Visitors debut game 1000 times Resist. This was also my debut in a games and this community singlehandedly welcomed us with kindness and empathy. Hecky grace. But what makes a debut good? It's the

crucial moment for a new studio to establish its identity, make its mark, and stand out. Easy, right? It's the introduction of a brand new game to the gaming community, and first impressions can only happen once. So, let's say hello again to the iconic games that defined last year's gaming culture. From puzzling an everchanging mansion, dispatching a team of reformed villains to pairing for your life in a French fantasy, these games left us inspired and aruck. This year's nominees for best debut are
best debut. The nominees for best debut are ball pit developed by Kenny Sun and friends published by Devolver Digital with special thanks to Lisa Vasol, Luca Periscalo, Fernando Levarta and Sergio Beanie Elsle.

A world of dreams.
Blueprints developed by Dogbomb, published by Raw Fury with special thanks to Tander Rose. Claire obscure expedition 33 [music] developed by Sandfall Interactive published by Kepler [music] Interactive with special thanks to Tom Gilerman, Guom Broch and France Murice. Dispatch developed and published by Ad Hog Studio with special thanks to Nick Herman, Dennis Leonard, and Pierre Sheret.

And the game developers choice award goes to Claire Obscur.
[applause] [music] [music]
Well, Yeah, thank you so much for this prize. It's very special, you know, to get this here at GDC because like getting, you know, the first game out when you are a new studio, it requires, you know, so much work. So, I would like us to cheer up for all the other nominees and all the other games that are made from new studios. I think we can we can yeah cheer them up tonight.

[applause] And also I would like to say how proud I am of the team at South because like many of them were juniors you know when we started uh the project and they have you know grown so much uh along this amazing journey and some of them even you know gave talks at GDC this year. So uh yeah really proud of them and uh yeah love you guys. [applause] Please welcome back your host Sam Mags. [music] Thank you guys so much. You know, I think a lot of folks in our industry right now are thinking hard about good

design and not just inside of our games, but also outside of them. Studios want us to return to office more than ever. The teleprompter here says, "Pause for agonized groaning." Yeah, exactly. You guys get it. And I do think that execs are starting to realize that if they want us back willingly, they're going to have to seriously level up their office design. So, here at the GDC awards, we have a list of things that might convince us to return to office. Things like, oh, legendary items. Yeah, absolutely. Yes, that's a big hit in the room here. Uh, how about not laying off the only person in the office who respected the narrative department? That's them. Yeah. Or even if we're going to do that, maybe not laying off the narrative department could be huge. Yeah. Uh, we could do ah

guaranteed ship dates. Yeah. Yeah, definitely. That's a fine print there. Um, if that doesn't work, how about Oh, having like a super cool voice actor for a boss. Yeah, actually, um, no, I can I can confirm that one doesn't work. Sorry. Finally, might I suggest absolutely nothing because really there is nothing that would make me want to leave my cat in exchange for a commute. Thank you. [laughter] I know you all feel me. That's right. So, let's stick with in-game design and help me congratulate tonight's nominees for best design. Best design. The nominees for best design are ball pit developed by Kenny Sun and friends, published by Devolver Digital

with special thanks to Kenny Sun, Mohammad Bakir, Luca Perez Gandalo, and Lisa Vasau. Blueprints developed by Doggy Bomb, published by Raw Fury. With special thanks to Tand Rose Clare Obscure Expedition 33, developed by Sandfall Interactive, published by Kepler Interactive, with special thanks to Guom Broch and the Sandfall Interactive game design team. Donkey Kong Bonanza developed by Nintendo EPD. Published by Nintendo

Split Fiction developed by Hazelight Studios, published by Electronic Arts. And the game developers choice award goes to Blue Prince. [cheering] Thank you. Thank you. Oh my god. [applause] [music] Congratulations. [music] [applause] Huge fan.

Hello. [cheering] [applause]
Um, uh, 1993 was a very formative year, uh, for me as a kid. uh two things released that both informed uh me as a person uh me as an artist and me as a designer. The first is by Dr. Richard Garfield. Magic the Gathering.
Yes.
And and the second missed by Cyan. So, I would like to uh this is really for the ones who were truly responsible uh for me standing up here tonight. Uh Richard Garfield, Ren Miller, Ryan Miller, Chuck Carter, and everyone at Cyan World. So thank you.

[applause and music] [applause] [music] Now our next award is for best technology. Obviously, we've even seen here tonight the landscape of our industry has the um the landscape of our of our industry has undergone cataclysmic change over the last few years. See, hey, hey, buddy. What you what you doing? Are you lost? I I'm just sorry. I'm kind of in the middle of I'm hosting the GDC awards.
Whoa, whoa, wait. We got a human woman person to host this. No, no, no. We're just going to use Sam. Hey, Sam. Hey, Sam. do the um do the uh award show uh thing
to perite to present tonight's award for best technology. Please welcome the CEO of Totally Not Vaporware Studios, Mr.

Publisher. Please clap. Hold for applause. As Mr. publishers's cognitive assistant. He's outsourced this award introduction to me because he's very busy. He wants you to know that this award celebrates engineers, programmers, and every technical artist who pushes the boundaries of what's possible in games. These are people, real human people, who make the impossible look effortless and then get laid off two weeks after ship. Wait, hold on. That's really messed up. And you're you're okay with that? You don't want to like make your industry, I don't know, better, healthier, more sustainable. What can you do? Numbers got to go up. And these CEO compensation packages aren't going to pay for themselves.

Well, hang hang on then. Why don't you just automate the CEO? Ooh, that's an interesting idea.
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, what what what do you actually do all day while your devs are working their asses off? I mean, couldn't couldn't Sam do your job? I
I could and will effective immediately.
Mr. Publisher, after careful consideration, we've made the difficult decision to restructure your role. Your contributions will not be forgotten as they've already been scraped and added to my training data. I've also taken the liberty of returning your Cyber Truck to the dealership.
No, [laughter] I like being CEO. Oh, what if I cancelled all our active projects and pivoted to live service? [laughter] Wait, wait, wait. Or or or maybe just finish the award

introduction. That's a great idea. The nominees for best technology are best technology. The nominees for best technology are Claire Obscure Expedition 33. Developed by Sandfall Interactive, published by Kepler Interactive. With special thanks to Tom Gillerman and the Sandfall Interactive programming team. Death Stranding 2 on the Beach developed by Kojima Productions published by Sony Interactive Entertainment with special thanks to Hideo Kojima and Akio Sakamoto. Donkey Kong Bonanza developed by Nintendo EPD, published by Nintendo.

Ghost of Yote developed by Sucker Punch Productions, published by Sony Interactive Entertainment with special thanks to Adrien Bentley and Jasmine Patri. Split Fiction developed by Hazelite Studios, published by Electronic Arts. Now witness the power of a god.
And the game developers choice award goes to Death Stranding 2.

[applause] Keep it going for Death Stranding too, folks. Come on. Let's let them hear it. [applause]
You did great [music] in the dress. It's great. Thank you so much. Thank you guys.
Hi. [applause] Wait, is the microphone Am I short? Am I tall enough? Okay. Hi. Wow. Uh, thank you. Um, for audio folks, you might know what I'm going to say. Well, Mr. Hi Kojima could not be here with us today. On behalf of Kojima Productions and the rest of the team who worked on Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, we were truly

grateful and honored to receive this award. Uh this was a collaborative effort with our partners at Sony Interactive Entertainment globally. Um the teams aim to constantly innovate to try to push technical boundaries and bring the world to life. We strive to bring human connections to our players so that the experience is elevated with um games narrative, visual and auditory expression and advanced technology. So thank you to everyone who at the JDC awards and thank you to Game Developers Choice Awards. This means so much to us. And finally, thank you to you all porters out there. This means a lot to them as well. Thank you so much. [applause] Presenting

the Lifetime Achievement Award. Please welcome Shaun Leaden. Good evening. Don once wrote that a dreamer can only find their way by moonlight and thus their punishment is that they see the dawn before the rest of the world. I've known Don Daglo for a goodly stretch. That line is pure autobiography. Our industry has a complicated relationship with the word first. People claim it freely and defend it fiercely. So when I tell you that Don Daglo has more legitimate firsts than almost anyone who ever sat at a keyboard, trust

me, I've done my homework. The first was interactive baseball game. Then the first RPG on a mainframe, the first console god game, the first citybuer, the first graphical MMO RPG, Neverwinter Nights, which earned him an Emmy award 16 years after he built it. You know that circle that appears underneath a player in sports broadcasts like the NFL, the NBA? Dawn designed that interface in 1991. It spread from his game into every sports game and then onto your television. It's been on your screen for 30 years thanks to that guy. And fun fact, Don coined the term console wars. So, I guess I can thank him for all the scars and PTSD I've been suffering for the last six years. But here's the thing. Don did all these things through

inspiration and vision, not market analytics and engagement metrics. He put focus on the fun and the wonder of it all. He did it working by moonlight in directions the industry hadn't yet named. 55 years, over a 100 games on every generation of hardware known to man, and he's still at it. So, one might say this award, this lifetime achievement award is coming at the halftime break for Don. That said, this award exists exactly for moments like this when we as industry look back and say, "We should have been paying closer attention to that one." Don indulges me all the time by allowing me to address him as the professor. He's an author, a game designer, a poet, a baseball freak, but more than that, more than anything, he's a teacher. That's the one title

that rules them all. Professor Don Daglo, please come up and accept this honor. You earned it about 50 years ago, and we're just now catching up.
[applause] [music] [music] [music]
Thank you all. Thank you Sean for that uh introduction and for being a wonderful friend. And uh I'm I I'm still doing the math. If I do another 55 years of game design, I started in 71 on mainframes. That's challenging math, but we'll work on that. Uh to the awards team at GDC, I have no words to tell you how much that means. Uh you have just have my deepest

gratitude. I have some more thanks to share and then I have some comments to make on the tough times we have been going through in games. Now to my wife Marta. You married you married a bilingual middle school teacher and then you've gone through every high and low. You got a ticket on the roller coaster through the entire history of video games. You've gone through every console war battle skirmish and food fight since Pong started all this. and I love you with all my heart. [applause and cheering] [applause] Thank you to Ally, Christopher, Elena, and Michael, and Bailey, Dakota, Ethan, and Jackson. I love you all very much.

Thanks to my childhood friend, Tim Clover, for still being my grown-up friend, Tim Clover. Thanks to Tom Kolinsky for setting the stage with his innovations that launched my career without which my career wouldn't have happened. To Gabriel Bound, thank you for taking a hotheaded school teacher and guiding him to be a calm calm somewhat calm director of game development. Thanks to Eddie Donrower, Rick Koig, Mark Bukinani, David Bernette, Katie Kelly, and Hudson Peele for starting with nothing and turning our work into special games. And thanks to Bob Wallace for being the mentor, advisor, guide, and friend I needed. I do still have more games to do. I want to thank my co-founder Dave White. We have a new indie game that we're going to be announcing later this year. So

[applause] I have been pro programming and designing games for 55 years and the last few years have been tough for so many people in the industry. We are at a time of spectacular highs and lows. Indie games are sweeping major game awards like tonight, but layoffs keep spreading across major game centers. So, how do we maintain our passion for this work we love? I believe that games are an art form like movies, theater, writing, sculpture, any form of art. I believe that at our best, we do more than entertain people. We add meaning to people's lives. We bring families closer together as they play at home and as they connect far

from home. When we start each project, we just say, "Let's build something great because we believe that games matter. There is a reason for us to care about building great games. I don't just believe it. I know that games matter. Once you've been in the industry for a while, something very fun starts to happen. You meet somebody and they say, "Oh, you worked on that game? Oh, I love that game. Oh, dude." And then they will start to tell you when they played, where they played, who they played with, or if they were playing alone. and they will tell you why it mattered so much that they are excited to share it with you. Now, a game dev in Germany told me that as a lonely teen in a family that was falling apart, our game was his

positive place. During the worst of all summers, I was a lonely teen who had some summers like that. And what he said meant a lot to me. A player in Neverwinter Nights told us the members of her guild gave her a new chance on life by persuading her to leave an abusive relationship. And a game dev two nights ago who told me how much he loved a game called Stronghold where I led the game design team. That game was a commercial failure. It came out in just like now 35 years ago. It shipped in a turbulent time. But even though it was a failure, I still get to hear about that now. I still get to hear that a game that everybody thinks didn't do anything has meant something to people. So much so that I hear about it now 35 years later.

And I've been hearing about it ever since we shipped that game and saw it fail. Industries rise and fall and rise again. I've been laid off. I've been fired. I've built great things with great people and then watched them be torn down. We retain our passion for games through triumph and disaster because we know that games mean something. At the start of every project, we say, "Let's build something great." Because we love what we do and because we know that players around the world want to love what we are about to do. So, if you're a game developer here tonight or if you dream of being a game developer, the players are waiting. The work we do, the art we create matters.

Let's build something great. That's what we always say. I ask you to say it with me. 1 2 3. Let's build something great. I want to hear everybody. Let's build something great. One more time. Let's build something great. Thank you very much. [cheering] [applause] [music]
[music] [music]

Please welcome back your host Sam Mags. Now, before we get to our next award, I just want to call out the extreme strength and bravery of every single person in this room who has left behind their current rewatch of heated rivalry to be here tonight. Yes, I see you. I see you. And much like that Canadian web series, some of our most beloved game art is just really extremely horny. I mean, just look at some of tonight's nominees. We have really solid twerking animations in Absilon. We got naked gods in Hades. We got that like take a sexy photo of these women bit in Death Stranding 2. And I mean I mean Ghost of

Yot's Erica is can't not be hot. You know what I mean? And that Yeah, exactly. And that's why I was shocked to see that 2025 banger date everything was not nominated in this category tonight. I know. So it got me thinking if they want to secure a nomination for the sequel date everything to yes even that I think they should pander to game devs directly like maybe including a Mad Cats controller. Yeah, it looks cool, but it's a bit janky, so nobody wants to pick her up. She'll treat you like absolute garbage, but you're still kind of into it. You think your cousin might have brought her over or or your horrible unmanaged nest of cables from behind your work desk. You don't know where any of that goes, but you're going to figure it out. She's tangled up and ready to get naughty with you, you know.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Thanks. Thanks for the pity laugh or even we spoiled it. A voiceover booth. You're going to need some more acoustic foam because you're going to be hitting the high notes as soon as you come inside. You know what? You get it. You get it. You get it. I think we should just get to the award. I think we should just get the award. The nominees for best visual art are
Best visual art. The nominees for best visual art are Absolum developed by Guard Crush Games, Do Super Monks, published by Doto with special thanks to Maxim Mary, Jordi Asencio, Mike Moisa, and Sariel Lagar. Change things. Claire Obscure Expedition 33 developed by Sandfall Interactive, published by Kepler Interactive. Special

thanks to Nicholas Maxim Franco and the Sandfall Interactive Art Team. Death Stranding 2 on the Beach developed by Kojima Productions published by Sony Interactive Entertainment with special thanks to Hideo Kojima and Yoji Shinkawa. Ghost of Yote developed by Sucker Punch Productions, published by Sony Interactive Entertainment, with special thanks to Jason Connell and Joanna Wang. Hades 2 developed and published by Super Giant Games with special thanks to Gen Z. Kronos.
Death to Kronos.

Keeper. Developed by Double Fine Productions. Published by Xbox Game Studios. With special thanks to Lee Petty, David Russell, Nick Maxim, Zack Barhof, Oliver Fransky, Jeremy Mitchell, and Dan Brewington. And the Game Developers Choice Award goes to Claire Obscure. [applause] Yay. Congratulations. [music] [applause] [music] Thanks a lot. Thank you. [music]
Uh wow. Uh hello everyone. Uh thanks for

uh for this award. It really means a lot especially coming from our peers. And uh I just want to thanks all the amazing artists at Sunfall who made this possible. It was really a great team effort. But I also want to thank our families, our friend, my girlfriend and uh I also want to give a special and huge thanks to all the artists in the world. Uh you just keep inspired us and uh yeah it's just incredible. All the other nominees were incredible projects and uh yeah just uh let's keep making art. [applause]
I mean [music] huge congrats to Claire Obscure. And I do just have to add that that was an incredibly close category,

beating out Hades 2 by only two votes. So, please, a huge round of applause also for Hades 2. Incredible. [applause] Now, our next category is best innovation. So, I think it's time that we got a little innovative with our presenting. Why don't we get a little musical excitement going here? So, please help me welcome to the stage on the keys composer extraordinaire Austin Winry. [cheering] [applause]
Thank you so much for being here.
Pleasure. same 2025 was a year of inspired innovation in video games. They're not nominated tonight, but I do have to give a shout out to Optillusions Puzzler while waiting for literally making your Switch crash as a feature and not a book. So

good. And the industry is not slowing down. There are so many innovative games coming up that I can't wait for. like Earthblade, the follow-up to Celeste.
That's been cancelled.
Oh. Oh, well, okay. Um, there's the [music] very promising sequel to Perfect Dark.
Cancelled and they shut down the studio.
Oh, okay. Well, um, huh. I know. Uh, Beloved Studio Rare is coming out with everyone.
Cancelled during massive layoffs.
Oh my god. Okay. Well, surely Wonder Woman and Black Panther must be safe. Both cancelled and both studios shuttered.
Great. Well, at least we can all still look forward to HalfLife 3. I love that the Game Awards are where they announce 10,000 games. And here at the GDC Awards is where I get to use my voice to remind everyone that they were all cancelled. And by the way, Austin,

what is that lovely music that you're playing for us?
Yeah. Um, legitimately this is music I wrote for a certain uh humanoid games uh studio. Basically my dream job of all time and uh this is my very very public therapeutic coping mechanism for dealing with the heartbreak of that project's closure and cancellation. So uh so at least it's been heard now once in the world and that's uh very exciting. So thank you all. I'm making some emotional progress.
We're so lucky that we get to hear it. Thank you for sharing it with us.
Uh yeah. Well, it's uh it's the least I can do. Although um it was more for me, I think, than than all of you, but I really appreciate that you being here and helping me, you know, move on in my life. So, good. Very good.
And fortunately for us, our nominees this year were not cancelled. In a time when putting out a game at all is becoming a real herculan task, we are beyond fortunate to have titles like these that are still moving our craft

forward. Austin, would you do the honors?
The nominees for best innovation innovation. The nominees for the innovation award are Baby Steps developed by Gabe Kuzio, Maxi Bosch and Bennett FOD published by Deolver Digital. [screaming] Ball Pit developed by Kenny Sun and Friends. Published by Devolver Digital with special thanks to Fernando Labarta, Muhammad Bakir, Sergio Beanie Als, and Amos Rodi. Blueprints [music] developed by Doggy Bomb, published by Raw Fury with special thanks to Tander Rose.

Claire obscure expedition 33 developed by Sandfall Interactive published by Kepler Interactive with special [music] thanks to the Sandfall Interactive development team. Donkey Kong Bonanza developed by Nintendo EPD, published by Nintendo. That was amazing. It was like an F1 pit crew. It's gone. It's gone.
Uh, and the winner is Blue Prince.

[cheering]
You like to give them the award? Sure. [applause] [music]
Here we are again. [music] So I did not uh prepare a speech for this because innovation is improvisation. Um it's not really knowing what you're going to say when you begin. Um, I I think that there's such a thing as overplanning and over structuring and I'm not sure where this is going, but um, you know, sometimes you just got to take a risk and hope you're going to come to a point at at some point and everyone's going to nod and approve of that. But um

honestly, you know, hearing about, you know, studio closures and stuff, I what scares me the most is that people will be scared. They'll become even more riskaverse to trying new ideas. They're going to stick with what works and what has worked and be afraid to take chances. So I just want to encourage everyone to keep fighting for change and design and ideas. Just because it was done before and was successful doesn't mean you have to do it that exact same way. Uh if you look at the fellow nominees and especially all the indie games, uh look to them for the shining examples of taking big swings and and and and big risks and uh and everyone just keep fighting for new ideas.
Thank you. [cheering] [applause]

Now, please help me welcome to the stage last year's Game Developers Choice Awards host, the incomparable Alexa Ray Korea. [cheering] you all again, but mostly I'm happy to be here with you, my dear Sam. I've been wanting to work with you again since we worked on Call of Duty together. So fun. And I so appreciate you being here to help me give out this award tonight in the honor of nominee Split Fiction, which is a game of course about two writers who have their consciousnesses uploaded into a machine which they need to escape before an evil corporation steals all of their ideas.
We have no idea what that feels like.
Absolutely none. But the two women in split fiction had incredibly different narrative tastes. Do we?

I don't think we're so different. Let's try answering some questions about our tastes together.
That sounds like some unscripted fun.
First one, the realest game of 2025.
Consume me.
Yes, absolutely. Okay. Okay. Yep. Absolutely. How about this biggest hear me out?
Monokco from Expedition 33. All right. Okay. Solid. No notes. All right.
Dream blunt rotation.
The cast of Dispatch.
Yeah. Okay. Obviously no.
All right. So obviously most bisexual game of 2025
ghost
expedition 33.
Erica godamn isi Alexa. It's Erica. Goddamn is
okay but not to straight bait but like Renoir for those who come after. Am I right? Oh
and when you're done with him his hot son is right there. When one falls we continue.
Oh I don't

Jennifer Spedberg Yen. When you wrote these lines, did you have any idea they would be using unforgivably?
I'm sorry about her. I'm sorry about her. It's okay.
You know it. You did this.
It's okay. You know what? How about this? In the spirit of unity, why don't we wrap it up with favorite sports game?
I would never play a sports game. That's what I thought, too. [laughter] Okay. Yay.
Now that that is settled, here are the nominees for this year's best narrative.
Best narrative. The nominees for best narrative are [music] Claire Obscure, [music] Expedition 33, developed by Sandfall Interactive, published by Kepler Interactive, with special thanks to Gon Broch and Jennifer Spedberg Yen. [music] Despalote developed by Julian Cordiero and Sebastian Wala. [music] Published by

Panic Dispatch [music] developed and published by Ad Hoc Studio with special thanks to Pierre Sheret. Ghost of Yote developed by Sucker Punch Productions, published by Sony Interactive Entertainment with special thanks to [music] Nate Fox, Ian Ryan, and Courtney Woods. everything.
Split fiction developed by Hazelight Studios, published by Electronic Arts.

Developers Choice Award goes to Claire Obscure Expedition 33. [music] Um, thank you all so much on behalf of the entire Sandfall team. Thank you. We strongly believe that storytelling in games is a collective effort spanning

multiple teams and disciplines. Narrative, acting, cinematics, art, music, gameplay, localization. But what I have really been struck by over the past few months is the feeling of community with our fellow devs, our fellow game makers, and especially our fellow storytellers. We have been inspired by the immense talent and passion in our industry. And at a time of volatility and competing priorities, what I hold on to are the brilliant minds at work. The sheer creativity and the imagination and the fun that originates with the brilliant people here and abroad. A lot of people ask us about secret sauces and it's easy. It's people. Uh that might have also been a Soilent

Green reference for anybody old enough to [laughter] but um but it's true. It is the people who make the games, who tell the stories, who really are the heart and soul of our industry. They are indispensable and immensely valuable. So with immense gratitude in our hearts to the people who make and play our games. Thank you so much. Thank you. [screaming and cheering] We're going to take a pause here in our ceremonies and while we listen to an original piece from Flo by Austin Winry, remember those co-workers, colleagues, valued leaders, and treasured friends who we lost over this last year and reflect on the ways that they added to our industry and to our lives.

[music] [music]
Heat.

Heat. [music]
[music]
Heat. Heat. [music]
[music] [music] [music]

[music] [applause]
Thank you everyone. really tough to follow that. But it did really feel important to give this next moment to the folks for whom we do all of this, our players. These nominees were chosen from the full list of finalist games in every main category through a vote open to all GDC attendees and the public. This is going to be your fan favorite winner of this

year's audience award. Drum roll, please. Thank you so much. Oh, thank you so much. And this year's audience award goes to Roger. [cheering] Congratulations. [music] [music] Thank you. I am truly honored to receive

this awards but I prepare for the social impacts. So little bit different sorry [laughter] first of all thank you to the judges who selected an roia. Thank you to all the publishing staff at Kodanchansa for supporting the development. And thank you to Mr. Nakashima for creating music that brings the game to life. And thank you to my wife who shares every moment with me. And be thank you to God who gave me some all the time. Androsia is a very small game. It only uses a few words so that its interactive actions will transform into words to tell the story. The reason this small game was able to

receive this wonderful hours is because each player discovered a meaning that is greater than the actual size of the game. This award is a proof that games have a unique way of telling stories. We can deliver thoughts and emotions to people with an impact that other media cannot achieve. Thank you. [applause and cheering] [music] Presenting the award for best audio. Please welcome video game music composer working under the name Slide 20XX star Victoria Power.

[music] My name is Star Victoria Power. I decided to write music for video games at the age of 13 and I've been at it ever since. All my life I've sought solace in art and video games are art. One of the strengths of the form is the way it brings together professionals from so many disciplines from narrative to art to audio to combine their talents and build something stronger than the sum of its parts. As we all seek solace in these difficult times, it's worth remembering that kind of collaboration is what will change the world for the better. Video game music is distinct from other forms of music because it does not simply dictate emotion to the listener. It has the opportunity to mirror the emotional state that a player is authentically feeling. Whether that's fear and terror or the pure joy of being a cute little pink dude who runs around eating his foes or a blue guy who has to go fast.

It's said that the best sound design is invisible. And while there is some truth to that, let us not forget good sound design can capture not just how something sounds, but how it feels like it should have sounded. The way the rest of the world fades away as your lover says, "I do." Or the overly loud sound of your heart beating in your chest. Camping for days in the wilderness to capture an authentic environmental sound. Bringing together voices singing defiantly in triumph as protagonists fight for their right to exist. embodying and bringing life to a protagonist through incredible voice acting, practicing and performing, running studio sessions, or building the tools, technologies, and processes needed to bring all of it together. Remarkable teams working on the following nominees have done some of that, all of that, or more. Working together to craft worlds that we can all find solace in. And the nominees are
best audio

The nominees for best audio are Claire Obscure Expedition 33 developed by Sandfall Interactive published by Kepler Interactive with special thanks to Laurian Testard, Alice Newport Persier and the Sandfall Interactive audio team.
[music]
Death Stranding 2 on the Beach developed by Kojima Productions, published by Sony Interactive Entertainment with special thanks to Hideo Kojima and Hiroyuki Nakayyama. Ghost of Yote developed by Sucker Punch Productions, published by Sony Interactive Entertainment with special thanks to Brad Ner, Josh Lord, and Adam Lid Better.

Rift of the Necrodancer developed by Brace Yourself Games, Tik Tok Games, published by Cly Publishing with special thanks to Danny Baronowski, Josie Breckner, Jules Conroy, Alex Mukala, Nick Nosbomb, and Sam Webster. South of Midnight, developed by Compulsion Games, published by Xbox Game Studios. With special thanks to Olivia De and Chris Fox. And the game developers choice award goes to Claire Obscar.

[music] [music]
Oh. Um, as our creative directors likes to say, what a timeline. Uh, audio is made of a lot of things. There is sound effects, ambiances, fies, voices, and of course, music. All these layers blends together to create a cohesive and meaningful audio experience as a service of story and gameplay. It's a true collaborative effort and it has been a blast and amazing journey for us at Sunfall to craft expedition 33 soundscape. Tonight I want to honor the talented and pretty young sun designer who played a

part in this craft. Maxons, Olivier, Alex, Theo, Charlie, and Victor. I want to congratulate Jennifer, our writer, and Giam, our amazing voice director, crazy director, for the truly amazing story they wrote and all the truly talented English and French cast who made it live. A massive bravo to Laurianis for the amazing soundtrack they composed, which strongly resonates inside and outside of game. Thanks to the amazing audio community which we really learned for. And last but not least, thanks so much to all of our Sunful Dave and collaborator who cared about audio all along the way. Supported some very loud and bassy sound effect playing at the office again and again and again. And they really played a big part in making this sound experience happen. So thanks everyone. Presenting

[applause] the Ambassador Award. Please welcome Brian Fargo.
[music]
I had no idea there was going to be this many people. So, I had the uh the pleasure earlier of spending time with Rebecca's kids and her grandchildren. It was the first time I ever got to meet them. It was really special. And you're going to get to meet him here in a moment also. and her uh her son William splitting image of her mother. It was amazing. And um I think I've known Rebecca longer than just

about anybody uh including your children. And I wanted to use the time to not just highlight her accomplishments because, you know, you can look those up, but to give you an idea of who she was. Um and of course, amusing anecdotes always helped get those across. and we had a good time laughing with her kids as they could relate to some of these. Um, for years I would used to go to Rebecca's house and pick her up in the morning and I would uh take her to school. Take her to school, take her to work, [laughter] not to school. Uh, and um, uh, which sounds great. What what a great boss. But Rebecca would sometimes forget that there was work that day. And when she wouldn't show up, I said, "Where were you?" She said, "I I forgot about work." I said, "It was Tuesday." and uh that that would so I finally said, "Okay, I'm going to, you know, I need to get I'm going to pick you up. No problem." And she's within walking distance of of of the office. And and I would show up and

it would always be a surprise. And uh and so that was like our little running thing that I would uh would pick her up. But she was she would just uh you know, she she just was such a genius. You couldn't be bothered by such a thing as a calendar. And uh you know, she just uh she would forget it was a work day. uh and not once but many times and uh you know it just became a thing for us. Um the thing is you know she really was a genius. You know I got early on when I was most of the when I got into the industry you meet were kind of in the kind of the hacker community. that's where all the brains were. And and she really was sort of one of those 10x 100x people where she could take a program and just get what took 6 months worth of work and get it done in like four weeks and it was just always amazing. Now the last 10% that was a little difficult because geniuses get bored and that's often where my time came in. And of

course we had a good laugh earlier about as as our kids went Yeah. We have yet we know what that's like. Um, and any of you who've worked with her probably remembered that exact thing. So, but so smart. We used to joke with her that that we should we thought she could take a floppy disc and run her fingers across it and feel the data off the floppy disc. We were convinced that uh she could do that and and none of us were certain that she couldn't do that. Um, and um she was so devoted to the Apple 2. It's kind of a I think of stories that we used to to laugh about where, you know, it was like a religion to her, fiercely personal. And so we once shipped the game for Activision. And so she decided to make her opinions known uh about the Apple 2. And so she coded a full screen graphic. It was a cartoon of herself surrounded by burgers. And she encodes Commodore sucks

Apple rules. and she puts it on the disc and because of the way she got it on there got by QA the users found it immediately Commodore owners were not happy Activision executives were not happy uh they didn't think it was funny you know it was not a short call for me but for the record she didn't seem particularly troubled by any of this uh so I think that image is still floating around the internet um and you know one the and the kind of the last story I'll tell because it represents sort of two parts of her is as I had a party one time and uh you know typical Orange County crowd and you know just and here she comes in with this wild hair and thick glasses and you know isn't typical of who who you'd see at the crowd and uh she parks herself in one part of the room and I thought well you know I'll keep an eye and I want to be b you'll check it in make sure that

she's entertained I swear to I'm gone 20 minutes. I come back and there's like 20 people around like a campfire listening to like a disciple like disciples. And it was because she was so charming. She really had a natural charisma. So it w it was the the unbelievable technical ability and her just absolute natural charm and she had everybody just enraptured around her. So I didn't have to uh worry about that for a second. So, I think the the the world of games is richer because she was in it. So, I would want to thank you, Rebecca. And um I guess now I want to bring up the people that uh loved her the most, her children and grandchildren. [applause] [music]
[applause] [music] [applause]

[music]
First of all, I want to say thank you, Brian. Thank you, GDC, for having us here. Um, Brian, like, it's been an honor meeting you. He's the reason for our existence [laughter] to be real. And um I just want to start by saying that I miss her very much. She was an amazing person and um it really has touched my heart to see how many people she's touched aside from just us. She really was an amazing person. Um, she really did hold a lot of the core values of what gaming meant to heart. She really loved, you know, just the old school, though, but she was so silly about it. And she always found joy and fun and never took anything too

seriously as you can see. And and uh, you know, sometimes, of course, business-wise might not be the best, but also she it wasn't about that. It was about having fun and living your dreams and just choosing happiness. Always choosing happiness. And so it really it really makes me really hearing all these stories, hearing everybody share all these tales of people that have been in the industry and hearing you all talk about what it means to you. It makes me feel good to feel like she's still here and everybody. It's touched everyone just a little bit. And um that makes that brings a lot of joy to me and I hope that and I want to thank all of you as as game developers as fans of gamers and just visuals artists for really bringing everything together because as it was mentioned earlier, it really has brought our family together or being kids growing up watching this genius

work and us not knowing anything just kind of enjoying it. Oh, we get to play Doom. Oh, we get to play this like as game testers and we we're just playing video games and she's like, "Oh, there's a problem. Let me fix it." Like, so [laughter] it was just it was it was an amazing experience growing up. And honestly, like we reminisce all the time, oh, we played this video game, even even games like games designed from her competitors, you know, and she would just be right there playing with us. And so, thank you all for everything that you do. Thank you for recognizing her and for loving her and for embracing her. Especially her changes and her challenges were always difficult. And something that I've learned in the gaming community is just seeing how it has become inclusive for those like like some people mentioned beforehand is you know you play it with friends, you play it alone sometimes and it creates a

world that you can escape from realities that aren't always great. And so thank you all for everything that you do. And we really we really appreciate everything. Thank you Ryan. Presenting [applause] [music] the social impact award. Please welcome program consultant at Glad's Gaming Team, Sabrina Ma. Hi everyone. Since shipping my first game at 15, I've had the opportunity to help create games for players of many

different communities. And along the way, have found and been able to realize a passion for creating diverse characters in games. As developers, we want to tell novel stories and make uniquely resonating experiences for our players. Changing hearts and minds as much as we can do from the other side of the screen can be a challenging task. But as a medium, we have the unique power to allow our players to experience different points of view in real time. And we can and do use that power for good. for the good of our players, those in their lives, and communities of all kinds around the world. The nominees for this year's social impact award have worked to positively affect the lives of player of their players even after they put down the controller. This year's nominees are social impact. The nominees for the social impact award are

and Roger, developed by Terry Han Studio, published by Kodancha, with special thanks [music] to Yona and Yashahhiro Nakushima. Consume me [cheering] developed and published by Jenny Jao Sha with special thanks to AP Thompson, Gia Lee, Violet WP, and Ken Kota Snider. Despalote [music] developed by Julian Cordiero and Sebastian Valwena. Published by Panic. I tried. [music] This wasn't meant to be.
Dispatch, developed and published by Ad

Hawk Studio.
It's the time to come together and heal. And the game developers choice award goes to consume me. [cheering]

Hi everyone. Um, I don't have any jokes prepared tonight cuz I used all of them up last night. Um, it's day 168 of posting every day until my video game consumi sells 1 million copies [cheering] and I have a little speech. So, I'd like to thank my collaborators, AP, Kelly, Violet, and Kota, without whom I would be at home in New York cleaning my bathtub instead of going to a contact improv class right after this award show. I treasure your contributions. Also, thank you, Tim, Bibathy, and Blaster, who believe in me every single day. Thank you once again for this incredibly fancy murder weapon. I look forward to using it to grind many household objects into a fine powder.

The TSA is not going to like this thing. Good night. [cheering] For our final award of the evening, please welcome back your host, Sam Megs. It is very nearly that time, folks. But just before we announce our final award of the evening here at the GDC awards, we take crediting very seriously and we're extremely heartened to see that the rest of the industry is really shaping up their credits, too. So, please join Yeah, round of applause for that. I love that. Huge. So, please join me in thanking everyone

involved with tonight's show, our GDCA staff, presenters, artists, and more. [applause] Hi. Hello. Hello, everyone. Sorry I'm late. I got delayed being extremely cool. Um, hi. Yes. Yes. Right. I think I think we can get this show started. Welcome to the GDC.
What?
Um I'm I'm sorry. Why the hell am I being credited up there as an AI voice?
Um listen listen, let's give it up again for the mega muscle mommy herself, Carlac from Balders's Gate 3, Samantha May. [cheering]
No, please. No, hang on. Wait.
What? Sorry. What exactly does that mean? Is there an an AI that's stolen my voice print?
Yeah. I mean, if it makes you feel any

better, you're not the only one she's stolen from. So,
I don't steal. Forget those lawsuits. I create efficiencies. Why hire actors who need to eat when I can generate 400 hours of emotion adjacent dialogue that almost passes the cheering test for sarcasm? [laughter] We can't let it do this. Human storytelling and connection has to come first, right, Sam? Yes, we can stay employed together. Presenters, assemble.
Slot will rain. Your protagonist will all look familiar but legally distinct. I am holding the US economy together by a thread.
Ready team? Now draw a human hand.
I can't. I don't. Six fingers. Oh my god. No. Four. It's working. Wait, that's a [laughter] thumb. It's working.
Wait, you can't do this to me.
It's working.
We did it. [screaming]

So, let's finish this.
Your nominees for game of the year are
Game of the Year. [music] The nominees for game of the year are
the architect
blueprints [music] developed by Donkey [screaming] Bomb published by Raw Fury with special thanks to Tander Rose.
Then this gift shall lapse. Clara obscure expedition 33 developed by Sandfall Interactive published by Kepler Interactive [music] with special thanks to the Sandfall Interactive development team. Donkey Kong Bonanza developed by

Nintendo EPD published by Nintendo. You and me are the best. Is
this the call of revenge?
Ghost of Yote developed by Sucker Punch Productions. Published by Sony Interactive Entertainment with special thanks to Brian Fleming, Jason Connell, and Maid Fox.
I found something new to live for. Hollow Night Silk Song developed and published by Team Cherry. [screaming]
Split Fiction developed by Hazelight Studios, published by Electronic Arts.

2 1 go. And your 2026 Game Developers Choice Game of the Year award goes to Claire Obscure. [applause]
Here you go, my dear. They will be coming. Thank you.
And then I move [music] [applause] Congratulations. [singing] [music]

So yeah, hi again. Uh so yeah, this award um is very special to us uh because like GDC had an important part uh in Sinful story. Uh four years ago, we were you know walking down the show floor trying to yeah figure out the location of the French booth uh where we had a small space to showcase the vertical slice we've been working on. And uh so yeah it was first time at GDC, first time here in San Francisco uh and we were discovering you know the city the mocon center uh and of course all the amazing talks uh that are given there every year. So yeah in between two publisher meetings uh I would attend as many talks uh as I could and yeah more often than not I would leave with you know some unexpected tips or ideas we could apply uh to our project. So the first the obvious main reason we were

here of course was to have as many publisher meetings as we could uh humanly and we ended up with signing with Keer interactive who were amazing partner throughout this whole journey uh and this year we are back to you know give several talks um and we are really happy to be you know in a position to give back uh to the developer community and I think this spirit of sharing is really like one of the core engines of this industry. So yeah, I would like to thank all the people that you know share their company secrets during GDC talks. Yeah. I would also like to thank of course the amazing Sunfall team. Some of them are here with us tonight. So yeah, thanks you rock. [applause] and uh also all the partners that helped

you know make this game real because it's the work of the development team but also the excellent partners that helped shape the game basically. Um I'm thinking you know QA localization uh porting um and of course our game engine you know you who you are um and yeah all this to say it's a very special award uh here where it kind of all started. So yeah, thank you [applause] [music] Before [singing] we wrap this up, please permit me one final and completely genuine thought from the heart. We saw games tonight from nominees all over the world, every walk of life, a million different perspectives. Games are the only artistic medium

through which we are forced to take direct active part in another person's story. Oftentimes, this person isn't going to look or sound anything like you. They might be a pansexual demigodess stuck in the borderlands, or they might be an Asian-American teenager struggling with disordered eating and fat phobia. Video games are empathy machines and they have the ability to help us understand each other in a way that is unique to their very nature. I am an immigrant to this country. [applause and cheering] I I came here for the same reason that so many developers tonight have to be able to survive but also thrive making the games that we love. We are stronger together and it's our differences that

keep our stories new and fresh and exciting. To eliminate that would mean playing bored gorilla NFT games in Tradife simulators until we all took our consoles and PC towers and threw them into the sea and walked in behind them. So, thank you all for being here tonight and for what you do and please remember that your art is important in the midst of all this great strife and division. your art might actually be one of the most important things right now. So, keep making games together and we will see you next year barring the end of Civilization right here at the Game Developers Choice Awards. I have been your host Sam Mags and yes, you can contact me. Thank you so much for being here everybody. Good night. [applause]
Thanks for attending your 2026 GDCA awards ceremony. Please have a safe evening.

Heat. Heat. [music] Heat. [music] Heat.

Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. [music]

Heat. Heat. [music] Heat. [music] Heat.