The 2022 Game Developers Choice Awards (Full Video)

[Music] is [Music] we are pleased to begin the second half of our evening and welcome you to the 22nd annual game developers choice awards please welcome the host of the evening osama dorius [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music]

knock knock halo [Applause] hello everyone my name is osama dorias and i am so honored to be your host for the 22nd annual game developers choice awards i've learned to always start with my best joke it helps set the tone and manage expectations the game developers choice awards have always had held a special place in my heart because these are our picks for the best in our industry my friends it feels great to return all to an in-person ceremony

thank you now world circumstances being what they are this event will look and feel a bit different from what we're used to but don't worry we have lots of safety protocols in place everyone's vaccinated we've got masks we're working on getting everyone unionized [Applause] and i promise there are no nfts tonight [Applause] all of our awards are all completely fungible [Laughter] that was interesting choice

i think it's okay if things are a little different i mean what are game developers if not adaptive and resilient 2021 was a wild roller coaster of a year but despite everything so many amazing games came out and everyone in this room knows that releasing a game at all is a miracle in light of this i don't think it's fair that we can't give everyone an award so i made an award for everyone who released the game this year [Applause] isn't it beautiful this trophy is all of ours but we're going to keep it at my house okay

oh it's heavy but really let's get on with the show i have a personal goal to make as many dad jokes and puns as possible tonight so let's start with unpacking these awards [Applause] we start our show with the award for the best debut an award for studios starting out their legacy on the right foot from the artful escape to wildermuth each of these games showcases the bright future of game development and i can't wait to see what these studios come up with next every first game has a special place in our hearts but it's incredible to see a studio knock it out of the park on their first try usually it takes two

[Applause] so here are the nominees for the best debut best debut amber love nominated for cana bridge of spirits iron gate studio nominated for valheim [Music] world walker games nominated for wilderness [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music]

beethoven and dinosaur nominated for the artful escape shed works nominated for saber [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] and the winner is iron gate studios [Music] the best debut winner shouldn't be here tonight but they've sent an acceptant message hi i'm josephine i'm robin and i'm lisa

and we're from irongates thank you so much for aiming bella and this year's best debut it really is an honor it's been a great time working on this game and we're happy to hear that you appreciate the game so much thank you so much for everything bob hey peace out [Applause] so what's the video games artists favorite soda sprites thank you tim thank you someone liked it okay that was a bad one i'm sorry video game art can range from 8-bit pixels to photo realistic worlds complete with puzzles with reflections it's breathtaking and above all it's interactive you can't step into a movie and see the

grass move when you swing your sword or open a glowing chest and get what's inside these games are exemplary for having some of the best art that our medium has to offer here are the nominees for the best visual art best visual art forza horizon 5 developed by playground games published by xbox game studios mike brown don arcata gareth harwood fraser strachan kana bridge of spirits developed by ember lab published by electronic arts mike greer juan channel vic intersamba julian vermeen death loop developed by arcane leon published by bethesda softworks

ratchet and plank rift apart developed by insomniac games published by sony interactive entertainment [Applause] psychonauts 2 developed by double kind productions published by xbox games studios insect tees for montgomery [Music] and the winner is i'll get it open ratchet and clank [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause]

[Music] [Applause] [Music] wow uh thank you this is crazy uh so thank you gdc uh thank you for uh the other nominees all those games were just beautiful and amazing and we're in great company uh great grand hollis our amazing art director marcus smith creative director mike daly uh the entire awesome and amazing insomniac art and tech teams uh all of our supportive families and all the fans that love these characters as much as we do uh this was a dream project it's why i wanted to work in insomniac and it's kind of amazing to be up here so thank you

[Applause] has anyone heard anything about the best audio award no i guess we'll have to play it by ear no yes thank you that was a clown excellent sound design highlights and uplifts the best parts of our games they make the highs even more exciting and the lows even more emotional and an excellent soundtrack can stick with us long past finishing the game i've had the elevator music for dead rising stuck in my head since 2006. i'm not going to sing it to you don't worry creating exceptional sound design is a unique challenge

and i think we all underestimate the impact and satisfaction that comes with the well-placed chime or crash so let's honor the nominees for best audio best audio return developed by house mark published by sony interactive entertainment unpacking developed by which bean published by humble games jeff van dyke angela van dyke ella van dyke death fluke developed by arcane leon published by bethesda softworks

marvel's guardians of the galaxy developed by idos montreal published by square enix steve schapkowski forza horizon 5 developed by playground games published by xbox game studios mike brown don arcata gareth harwood fraser striker [Music] and the winner is [Music] unpacking [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music]

holy crap uh i think the uh key word here is uh underestimation i i just totally underestimated the size of this game and the reaction to this game and uh look i just really want to thank uh tim and ren uh for inventing this game and the rest of the witch beam team uh nart and angus and may and emily for uh supporting us and just making this a reality and i couldn't i just cannot believe this thank you very much here tonight to present this year's

ambassador award is video game writer and content creator alana pierce [Applause] [Music] [Applause] hello everyone i struggle to think of a person who is more deserving of receiving this year's ambassador award than my friend steven spawn [Applause] this award is for someone who has helped the games industry advance to a better place and if i were to give steve one criticism it is that he has tirelessly tried so hard to advance the games industry to a better place that it has probably come at his own expense steve has effectively dedicated his life to championing video game accessibility sometimes even braving the inner workings of reddit i know can you imagine telling reddit you think disabled gamers should be able to play from soft games and coming out of that

on the other side filled with good vibes no no you can't and yet even though it is undoubtedly hard and taxing steve persists where others won't because steve is the best of us if you don't know steven spawn you're missing out not only because he's one of the funniest people i know to be clear he paid me to put that in the script i'll take the fifty dollars after the awards is done thanks steve but he's also incredibly accomplished steve is the senior director of ablegamers which is an organization that's dedicated to improving accessibility in video games and enabling more people with disabilities to be able to play video games he recently managed to raise one million dollars for ablegamers for his 40th birthday as part of a campaign he called spawn together that's more than most people have accomplished in our entire lifetimes and steve did it to celebrate his own birthday most of us sleep in a little bit longer and order a pizza

steve banded together a huge team of people to raise a million dollars all in the name of providing gaming peripherals and hardware to people who may not be able to play games without them he also managed to repeatedly murder me and among us and beat me in fall guys repeatedly probably all in the same day actually i take back everything that i've said steve is horrible hashtag cancel steven spawn but really outside of his work directly with ablegamers and his work being the only righteous troll on the entirety of twitter steve has also done a tremendous job of recruiting people outside of the industry to talk about video game accessibility people like ryan reynolds and brie larson some of the biggest streamers and content creators can't help but be on steve's side and this is supposed to be a speech about his work but i can't go on without mentioning that part of it is because he's so incredibly kind engaging charismatic and um incredibly ridiculously handsome okay now he's just editing the teleprompter he can't keep getting away with this i could talk for a really really long time about why i'm honored for holstein one of my best friends and how i'm so

proud to have been asked to present him with this year's ambassador award but i'm worried that he has slipped more sly compliments about himself into my script so that is it for me welcome steve spawn everybody [Applause] [Music] so [Applause] [Music] [Applause] it's awkward she doesn't realize i can't hold that award um it's an honor and a privilege to share this evening of inscription with you [Applause] years ago before my first industry event i stayed up all night meticulously

writing the importance of helping people with disabilities the very first day i presented that information to a lead developer at rockstar games he ignored me instead looking right over my wheelchair directly at my invisibly disabled ablegamers partner mark barley then crumpled up the pamphlet threw it in the trash and walked away i was devastated it was at that moment that i knew there was no seat at the table for someone like me so i set up and made my mission to make one people tell me i am strong resilient inspirational but i'm here to tell you that i am not i am here i didn't quit because my options were to be those things or die i chose not death i didn't choose this life but i'm going to make every second of it count

it is just impossible do you know how many times as a person with a terminal disease and as a disabled man as i am that i have been told the words it's impossible you're never going to live past 10 years old it's impossible you won't live long enough to see the end of college it's impossible you're never gonna find love it's impossible you'll never make people care about game accessibility it's impossible i am here to tell you that not everything is impossible one thing that i have learned is if you

fight for your limitations you will never lose them never limit yourself or allow others to put limitations on you you must trade your cynicism for optimism the truth is being disabled is very difficult for people like me we don't get a break there are no weekends no vacations from being disabled and no break for people taking care of us either add being an advocate on top of that where not only do you have to deal with your own challenges but you have to convince others to change the system that makes things so difficult there are moments where it all just seems too much where i don't know if i want to do this anymore but in my darkest moments i am thankful for my support network from my mom from my friends who remind me that every failure every setback and every difficult day is an opportunity to grow

and become a better person and when all else fails i have video games i have one place where i can retreat collect myself after a bad day enjoy exploring the universe with a friend defeating dragons with my family make a new friend or even meet the love of my life for disabled players video games can provide a window into an otherwise inaccessible world and provide opportunities to share experiences that might actually be impossible anywhere else we just have to make sure that they are as accessible as they can be to as many people as they can be i chose to make it my life's work to represent to be the representation i

couldn't find when i entered this industry but i didn't get here alone i'm forever grateful for everyone who ever believed in me believed i could win a prestigious award like this one and even when i didn't believe in myself advocacy is hard making games is hard so i'll make you a deal together we can ensure that this is an inclusive industry for everyone i'm not going to stop i won't quit and neither should you [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] so

[Music] [Applause] what an exceptional speech from an exceptional person [Music] [Applause] tim this is you right thank you steven for all that you do a truly well-deserved award i'm honored to share the stage with you [Applause] if i've learned anything from tonight it's that everyone needs to name their games in a way that makes puns easier

how do i make a pun out of forza horizon 5 or guardians of the galaxy i mean writing puns is hard but writing games is even harder every year we talk about how how far game narratives have come and it would feel like a cliche if it wasn't so true video game narrative progresses leaps and bounds every year as we continue to learn that having a cohesive engaging narrative can pull an entire game together and help us see ourselves in each other's art and i think connecting and seeing each other in that way is more important now than ever here are the nominees for the best narrative award best narrative marvel's guardians of the galaxy

developed by idos montreal published by square enix mary damora death blue developed by arcane leon published by bethesda softworks it takes two developed by hazelite studios published by electronic arts yeah what are you doing you're not feeling it no psychonauts 2 developed by double fine productions published by xbox games studios tim shafer [Applause] unpacking developed by rich bean

published by humble gains wren breyer tim dawson annie vandermeer why did it make these so hard to open and the winner is psychonauts 2. [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] thank you so much oh my god i want to officially uh declare this purple jacket uncursed

the jacket is uncursed there's so many people when you say narrative there's so many people on that team that make things happen there is a script and there's a producer who organizes the script a casting director and a director in the studio and an engineer and an actor who brings so much life to the characters and animators who make uh bring uh add so many jokes and so much life to it and then programmers who make the whole scene you actually play all the dialogue play properly and people edit the dialogue and an effects artist puts a tear in the character's eye and someone plays music and then you cry and you're like this game has such a great narrative but i know those people are here tonight so i'm gonna say it's just a script um whatever zach is here everybody zach our lead our animation lead on technology please say something everyone it's an amazing honor i mean it all it goes to tim obviously he that's the credit goes to him but uh i was honored to be 15 minutes of cutscenes as well yeah yeah we we had about six hours worth of animation uh cut scenes in our game at the end but i'd like to thank my animation team for

bringing his script to life chris miyuki ray uh jerry faith uh alex and our amazing rigor adam uh thank you all it was just an amazing time and thank you tim for uh making these amazing worlds and characters for us to bring to life thanks so much so um i started working in the industry at a time that was more hostile to people with my complexion microaggressions were commonplace i learned to develop thick skin when i was a junior with no power to enact any change or even to speak up and even as i climbed the ranks and got the coveted senior title

i faced many difficulties i've attended conferences with an all-white diversity panel i've spoken at conferences where i was the only non-white person in the advocacy track i've been the target of all alt-right hate groups who wanted to get me fired and through sorry and though we still have many problems as an industry that we must address we have to take a moment to celebrate how far we've come all games have the potential to have a positive impact more and more games are rising to that challenge working hard to be inclusive and thoughtful and to inspire empathy in all of us for the betterment of humankind so let's celebrate the most culturally impactful games of this year's and

here are the nominees for the social impact award social impact award before your eyes developed by goodbye world games published by skybound games will hellworth graham parks oliver lewin [Music] it takes two developed by hazelite studios published by electronic arts life is strange true colors developed by deck 9 games published by square enix zack garris jonathan zimmerman felice kwan erika mori [Music] boyfriend dungeon developed by kit fox games published by

kit fox games [Music] chicory a colorful tale developed by greg labonov published by finji alexis dean jones lena rayne m halberstadt madeleine berger [Music] i opened this one early so i don't have to fiddle with it and the winner is boyfriend dungeon [Applause] [Music] the social impact award winner couldn't be here tonight but they've sent an acceptance message as the studio head of kit fox and lead designer and writer of boyfriend engine thank you so much to those of you who felt boyfriend engine deserve this

social impact award but it's it's really rewarding because it's really the reason why i enjoy making games i want to think about the person playing it and what they're feeling and my greatest dream is to affect culture in a positive way and if people are getting that out of boyfriend engine from our silly sword smooching game if they see themselves represented or they feel like they can explore a side of themselves the games doesn't normally let them explore then well i'm more deeply happy than i can express so thank you very much and and congratulations to to all these wonderful games i would like to thank everyone on the boyfriend engine team for being themselves and in all their their beautiful different ways and my mom for giving me confidence

and my partner for always believing in me and for encouraging me to make boyfriend dungeon in the first place for many years before i could take the leap so thank you [Applause] [Music] please welcome the presenter of this year's lifetime achievement award supergiant games creative director greg cassaven [Music] [Applause] [Music] thank you so last year the dragon quest series of role-playing games celebrated its 35th anniversary it's an iconic genre defining series that sold more than 70 million copies around the world produced any number of successful spin-offs and been adapted into movies and television there's even a dragon quest themed cafe

in the heart of tokyo when i was a kid i fell in love with the original dragon quest for the nintendo entertainment system published as dragon warrior here in the states though i never could have imagined that the series would have such a steady presence with me through most of my life it's still going strong dragon quest 11 launched in 2017 to widespread acclaim and dragon quest 12 was announced less than a year ago but what's more amazing to me than that and even more amazing than all the phenomenal worldwide success is that dragon quest's original creator designer and writer yuji horizon whom we are honoring this evening has been there for every single installment of this series all this time you would be very hard-pressed to find another creator in this industry who has stuck with their game series for more than 35 years much less a game series of such influence and lasting impact as dragon quest in an industry so fraught with uncertainty where so few have the

privilege of stability in their work and in their lives horizon and his collaborators managed to stick with their series delivering beloved hit after hit for well over a quarter of a century all this time horizon has served as designer and writer on the series creating these classic tales of good versus evil and triumph over adversity filled with heart and warmth and designed to be highly approachable for players of all ages he's credited on many other games as well notably as supervisor and scenario designer on the super nintendo classic chrono trigger it overwhelms and inspires me thinking about just how much joy horizon's work has brought to so many people in this world and for so long in a 2011 interview reflecting on 25 years of dragon quest back then horizon described the series as being about overcoming hardship it's like climbing up a steep mountain he said you have to keep climbing

climbing climbing climbing and then at the end you finally get to the top of the mountain and you see the beautiful view i hope uh horizon has had a chance to see that by now unfortunately yuji horizon was unable to travel to gdc this time around but he sent us a short acceptance video we would like to share with you all now thank you [Applause] via [Music] foreign [Music]

[Music] all [Music] know [Music]

[Music] foreign [Music] [Music] foreign [Music]

foreign [Music] [Music] and we're back for blood it was a little long the oscars the grammys and the golden globes all have one thing in common they do not have an innovation award

category but we do [Music] [Applause] that's why it's so exciting to work on games every year even after all of this time there are thousands of games that do something we've never seen before we have just barely scratched the surface of what's possible in our medium and maybe someday we might even be able to make a functioning door what a time to be alive [Applause] friends please join me in celebrating the nominees for the innovation award innovation award it takes two developed by hazelite studios published by electronic arts

wilder myth developed by world walker games published by world walker games [Music] unpacking developed by rich being published by humble games tim dawson wren breyer jeff van dyke inscription developed by daniel mullins games published by devolver digital daniel mullins [Applause] deaf loop developed by arcane leon published by bethesda softworks [Music]

and the winner is unpacking [Applause] [Music] oh my god okay uh oh my god thank you [Applause] four years ago tim arrived in my apartment with a pile of boxes in tow

we'd been dating for a year and a bit and that day marked an exciting new chapter in our lives it ended up being even more significant though because it was also the day we came up with an idea for a game about unpacking um now i just i can't believe how much this game has changed our lives it's taken us around the world introduced us to so many people so many opportunities and now we're here um everyone has been so nice and supportive all week so far um yeah i i just can't believe it and i could not have asked for a better team um tim who is the glue who holds this whole project together and who also held me together through some of the roughest patches jeff with more experience in games than the rest of us combined um angus who practically reinvented isometric pixel art working on this game and the rest of our amazing art team michelle joe and stacy who each put a

bit of themselves into the game and got into an unbelievable level of polish and annie who helped us come up with a believable cast of characters you never get to see damon who helped us make the game more accessible with fully remappable controls victoria with her god-tier community management skills and emily who took over from her recently and has been smashing it um and of course sanatan who has always believed in us and supported us through the good and the bad thank you all so much for making this game what it is and thanks everyone here in the audience yeah thank you so much i've been in games for nearly 15 years and in that time i've learned that games

can basically be boiled down to two ingredients heart and math right i get the hard part but math is really hard technology is advancing these days at the blink of an eye and these developers are working even faster than that to bring us the best of what the new platforms and mechanics can accomplish in an interactive medium i can't even tell you how much math is involved in that it's incalculable thank you so let's see the nominees for the award for everything that i'm not smart enough to understand in video games the best technology award best technology halo infinite developed by 343

industries published by xbox game studios david berger dean johnson danielle gianetti mike romero forza horizon 5 developed by playground games published by xbox game studios mike brown don arcata gareth harwood fraser strachan [Music] ratchet and flank rift apart developed by insomniac games published by sony interactive entertainment [Music] return developed by housemart published by sony interactive entertainment ethan watson bristol [Music] hitman 3

developed by iowa interactive published by io interactive [Music] and the winner is ratchet and clank [Music] [Applause] [Music] all right all right excuse me deep breath uh this is uh way scarier than giving my talk earlier today so oh sorry can you hear me now

all right first uh thank you everyone it's so humbling to be counted among all the amazingly talented developers here and it's an incredible honor to be recognized i'd like to begin by thanking all my colleagues who came up here with me right i was telling our director earlier this week that there was no way in hell i was going to come up here by myself right this is uh this is truly terrifying but on behalf of all the engineering teams at insomniac i'd like to begin by thanking all insomniacs without your vision and support um frankly most of our games would be just really well optimized programmer art i'd also like to thank the advanced technology group the ice team and all the other tech wizards that built the platform that made rift apart possible i'd also like to thank our family friends and loved ones that stood by us every step of the way as we brought ratchet to the finish line and finally my good friend alan here has a few additional words for us thank you thank you to everybody who supported every one of us when we were

getting started pay it forward [Applause] as a career game designer this is the category that's closest to my heart when i started making games there was a moment when i had a very hard time playing games something that i had done my whole life up to that point all of a sudden i was starting to see behind the curtain the magic was fading i asked myself if i had made a mistake i wished that i could turn it off to go back to how i used to play games as i was coming to terms with my new

reality something unexpected happened i was starting to develop a love for the craft that i didn't believe was possible it was stronger than the love than the one that rep than the one it replaced now i could see the source of the magic and the intentions behind it game design is invisible until it's not and then its beauty can blind you here are the nominees for the best design award best design it takes two developed by hazelite studios published by electronic arts psychonauts 2 developed by double fine productions published by xbox theory studios

tim shafer [Music] halo infinite developed by 343 industries published by xbox game studios jerry hook paul crocker tom french troy mashburn death loop developed by arcane leon published by bethesda softworks [Music] inscription developed by daniel mullins games published by devolver digital daniel mullins [Music] and the winner is it takes two

[Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] the best design award winner couldn't be here tonight but they've sent you here they sent us an acceptance thank you i hope you could read fast please join me in taking a moment to remember those colleagues peers mentors and friends who we lost this year every single one of them has made a tremendous contribution to our art and our industry they will never be forgotten [Music]

[Music] [Music]

okay i have another one for you what do you call a death loop sequel set in a restaurant [Music] destiny death soup [Applause] the drums were too loud the joke wasn't bad it was the drums right it's okay everyone we're getting to the end here be patient i'm almost out of puns i never i know that everyone wishes that they could vote on which of my jokes was the best tonight

but here we have the audience award instead the audience award is always one of my favorite because it could be literally any game that wins i think wordle has a shot this year all right so here are the winners of the sorry here is the winner of our audience award you ready for it valheim [Music] so the audience award winner couldn't be here tonight but they've sent this acceptance message hi i'm lisa i'm robin and i'm josephine and we're from irongate thank you so much for giving us this year's audience award it means so much to us that you like our game it's been a lot to have your support this year and

we really hope that you will continue to love the game for a long time to come [Applause] we're finally here it's the biggest award of the night but it's still not bigger than lady dimitrescu all right wait i had a joke for this one huh hold on what do you call it when lady dimeth leshku why i messed up her name lady dimitrescu spills her drink residence evil spillage [Applause] is it getting better or worse i that okay all right so so here it is our game of the year award

these nominees represent some of the best voices best technology best design best narrative and best innovation that our industry has to offer all wrapped up into five spectacular games each of them deserve to win for being not only an example of where we are now but a glimpse of where our industry is headed as a whole here are the nominees for the game of the year game of the year inscription developed by danny mullins games published by devolver digital daniel mullins jonas enzo david hegeman [Applause] forza horizon 5 developed by playground games published by xbox game studios mike brown don arcata gareth harwood

fraser strachan resident evil village developed by capcom published by capcom developed by arcane leon published by bethesda softworks [Applause] it takes two developed by hazelite studios published by electronic arts i feel stuck and the winner of the 2022 game developers choice award for the

game of the year goes to inscription [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] that that one was really unexpected um i don't know how you compare those games like i think like should you have made the cars faster in forza or something like uh but i was trying to think like i didn't think this one would happen but i was trying to rack my brain for some like thank you deep cuts so i was thinking of thanking my grandma uh for being one-fourth of my genes but also she um actually is the voice of grimora in inscription so she is a voice actor um my dad let me film him

and i he's a secret boss in inscription and there's one version of him that has like a yoga like pillow on his head and he's supposed to look like a mushroom man and he he put up with that that's cool thank you and thank you as we wrap up our night i believe my total pun and that joke count comes to about 13. we call that a troy baker's dozen all right now it's 14 right genuinely i would like to end the show by giving a final congratulations to all of the winners and all of the nominees and everyone who shipped or even worked on a game this past year [Applause]

you've done the impossible time and time again i admire all of you and consider myself extremely lucky to be your colleague i'd like to thank everyone who made this show safe and possible the production crew backstage the gdc organizers the volunteers and the cas who brought us all back together this evening please give them a round of applause i'd like to end by asking everyone who's watching here and back home to cross your arms like this do it now squeeze gently we've all just shared a much needed

communal hug the past few years have been really tough and but we have each other and we will get through this so thanks for coming and for watching please stay safe and don't forget we're stronger together thank you [Music] you