Game Developers Choice Awards 2010

The Game Developers Conference 2010 was held on Thursday, March 11, 2010 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, CA following the 12th Annual Independent Games Festival Awards at 6:30 pm PT. The 10th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards were hosted by Warren Spector with interstitials provided by Mega64.

Nominees and Winners

Below are the games and their developers nominated for each category with the winners in bold.

Best Debut Game

• Zeno Clash  –  ACE Team /
  

        Andrés Bordeu, Carlos Bordeu, Edmundo Bordeu, David Caloguerea

• League Of Legends  –  Riot Games / Riot Games
  

        Marc Merrill, Brandon Beck

• Torchlight  –  Runic Games /
  

        Travis Baldree, Max Schaefer, Eric Schaefer, Peter Hu

• Spider: The Secret Of Bryce Manor  –  Tiger Style Games /
  

        Tiger Style Team

• The Maw  –  Twisted Pixel Games / Microsoft Game Studios
  

        Michael Wilford, Josh Bear

Best Audio

• Dragon Age: Origins  –  BioWare / Electronic Arts
  

        Simon Pressey, Jeremie Voillot, Michael Kent, Matt Besler

• Brütal Legend  –  Double Fine Productions / Electronic Arts
  

        Emily Ridgway

• The Beatles: Rock Band  –  Harmonix Music Systems / MTV Games
  

        Eric Brosius, Giles Martin, Paul Hicks, Josh Randall

• Uncharted 2: Among Thieves  –  Naughty Dog / Sony Computer Entertainment America
  

        Bruce Swanson, Phil Kovats

• flower  –  thatgamecompany / Sony Computer Entertainment
  

        Vincent Diamante, Steve Johson, Jenova Chen, Martin Middleton

Best Game Design

• Uncharted 2: Among Thieves  –  Naughty Dog / Sony Computer Entertainment America

        Bruce Straley, Amy Hennig, Richard Lemarchand, Neil Druckmann

• Plants vs. Zombies  –  PopCap Games / PopCap Games
  

        George Fan, Tod Semple, Sukhbir Sidhu, Jason Kapalka

• Batman: Arkham Asylum  –  Rocksteady Studios / Eidos Interactive
  

        Sefton Hill, Ian Ball

• flower  –  thatgamecompany / Sony Computer Entertainment
  

        Jenova Chen, Nick Clark

• Assassin's Creed II  –  Ubisoft Montreal Studios / Ubisoft
  

        Patrick Plourde    

Best Writing

• Dragon Age: Origins  –  BioWare / Electronic Arts
  

        David Gaider, Luke Kristjanson, Sheryl Chee, Mary Kirby

• Halo 3: ODST  –  Bungie Studios / Microsoft Game Studios
  

        Joseph Staten

• Brütal Legend  –  Double Fine Productions / Electronic Arts
  

        Tim Schafer

• Uncharted 2: Among Thieves  –  Naughty Dog / Sony Computer Entertainment America
  

        Amy Hennig, Neil Druckmann, Josh Scherr

• Batman: Arkham Asylum  –  Rocksteady Studios / Eidos Interactive
  

        Paul Dini, Paul Crocker

Best New Social/Online Game

• Dungeon Fighter Online  –  Neople/Nexon

        Neople Team

• Restaurant City  –  Playfish

        Tom Mapham, Michelle Chuang, Tommy Chuang, Ken Pederson

• Bejeweled Blitz  –  PopCap Games
  

        Jon David, Jason Kapalka, Scott Lantz

• Free Realms  –  Sony Online Entertainment San Diego

        Andy Sites, Laralyn McWilliams, Rosie Rappaport, Michael Hunley

• Farmville  –  Zynga

        Bill Mooney, Mark Skaggs, David Gray, Mark Pincus

Best Handheld Game

• Scribblenauts  –  5th Cell / Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
  

        Jeremiah Slaczka

• Flight Control  –  Firemint / Firemint
  

        Robert Murray

• The Legend Of Zelda: Spirit Tracks  –  Nintendo EAD / Nintendo
  

        Eiji Aonuma

• Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars  –  Rockstar Leeds / Rockstar Games
  

        Rockstar Leeds / Rockstar North Team

• Spider: The Secret Of Bryce Manor  –  Tiger Style

        Tiger Style Team    

Best Technology

• Killzone 2  –  Guerrilla Games / Sony Computer Entertainment
  

        Hermen Hulst, Arjan Brussee, Michiel van der Leeuw, Jan-Bart van Beek

• Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2  –  Infinity Ward / Activision
  

        Richard Baker, Frank Gigliotti

• Uncharted 2: Among Thieves – Naughty Dog / Sony Computer Entertainment America
  

        Christophe Balestra, Pal Engstad, Travis McIntosh

• Assassin's Creed II  –  Ubisoft Montreal / Ubisoft
  

        James Therrien

• Red Faction: Guerrilla  –  Volition / THQ
  

        Rick White, Jasen Whiteside, James Hague, Dave Baranec

Best Downloadable Game

• Shadow Complex  –  Chair Entertainment / Microsoft Game Studios
  

        Donald Mustard, Geremy Mustard, Michael Capps, Cliff Bleszinski

• Plants vs. Zombies  –  PopCap Games / PopCap Games
  

        George Fan, Tod Semple, Sukhbir Sidhu, Jason Kapalka

• PixelJunk Shooter  –  Q-Games / Sony Computer Entertainment
  

        Dylan Cuthbert, Kentaro Yoshida, Shouichi Tominga, High Frequency Bandwidth

• Trials HD  –  RedLynx / Microsoft Game Studios
  

        Antti Ilvessuo, Tero Virtala

• flower  –  thatgamecompany / Sony Computer Entertainment
  

        Jenova Chen, Kellee Santiago, Nick Clark, John Edwards

Best Visual Arts

• Borderlands  –  Gearbox Software / 2K Games
  

        Brian Martel, Jenn Wildes, Brian Cozzens, Tim Wilson    

• Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2  –  Infinity Ward / Activision
  

        Richard Kriegler

• Uncharted 2: Among Thieves  –  Naughty Dog / Sony Computer Entertainment America
  

        Robh Ruppel, Erick Pangilinan

• flower  –  thatgamecompany / Sony Computer Entertainment
  

        Jenova Chen, Matt Nava, Hao Cui

• Assassin's Creed II  –  Ubisoft Montreal / Ubisoft
  

        Mohamed Gambouz

Innovation Award

• Scribblenauts  –  5th Cell / Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
  

        Jeremiah Slaczka

• Demon's Souls  –  From Software / Atlus
  

        Hidetaka Miyazaki, Takeshi Kajii

• Uncharted 2: Among Thieves  –  Naughty Dog / Sony Computer Entertainment America
  

        Evan Wells, Christophe Balestra, Bruce Straley, Amy Hennig

• Plants vs. Zombies  –  PopCap Games / PopCap Games
  

        George Fan, Tod Semple, Sukhbir Sidhu, Jason Kapalka

• flower  –  thatgamecompany / Sony Computer Entertainment
  

        Jenova Chen, Kellee Santiago, Nick Clark, John Edwards

Game of the Year

• Dragon Age: Origins  –  BioWare / Electronic Arts

        Mark Darrah, Mike Laidlaw, Ross Gardner, Matt Goldman

• Demon's Souls  –  From Software / Atlus

        Takeshi Kajii, Hidetaka Miyazaki

• Uncharted 2: Among Thieves  –  Naughty Dog / Sony Computer Entertainment America

        Evan Wells, Christophe Balestra, Amy Hennig, Bruce Straley

• Batman: Arkham Asylum  –  Rocksteady Studios / Eidos Interactive

        Sefton Hill, Jamie Walker

• Assassin's Creed II  –  Ubisoft Montreal / Ubisoft

        Sebastien Puel,  Patrice Désilets

Special Awards Recipients

These three special honors, selected by the Game Developers Choice Awards advisory board, were also presented at the ceremony.

Ambassador Award

Presented by: John Smedley

Penny Arcade:  Jerry Holkins, Mike Krahulik, and Robert Khoo

Pioneer Award

Presented by: Chris Hecker
 
Gabe Newell

 
 
 
 
 

Lifetime Achievement

Presented by: Will Wright
  
John Carmack