Telltale Games’ The Walking Dead also takes home more coveted honors.
The Game Developers Choice Awards, which honor the very best games of the year, was created for and voted on by developers. Winners are selected by the Game Developers Choice Awards-specific International Choice Awards Network (ICAN), which is an invitation-only group, comprised of 700 leading game creators from all parts of the video game industry.
In addition this year, BioWare founders, Dr. Ray Muzyka and Dr. Greg Zeschuk, were honored by the Choice Awards Advisory Committee with the Lifetime Achievement Award for their contributions to the game development community. The two are responsible for a catalog full of classic RPG titles that inspired a generation, includingBaldur’s Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Knights of the Old Republic, Mass Effect and Dragon Age.
Chris Melissinos, the creator and guest curator of the Smithsonian American Art Museum‘s The Art of Video Games was presented with the Ambassador Award for his efforts on the major exhibition, which is now touring the U.S. The installation, which features playable games alongside visual depictions of dozens of notable titles, has helped further establish video games as a creative medium that deserves to stand alongside all other artforms as an equal.
Finally, Spacewar! creator Steve Russell received the Pioneer Award at the awards, more than 50 years after the multiplayer space game he co-created first ran on a mainframe computer, for helping to create a vitally important precursor to today’s video game industry.
“This year we saw some amazing titles developed in the indie and downloadable game space, and the critical acclaim that titles like Journey, FTL: Faster Than Light, The Walking Dead, and The Room received could not have been more deserved,” said Meggan Scavio, General Manager of the Game Developers Conference. “2012 saw many exciting developments in the video game industry; I can’t wait to see what surprises 2013 will hold.”
