14 DAY TRIAL // The 2012 Game Developers Choice Awards were announced last night during the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco and the big winners were The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim from Bethesda, who picked up the Game of the Year award, and Portal 2 from Valve, which managed to get three prizes.
Todd Howard, who is the game director working on Skyrim, stated, “We never imagined the reception the game would get, or the reception that it has had. This has been an amazing ride for us, not just for this game, but for the last 25-plus years at Bethesda.”
Erik Wolpaw, who is the writer of Portal 2, also spoke at the ceremony, saying, “During most of the development of Portal 2, I thought I was going to die. So just not being dead was the only award that I thought I was going to get.”
The full list of winners for the Game Developers Choice Awards includes:
Game of the Year - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim from Bethesda
2012 Pioneer Award - Dave Theurer - creator of Missile Command, Tempest and I, Robot
Best Downloadable Game - Bastion from Supergiant Games
Best Visual Arts - Uncharted 3 by Naughty Dog
Best Audio - Portal 2 from Valve
Best Debut - Supergiant Games for Bastion
Best Narrative - Portal 2 from Valve
Best Game Design - Portal 2 by Valve
Best Technology - Battlefield 3 from DICE
Best Mobile Handheld Game - Superbrothers Sword & Sworcery from Superbrothers and Capy
Innovation Award - Johann Sebastian Joust from Die Gute Fabrik
The Game Developers Choice Awards also include recognition for video game ambassadors, who have contributed to the wellbeing of the industry. This year the prize went to Ken Doroshow and Paul M. Smith, the two lawyers who led the team that defeated the California violent game bill in front of the United States Supreme Court.