Game Developers Choice and IGF Awards 2019 winners revealed

It was an amazing year for video games in 2018. We're seeing another excellent parade of titles this year as well, but you've gotta hand it to 2018 – it absolutely killed it, and we've got a lot to look back and be thankful for. 

We've got all the nominees from both phases of the IGF Awards and Game Developers Choice Awards listed here for your convenience, so whether you missed your favorite game's nomination or just want to take a look back at all of the honors handed out throughout the night, we have it all right here for you to relive the magic. Congratulations to all the winners and nominees who helped share the magic of video games with us and the rest of the world.

Without further ado, check out the winners for 2019's winners and nominees below. 

Game Developers Choice Awards 2019 winners

When it comes to selecting the very best games to release in a given year, who better to ask than game developers themselves? They're the ones who would know, after all. Looking at the list of GDC Award 2019 nominees reads like a best-of-the-best for 2018, with major releases like Red Dead Redemption 2, God of War, Celeste, and many others being showcased. Here are all of the Game Developers Choice Awards 2019 nominees and winners, with games that took home the award highlighted in bold.

Game of the Year:
Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)
Return of the Obra Dinn (Lucas Pope / 3909)
Marvel's Spider-Man (Insomniac Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Celeste (Matt Makes Games)
God of War (Sony Santa Monica / Sony Interactive Entertainment)

Best Audio:
Celeste (Matt Makes Games)
Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)
God of War (Sony Santa Monica / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Marvel's Spider-Man (Insomniac Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Tetris Effect (Monstars and Resonair / Enhance)

Best Debut:
Polyarc (Moss)
Mountains (Florence)
Nomada Studio (Gris)
Villa Gorilla (Yoku's Island Express)
Sabotage (The Messenger)

Best Design:
Marvel's Spider-Man (Insomniac Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Celeste (Matt Makes Games)
Into the Breach (Subset Games)
Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)
God of War (Sony Santa Monica / Sony Interactive Entertainment)

Best Mobile Game:
Alto's Odyssey (Snowman)
Florence (Mountains / Annapurna Interactive)
Reigns: Game of Thrones (Nerial / Devolver Digital)
Holedown (Grapefrukt Games)
Donut County (Ben Esposito / Annapurna Interactive)

Innovation Award:
Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)
Florence (Mountains / Annapurna Interactive)
Nintendo Labo (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)
Tetris Effect (Monstars and Resonair / Enhance)
Return of the Obra Dinn (Lucas Pope / 3909)

Best Narrative:
Florence (Mountains / Annapurna Interactive)
God of War (Sony Santa Monica / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Marvel's Spider-Man (Insomniac Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Return of the Obra Dinn (Lucas Pope / 3909)
Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)

Best Technology:
Marvel's Spider-Man (Insomniac Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Assassin's Creed Odyssey (Ubisoft Quebec / Ubisoft)
Forza Horizon 4 (Playground Games and Turn 10 Studios / Microsoft Studios)
God of War (Sony Santa Monica / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)

Best Visual Art:
Gris (Nomada Studio / Devolver Digital)
Marvel's Spider-Man (Insomniac Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
God of War (Sony Santa Monica / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Return of the Obra Dinn (Lucas Pope / 3909)
Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)

Best VR/AR Game:
Budget Cuts (Neat Corporation)
Beat Saber (Beat Games)
Tetris Effect (Monstars and Resonair / Enhance)
Moss (Polyarc)
Astro Bot Rescue Mission (SIE Japan Studio / Sony Interactive Entertainment)

Lifetime Achievement Award: Amy Hennig

Pioneer Award: Rieko Kodama

Audience Award 2019: Beat Saber

Indepedent Games Festival Awards 2019 winners

Before the Game Developers Choice Awards kicked off properly, everyone at GDC 2019 was treated to the Independent Games Festival Awards, highlighting some of the biggest names and games from indepedent developers. Players who closely follow indepedent games development will see plenty of familiar titles listed, but as is always the case, only one game in each category could take home the award. Here are all of the IGF Awards 2019 winners.

Seumas McNally Grand Prize:
Minit (Kitty Calis, Jan Willem Nijman, Jukio Kallio & Dominik Johann)
Opus Magnum (Zachtronics)
Noita (Nolla Games)
Return of the Obra Dinn (Lucas Pope)
Hypnospace Outlaw (Jay Tholen, Mike Lasch, Xalavier Nelson Jr., Corey Cochran) - should have won tho also
Do Not Feed the Monkeys (Fictiorama Studios)

Excellence in Visual Art:
Forgotton Anne (ThroughLine Games)
Alto's Odyssey (Team Alto)
Hypnospace Outlaw (Jay Tholen, Mike Lasch, Xalavier Nelson Jr., Corey Cochran)
Just Shapes & Beats (Berzerk Studio)
Mirror Drop (Ian Lilley)
Return of the Obra Dinn (Lucas Pope)

Excellence in Audio:
ETHEREAL (Nonsense Arts - Nicolás Recabarren and Tomás Batista)
Hypnospace Outlaw (Jay Tholen, Mike Lasch, Xalavier Nelson Jr., Corey Cochran)
Moss (Polyarc)
Return of the Obra Dinn (Lucas Pope)
Alto's Odyssey (Team Alto)
Paratopic (Arbitrary Metric)

Excellence in Design:
What the Golf? (Triband)
Do Not Feed the Monkeys (Fictiorama Studios)
Noita (Nolla Games)
Return of the Obra Dinn (Lucas Pope)
Dicey Dungeons (Terry Cavanagh, Chipzel, and Marlowe Dobbe)
Opus Magnum (Zachtronics)

Excellence in Narrative:
Wandersong (Greg Lobanov & A Shell in the Pit)
Genital Jousting (Free Lives)
Unavowed (Wadjet Eye Games)
Seers Isle (Nova-box)
Watch Me Jump (Jeremy Gable)
Return of the Obra Dinn (Lucas Pope)

Nuovo Award:
Circle0 (yesyes)
eCheese Zone (Seemingly Pointless)
Noita (Nolla Games)
Mirror Drop (Ian Lilley)
Black Room (Cassie McQuater)
Paratopic (Arbitrary Metric)
Do Not Feed the Monkeys (Fictiorama Studios)
Nth Dimension[al] Hiking (Zachariah Chandler)

Best Student Game:
It's Paper Guy! (Paper Team)
Grace Bruxner Presents: The Haunted Island, a Frog Detective Game (Grace Bruxner)
After HOURS (Bahiyya Khan, Claire Meekel, Tim Flusk, Abi Meekel)
En Garde! (En Garde! Team)
levedad (solimporta)
Sole (Gossamer Games)

Alt.Ctrl.GDC Award: Hot Swap

Last year saw the release of some of the biggest releases in video game history, and it's certainly nice to see studios being properly commended for their efforts. With that said, the Game Developers Choice Awards and Indepedent Games Festival Awards finalists and winners for 2019 will be surprising to some, especially with consideration to how many independent games wound up taking awards away from much bigger releases. Be sure to stay tuned to Shacknews for more awesome GDC 2019 coverage and all the hottest news coming out of the show as we bring you videos, interviews, previews, and more. We've got you covered!

Brittany Vincent

Senior Editor

Fueled by horror, rainbow-sugar-pixel-rushes, and video games, Brittany is a Senior Editor at Shacknews who thrives on surrealism and ultraviolence. Follow her on Twitter @MolotovCupcake and check out her portfolio for more. Like a fabulous shooter once said, get psyched!