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The Game Developers Choice Awards were held last night during GDC 2012, and paid tribute to industry's best games and game makers of 2011. Bethesda was the big winner of the event, scoring the night's Game of the Year award for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, while leaving other studios to wonder why they even bother showing up to these things anymore.
Game of the Year: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Bethesda)
Best Audio: Portal 2 (Valve)
Best Debut: Supergiant Games (Bastion)
Best Narrative: Portal 2
Best Visual Arts: Uncharted 3 (Naughty Dog)
Best Downloadable Game: Bastion
Best Game Design: Portal 2
Best Technology: Battlefield 3 (EA DICE)
Best Handheld/Mobile Game: Sword & Sworcery (Superbrothers)
Innovation Award: Johann Sebastian Joust
Ambassador Award: Ken Doroshow/Paul M. Smith (the legal council who won the U.S. Supreme Court Case Brown vs. Entertainment Merchants Assn.)
Lifetime Achievement Award: Warren Spector
Pioneer Award: Dave Theurer
The GDC's main event was preceded by the Independent Game Festival Awards, which honored the movers and shakers of the indie scene. Winners included:
Best Student Game: Way
Technical Excellence: Antichamber (Alexander Bruce)
Excellence In Design: Spelunky (Derek Yu)
Best Mobile Game: Beat Sneak Bandit (Simogo)
Excellence in Visual Art: Dear Esther (thechineseroom)
Excellence in Audio: Botanicula (Amanita Design)
Audience Award: Frozen Synapse (Mode 7 Games)
Nuovo Award: Storyteller (Brainbeanz Ltd.)
Seumus McNally Grand Prize: Fez (Polytron)
Skyrim's GDC award is the latest feather in Bethesda's cap. The Elder Scrolls sequel also swept the Interactive Achievement Awards, won Spike's top honor during the VGAs, and is up for multiple categories in the GAME British Academy Video Game Awards. More importantly, it won GR's Platinum Chalice Reader's Choice Award, which is worth more than its weight in fake, made up platinum.
