Finalists Announced for the 26th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards, Led by Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 With Eight Total Nominations

Winners To Be Announced at the Premier, Peer-Based Annual Award Show for Video Games on Thursday, March 12, During the GDC Festival of Gaming

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today, the organizers of the GDC Festival of Gaming are announcing the finalists for the 26th annual Game Developers Choice Awards (GDCA), the premier, globally recognized accolades for peer-recognition in the video game industry. Finalists will be honored and winners announced at this year’s GDCA ceremony, held on Thursday, March 12, during the GDC Festival of Gaming in San Francisco. This year’s GDCA ceremony will take place the night after the 28th annual Independent Games Festival (IGF) awards ceremony, held on Wednesday, March 11. Both ceremonies are open to all GDC Festival of Gaming passholders and streamed for free on the official GDC Twitch channel. The GDC Festival of Gaming, a global gathering for the full game-making ecosystem, will be held at San Francisco’s Moscone Center from March 9 – 13, 2026.

The Game Developers Choice Awards is a celebration of the top games from the past year and the developers who make them. Games are nominated by, voted on, and decided by video game developers within the industry. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (Sandfall Interactive / Kepler Interactive), a finalist in eight categories, leads this year’s games in total nominations. Nominations for the coveted Game of the Year award include Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 as well as Blue Prince (Dogubomb / Raw Fury), Donkey Kong Bananza (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo), Ghost of Yōtei (Sucker Punch Productions / Sony Interactive Entertainment), Hollow Knight: Silksong (Team Cherry) and Split Fiction (Hazelight Studios / EA).

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, developed by Sandfall Interactive and published by Kepler Interactive, is a compelling role-playing game that serves as a loving ode to, and evolution of, the classic JRPG genre with real-time action elements and a distinctly French-inspired narrative and aesthetic. With a dramatic story filled with dread and hope, the game’s artfully crafted world has drawn praise from all corners of the world. The title’s multitude of nominations, in almost every category of the GDCAs, is a testament to the robust craftsmanship and artistry of its creation.

Ghost of Yōtei by Sucker Punch Productions and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment, is the acclaimed sequel to 2020’s Ghost of Tsushima, itself a GDCA 2021 award winner. Earning five total nominations, Ghost of Yōtei has been praised as a refinement of the solid open-world action established by its predecessor, further amplified by an electric new protagonist with Atsu. A rage-filled warrior driven by vengeance, Atsu propels an epic story filled with twists, violence, trauma and the journey towards an improbable harmony.

Any video game that was released and made publicly available during the 2025 calendar year is eligible for free nomination for the 2026 Game Developers Choice Awards. All nominees and winners are selected by the Game Developers Choice Awards-specific International Choice Awards Network (ICAN), an invitation-only organization composed of leading game creators from across the industry.

In addition to the categories listed below, the Audience Award invites all GDC Festival of Gaming attendees and members of the public to cast their vote for their favorite game of the year from all of this year’s GDCA finalists. The public can cast their vote from the Audience Award ballot here. Voting opens on January 26 and ends on February 8.

The complete list of nominees and honorable mentions for each category of the 26th annual Game Developers Choice Awards are as follows:

Best Audio

• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (Sandfall Interactive / Kepler Interactive)
• Death Stranding 2: On the Beach (Kojima Productions / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Ghost of Yōtei (Sucker Punch Productions / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Rift of the NecroDancer (Brace Yourself Games, Tic Toc Games / Klei Publishing)
• South of Midnight (Compulsion Games / Xbox Game Studios)

Honorable Mentions:

ARC Raiders (Embark Studios), Donkey Kong Bananza (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo), Doom: The Dark Ages (id Software / Bethesda Softworks), Lumines Arise (Enhance / Monstars Inc.), To a T (uvula LLC / Annapurna Interactive)

Best Debut

• BALL X PIT (Kenny Sun & Friends / Devolver Digital)
• Blue Prince (Dogubomb / Raw Fury)
• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (Sandfall Interactive / Kepler Interactive)
• Dispatch (Adhoc Studio)

Honorable Mentions:

ARC Raiders (Embark Studios), Consume Me (Jenny Jiao Hsia), Hollow Knight: Silksong (Team Cherry), The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy (Too Kyo Games, Media. Vision Inc. / Aniplex), The Roottrees are Dead (Evil Trout Inc.)

Best Design

• BALL X PIT (Kenny Sun & Friends / Devolver Digital)
• Blue Prince (Dogubomb / Raw Fury)
• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (Sandfall Interactive / Kepler Interactive)
• Donkey Kong Bananza (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)
• Split Fiction (Hazelight Studios / Electronic Arts)

Honorable Mentions:

Death Stranding 2: On the Beach (Kojima Productions / Sony Interactive Entertainment), Ghost of Yōtei (Sucker Punch Productions / Sony Interactive Entertainment), Kingdom Come: Deliverance II (Warhorse Studios / Deep Silver), The Alters (11 Bit Studios)

Innovation Award

• BALL X PIT (Kenny Sun & Friends / Devolver Digital)
• Baby Steps (Gabe Cuzzillo, Maxi Boch, Bennett Foddy / Devolver Digital)
• Blue Prince (Dogubomb / Raw Fury)
• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (Sandfall Interactive / Kepler Interactive)
• Donkey Kong Bananza (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)

Honorable Mentions:

CloverPit (Panik Arcade / Future Friends Games), Consume Me (Jenny Jiao Hsia), REPO (Semiwork Studios), Sunderfolk (Secret Door / Dreamhaven), To a T (uvula LLC / Annapurna Interactive)

Best Narrative

• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (Sandfall Interactive / Kepler Interactive)
• Despelote (Julián Cordero, Sebastián Valbuena / Panic)
• Dispatch (AdHoc Studio)
• Ghost of Yōtei (Sucker Punch Productions / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Split Fiction (Hazelight Studios / Electronic Arts)

Honorable Mentions:

Lost Records: Bloom & Rage (DON'T NOD Montréal, DON’T NOD), South of Midnight (Compulsion Games / Xbox Game Studios), The Outer Worlds 2 (Obsidian Entertainment / Xbox Game Studios), The Séance of Blake Manor (Spooky Doorway / Raw Fury)

Best Technology

• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (Sandfall Interactive / Kepler Interactive)
• Death Stranding 2: On the Beach (Kojima Productions / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Donkey Kong Bananza (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)
• Ghost of Yōtei (Sucker Punch Productions / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Split Fiction (Hazelight Studios / Electronic Arts)

Honorable Mentions:

ARC Raiders (Embark Studios), Battlefield 6 (Battlefield Studios / Electronic Arts), Hollow Knight: Silksong (Team Cherry), Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 (Warhorse Studios / Deep Silver), PEAK (Team PEAK / Aggro Crab, Landfall)

Best Visual Art

• Absolum (Guard Crush Games, Dotemu, Supamonks / Dotemu)
• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (Sandfall Interactive / Kepler Interactive)
• Death Stranding 2: On the Beach (Kojima Productions / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Ghost of Yōtei (Sucker Punch Productions / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Hades II (Supergiant Games)
• Keeper (Double Fine Productions / Xbox Game Studios)

Honorable Mentions:

Hollow Knight: Silksong (Team Cherry), South of Midnight (Compulsion Games / Xbox Game Studios), Sword of the Sea (Giant Squid), The Midnight Walk (MoonHood / Fast Travel Games)

Social Impact

• And Roger (TearyHand Studio / Kodansha)
• Consume Me (Jenny Jiao Hsia)
• Despelote (Julián Cordero, Sebastián Valbuena / Panic)
• Dispatch (AdHoc Studio)

Honorable Mentions:

Herdling (Okomotive / Panic), Lost Records: Bloom & Rage (DON'T NOD Montréal, DON’T NOD ), PEAK (Team PEAK / Aggro Crab, Landfall), To a T (uvula LLC / Annapurna Interactive)

Game of the Year

• Blue Prince (Dogubomb / Raw Fury)
• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (Sandfall Interactive / Kepler Interactive)
• Donkey Kong Bananza (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)
• Ghost of Yōtei (Sucker Punch Productions / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Hollow Knight: Silksong (Team Cherry)
• Split Fiction (Hazelight Studios / Electronic Arts)

Honorable Mentions:

Absolum (Guard Crush Games, Dotemu, Supamonks / Dotemu), BALL X PIT (Kenny Sun & Friends / Devolver Digital), Hades II (Supergiant Games)