Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Baldur’s Gate 3 lead the GDC Awards nominations

The nominees for the 24th annual Game Developers Choice Awards (GDCA) have been revealed.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Baldur’s Gate 3 are both up for seven awards, while Cocoon is up for five prizes.

The three titles are in the running for the coveted Game of the Year award alongside Dave the Diver, Dredge and Marvel’s Spider-Man 2.

A total of 16 games released last year have been nominated across nine awards categories, with the full list republished below.

The winners of the peer-based awards event will be announced at the GDCA ceremony on March 20.

The event is being held in conjunction with the Independent Games Festival Awards at GDC 24 in San Francisco’s Moscone Convention Center.

Members of the public can also vote for their favourite game of the year from all 16 of this year’s nominees in the Audience Award ballot.

BEST AUDIO
Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
Hi-Fi Rush (Tango Gameworks / Bethesda Softworks)
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo)
Venba (Visai Games)

Honourable Mentions: COCOON (Geometric Interactive / Annapurna Interactive), Diablo IV (Blizzard Entertainment), Final Fantasy XVI (Square Enix), Hogwarts Legacy (Avalanche Software / Portkey Games), Humanity (tha ltd. and Enhance / Enhance)

BEST DEBUT
COCOON (Geometric Interactive / Annapurna Interactive)
Dave the Diver (Mintrocket)
Dredge (Black Salt Games / Team17)
Venba (Visai Games)
Viewfinder (Sad Owl Studios / Thunderful Publishing)

Honourable Mentions: BattleBit Remastered (SgtOkiDoki, Vilaskis, and TheLiquidHorse / SgtOkiDoki), Party Animals (Recreate Games / Source Technology), Pizza Tower (Tour De Pizza), Planet of Lana (Wishfully Studios / Thunderful), Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical (Summerfall Studios / Humble Games)

BEST DESIGN
Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
COCOON (Geometric Interactive / Annapurna Interactive)
Dredge (Black Salt Games / Team17)
Hi-Fi Rush (Tango Gameworks / Bethesda