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Special Award Nominee Eligibility
Nominees for the Special Awards (Lifetime Achievement, Pioneer, Ambassador) are not eligible if they have previously won the equivalent Special Award.
Regular Award Nominee Eligibility
All awards are for the 2009 calendar year.
Any video game which was initially released, and made publicly available to consumers, during the year 2009, irrespective of platform or delivery medium, is eligible for nomination. Upgrades, expansions and mission packs are not eligible.
Reference the following resources for an overview of 2009 game releases (these resources are provided as reference aids only, and may not be exhaustive):
- GameRankings: 2009's best-reviewed games
- MobyGames: Games released in 2009 browser
- Wikipedia: List of PlayStation Network games, List of Xbox Live Arcade games
Award Nominator Eligibility
All professional game developers who are part of Gamasutra.com's member list are eligible to provide nominations, both for the Special and Regular Awards. Choice Awards organizers will vet the profiles of those nominating to ensure that the nominating parties are indeed game development professionals. If you are not a member of Gamasutra.com, please sign up to via Gamasutra.com to participate.
Nomination Costs
The Game Developers Choice Awards are about peer recognition and rewarding excellence and innovation in games. There are no fees or costs associated with making nominations.
Special/Regular Award Nomination Process
During the nomination period, any person meeting the above eligibility can come to the Choice Awards web site to submit their nominations. Note that it is not necessary to make a nomination for each category. Nominations for the same game or person in different categories is allowed. You cannot nominate the same game in the same category more than once - any duplicate submissions will be ignored.
Regular Award Finalist Selection Process
Once the nomination process closes, the Choice Awards Advisory Committee will help select the five finalists in each category. Though the committee has some minor discretion to add its own nominations, the list of games nominated during the open process will largely inform and inspire their selections. The winners of the Regular Awards are then voted by the final voting body, including the Advisory Committee but a large amount of additional voters from the Gamasutra.com member database.
The winners for the Lifetime Achievement, Pioneer and Ambassador awards are also determined by the Advisory Committee, following nominations from the public. In this case, the Committee will take all nominations into account, but will vote independently on the winners of each category.
*New* Voting Process
Winners will be selected by the Game Developers Choice Awards-specific International Choice Awards Network (ICAN), which is a new invitation-only group comprised of 500 leading game creators from all parts of the video game industry.
Award Recipients/Attributions
The game with the most votes in a category receives the given award. Award categories are attributed in the following manner:
- Best Audio: audio director, audio designer
- Best Debut Game: studio head, studio founder
- Best Downloadable Game: lead designer, executive producer, studio head
- Best Handheld Game: lead designer, executive producer, studio head
- Best Game Design: creative director, lead designer
- Best Technology: tech director, lead programmer
- Best Visual Arts: art director, lead artist
- Best Writing: lead writer
- Innovation Award: creative leads
- Game of the Year: lead designer, executive producer, studio head
Further, each nominated game will be listed with the development studio and publisher company names. For example: Best Game ActionFest2 (DeveloperX/PublisherY) - John Smith, Mary Jane, Joe Johns
Nominated games must provide the names of the developers assuming the above roles. If developer names are not provided, the game will be disqualified and replaced by another finalist.
The recipients for the Lifetime Achievement, Ambassador and Pioneer awards are determined by the Choice Awards Advisory Committee. These special awards are presented to the individuals being recognized.