Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor is king of the Game Developers Choice Awards.
Monolith Productions’ gritty action-adventure game set between JRR Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings was honoured as the Game of the Year at the 15th annual ceremony, which is held during the Game Developers Conference.
“I want to thank everyone at Monolith Productions,” said studio head Kevin Stephens as he was backed on stage by dozens of employees. “There are about 40 people up here. I holed them away for two years to make this game, and now I’m letting them loose on GDC.”
The artsy mobile puzzler Monument Valley from ustwo captured the most trophies, picking up the Best Visual Art, Mobile and Innovation awards.
“The last 12 months have been completely insane, and it’s far bigger than we ever expected, said executive producer Daniel Gray. “We’re genuinely humbled.”
Bungie’s shared-world sci-fi shooter Destiny was honoured for Best Technology, while Creative Assembly’s intergalactic horror Alien: Isolation won Best Audio.
Other winners included Cardboard Computer’s adventure game Kentucky Route Zero for Best Narrative, Blizzard’s trade-carding title Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft for Best Design and Stoic Studio’s Viking-themed role-playing game The Banner Saga for Best Debut.
Frontier Developments’ updated space-trading simulator Elite: Dangerous landed the Audience Award, which was selected by online votes.
David Braben, developer of the original Elite in the 1980s, received the Pioneer Award for his influential work, which featured revolutionary 3D graphics and moral quandaries for players.
Brenda Romero, a veteran game designer, was presented with the Ambassador Award, which recognizes individuals who have helped advance the gaming industry.
Hironobu Sakaguchi, the Japanese creator of the Final Fantasy series, was honoured with the show’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
Sapa-AP