13th Game Developers Choice Awards opens noms to Gamasutra members

The Game Developers Conference has opened nominations for the 13th annual Game Developers Choice Awards through January 4, 2013. Produced by GDC parent company the UBM Tech Game Network, the Choice Awards are the most prestigious honors in the world of video game development. The Game Developers Choice Awards recognize the artistry and technical genius of leading industry professionals across multiple game development disciplines. The 13th Annual Awards ceremony will take place the evening of March 27, during GDC 2013 in San Francisco, CA. Awards in 10 categories are open for nominations for games that launched to retail or debuted online during the 2012 calendar year. Nominations are also open for three special awards: the Pioneer Award (previous winners), which celebrates those individuals who developed a breakthrough technology, game concept, or gameplay design at a crucial juncture video game history - paving the way for the myriads who followed them. Also up for nominations is the Ambassador Award (previous winners), which honors an individual who helped the game industry advance to a better place, either through facilitating a better game community from within, or by reaching outside the industry to be an advocate for video games, and the Lifetime Achievement Award (previous winners). All three special awards are open to anyone not previously recognized. In addition, the Choice Awards will be adding the new Audience Award category for the first time. Fans will have the opportunity to vote on their favorite video game that was released in the previous calendar year. Voting for the audience award will open on February 4, 2013 and will be completely open to the public to cast votes. Nominations can be submitted by any worldwide game professional, registered with a Gamasutra.com account, simply by voting via the Game Developers Choice Awards website. Winners will be selected by the Game Developers Choice Awards' International Choice Awards Network (ICAN), which is a handpicked group comprised of 500 leading game creators from across the video game industry. Special Award winners are selected by the Game Developers Choice Awards Advisory Committee, which includes notable industry veterans from Blizzard Entertainment, Bungie, CCP, ngmoco, Valve, Zynga and more. The Game Developers Choice Award categories open for nominations are: (Regular Awards) • Best Audio • Best Debut Game • Best Downloadable Game • Best Handheld/Mobile Game • Best Game Design • Best Narrative • Best Technology • Best Visual Arts • Innovation Award • Game of the Year • Audience Award (Voting to open on February 4, 2013) (Special Awards) • Lifetime Achievement • Pioneer Award • Ambassador Award The ceremony, produced by the GDC and media sponsored by Gamasutra.com and Game Developer Magazine, will take place on Wednesday, March 27, 2013 at 6:30pm. The ceremony is held immediately following the Independent Games Festival Awards, and will take place at San Francisco's Moscone Convention Center. For more information about the Game Developers Choice Awards or to submit a nomination ballot, visit the award website. For further information and to register for GDC 2013, please visit the official conference website.