Video Games
‘Death Stranding’, ‘Control’ Lead Nominations For GDC Awards
The 20th edition of the Game Developers Choice Awards (GDCA) is coming up quickly, and the nominees for the categories have just been announced. And much like The Game Awards 2019, Kojima Productions’ Death Stranding has shown up the most in the nominations (seven in all), followed by Remedy Entertainment’s Control (which has five).
Unlike The Game Awards, Obsidian’s The Outer Worlds is nominated in only one category, while ZA/UM’s Disco Elysium is nominated in four categories. From Software’s Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is only nominated in three categories, but is up against Control and Death Stranding for Game of The Year.
The GDC Awards is set to take place later this year on Wednesday, March 18, 2020, at 6:30pm PST.
BEST AUDIO
Death Stranding (Kojima Productions/Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Sayonara Wild Hearts (Simogo/Annapurna Interactive)
Control (Remedy Entertainment/505 Games)
Untitled Goose Game (House House/Panic)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (Infinity Ward/Activision)
BEST DEBUT
ZA/UM (Disco Elysium)
Mobius Digital (Outer Wilds)
William Chyr Studios (Manifold Garden)
Foam Sword Games (Knights and Bikes)
Chance Agency (Neo Cab)
BEST DESIGN
Baba Is You (Hempuli)
Outer Wilds (Mobius Digital/Annapurna Interactive)
Death Stranding (Kojima Productions/Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (FromSoftware/Activision Publishing, FromSoftware)
Untitled Goose Game (House House/Panic)
INNOVATION AWARD
Untitled Goose Game (House House/Panic)
Disco Elysium (ZA/UM)
Baba Is You (Hempuli)
Death Stranding (Kojima Productions/Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Outer Wilds (Mobius Digital/Annapurna Interactive)
BEST MOBILE GAME
Sayonara Wild Hearts (Simogo/Annapurna Interactive)
What the Golf? (Triband Productions/The Label Limited)
Grindstone (Capybara Games)
Sky: Children of the Light (thatgamecompany)
Call of Duty: Mobile (TiMi Studios/Activision)
BEST NARRATIVE
Disco Elysium (ZA/UM)
Control (Remedy Entertainment/505 Games)
Death Stranding (Kojima Productions/Sony Interactive Entertainment)
The Outer Worlds (Obsidian Entertainment/Private Division)
Outer Wilds (Mobius Digital/Annapurna Interactive)
BEST TECHNOLOGY
Death Stranding (Kojima Productions/Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Control (Remedy Entertainment/505 Games)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (Infinity Ward/Activision)
Apex Legends (Respawn Entertainment/Electronic Arts)
Noita (Nolla Games)
BEST VISUAL ART
Control (Remedy Entertainment/505 Games)
Death Stranding (Kojima Productions/Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (FromSoftware/Activision)
Sayonara Wild Hearts (Simogo/Annapurna Interactive)
Disco Elysium (ZA/UM)
BEST VR/AR GAME
Vader Immortal (ILMxLAB/Disney)
Blood & Truth (SCEE Studio London/Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Asgard’s Wrath (Sanzaru Games/Oculus Studios)
Boneworks (Stress Level Zero)
Pistol Whip (Cloudhead Games)
GAME OF THE YEAR
Death Stranding (Kojima Productions/Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Control (Remedy Entertainment/505 Games)
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (FromSoftware/Activision)
Untitled Goose Game (House House/Panic)
Outer Wilds (Mobius Digital/Annapurna Interactive)
Video Games
Bloody Body Horror Revealed in ‘Stellar Blade: Blood Rain’, Currently in Development [Trailer]
Shift Up has shifted things dramatically from 2024’s action-adventure game Stellar Blade, offering up a body horror bonanza in the newly announced sequel, Stellar Blade: Blood Rain. The sequel is currently early in development, but if the trailer is any indication, players will be in for plenty of body horror.
Continuing the story from the original Stellar Blade, Blood Rain will star a new protagonist named Eve. Earth has been abandoned, and what is left of humanity has fled to a Colony in outer space.
Shift Up had mentioned during a Q&A following its latest earnings presentation last month that development on Blood Rain (which was still unannounced at the time) was progressing smoothly, and was on track to meet their targeted quality standards.
Shift Up stated that with this new title it would be transitioning to a first-party service model, effectively moving away from the restrictions the game experienced with original publisher Sony, which had the game under an exclusivity agreement for the PlayStation 5. “This will allow us to lead marketing strategies that fully reflect the distinctive identity of the Stellar Blade IP, and we expect to communicate the unique appeal of its universe to players more directly and effectively.”
Whether this means that Xbox Players will finally be able to play the original game (or its sequel) is still not clear. Meanwhile, Stellar Blade is reportedly being ported to the Nintendo Switch 2, but no official confirmation has been made.