Limbo, a puzzle platformer game from Playdead, leads the field with seven nominations for the 11th annual Game Developers Choice Awards.
Announced Wednesday, the honors also singled out Red Dead Redemption, with six nominations; and Mass Effect 2, with five.
Winners in all major categories will be announced at the Game Developers Choice Awards show on March 2 at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco as part of the 2011 Game Developers Conference.
The full list of nominees follows:
Best Game Design
- Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Nintendo)
- Mass Effect 2 (BioWare)
- Limbo (Playdead)
- Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar San Diego)
- God of War III (SCE Santa Monica)
Innovation
- Heavy Rain (Quantic Dream)
- Kirby’s Epic Yarn (Good-Feel & HAL Laboratory)
- Minecraft (Mojang)
- Limbo (Playdead)
- Dance Central (Harmonix)
Best Technology
- Starcraft II (Blizzard)
- Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar San Diego)
- Heavy Rain (Quantic Dream)
- Mass Effect 2 (BioWare)
- God of War III (SCE Santa Monica)
Best Handheld Game
- God of War: Ghost of Sparta (Ready At Dawn/SCE Santa Monica)
- Cut the Rope (ZeptoLab)
- Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker (Kojima Productions)
- Game Dev Story (Kairosoft)
- Dragon Quest IX (Level 5)
Best Audio
- Limbo (Playdead)
- Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar San Diego)
- Halo: Reach (Bungie)
- Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (DICE)
- Mass Effect 2 (BioWare)
Best Downloadable Game
- Costume Quest (Double Fine)
- Limbo (Playdead)
- Super Meat Boy (Team Meat)
- Minecraft (Mojang)
- Monday Night Combat (Uber Entertainment)
Best Writing
- Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar San Diego)
- Heavy Rain (Quantic Dream)
- Mass Effect 2 (BioWare)
- Costume Quest (Double Fine)
- Fallout: New Vegas (Obsidian)
Best Debut Game
- Limbo (Playdead)
- Darksiders (Vigil Games)
- Minecraft (Mojang)
- Monday Night Combat (Uber Entertainment)
- Super Meat Boy (Team Meat)
Best Visual Arts
- God of War III (SCE Santa Monica)
- Limbo (Playdead)
- Call of Duty: Black Ops (Treyarch)
- Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood (Ubisoft Montreal)
- Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar San Diego)
Game of the Year
- Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar San Diego)
- Mass Effect 2 (BioWare)
- Call of Duty: Black Ops (Treyarch)
- Limbo (Playdead)
- Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood (Ubisoft Montreal)
