The Last of Us Alternate Ending

2014 might be over but its awards season isn't done quite yet. This week the Game Developers Choice Awards took place in San Francisco and industry peers voted for their favorite games of 2013. The BAFTAs and the Spike TV's VGX recognized The Last of Us, Grand Theft Auto V and BioShock Infinite as some of the top games of last year, and now the GDCAs have offered similar accolades.

The Last of Us, Naughty Dog's moving post-apocalyptic action-adventure tale, came out on top by winning the prestigious Game of the Year Award, as well as awards for Best Design and Best Narrative. The Last of Us also won Best Game at the BAFTAs, along with four other awards, and game director Neil Druckmann is currently writing a movie adaptation of Joel and Ellie's story.

Dystopian bureaucracy simulator Papers, Please snagged two GDC Awards: one for Innovation and another for Best Downloadable Game. BioShock Infinite won Best Audio and Best Visual Art but, as with the BAFTAs, was notably snubbed in both the Best Game and Best Narrative categories. After initial praise for the game BioShock Infinite was later hit with significant backlash, which no doubt impacted upon its relatively poor reception during the awards season. Ken Levine has since announced that Irrational Games in its current incarnation is being broken down, and he'll instead be working with a small team to produce more narrative-driven games.

Papers, Please screenshot

The GDC Awards also include three special honors for members of the industry, which this year included a Lifetime Achievement Award for 'Father of the PlayStation' Ken Kutaragi, a Pioneer Award for Riot Games' Brandon Beck and Marc Merrill, and an Ambassador Award for game critic Anita Sarkeesian. Check out the full list of game nominees and winners below.

Game of the Year

  • Gone Home (The Fullbright Company)
  • Grand Theft Auto V (Rockstar North/Rockstar Games)
  • The Last Of Us (Naughty Dog/Sony) -- Winner!
  • Super Mario 3D World (Nintendo EAD Tokyo/Nintendo)
  • Tomb Raider (Crystal Dynamics/Square Enix)

Innovation Award

  • DEVICE 6 (Simogo)
  • Gone Home (The Fullbright Company)
  • Papers, Please (Lucas Pope) -- Winner!
  • Tearaway (Media Molecule/Sony)
  • The Stanley Parable (Galactic Cafe)

Best Debut

  • Blue Manchu (Card Hunter)
  • The Fullbright Company (Gone Home)
  • Galactic Cafe (The Stanley Parable)
  • Squad (Kerbal Space Program)
  • Undead Labs (State Of Decay)

Best Design

  • Grand Theft Auto V (Rockstar North/Rockstar Games)
  • The Last Of Us (Naughty Dog/Sony) -- Winner! 
  • The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (Nintendo EAD/Nintendo)
  • Super Mario 3D World (Nintendo EAD Tokyo/Nintendo)
  • Tomb Raider (Crystal Dynamics/Square Enix)

Best Handheld/Mobile Game

  • DEVICE 6 (Simogo)
  • Fire Emblem: Awakening (Intelligent Systems/Nintendo)
  • The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (Nintendo EAD/Nintendo)
  • Ridiculous Fishing (Vlambeer)
  • Tearaway (Media Molecule/Sony)

Best Visual Art

  • BioShock Infinite (Irrational Games/2K Games) -- Winner! 
  • DmC (Ninja Theory/Capcom)
  • The Last Of Us (Naughty Dog/Sony)
  • Ni No Kuni: Wrath Of The White Witch (Level 5/Namco Bandai)
  • Tearaway (Media Molecule/Sony)

Best Narrative

  • Brothers: A Tale Of Two Sons (Starbreeze/505 Games)
  • Gone Home (The Fullbright Company)
  • The Last Of Us (Naughty Dog/Sony) -- Winner!
  • Tomb Raider (Crystal Dynamics/Square Enix)
  • The Stanley Parable (Galactic Cafe)

Best Audio

  • BioShock Infinite (Irrational Games/2K Games) -- Winner!
  • Forza Motorsport 5 (Turn 10 Studios/Microsoft Games)
  • Grand Theft Auto V (Rockstar North/Rockstar Games)
  • Saints Row IV (Volition/Deep Silver)
  • Tearaway (Media Molecule/Sony)

Best Downloadable Game

  • Brothers: A Tale Of Two Sons (Starbreeze/505 Games)
  • Gone Home (The Fullbright Company)
  • Papers, Please (Lucas Pope)
  • Resogun (Housemarque/Sony)
  • The Stanley Parable (Galactic Cafe)

Best Technology

  • Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft)
  • Grand Theft Auto V (Rockstar North/Rockstar Games) -- Winner!
  • The Last Of Us (Naughty Dog/Sony)
  • Killzone: Shadow Fall (Guerrilla Games/Sony)
  • Tearaway (Media Molecule/Sony)

Audience Award

  • Kerbal Space Program -- Winner!

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Source: GDC (via Destructoid)