Monolith Productions' open-world world action game Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor has been nominated for five awards for the prestigious peer-based Game Developers Choice (GDC) Awards.
Shadow of Mordor, a role-playing game set in the fictional universe of J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth, has bagged five nominations, including Game of the Year, Innovation Award, Best Design, Best Narrative, and Best Technology.
Also vying for Game of the Year are Bungie's first-person shooter Destiny, which also received nods for Best Audio and Best Technology. Creative Assembly's Alien: Isolation is also nominated for Game of the Year. The first-person survival horror stealth game also competes with Destiny for Best Audio and is nominated for Best Visual Art.
Blizzard Entertainment's digital card game Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft also comes with three nominations, including the top Game of the Year award, Best Design, and Best Handheld/Mobile Game.
Nintendo also figures prominently at this year's GDC Awards, with its action hack and slash game Bayonetta 2, developed by Platinum Games, also contending for Game of the Year and Best Visual Art. Super Smash Bros. for 3DS, Nintendo's latest iteration for its flagship game, is also in the running for Best Handheld/Mobile Game, while the action puzzle video game Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker for the Wii U is nominated for a Best Design award.
Credit is also given to several games developed and published by smaller outlets, such as Polish studio The Astronauts' The Vanishing of Ethan Carter. The 2014 open-world adventure game starring detective Paul Prospero has a nomination for the GDC's Innovation Award, Best Debut, Best Narrative and Best Audio.
This War of Mine, a war survival game based on the Siege of Sarajevo during the Bosnian War in 1992 to 1996, also received props for Best Narrative and the Innovation Award.
Competing with The Vanishing of Ethan Carter and This War of Mine for Best Narrative is 80 Days by Inkle Studios, an interactive adventure that takes the player around the world in 80 days. 80 Days is also up for Best Handheld/Mobile Game.
The GDC Awards 2015 is open to all games developed in 2014, regardless of publisher, developer or platform. Awards are chosen by a panel composed of leading game creators exclusively invited.
Winners will be announced on Mar. 4 at the Game Developers Choice Awards ceremony during the Game Developers Conference alongside the Independent Games Festival Awards at the Moscone Center in San Francisco.
