Red Dead Redemption Grabs Four Awards at the 11th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards Including Game of the Year

SAN FRANCISCO, Mar. 2, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Rockstar San Diego's critically-acclaimed Wild West adventure title Red Dead Redemption was the big winner at the 11th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards in San Francisco this evening.

The awards were presented at a ceremony at UBM TechWeb Game Network's historic 25th Game Developers Conference at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, with Red Read Redemption receiving a total of four awards, including Best Game Design and the coveted Game of the Year award.

Another award stand-out, Swedish developer Mojang's 3D sandbox title Minecraft, received awards for Best Debut Game, Best Downloadable Game, and the Innovation Award. The game was also awarded the Seumas McNally Grand Prize earlier in the evening at the 11th Annual Independent Games Festival Awards, making this the first year a game has been recognized by both the GDCA and the IGF during the same year.

Other Choice Awards winners include BioWare's emotionally-charged science fiction adventure Mass Effect 2, which won the award for Best Writing, and ZeptoLab's iOS hit Cut the Rope, which took home the prize for Best Handheld Game.

Finally, the Best Visual Arts Award went to indie developer Playdead's Xbox Live Arcade hit Limbo. The evocative monochrome puzzle platformer won last year's Independent Game Festival Awards for Visual Art and Technical Excellence.  

The Game Developers Choice Awards, which honor the very best games of the year, was created for and voted on by developers. The finalists were chosen via a combination of open game industry nominations and the votes of the leading creators in the Choice Awards Advisory Committee.

Winners for this year's awards were selected by the Game Developers Choice Awards-specific International Choice Awards Network (ICAN), which is an invitation-only group comprised of 500 leading game creators from all facets of the video game industry.

In addition to the game-specific awards, Peter Molyneux, co-founder of Bullfrog Studios and founder of Lionhead Studios, was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award for his more than 30 years of contributions to the art and science of games, creating genre classics like Populous, Black & White and the Fable franchise along the way.

The Game Developers Choice Awards also honored community veterans Tim Brengle and Ian MacKenzie, the managers behind the Game Developers Conference Associates (CA) program, with the Ambassador Award. The award recognizes the duo's work on early CGDC and GDC shows, and their combined 20-plus years of devotion to creating and fostering a community of volunteers who aspire to better the game development community.

Finally, the 2011 Pioneer Award was presented to Sega veteran and Japanese game design legend Yu Suzuki for his amazing work over the last three decades, having invented entire game genres and created seminal titles spanning Hang On through Virtua Fighter, to OutRun, After Burner, Shenmue - and beyond.

"There was no shortage of groundbreaking titles across platforms and genres this year. From big-budget blockbusters like Red Dead Redemption and Mass Effect 2, to indie darlings such as Minecraft and Limbo, 2010 was truly an incredible year for games, and we're delighted to honor them here," said Meggan Scavio, Event Director of the Game Developers Conference.

For more information about the 11th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards, visit the official website at http://www.gamechoiceawards.com - and for information about the 2011 Game Developers Conference, please visit http://www.gdconf.com.

About the UBM TechWeb Game Network  

A core provider of essential information to the professional game industry, the  UBM TechWeb Game Network – formerly known as the Think Services Game Group - offers market-defining content, and drives community through its award winning lineup of print, online, event and research products and services. These include the Game Developers Conference®, the Webby Award-winning Gamasutra.com and network of sites, the Game Advertising Online ad network, the Game Developers Conference® Online, the Game Developers Conference™ Europe, the Game Developers Conference™ China, the Game Developers Conference™ Canada, Game Developer Magazine, Game Developer Research, the Game Career Seminars and GameCareerGuide.com, the Independent Games Festival and Summit, and the Game Developers Choice Awards.

About UBM TechWeb, a division of United Business Media

UBM TechWeb, the global leader in technology media and professional information, enables people and organizations to harness the transformative power of technology.  Through its core businesses – media solutions, marketing services and professional information – UBM TechWeb produces the most respected and consumed brands, applications and services in the technology market. More than 14.5 million business and technology professionals (CIOs, IT and IT Support managers, Web & Digital professionals, Software and Game developers, Government decision makers, and Telecom providers) actively participate in UBM TechWeb's communities. UBM TechWeb brands includes: global face-to-face events such as Interop, Game Developers Conference (GDC), Web 2.0, Black Hat and VoiceCon; large-scale online networks such as InformationWeek,  Light Reading and Gamasutra; research, training, and certification services, including HDI, Pyramid Research, and InformationWeek Analytics; and market-leading magazines such as InformationWeek and Wall Street & Technology.  UBM TechWeb is part of UBM, a global provider of media and information services for professional B2B communities and markets.

SOURCE UBM TechWeb Game Network

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