SAN FRANCISCO â€" Journey, a downloadable video game made by the independent studio thatgamecompany for the PlayStation 3, took home 6 of the 11 Game Developers Choice Awards, including game of the year, handed out here on Wednesday night at the Game Developers Conference.
Journey is the first independent title to win the game of the year award. Past winners include blockbusters like Red Dead Redemption, Gears of War, Grand Theft Auto III and The Sims. Just 2 of the 11 prizes went to games developed by mainstream studios. The award for best technology went to Far Cry 3, an open-world, first-person shooter published by Ubisoft. And the audience award went to Dishonored, from Arkane Studios.
During the Independent Games Festival Awards, also handed out Wednesday, the little-known game Cart Life, made by Richard Hofmeier, took home three awards, including the grand prize. FTL: Faster than Light won two independent awards: the audience award and excellence in design. FTL won yet another prize, for best debut, during the Game Developers Choice Awards.
“The system we’re fighting kind of likes us now,†said Andy Schatz, an independent designer who hosted the Independent Games Festival Awards. He later added: “Like it or not, we’re not the Clash anymore. We’re Green Day.â€
The other winners of the indie awards were Kentucky Route Zero, for excellence in visual art; the game 140, for excellence in audio; Little Inferno, for technical excellence; and Zineth, which won the student showcase. The remaining winners of the Game Developers Choice Awards were The Walking Dead, for best narrative, and The Room, for best handheld or mobile game.
