Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Gaming
  3. News

Astro Bot, Black Myth: Wukong lead Game Developers Choice Award nominees

By
Sun Wukong holds his staff in Black Myth: Wukong.
Game Science

The nominees for the 2025 Game Developers Choice Awards are here. This year, Astro Bot and Black Myth: Wukong lead the field, while indies like Animal Well made a big splash.

The Game Developers Choice Awards take place every year at GDC, directly following the Independent Games Festival awards show. While the latter is focused on indie games, the GDC awards are more akin to The Game Awards, honoring a mix of AAA and independent games.

Recommended Videos

This year, Astro Bot and Black Myth: Wukong both secured seven nominations. That makes them both frontrunners for this year’s Game of the Year honor. The field also includes Balatro, Helldivers 2, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, and Metaphor: ReFantazio.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

A few indie games broke through this year in a big way. Animal Well is up for five awards, including Best Design, and UFO 50 made it into the Innovation category. Critical darling 1000xResist nabbed three nominations, including one for Best Narrative. Horror hit Mouthwashing will also compete for that award.

The ceremony will live stream on GDC’s Twitch channel on March 19

Best Audio

  • Animal Well (Billy Basso / Bigmode)
  • Astro Bot (Team ASOBI / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
  • Black Myth: Wukong (Game Science)
  • Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (Square Enix)
  • Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II (Ninja Theory / Xbox Game Studios)

Honorable Mentions: Balatro (LocalThunk / Playstack), Lorelei and the Laser Eyes (Simogo / Annapurna Interactive), Metaphor: ReFantazio (ATLUS / SEGA / Studio Zero), Neva (Nomada Studio / Devolver Digital), Silent Hill 2 (Bloober Teams SA / KONAMI)

Best Debut

  • 1000xResist (Sunset Visitor / Fellow Traveller)
  • Animal Well (Billy Basso / Bigmode)
  • Balatro (LocalThunk / Playstack)
  • Pacific Drive (Ironwood Studios / Kepler Interactive)
  • Tiny Glade (Pounce Light)

Honorable Mentions: Manor Lords (Slavic Magic / Hooded Horse), Mullet Madjack (HAMMER95 / Epopeia Games), The Plucky Squire (All Possible Futures / Devolver Digital), Tiny Glade (Pounce Light)

Best Design

  • Animal Well (Billy Basso / Bigmode)
  • Astro Bot (Team ASOBI / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
  • Balatro (LocalThunk / Playstack)
  • Black Myth: Wukong (Game Science)
  • Lorelei and the Laser Eyes (Simogo / Annapurna Interactive)

Honorable Mentions: Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (Square Enix), Helldivers 2 (Arrowhead Game Studios / PlayStation Publishing LLC), Satisfactory (Coffee Stain Studios / Coffee Stain Publishing), The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom (Grezzo, Nintendo Entertainment Planning & Development / Nintendo), UFO 50 (Mossmouth)

Innovation Award

  • Animal Well (Billy Basso / Bigmode)
  • Astro Bot (Team ASOBI / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
  • Balatro (LocalThunk / Playstack)
  • Black Myth: Wukong (Game Science)
  • UFO 50 (Mossmouth)

Honorable Mentions: Helldivers 2 (Arrowhead Game Studios / PlayStation Publishing LLC), Lorelei and the Laser Eyes (Simogo / Annapurna Interactive), Thank Goodness You’re Here! (Coal Supper /Panic), The Plucky Squire (All Possible Futures / Devolver Digital), Tiny Glade (Pounce Light)

Best Narrative

  • 1000xResist (Sunset Visitor / Fellow Traveller)
  • Black Myth: Wukong (Game Science)
  • Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth (Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio / SEGA)
  • Metaphor: ReFantazio (ATLUS / SEGA / Studio Zero)
  • Mouthwashing (Wrong Organ / Critical Reflex)

Honorable Mentions: Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (Square Enix), Frostpunk 2 (11 bit studios), Life is Strange: Double Exposure (Deck Nine Games / Square Enix), Neva (Nomada Studio / Devolver Digital), Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II (Ninja Theory / Xbox Game Studios)

Best Technology

  • Astro Bot (Team ASOBI / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
  • Black Myth: Wukong (Game Science)
  • Helldivers 2 (Arrowhead Game Studios / PlayStation Publishing LLC)
  • Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II (Ninja Theory / Xbox Game Studios)
  • Tiny Glade (Pounce Light)

Honorable Mentions: Animal Well (Billy Basso/ Bigmode), Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 (Threyarch, Raven Software, Beenox, High Moon Studios, Activision Shanghai, Sledgehammer Games, Infinity Ward, Demonware /Activision), Dragon Age: The Veilguard (BioWare / Electronic Arts), Satisfactory (Coffee Stain Studios / Coffee Stain Publishing), Tekken 8 (Bandai Namco Studios Inc / Bandai Namco Entertainment)

Best Visual Art

  • Animal Well (Billy Basso / Bigmode)
  • Astro Bot (Team ASOBI / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
  • Black Myth: Wukong (Game Science)
  • Metaphor: ReFantazio (ATLUS / SEGA / Studio Zero)
  • Neva (Nomada Studio / Devolver Digital)

Honorable Mentions: Balatro (LocalThunk / Playstack), Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree (FromSoftware Inc. / Bandai Namco Entertainment), Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II (Ninja Theory / Xbox Game Studios), Tiny Glade (Pounce Light), Ultros (Hadoque / Kepler Interactive)

Social Impact

  • 1000xResist (Sunset Visitor / Fellow Traveller)
  • Astro Bot (Team ASOBI / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
  • Frostpunk 2 (11 bit studios)
  • Life is Strange: Double Exposure (Deck Nine Games / Square Enix)
  • Neva (Nomada Studio / Devolver Digital)

Honorable Mentions: Closer the Distance (Osmotic Studios / Skybound Games), Distant Bloom (Ember Trail / Kina Brave), Dragon Age: The Veilguard (BioWare / Electronic Arts), Tales of Kenzera: Zau (Surgent Studios / Electronic Arts)

Game of the Year

  • Astro Bot (Team ASOBI / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
  • Balatro (LocalThunk / Playstack)
  • Black Myth: Wukong (Game Science)
  • Helldivers 2 (Arrowhead Game Studios / PlayStation Publishing LLC)
  • Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (Square Enix)
  • Metaphor: ReFantazio (ATLUS / SEGA / Studio Zero)

Honorable Mentions: Animal Well (Billy Basso / Bigmode), Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth (Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio / SEGA), Satisfactory (Coffee Stain Studios / Coffee Stain Publishing), UFO 50 (Mossmouth)

Editors’ Recommendations

Topics
Giovanni Colantonio
Giovanni Colantonio
Senior Gaming Editor
As Digital Trends' Senior Gaming Editor, Giovanni Colantonio oversees all things video games at Digital Trends. As a veteran…
Black Myth: Wukong is one of the fastest-selling games of all time
Black Myth: Wukong's protagonist the Destined One leaning into his sword ready to fight an enemy with a giant flaming spear.

Black Myth: Wukong hasn't been out a week, but it's already breaking sales records by not only selling millions of copies in just a few days, but becoming one of the fastest-selling games of all time, according to one analyst.

Developer Game Science revealed Friday that the game had sold 10 million copies across all platforms, with a peak of 3 million concurrent players. This lines up with data on third-party Steam tracking sites like SteamDB, which show that the game peaked at 2.4 million concurrent players on Thursday, which was just two days after release. It's still up above 2 million players at the time of this writing.

Read more
All transformations in Black Myth: Wukong, ranked
A creature with a flaming spear in Black Myth: Wukong.

One of the major mechanics that sets Black Myth: Wukong apart from other soulslikes or action RPGs is its transformation system. Heavily inspired by the source material, in which Sun Wukong is a master shape-shifter, the Destined One in this game is also able to take on many forms. Unlike that story, though, you only have a few transformations to pick from, but they are incredibly powerful. Not only do they give you new moves and abilities in a fight, but they also have their own health bar. That means a tactical transformation during a boss fight can be your golden ticket to success. Still, not all of your transformations are created equal. Based on our experience, we've ranked all possible transformations from worst to best.

Azure Dust

Read more
Where to use Skandha items in Black Myth: Wukong
black myth wukong buddhas eyeballs where to use guide skandha items

There are five Skandha items in Black Myth: Wukong. In fact, one of them can be obtained very early in the campaign, though the description itself seems rather confusing --you're simply told that it was once "hidden inside Buddha's head" and that "its secret is yet to be revealed." With such cryptic clues, you might be wondering just what their purpose is. But don't worry, we've got you all covered. Here's our guide on where to use all Skandha items in Black Myth: Wukong. Likewise, please be reminded that this article contains minor spoilers.
Where to use all Skandha items in Black Myth: Wukong
The Black Myth: Wukong Skandha items are scattered across various regions. You need four of them to unlock a particular encounter much later in the campaign, whereupon you'll receive the fifth item. After that, you'll hand over all the collectibles to a certain NPC to receive a nifty reward. In any case, our guide discusses where to find all of these items based on chapter progression, as well as the secret boss fight at the end.
Chapter 1: Skandha of Form

The first Skandha item in Black Myth: Wukong can be found very early in Chapter 1. Specifically, it's just across from the area where you fight the Bullguard. As you approach the clearing, you'll notice a mandrill monkey scampering away from a statue head. This is your clue for most of the campaign: If you approach a statue head and a monkey runs away, it means you can find a Skandha item nearby.
Chapter 2: Skandha of Feeling

Read more