Balatro Goes All In, Winning Game of the Year and More at the 25th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards
SAN FRANCISCO, March 20, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The indie roguelike deckbuilding game Balatro has taken the pot at the 25th annual Game Developers Choice Awards (GDCA), receiving the highly coveted Game of the Year Award. The title also secured the win for the Best Debut, Innovation Award and Best Design, tallying up four total wins for the title at the ceremony. The GDCAs are the premier accolades for peer recognition in the digital games industry. Each year, the Choice Awards recognize and celebrate the creativity, artistry and technical genius of the finest developers and games created in the last year. The award ceremony takes place each year as part of the Game Developers Conference (GDC), which is taking place this week at San Francisco's Moscone Convention Center.
LocalThunk and Playstack's Balatro is a unique spin on the timeless card game Poker where players build unique decks with a variety of distinct cards to score points and defeat blinds within the roguelike gameplay. The game was originally released on PC and consoles on February 20, 2024, and was later brought to MacOS, iOS and Android on September 26.
Astro Bot, the 3D platforming adventure developed by PlayStation Studios Team ASOBI and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment, also received two accolades during the GDCA ceremony: Best Audio and Best Technology. The title is a love letter to the many iconic characters and worlds from PlayStation's wide roster of franchises, and has been widely praised for its unique and energetic level design, incredible soundtrack, smart integration with the PlayStation 5's hardware and charming aesthetics.
Other winners of the night included Black Myth: Wukong (Game Science), which won Best Visual Art, Metaphor: ReFantazio (Studio Zero / ATLUS) which received Best Narrative, Life is Strange: Double Exposure (Deck Nine Games / Square Enix) which was honored with the Social Impact Award and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (Square Enix) which received the Audience Award.
The Game Developers Choice Awards also took time to honor two influential figures in the industry. This year, the GDCA honored writer and director Sam Lake with the Lifetime Achievement Award. Lake is renowned for his deep, layered storytelling and ability to meld together different mediums to create unique interactive experiences. Most recently, he was the co-director and lead writer of Alan Wake 2, which won over 200 industry awards—including Best Game Direction and Best Narrative at The Game Awards, along with Best Visual Art at the 2024 Game Developers Choice Awards. Lucas Pope, well known as the creator of Papers, Please and Return of the Obra Dinn, was the well-deserving recipient of the Pioneer Award. Pope is an independent game developer experimenting with the interactions of mechanics, narrative, and art. Papers, Please was highly lauded across the board, winning the Seumas McNally Grand Prize at the Independent Games Festival (IGF) along with several trophies at the Game Developers Choice Awards in 2014, along with a BAFTA Games Award for Best Strategy and Simulation Game. Return of the Obra Dinn was also heavily praised by critics, again winning Pope the Seumas McNally Grand Prize at IGF Awards, along with several trophies from the Game Developers Choice Awards, Peabody Awards, D.I.C.E. Awards and BAFTA Games Awards.
The 25th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards winners are:
Best DebutBalatro (LocalThunk / Playstack)
Best Visual ArtBlack Myth: Wukong (Game Science)
Best AudioAstro Bot (PlayStation Studios Team ASOBI / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Best NarrativeMetaphor: ReFantazio (Studio Zero / ATLUS)
Social Impact AwardLife is Strange: Double Exposure (Deck Nine Games / Square Enix)
Innovation AwardBalatro (LocalThunk / Playstack)
Best TechnologyAstro Bot (PlayStation Studios Team ASOBI / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Best DesignBalatro (LocalThunk / Playstack)
Audience AwardFinal Fantasy VII Rebirth (Square Enix)
Game of the YearBalatro (LocalThunk / Playstack)
Pioneer AwardLucas Pope
Lifetime Achievement AwardSam Lake
The GDCA awards are live-streamed annually on the official Game Developers Conference (GDC) Twitch channel and are archived both on Twitch and on the official GDC YouTube Channel.
For more information about the 25th annual Game Developers Choice Awards, visit: gamechoiceawards.com. For more details on the Game Developers Conference, please visit the GDC's official website, or subscribe to regular updates via Facebook, Twitter, BlueSky or RSS. Official photos are available via the Official GDC Flickr account: www.flickr.com/photos/officialgdc/.
About GDC
The Game Developers Conference® (GDC) is the world's largest professional game industry event with market-defining content for programmers, artists, producers, game designers, audio professionals, business decision makers, and others involved in the development of interactive games and immersive experiences. GDC brings together the global game development community year-round through events and digital media, including the GDC Networking Meet-ups, GDC Vault, GameDeveloper.com, Independent Games Festival and Summit, and the Game Developers Choice Awards.
GDC is organized by Informa PLC, a leading B2B information services group and the largest B2B Events organizer in the world. To learn more and for the latest news and information visit www.informa.com.
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Segments: Type (Wi-Fi Chipsets, Wireless Display / Video Chipsets, WiMax Chipsets, LTE Chipsets, ZigBee Chipsets) Application (Computers & Laptops Application, Smartphones & Wearables Application, Routers Application, In-Vehicle Infotainment Systems Application, Other Applications) End-Use (IT & Telecom End-Use, Consumer Electronics End-Use, Automotive & Transportation End-Use, Aerospace & Defense End-Use, Other End-Uses) Key Attributes: Report Attribute Details No. of Pages 249 Forecast Period 2024 - 2030 Estimated Market Value in 2024 91.8 Billion Forecasted Market Value by 2030 112.4 Billion Compound Annual Growth Rate 3.4% Regions Covered Global Expand Key Topics Covered: MARKET OVERVIEW Influencer Market Insights World Market Trajectories Tariff Impact on Global Supply Chain Patterns Wireless Chipsets - Global Key Competitors Percentage Market Share in 2025 (E) Competitive Market Presence - Strong/Active/Niche/Trivial for Players Worldwide in 2025 (E) MARKET TRENDS & DRIVERS 5G Rollouts and Next-Gen Connectivity Standards Throw the Spotlight on High-Performance Wireless Chipsets Rising Demand for IoT Devices Across Industries Spurs Adoption of Low-Power, Cost-Optimized Wireless Chipsets Integration of Wi-Fi 6 and 6E Capabilities Propels Growth in Consumer and Enterprise Networking Applications Here's How AI at the Edge Is Driving Development of Smarter, Adaptive Wireless Communication Chipsets Shift Toward Multi-Protocol Support Strengthens the Business Case for Unified Connectivity Chipset Architectures Explosive Growth in Smart Home Devices Expands the Addressable Market Opportunity for Bluetooth and Zigbee Chipsets Proliferation of Wearables and Health Monitoring Tools Accelerates Innovation in Ultra-Low Power Wireless Solutions Here's How Automotive Connectivity Trends Are Fueling Demand for V2X, UWB, and 5G NR-Compatible Chipsets Remote Work and Cloud Gaming Adoption Drive Demand for High-Bandwidth, Low-Latency Wi-Fi Chipsets Industrial Automation and Smart Factory Initiatives Sustain Growth in Robust, Real-Time Wireless Communication Modules Rising Use of LPWAN Technologies Like LoRa and NB-IoT Creates Niche Opportunities in Long-Range, Low-Power Chipsets OpenRAN and Network Disaggregation Trends Propel Innovation in Customizable and Software-Defined Wireless Chipsets FOCUS ON SELECT PLAYERS | Some of the 48 companies featured in this Wireless Chipsets market report include: Apple (modem group) ASIX Electronics Corp. Broadcom Inc. Cypress Semiconductor (Infineon) Espressif Systems GlobalFoundries HiSilicon (Huawei) Intel Corporation Marvell Technology Group Ltd MediaTek Inc. Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd. Nordic Semiconductor ASA NXP Semiconductors NV ON Semiconductor Corporation Peraso Technologies, Inc. Qorvo Inc. Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. Ralink Technology Corp. (MediaTek) Realtek Semiconductor Corp. Renesas Electronics Corporation For more information about this report visit About is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.
