No jokers here! Indie roguelike deckbuilding game Balatro from solo developer LocalThunk has taken the pot at the 25th annual Game Developers Choice Awards on Wednesday—winner four awards over the course of the night, including Best Debut and Game of the Year.
LocalThunk and Playstack’s Balatro is a unique spin on poker, with players having to 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 in February 2024, and was later brought to MacOS, iOS and Android.
In addition to the highly coveted Game of the Year award, the title also secured the win for Best Debut, Best Design, and the Innovation Award.
Astro Bot, developed by PlayStation Studios Team ASOBI and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment, received two awards for Best Audio and Best Technology. The 3D platforming adventure 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 received Best Visual Art, Metaphor: ReFantazio (Studio Zero / ATLUS) which won 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.
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This year, the Game Developers Choice Awards 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 and several awards 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 the IGF Awards, along with several trophies from the Game Developers Choice Awards, Peabody Awards, D.I.C.E. Awards, and BAFTA Games Awards.
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The 25th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards winners are:
Best Debut
Balatro (LocalThunk / Playstack)
Best Visual Art
Black Myth: Wukong (Game Science)
Best Audio
Astro Bot (PlayStation Studios Team ASOBI / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Best Narrative
Metaphor: ReFantazio (ATLUS / SEGA / Studio Zero)
Social Impact Award
Life is Strange: Double Exposure (Deck Nine Games / Square Enix)
Innovation Award
Balatro (LocalThunk / Playstack)
Best Technology
Astro Bot (PlayStation Studios Team ASOBI / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Best Design
Balatro (LocalThunk / Playstack)
Audience Award
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (Square Enix)
Game of the Year
Balatro (LocalThunk / Playstack)
Pioneer Award
Lucas Pope
Lifetime Achievement Award
Sam Lake
The GDCA ceremony took place as part of the 2025 Game Developers Conference, taking place in San Francisco’s Moscone Convention Center. Winners were selected by the Game Developers Choice Awards-specific International Choice Awards Network (ICAN), which is an invitation-only organization, composed of leading game creators from all parts of the industry.
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