The Game Developers Choice Awards (GDCA), the peer awards presented each year at GDC in San Francisco, will let developers and publishers submit their own games for 2027, replacing the invitation-only nominations used until now. “In 2027, we’re officially moving to a submission-based process to ensure all games have the opportunity to be recognized,” the official GDCA site says. Submissions are open until 1 November 2026. GamesIndustry.biz reported the change on 19 October 2026. The 27th GDCA ceremony is scheduled for Tuesday, 2 March 2027, during the GDC Festival of Gaming.
The invitation-only process it replaces
Until this year, GDCA nominations came only from the International Choice Awards Network (ICAN), which GDC’s rules for 2026 describe as “an invitation-only group comprised of leading game creators”. Members could nominate up to three games per category and then score finalists from 0 to 5, and winners were chosen through votes of ICAN and the GDC Awards Committee. A game reached the shortlist only if enough invited developers had played it and thought of it.
Self-submission, named juries and two new categories
- Studios enter themselves. Instead of waiting to be nominated, a team or its publisher submits the game through the GDCA submission platform before the 1 November deadline.
- A named jury in committees. The jury page lists ten committees, for audio, design, debut, innovation, narrative, social impact, technology, visual art, game launch and gaming tech. Each has a published list of members, with roughly two dozen people on the committees we counted.
- Two new categories. Best Game Launch recognises effective launches, “including trailers, marketing, and building player excitement”. Best Gaming Tech covers gaming-related software, hardware or tools, such as platforms, engines and devices, that move the industry forward, according to the categories page. Neither existed at the 2026 awards, where Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 won Game of the Year.
GDC’s 2026 rules stated that there were no entry fees. Reports on the 2027 process say that remains true, but we did not find the 2027 rules in readable form, so smaller studios should check the full rules before submitting.
What small teams gain, and what is still unclear
For small and less-visible teams, this is the biggest practical change. Under an invitation-only network, a strong game from a team outside the usual circles could be missed simply because few nominators played it. Under a submission system, any team that meets the rules can enter and be looked at by a jury. That does not guarantee a fair hearing; it depends on how many games are entered and how the jury shares the work.
Best Game Launch is also a signal. Peer awards have traditionally recognised what is in the game: design, art, audio, story. An award for a launch campaign treats trailers, marketing and community building as development craft. Best Gaming Tech gives engines, platforms and devices a prize separate from Best Technology, which recognises technical work inside a single game.
Two things remain unclear from the public pages. The categories page still describes Game of the Year as “nominated by the ICAN”, so it is not yet clear whether that category fully follows the new process, and the site does not set out exact eligibility dates. Teams planning to enter should read the official rules on gamechoiceawards.com before the 1 November deadline.