2011 Game Developers Choice nominees announced

The 12th annual Game Developers Choice Awards nominees were announced today, providing nods to some of last year's greatest games. Three studios shared a tie for the most nominations: Bethesda for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Valve for Portal 2, and newcomer Supergiant Games for Bastion. Skyrim and Portal 2 received five nominations each, while Bastion received four and the studio itself was nominated for Best Debut.

Sharing Game of the Year nominations with Portal 2 and Skyrim were Batman: Arkham City, Dark Souls, and Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Winners will be chosen by a group of 500 industry professionals and announced at the 2012 Game Developers Conference on March 7.

Check out the full list of nominees below.

Best Game Design

• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Bethesda Game Studios)

• The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Nintendo)

• Portal 2 (Valve)

• Batman: Arkham City (Rocksteady Studios)

• Dark Souls (FromSoftware)

Innovation

• Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure (Toys For Bob)

• Portal 2 (Valve)

• Bastion (Supergiant Games)

• Johann Sebastian Joust (Die Gute Fabrik)

• L.A. Noire (Team Bondi)

Best Technology

• Battlefield 3 (DICE)

• L.A. Noire (Team Bondi)

• Crysis 2 (Crytek Frankfurt/UK)

• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Bethesda Game Studios)

• Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (Naughty Dog)

Best Handheld/Mobile Game

• Tiny Tower (NimbleBit)

• Super Mario 3D Land (Nintendo)

• Jetpack Joyride (Halfbrick)

• Infinity Blade II (Chair Entertainment)

• Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP (Capy Games/Superbrothers)

Best Audio

• Bastion (Supergiant Games)

• LittleBigPlanet 2 (Media Molecule)

• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Bethesda Game Studios)

• Dead Space 2 (Visceral Games)

• Portal 2 (Valve)

Best Downloadable Game

• Stacking (Double Fine)

• From Dust (Ubisoft Montpellier)

• Bastion (Supergiant Games)

• Outland (Housemarque)

• Frozen Synapse (Mode 7)

Best Narrative

• Portal 2 (Valve)

• The Witcher 2 (CD Projekt RED)

• Bastion (Supergiant Games)

• Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (Naughty Dog)

• Saints Row: The Third (Volition)

Best Debut

• Supergiant Games (Bastion)

• Team Bondi (L.A. Noire)

• Re-Logic (Terraria)

• BioWare Austin (Star Wars: The Old Republic)

• Eidos Montreal (Deus Ex: Human Revolution)

Best Visual Arts

• Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (Naughty Dog)

• Rayman Origins (Ubisoft Montpellier)

• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Bethesda Game Studios)

• El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron (Ignition Japan)

• Battlefield 3 (DICE)

Game of the Year

• Batman: Arkham City (Rocksteady Studios)

• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Bethesda Game Studios)

• Portal 2 (Valve)

• Deus Ex: Human Revolution (Eidos Montreal)

• Dark Souls (FromSoftware)