Skip to main content

GDC Game of the Year: Uncharted 2

This week marked the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, and that includes the annual Game Developer Choice Awards. This year’s big winner: Naughty Dog‘s Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, which collected five trophies, including the coveted Game of the Year award. The wins follow Uncharted 2’s win at the 2009 Spike TV Video Game Awards, where it also took the top prize.

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Uncharted 2 is available only for the PlayStation 3, and follows the adventures of treasure-hunter Nathan Drake in a frenetically-paced adventure that’s part Indiana Jones, part James Bond, and part first-person shooter. Uncharted 2 also took honors for best writing, technology, visual art, and audio. The game beat out some notable competition, including Rocksteady’s Batman: Arkham Asylum (which took best game design), Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed II, From Software’s Demon’s Souls, and BioWare’s Dragon Age: Origins.

Other significant wins at the Game Developer Choice Awards included 5th Cell, whose Scribbelnauts won Best Handheld Game and the Innovation Award. Zynga’s Farmville also won the debut award for Best New Social/Online Game. The Best Downloadble Game award went to thatgamecompany’s Flower, marking the company’s second win in the category: they previously won in 2008 with fl0w.

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Editors' Recommendations

Geoff Duncan
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Geoff Duncan writes, programs, edits, plays music, and delights in making software misbehave. He's probably the only member…
Arrowhead CEO steps down to focus more on developing Helldivers 2
A soldier in silhouette in Helldivers 2.

Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead Game Studios has a new CEO. Shams Jorjani, a former Paradox Interactive executive, will be stepping into the role, while former CEO Johan Pilestedt will focus more on developing the company's flagship title Helldivers 2.

"I am taking the role of chief creative officer, which means I will spend MORE time with the team and 100% of my focus on the games and community!" Pilestedt wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

Read more
Is Helldivers 2 coming to Xbox?
A soldier in silhouette in Helldivers 2.

Helldivers 2 was a massive hit right out of the gate for developer Arrowhead Game Studios, and the game's popularity has only grown since its release in February of this year. Shedding the top-down perspective of the first Helldivers, this cooperative third-person shooter took the world by surprise by being equally hilarious, fun, and challenging. It demands everyone work together to overcome massive hordes of bugs while also dealing with the fact that one player's slipup could derail the whole mission in the most humorous fashion. It's a total riot, and it's not hard to see why.

However, players on Xbox haven't had an opportunity to join in on the fun, as the game is only available on PlayStation 5 and PC. Since so many modern games have timed exclusivity, you may be wondering if that's the case for Helldivers 2, and we've got the answer for you below.
Will Helldivers 2 ever come to Xbox?
It's very unlikely that Helldivers 2 will ever come to Xbox consoles. The primary reason for this is that Helldivers 2 is published by Sony Computer Entertainment, which is a direct competitor to Microsoft. Sony is known for being very protective of IPs and brands, meaning the company tends to keep its published games off of competing consoles.

Read more
Nintendo’s next game is all about mastering NES classics
The physical version of Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition.

Nintendo has announced Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition, a new game coming out this July that tests players' speedrunning skills in NES classics like Super Mario Bros. and Metroid.

A successor of sorts to the NES Remix games on Wii U and 3DS, Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition draws its name from a gaming competition Nintendo held in 1990 and then briefly again in the 2010s. Its reveal trailer features previous Nintendo World Championship contestants musing about the event, only to learn that it's returning in video game form.

Read more