GDC Awards Names Don Daglow Lifetime Honoree, Heineman Receives Ambassador Award

The Game Developers Choice Awards announced two special honorees for 2026: Don Daglow will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award, and Rebecca Ann Heineman will posthumously receive the Ambassador Award. The announcement came on March 5, ahead of the full awards ceremony scheduled for March 12, 2026, during the GDC Festival of Gaming, the event formerly known as the Game Developers Conference.

Heineman's posthumous recognition marks one of the more significant moments in this year's ceremony, honoring a figure whose contributions to the industry now receive formal acknowledgment from the GDCA's jury of International Choice Awards Network members, described as an "invitation-only group comprised of leading game creators from all parts of the video game industry." Winners across all categories are selected through three rounds of voting.

The special honoree announcements arrive alongside a competitive nomination field for the 26th annual Game Developers Choice Awards. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, developed by Sandfall Interactive and published by Kepler Interactive, leads all titles with eight nominations, including Game of the Year. Ghost of Yōtei from Sucker Punch Productions follows with five, while Blue Prince, Donkey Kong Bananza, and Split Fiction each earned four nominations.

The Game of the Year category fields six contenders: Blue Prince, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Donkey Kong Bananza, Ghost of Yōtei, Split Fiction, and Hollow Knight: Silksong. Team Cherry's long-awaited sequel earned only a single nomination across the entire field, but that nomination is for the top prize.

Among other categories, the Innovation Award finalists include Baby Steps from Gabe Cuzzillo, Maxi Boch, and Bennett Foddy via Devolver Digital, alongside BALL X PIT, Blue Prince, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, and Donkey Kong Bananza. The Best Visual Art category features Death Stranding 2: On the Beach from Kojima Productions, Hades II from Supergiant Games, and Keeper from Double Fine Productions alongside the Ghost of Yōtei and Clair Obscur entries.

The Social Impact finalists include And Roger from TearyHand Studio, Consume Me by Jenny Jiao Hsia, Despelote from Julián Cordero and Sebastián Valbuena, and Dispatch from AdHoc Studio.

The 2026 ceremony will also host the Independent Games Festival Awards. Last year, Balatro took Game of the Year at the 25th GDCA, with Sam Lake receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award and Lucas Pope honored with the Pioneer Award at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. The March 12 ceremony will determine whether Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's dominant nomination count translates into hardware.