BioWare Austin's Star Wars: The Old Republic And Riot Games' League Of Legends Earn Top Honors At Third Annual Game Developers Choice Online Awards

AUSTIN, Texas, Oct. 10, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The massively multiplayer online (MMO) game, Star Wars: The Old Republic, developed by BioWare Austin, secured wins in four of its six nominated categories at this evening's third annual Game Developers Choice Online Awards, including the categories for Best New Online Game and Best Online Visual Arts.

Riot Games' League of Legends also received top honors in both of its nominated categories, securing the win for Best Live Game and Best Community Relations at the 2012 ceremony, presented by UBM Tech Game Network and the Game Developers Conference® Online (GDC Online).  

Star Wars: The Old Republic also received awards for Best Online Technology and Best Online Game Design. The game, released in December 2011, is BioWare's first foray into the MMORPG market and has been called the "fastest-growing MMO ever, " boasting one million users just three days after its release. Praised for its deep, expansive content and engaging storyline, the title stands as a prime example of a well-executed and refined MMORPG.

League of Legends also earned its second Audience Award win during tonight's event. The Audience Award is presented to a persistent online game that has been voted for by the worldwide online game community. Riot Games' standout battle-arena MMO title was the first ever to win the Audience Award during the inaugural Game Developers Choice Online Awards ceremony in 2010. In 2012, League of Legends led the nominations for Audience Award with a total of 66,343 votes from players across the globe.

Introduced in 2010, the Game Developers Choice Online Awards, a sister event to GDC's notable annual Game Developers Choice Awards in San Francisco, honor the accomplishments of the creators and operators of online games. Video game titles are nominated and voted on by the game development community in categories that include awards in audio, design and visual arts and more, with the distinguished GDC Online Advisory Board helping to pick the special awards.

The 2012 Game Developers Choice Online Awards brought together creators of large-scale, triple-A MMOs as well as social, mobile and free-to-play titles to honor and celebrate the accomplished history, technical excellence and innovation in the online game development industry.

OMGPOP and Zynga's social mobile app Draw Something was named Best Social Network Game at tonight's event. Following its explosive launch in the spring of 2012, the viral, word-of-mouth growth of the app led to 20 million verified downloads within one month after its release, a number that set a new record for app downloads. Additionally, Blizzard Entertainment's highly-anticipated Diablo III won Best Audio for an Online Game and thatgamecompany's emotionally-charged PlayStation Network title Journey was awarded the Online Innovation Award.

Additional 2012 Game Developers Choice Online Awards categories include the Online Game Legend Award and the Hall of Fame; these categories recognize developers and titles that have had significant impact in the world of online games. Key industry figure Raph Koster was presented with the Online Game Legend Award for his work on prodigious massively multi-player online role-playing games (MMORPGs) Ultima Online and Star Wars Galaxies. With professional credits that span nearly every facet of game development, including writing, art, soundtrack music, programming and design, Koster is an instrumental figure in the game development community whose contributions are priceless.

In addition to winning Best Audio at the ceremony with Diablo III title, Blizzard Entertainment secured a Hall of Fame induction with World of Warcraft, a game that has dominated the MMORPG landscape, setting the standard for countless other games in the genre. With its focus on delivering a polished player experience, World of Warcraft propelled MMORPGs into the mainstream. The game offered the community a reprieve from long load times and steep learning curves, which only made the colorful graphics, engaging gameplay, exciting quests and raids and immersive world more impressive.

The complete list of recipients for 2012 Game Developers Choice Online Awards are:

BEST LIVE GAME

• League of Legends (Riot Games)

BEST NEW ONLINE GAME

• Star Wars: The Old Republic (BioWare Austin)

BEST SOCIAL NETWORK GAME

• Draw Something (OMGPOP/Zynga)

BEST ONLINE TECHNOLOGY

• Star Wars: The Old Republic (BioWare Austin)

BEST AUDIO for an ONLINE GAME

• Diablo III (Blizzard Entertainment)

BEST ONLINE VISUAL ARTS

• Star Wars: The Old Republic (BioWare Austin)

BEST COMMUNITY RELATIONS

• League of Legends (Riot Games)

BEST ONLINE GAME DESIGN

• Star Wars: The Old Republic (BioWare Austin)

AUDIENCE AWARD

• League of Legends (Riot Games)

ONLINE INNOVATION AWARD

• Journey (thatgamecompany)

HALL OF FAME AWARD

• World of Warcraft (Blizzard Entertainment)

ONLINE GAME LEGEND AWARD

• Raph Koster

"We're thrilled to be able to honor this elite group of industry-leading online games," said Meggan Scavio, General Manager, UBM Tech Game Network. "This year's winners represent the cream of the crop across the range of online game categories, including battle-arena MMOs, MMORPGs, social, mobile, indie and downloadable titles. We'd like to extend our thanks and congratulations to all of this year's finalists and winners for their fantastic contributions to the community."

Industry veteran Mike Goslin of Mindspark Interactive Network returned to host the "for developers, by developers" awards ceremony for the third time. Each award, with the exception of the Audience, Hall of Fame and Online Game Legend Awards, was selected by the Choice Online Awards-specific International Choice Awards Network (ICAN Online), an invitation-only group composed of 400 leading game creators from all parts of the online game industry.

For full information on the Game Developers Choice Online Awards visit www.gdconlineawards.com. Additional information on GDC Online 2012 can be found at www.GDCOnline.com.

About the UBM Tech Game Network 
A core provider of essential information to the professional game industry, the UBM Tech Game Network offers market-defining content, and drives community through its award winning lineup of print, online, event and research products and services. These include the Game Developers Conference®, the Webby Award-winning Gamasutra.com and network of sites, the Game Advertising Online ad network, the Game Developers Conference® Online, the Game Developers Conference™ Europe, the Game Developers Conference™ China, Game Developer Magazine, the Game Career Seminars and GameCareerGuide.com, the Independent Games Festival and Summit, and the Game Developers Choice Awards. Visit www.jointhegamenetwork.com

About UBM Tech
UBM Tech, the global leader in technology media and professional information, enables people and organizations to harness the transformative power of technology. Through its three core businesses – media solutions, marketing services and paid content – UBM Tech produces the most respected and consumed brands and media applications in the technology market. More than 14.5 million business and technology professionals (CIOs and IT managers, Web & Digital professionals, Software Developers, Government decision makers, and Telecom providers) actively engage in UBM Tech's communities and information resources monthly. UBM Tech brands includes: global face-to-face events such as Interop, Web 2.0, Black Hat and Enterprise Connect; award-winning online resources such as InformationWeek, Light Reading, and Network Computing; and market-leading magazines InformationWeek, Wall Street & Technology, and Advanced Trading. UBM Tech is a UBM plc company, a global provider of news distribution and specialist information services with a market capitalization of more than $2.5 billion. 

SOURCE UBM Tech Game Network