GDC: Valve scoops three awards for Portal 2

Washington studio Valve Software was handed a trio of honours at the Game Developers Choice Awards on Wednesday for its work on the 2011 blockbuster Portal 2.

The PC games kingpin picked up more prizes than any other studio on the night, taking back to Washington awards for Best Narrative, Best Audio and Best Game Design.

"During most of the development of Portal 2, I thought I was going to die," said Valve writer Erik Wolpaw in his acceptance speech, as quoted by Gamasutra.

“So just not being dead was the only award that I thought I was going to get.”

Meanwhile, the coveted Game of the Year award was handed to Bethesda for its work on the open-world RPG The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

"We never imagined the reception the game would get, or the reception that it has had. This has been an amazing ride for us, not just for this game, but for the last 25-plus years at Bethesda,” said studio director Todd Howard.

Indie outfit Supergiant Games won Best Downloadable Game and Best Debut for its sleeper-hit Bastion.

The lifetime achievement award was given to Warren Spector.

The full list of winners can be found below:

Best Audio:
Portal 2 (Valve)

Best Debut:
Bastion (Supergiant Games)

Best Narrative:
Portal 2 (Valve)

Best Visual Arts:
Uncharted 3 (Naughty Dog)

Best Downloadable Game:
Bastion (Supergiant Games)

Best Game Design
Portal 2 (Valve)

Best Technology
Battlefield 3 (DICE)

Best Mobile Handheld Game
Sword & Sworcery (Superbrothers and Capy)

Innovation Award
Johann Sebastian Joust (Die Gute Fabrik)

2012 Pioneer Award
Dave Theurer, creator of Missile Command, Tempest and I, Robot

Game of the Year
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Bethesda)

Lifetime Achievement
Warren Spector