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    “Shadow of Mordor,” “Monument Valley” win big at Game Developer Choice Awards

    By SHOOTUpdated:No Comments952 Views
    This image released by Warner Bros. Entertainment shows a ranger named Talion and his ghostly companion invading an orc fortress in a scene from video game "Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor." (AP Photo/Warner Bros. Entertainment, File)

    By Derrik J. Lang, Entertainment Writer

    SAN FRANCISCO (AP) --

    "Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor" is king of the Game Developers Choice Awards.

    Monolith Productions' gritty action-adventure game set between J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings" was honored as the game of the year at Wednesday's 15th annual ceremony, which is held during the Game Developers Conference.

    "I want to thank everyone at Monolith Productions," said studio head Kevin Stephens as he was backed on stage by dozens of employees. "There are about 40 people up here. I holed them away for two years to make this game, and now I'm letting them loose on GDC."

    The artsy mobile puzzler "Monument Valley" from ustwo captured the most trophies, picking up the best visual art, mobile and innovation awards.

    "The last 12 months has been completely insane, and it's far bigger than we ever expected, said executive producer Daniel Gray. "We're genuinely humbled by the rest of the people in this room."

    Bungie's shared-world sci-fi shooter "Destiny" was honored for best technology, while Creative Assembly's intergalactic horror "Alien: Isolation" was awarded for best audio.

    "When I first started watching people play our game, it was a big shock to me how much the audio affected how people played and how long they would spend hiding inside lockers and listening to the sounds of the station," said studio director Tim Heaton. "If I'd realized how much effect it had, we probably could have made a shorter game."

    Other winners included Cardboard Computer's adventure game "Kentucky Route Zero" for best narrative, Blizzard's trade-carding title "Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft" for best design and Stoic Studio's Viking-themed role-playing game "The Banner Saga" for best debut.

    Frontier Developments' updated space-trading simulator "Elite: Dangerous" landed the audience award, which was selected by online votes.

    David Braben, developer of the original "Elite" in the 1980s, received the Pioneer Award for his influential work, which featured revolutionary 3D graphics and moral quandaries for players.

    Brenda Romero, a veteran game designer, was presented with the Ambassador Award, which recognizes individuals who have helped advance the gaming industry.

    Hironobu Sakaguchi, the Japanese creator of the long-running "Final Fantasy" series, was honored with the show's Lifetime Achievement Award.

    "I'm still chugging along," Sakaguchi said through a translator. "I have not retired. I will not retire in the near future. With everyone here, I think we should just continue to make great content and great games."

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    Tags:Game Developers Choice AwardsGame Developers Conference



    Online forum Reddit will join the influential and closely tracked S&P 500 index

    Friday, August 14, 2026
    Reddit Inc. logos are displayed on the New York Stock Exchange trading floor, prior to the company's IPO, Thursday, March. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura, File)

    Reddit will join the S&P 500 next week, giving the wide-ranging online forum a boost in prestige and investments.

    Joining the S&P 500 is considered an achievement for a company because the index is a widely followed measure of the broader U.S. stock market's health. A company is selected for the index based on several criteria that demonstrate stability, including market size and consistent profitability.

    Reddit's stock surged nearly 14% around midday Friday.

    Aside from status, inclusion means more investments. The index tracks 500 of the biggest U.S. stocks, and trillions of dollars in investments benchmark themselves against it. Those investments include mutual funds and exchange-traded funds. Essentially, those funds will have to buy the stock once it becomes part of the index that the fund is tracking or mimicking.

    Investors are depending more than ever on funds that simply mimic indexes such as the S&P 500. It's a lower-cost way to invest, allowing savers to keep more of their investments. Partly because of that, such index funds have usually proven to be better performers than funds that try to pick and choose individual stocks.

    Reddit will join the benchmark index as of Tuesday. A stock must trade publicly for at least 12 months to join the S&P 500. The operator of the index, S&P Dow Jones Indices, stuck to that guideline recently when it declined to fast-track SpaceX into the index after the space exploration company's massive initial public offering in June.

    Reddit's inclusion comes weeks after it posted strong financial results for the second quarter. That included its highest-ever quarterly revenue. The company has been posting profits almost every quarter since it went public in... Read More

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