GDC Online is on its way and the votes for nominees are in. The organizers have now announced the finalists for the 3rd annual GDC Choice Awards and Gamasutra has brought us the full story. There is a wide range of games in the nominee list this year and this also reflects the diversity in the industry and the creativity of the game developers.

However, we were not at all surprised to see SWTOR on the list. Some might be surprised to see just how much the game was nominated, however. Gamasutra reports:

The most-nominated titles this year include BioWare Austin’s MMORPG Star Wars: The Old Republic, which grabbed six nominations, as well as multiple nominations for diverse titles including Omgpop/Zynga’s addictive social mobile app Draw Something, Playfish/EA’s Facebook treatment of one of gaming’s biggest franchises, The Sims Social, Blizzard Entertainment’s record-breaking PC online-integrated title Diablo III, Tiny Speck’s quirky casual MMO Glitch, and more.

In addition to SWTOR, other familiar games on the list for awards this year include:

The Game Developers Choice Online Awards are a sister event to the Game Developers Choice Awards which takes place annually at GDC in San Francisco. The ceremony will be held on the evening of Wednesday, October 10, 2012 during the GDC Online, which takes place at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, Texas October 9-11.

Host Mike Goslin of Rebel Entertainment will act as master of ceremonies during the event. Here you can see the complete list of finalists:

Best Social Network Game:

– CastleVille (Zynga Dallas)

– Rage Of Bahamut (Cygames/Mobage)

– Draw Something (OMGPOP/Zynga)

– Empires & Allies (Zynga LA)

– The Sims Social (Playfish)

Best Audio:

– Star Wars: The Old Republic (BioWare Austin)

– Tribes: Ascend (Hi-Rez Studios)

– Marvel: Avengers Alliance (Playdom/Disney)

– Diablo III (Blizzard Entertainment)

– Indiana Jones Adventure World (Zynga Boston)

Best Online Game Design:

– Glitch (Tiny Speck)

– Realm of the Mad God (Wild Shadow Studios/Kabam w/Spry Fox)

– Star Wars: The Old Republic (BioWare Austin)

– DragonVale (Backflip Studios)

– Woodland Heroes (Row Sham Bow)

Best Online Visual Arts:

– Tera (Bluehole Studio/En Masse)

– Empires & Allies (Zynga LA)

– Star Wars: The Old Republic (BioWare Austin)

– Age of Empires Online (Robot Entertainment & Gas Powered Games)

– Glitch (Tiny Speck)

Online Innovation:

– Journey (thatgamecompany)

– Realm of the Mad God (Wild Shadow Studios/Kabam w/Spry Fox)

– Star Wars: The Old Republic (BioWare Austin)

– DayZ Mod for ArmA II (Dean Hall/Bohemia Interactive)

– Idle Worship (Idle Games)

Best Community Relations*:

– World of WarCraft (Blizzard Entertainment)

– League of Legends (Riot Games)

– Solitaire Blitz (PopCap/EA)

– World of Tanks (Wargaming.net Belarus)

– Diamond Dash (Wooga)

Best Online Technology:

– Diablo III (Blizzard Entertainment)

– Star Wars: The Old Republic (BioWare Austin)

– Indiana Jones Adventure World (Zynga Boston)

– Tera (Bluehole Studio/En Masse)

– The Sims Social (Playfish)

Best Live Game*:

– League of Legends (Riot Games)

– Rift (Trion Worlds)

– CityVille (Zynga)

– World of WarCraft (Blizzard Entertainment)

– EVE Online (CCP Games)

Best New Online Game:

– CastleVille (Zynga Dallas)

– Star Wars: The Old Republic (BioWare Austin)

– DragonVale (Backflip Studios)

– Draw Something (OMGPOP/Zynga)

– Rage Of Bahamut (Cygames/Mobage)

Special Note: All nominees launched in public Beta or full launch in North America between June 2011 and May 2012, other than starred categories, which are for all currently-operating games.