DEVELOP AWARDS: Tim Sweeney and Mark Rein to be named Legends

Epic Games’ Tim Sweeney and Mark Rein will be inducted into the games development hall of fame next month at the Develop Industry Excellence Awards.

At a ceremony on July 10th at the Brighton Hilton Metropole, the pair will each receive the Development Legend award, joining an elite few who have been handed the honour.

This is the first time the award will be presented to figures from the international games development scene. Previous recipients are British-born respected games industry leaders including Peter Molyneux, David Braben, Charles Cecil, Phil Harrison, Ian Livingstone, and last year’s Legend David Perry.

The award acknowledges the pair’s success leading Epic Games in 22 years of business both as a developer and creator of major franchises, and most importantly as a technology pioneer with the widely-used Unreal Engine. Sweeney is CEO and founder of Epic Games, Rein is Vice President.

The award will be presented as part of the Develop Industry Excellence Awards, an event hosted by Develop and its publisher Intent Media.

"As this current generation of games consoles closes and as interactive content continues to spread across mobile, web and away from the TV, it is the right time to present our prestigious Legend honour to those who have helped define these changes," said Michael French, editor-in-chief of Develop. "The Unreal Engine has supported games of all sizes from around the world, from modern blockbusters to mobile innovations.

"Epic Games’ leaders Tim and Mark have helped this company excel in terms of coding genius and commercial smarts, both as a partner to many in the business and an impressive studio network in its own right. Develop looks forward to presenting this honour to Tim and Mark on July 10th."

I owe much gratitude to Develop and to all of the gamers and developers who have supported Epic Games, and Mark and I personally, throughout our company’s 22-year history. This is awesome," added Sweeney

I’ve always been a huge fan and supporter of the British game industry so it is truly a special honour for me to be able to accept this recognition, along with Tim Sweeney, on behalf of everyone at Epic who has worked tirelessly over the years to delight British gaming enthusiasts and to empower British game developers with the Unreal Engine,” stated Rein. We look forward to continuing to do this and we thank you sincerely for this kind reward.”

The only peer-voted awards for the UK and European game industry, the Develop Awards are this year taking place on July 10th at the Brighton Metropole hotel, just two weeks away.

You can read the the full set of this year’s Develop Awards finalists here.

A limited number of places to attend the event remain. To book a place, contact Kathryn.Humphrey@intentmedia.co.uk or call 01992 535 646 as soon as possible.

The Develop Industry Excellence Awards take place on July 10th at the Hilton Metropole Hotel in Brighton, UK. Event partners include Platinum Partners Crytek, Deep Silver and Microsoft, Gold Partners Testronic, Amiqus, UKIE, Perforce Software, Sumo Digital and Pitbull Studio, Drinks Reception Partner

For sponsorship and partner opportunities contact Alex.Boucher@intentmedia.co.uk or call 01992 535 647.

For more information, visit the official Develop Awards website.