Finalists unveiled for Develop Awards 2012

The 2012 Develop Industry Excellence Awards boasts the most diverse array of finalists yet.

Ninety-six companies, ranging from one-man outfits to development teams of over 200 people, are in the running for key accolades that reward outstanding work done by games studios in Europe over the last 12 months.

Big names in the running include Rocksteady Studios, Bigpoint, Mind Candy, EA DICE and Ubisoft, plus new studios such as Big Bit, Bossa Studios, Toxic Games and We R Interactive. There are nominations alike for for commercial juggernauts such as Driver, Magic: The Gathering and Minecraft, plus acclaimed original games such as Dear Esther, Monstermind, and Where is My Heart?.

The full list of finalists can be found below.

Winners will be awarded on stage at a gala ceremony on the evening of Wednesday, July 11th hosted at the Hilton Metropole Hotel, Brighton.

To book your tickets, contactKathryn.Humphrey@intentmedia.co.ukor call her on 01992 535 645.

After a month of careful painstaking deliberation by the Develop team, no corner of the business has been left unturned,” said Develop editor-in-chief Michael French.

Finalists hail from across the UK and continental Europe, and come from every major games category, from core console and PC games to mobile, social, browser and free-to-play.

Our shortlist shows that, as power continues to shift in the games development sector, new nimble online and indie developers are standing toe-to-toe with their big budget console brothers. We’re looking forward to seeing who our jury picks as the ultimate winners in these hotly contested awards.”

Now, a jury of over 100 games development executives will vote for the winners ahead of the July ceremony. Judges will be named after the event in the August issue of Develop’s monthly print magazine.

The Develop Industry Excellence Awards 2012 is sponsored by Crytek (Platinum Partner), Deep Silver (Platinum Partner), Amiqus (Gold Partner), Rare (Gold Partner), Supermassive Games (Gold Partner), Testronic Labs (Gold Partner), UKIE (Gold Partner), Game Connection (Category Partner – Studios), OPM Jobs (Table Gift Partner), Nova Scotia Business (Drinks Reception Partner), and Zattikka (Event Partner).

For details on sponsorship and partner opportunities contactAlex.Boucher@intentmedia.co.ukor call him on 01992 535 647

DEVELOP INDUSTRY EXCELLENCE AWARDS 2012: THE FINALISTS

CATEGORY: CREATIVITY

NEW IP
Brink (Splash Damage)
Dear Esther (Thechineseroom)
Frozen Synapse (Mode 7 Games)
Monstermind (Bossa Studios)
My Horse (NaturalMotion Games)
Zombies, Run! (Six to Start)

USE OF A LICENCE
Batman: Arkham City (Rocksteady Studios)
Battlestar Galactica Online (Bigpoint/Artplant)
LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7 (TT Games)
LEGO Life of George (LEGO Group Denmark)
Magic: The Gathering – Duels of the Planeswalkers (Stainless Games)
Peppa Pig (Strawdog Studios)
Team Hot Wheels Apptivity (Big Bit)
Who Wants to be a Millionaire? (Doublesix Games)

USE OF NARRATIVE
Batman: Arkham City (Rocksteady Studios)
Dear Esther (Thechineseroom)
Driver: San Francisco (Ubisoft Reflections)
Misfits: Community Service (Mobile Pie)
Where is My Heart? (Die Gute Fabrik)
Zombies, Run! (Six to Start)

VISUAL ARTS
Batman: Arkham City (Rocksteady Studios)
Battlefield 3 (EA Dice)
Dear Esther (Thechineseroom)
Rayman Origins (Ubsioft Montpellier)
Trine 2 (Frozenbyte)
Wonderputt (Damp Gnat)

AUDIO ACCOMPLISHMENT
Battlefield 3 (EA Dice)
Batman: Arkham City (Rocksteady Studios)
Beat Sneak Beat (Simogo)
Driver: San Francisco (Ubisoft Reflections)
Okabu (Hand Circus)
Total War: Fall of the Samurai (The Creative Assembly)
Zombies, Run! (Six to Start)

PUBLISHING HERO
Connect2Media
Indie City
Indie Fund
SCEE Xdev
Steam
Thumbstar

CATEGORY: TECHNOLOGY & SERVICES

TECHNICAL INNOVATION
Enlighten (Geomerics)
Kinect Sports: Season Two (Rare)
Monstermind (Bossa Studios)
MotorStorm RC (Evolution Studios)
My Horse (NaturalMotion Games)
Circus Challenge (Pitbull Studio)
Team Hot Wheels Apptivity (Big Bit)

USE OF ONLINE
Aurora (nDreams)
Eve Online (CCP)
Monstermind (Bossa Studios)
Minecraft 360 (4J Studios/Mojang Specifications)
PlayStation Home (SCE)
Trials Evolution (Red Lynx)
World of Tanks (Wargaming.net)

VISUAL OUTSOURCER
Atomhawk Design
Axis Animation
Cubic Motion
Dimensional Imaging
Imagination Studios
RealtimeUK
TrioViz

AUDIO OUTSOURCER
Nimrod Productions
OM UK
Richard Jacques Studios
Side
The Audio Guys
Wave Studios

SERVICES
Audiomotion
LocalizeDirect
Pinewood Studios
Testronic Labs
Universally Speaking
VMC Game Labs

TOOLS PROVIDER
Autodesk
Epic Games
Firelight Technologies
Hansoft
Havok
NaturalMotion
RAD Game Tools
Unity Technologies
Xaitment

ENGINE
BigWorld Client (BigWorld Technology)
CryEngine 3 (Crytek)
Havok Vision Engine (Havok)
HeroEngine (Simultroncs)
Marmalade (Ideaworks 3D)
Unity 3.5 (Unity Technologies)
Unreal Engine 3 (Epic Games)

RECRUITER
Aardvark Swift
Amiqus
Avatar Games
Datascope Recruitment
OPM Jobs
MPG Universal

CATEGORY: STUDIOS

NEW STUDIO
Thechineseroom
Big Bit
Bossa Studios
ShortRound Games
Six to Start
Toxic Games
We R Interactive

MICRO STUDIO
Thechineseroom
Dakko Dakko
Mobile Pie
ShortRound Games
Six to Start
Rodeo Games
Tanukii Studios/Room 4 Games

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
Mind Candy
Zattikka
Playground Games
NaturalMotion Games
Stainless Games
Rovio Entertainment
nDreams
Wargaming.net

INDEPENDENT STUDIO
Blitz Games Studios
Bossa Studios
CCP
Crytek
Frontier Developments
Mediatonic
Preloaded
Rovio Entertainment

IN-HOUSE STUDIO
The Creative Assembly
EA Dice
Rare
Red Lynx
Rocksteady Studios
TT Games
Ubisoft Montpelier
Bigpoint Hamburg

SPECIAL AWARDS

DEVELOPMENT LEGEND
As previously announced, the winner of this award in 2012 is David Perry, who will attend the gala ceremony to collect the honour.

GRAND PRIX
Our final prize is the ultimate accolade, decided solely by the Develop team and awarded to the European games studio that has made the biggest impact on the business in the last 12 months.