2011 Develop Awards finalists revealed

Almost 100 games development firms are battling it out for one of 21 accolades at the 2011 Develop Awards.

The finalists have now been confirmed (see full list below), with 95 firms in total in the running. They hail from nine different countries, with 28 different games represented.

The overall finalists list is incredibly varied, with small indie teams, larger in-house studios, growing independents and format holders all out in full force.

Sony and Xbox have the most finalist slots, with their games and studios taking six nominations each.

In fact, the pair’s rival hardware – PlayStation Move and Kinect – go head-to-head in the technical innovation category. Key technology in both originated at the companies’ respective R&D centres in London and Cambridge.

Elsewhere Epic Games scores five nominations; three for Unreal Engine 3, and two for its Polish studio People Can Fly’s Bulletstorm.

Other companies with multiple nods include Rovio Mobile (creator of Angry Birds) with three nominations, and indie hit Minecraft and its creator Mojang Specifications scoring four nominations.

Over 150 outfits of all shapes and sizes – from one man micro studios up to 300+ sized teams – lobbied throughout April to be considered for the development sector’s most prestigious awards ceremony.

The Develop Industry Excellence Awards are the only awards designed to reward the creative, commercial and innovative work done by European studios and the firms that support them.

Now, our panel of 100 games development execs from around the world will vote on the winners.

But the victorious studios will only be named on the night of the ceremony itself, July 20th. The event takes place at the Hilton Metropole Hotel, Brighton. Contact Kathryn.Humphrey@intentmedia.co.uk or call 01992 535 646 to attend.

The event is sponsored by Crytek (Platinum Sponsor), Amiqus and Supermassive Games (Gold Sponsors), OPM Jobs (Table Gift Partner), Babel Media (Development Legend Award Partner) and Gamecity Hamburg
(Event Partner).

More sponsorship opportunities are available – contact Alex.Boucher@intentmedia.co.uk.

THE FINALISTS IN FULL

CREATIVITY

NEW IP
Enslaved (Ninja Theory)
Brink (Splash Damage)
Bulletstorm (People Can Fly)
Kinect Sports (Rare)
Kinectimals (Frontier)
Bulletstorm (People Can Fly)

NEW DOWNLOAD IP
Amnesia: The Dark Descent (Frictional Games)
Dead Nation (Housemarque)
Hydroventure (Curve Studios)
Limbo (Playdead)
Minecraft (Mojang Specifications)
Tiny Wings (Andreas Illiger)

USE OF A LICENCE OR IP
Angry Birds Rio (Rovio Mobile)
F1 2010 (Codemasters Birmingham)
FIFA Superstars (Playfish)
GoldenEye 007 (Eurocom)
Jenga (NaturalMotion Games)
Michael Jackson: The Experience (Ubisoft Paris)
Mr Men / Little Miss (Digital Goldfish)
Need For Speed Hot Pursuit (Criterion)

VISUAL ARTS
Bulletstorm (People Can Fly)
Crysis 2 (Crytek)
Enslaved (Ninja Theory)
Killzone 3 (Guerrilla Games)
Limbo (Playdead)
MotorStorm Apocalypse (Evolution Studios)
Shogun 2: Total War (The Creative Assembly)

AUDIO ACCOMPLISHMENT
Enslaved (Ninja Theory)
Crysis 2 (Crytek)
DJ Hero 2 (FreeStyleGames)
Fable III (Lionhead)
Kinect Sports (Rare)
Limbo (Playdead)
Papa Sangre (Somethin’ Else)

PUBLISHING HERO
Channel 4
Electronic Arts
Lockwood Publishing
Microsoft
Namco Bandai
SCEE XDEV
Valve

TECHNOLOGY & SERVICES

TECHNICAL INNOVATION
Havok Mobile (Havok)
Kinect (Microsoft Research Cambridge)
Kinect Sports (Rare)
Path of Go AI (Microsoft Research Cambridge)
PlayStation Move (SCEE Vision R&D/User Testing Team/Creative Development Group)
Razor for NGP (SN Systems/SCE R&D)
Unreal Engine (Epic Games)

VISUAL OUTSOURCER
Atomhawk Design
Axis Animation
Cubic Motion
Fireproof Studios
RealtimeUK
Slide
Spov

AUDIO OUTSOURCER
Air Edel
High Score
Media Mill
Nimrod Productions
Richard Jacques
Side UK

SERVICES
Audiomotion
Babel Media
SQS India
Testology
Testronic Labs
Universally Speaking
U-Trax

RECRUITMENT
Amiqus
Aardvark Swift
Avatar Games
Datascope
MPG Universal
OPM Recruitment
Specialmove

TOOLS PROVIDER
Autodesk
Donya Labs
Epic Games
Hansoft
Havok
NaturalMotion
UnityEpic Games

ENGINE
BlitzTech (Blitz Games Studios)
CryEngine 3 (Crytek)
Shiva3D (Stonetrip)
Unity (Unity Technologies)
Unreal Engine 3 (Epic Games)
Vision Game Engine (Trinigy)

STUDIOS

NEW STUDIO
Future Games of London
Mobile Pie
Mojang Specifications
Playdead
Rodeo Games
Ruffian Games
Supermassive Games

MICRO STUDIO
Andreas Illiger
Frictional Games
Mobile Pie
Mojang Specifications
Revolution Software
Rodeo Games
That Game Studio

HANDHELD STUDIO
Erik Svedng
Exient
Ideaworks Game Studio
NaturalMotion Games
Rovio Mobile
Sports Interactive

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
Bigpoint
Blitz Games Studios
Curve Studios
Eutechnyx
Lightning Fish
Mind Candy
nDreams

IN-HOUSE STUDIO
Codemasters Studios
Criterion Games
Media Molecule
PopCap Dublin
Sports Interactive
Traveller’s Tales
Ubisoft France

INDEPENDENT STUDIO
Crytek
Mind Candy
Mojang Specifications
Playdead
Rovio Mobile
Splash Damage
Sumo Digital

SPECIAL RECOGNITION

Winners of the Development Legend and Grand Prix prizes will be announced on the night of the awards.