TUESDAY, MAY 23 rd - Ninety-six companies, ranging from one-man outfits to development teams of over 200 people, are in the running for key accolades at the 2012 Develop Industry Excellence Awards.
It’s the most diverse array of finalists seen in the event’s 10-year history. The Develop Awards 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?.
Winners will be awarded on stage at a gala ceremony on the evening of Wednesday, July 11 th hosted at the Hilton Metropole Hotel, Brighton.
To book your tickets, contact Kathryn.Humphrey@intentmedia.co.uk or 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), Zattika (Event Partner).
For details on sponsorship and partner opportunities contact Alex.Boucher@intentmedia.co.uk or 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 Bandit (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
IndieCity
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
Outsource Media 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
Zattika
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
About Develop and the Develop Industry Excellence Awards
Develop is the must-read resource for anyone in the business of making games. It's a powerful force online, with a highly targeted website at www.develop-online.net offering breaking news and daily, incisive industry content. Develop’s print magazine is an influential industry bible read by an audience of thousands of games development professionals working across 43 countries. Across print, digital and online, Develop reaches over 350,000 industry readers.
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The Develop Industry Excellence Awards are now in their tenth year, and reward the creative and commercial endeavours of games developers across Europe. Key accolades acknowledging successes in fields like visual arts, new IP creation, business development and technical innovation are handed out at an event attended by over 500 games industry execs. www.developawards.com, @developawards on Twitter











