MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
The ninth annual MCV Women in Games Awards took place in London on March 1, 2023, where 200 finalists, guests, judges and supporters turned up to see twelve awards handed out in celebration of UK women making and championing games.
Hosted by PC Gamer’s Stevie Ward, the awards covered the full breadth of UK talent, from education and business to games media and development. We received hundreds of nominations at the start of the year, and after much debate the MCV/DEVELOP team settled on a shortlist of around 70 candidates, which were then voted on by a panel of judges made up of winners from previous years.
As we start to make plans for next year’s landmark awards – which are going to be bigger and better (and perhaps later in the year), we’d like to thank all the supporters and sponsors of this year’s event. Congratulations to not just the winners and finalists that came along, but to everyone that was put forward, and special thanks of course to those that took the time to nominate themselves and their colleagues.
Without further ado, here are the winners.
JOURNALISM IMPACT
Finalists: Samantha Greer at Samantha Greer, Rhiannon Bevan at TheGamer, Kelsey Raynor at VG247, Nicola Harper-Williams at Game Accessibility Nexus, Bryony-Hope Green at British Esports
Winner: Bryony-Hope Green, British Esports
CAREER MENTOR sponsored by HANGAR 13
Finalists: Meile Bauzyte at Firesprite Games, Michelle Chapman at Sumo Sheffield, Adele Simpson at Green Man Gaming, Louise Andrew at d3t, Jasmine Hong at British Esports, Bev Bright at Wushu Studios
Winner: Louise Andrew, d3t
IN-HOUSE HR AND RECRUITMENT IMPACT
Finalists: Tracy Clark at SEGA HARDlight, Alice Wyman at Rocksteady Studios, Karen McLoughlin at Sumo Group, Khally Saarman-Jones at Payload Studios, Charlotte Pook at Electric Square, Vikki Neale at nDreams
Winner: Vikki Neale, nDreams
GAMES CAMPAIGNER sponsored by ONE PLAYER MISSION
Finalists: Kat Welsford at Splash Damage and SavePoint Industry Gathering, Georgie Christoforou at Neonhive, Tamsin O’Luanaigh at nDreams, Lauren Kaye at She Plays Games, Esha Mahadkar at Secret Mode
Winner: Lauren Kaye, She Plays Games
TECHNICAL INNOVATION
Finalists: Gayathri Chittiappa at Firesprite, Kirsty Fraser at Third Kind Games, Joanna Haslam at Snap Finger Click, Essi Suurkuukka at Lab42 Games, Sofia Romualdo at Supermassive Games
Winner: Kirsty Fraser, Third Kind Games
DEVELOPMENT IMPACT
Finalists: May Wong at INTERIOR/NIGHT, Audrey Profit at The Chinese Room, Searra Leishman at Hyper Luminal Games (HLG), Samantha Luzon at Payload Studios, Emma Bates at Team17 Digital Ltd, Louise Kasemeier at nDreams Studio Orbital
Winner: May Wong, INTERIOR/NIGHT
COMMS IMPACT
Finalists: Courtney O’Connor at Supermassive Games, Rebecca Sweetmore at Futurlab, Anita Wong at Indigo Pearl, Lauren Ashling Hill at Activision Blizzard, Amy Hughes at Kepler Interactive, Nika Tufnell at Bethesda
Winner: Anita Wong, Indigo Pearl
BUSINESS IMPACT sponsored by AMIQUS
Finalists: MJ Widomska at YRS TRULY, Sally Blake at Silent Games, Devon Pearce at TrailerFarm, Kat Schreiber at Disobey, Jennifer Schneidereit at Nyamyam / Midnight Circus, Angela Dickson at Activision Blizzard
Winner: Sally Blake, Silent Games
CREATIVE IMPACT sponsored by ROCKSTEADY STUDIOS
Finalists: Alexandra Banks at 10:10 Games, Rachel Cox at Roll7, Caroline Marchal at INTERIOR/NIGHT, Vicky Boyce at Third Kind Games, Hannah McCarthy at Liquid Violet, Errol Seymour at Jagex, Vanesa Tate at King
Winner: Vanesa Tate, King
EDUCATIONAL IMPACT sponsored by CREATIVE ASSEMBLY
Finalists: Zara Sharma at Worcester University, Marcia Deakin at NextGen Skills Academy, Dr Mona Bozdog at Abertay University, Hilary Lok at Dot Dot Fire, Leah Dungay at National Videogame Museum, Alice Leaman at British Esports and Women in Esports
Winner: Alice Leaman, British Esports and Women in Esports
RISING STAR sponsored by SUPERMASSIVE GAMES
Finalists: Sophia Donovan-Spalding at Frontier Development, Amber Turner at Wizards of the Coast, Katy Wood at Hyper Luminal Games, Shelby O’Neil at NVIDIA, Erika Cope at Team17, Holly O’Neill at Media Molecule, Tia Wedderburn at BAFTA
Winner: Tia Wedderburn. BAFTA RISING STAR WINNER
OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION
Winner: Tara Mustapha, Code Coven
Congratulations one and all!
…and if you’d like to check out the photos from the awards show, you can now find those in our 2023 Gallery on the official event website.
