Develop Awards 2014 lobbying opens

The Develop Awards are back this July, with four new prizes up for grabs, and you can lobby to be nominated for one right now.

The hugely popular industry event will once again reward the very best innovators in games development from the UK and Europe.

It will be held at the Brighton Hilton Metropole on Wednesday, July 9th during the Develop Conference 2014. To book your place now, contactKathryn.Humphrey@intentmedia.co.uk.

A total of 23 awards will be handed out on the night, including favourites such as New IP, Technical Innovation, Use of Narrative and Independent Studio.

And, as always, our prestigious Development Legend will be given to an esteemed icon that has pioneered some of the industry’s biggest innovations. The winner will be selected by the Develop Team and announced ahead of the event.

We also have four new accolades: Musical Composition, QA & Localisation, Talent Investment and the new Special Award, Studio of the Year.

The full list of categories can be found below.

Think you deserve a Develop Award? You can find out in ourfull lobbying guide online, and it will also be printed in the March issue ofDevelop. This details the criteria for every category and what you should be sending with your nomination todevelopawards@intentmedia.co.uk.

The deadline for lobbying isTuesday, April 15th at 5pm.

Once submissions are sent in, they will be vetted by the Develop Team and the finalists will be announced in a few moths.

The Develop Awards are supported by platinum sponsors Crytek and Deep Silver and gold sponsors Codemasters and Amiqus.

ContactAlex.Boucher@intentmedia.co.ukto discuss the other high-profile sponsorship opportunities available.

DEVELOP AWARDS 2014: THE CATEGORIES

• New Games IP
• Use of a Licence or IP
• Visual Arts
• Audio Accomplishment
• [New]Musical Composition
• Use of Narrative
• Publishing Hero
• Technical Innovation
• Tools Provider
• Engine
• Service
• [New]QA & Localisation
• Creative Contribution: Audio
• Creative Contribution: Visuals
• Recruiter
• [New]Talent Investment
• Business Development
• Micro Studio
• Independent Studio
• In-House Studio
• New Studio

SPECIAL AWARD

• [New]Studio of the Year
• Development Legend

THREE STEPS TO WINNING A DEVELOP AWARD

Step One: Make sure you are eligible

• The games in question must be released somewhere in the world between May 1st, 2013 and April 30th, 2014. And yes, commercial public beta phases are also eligible.
• Is your business based in Europe or the UK? If so, you are eligible – even if you have worked on games developed outside of the region.
• If you’re based outside Europe, can you prove worthwhile support or collaboration with studios in the region over the past year? If so, you’re eligible for selected categories (check the award description).

Step Two: Prepare to lobby

• Write a short pitch of 350 words
• Provide five bullet points highlighting any relevant accomplishments.
• Add a list of links to any videos, images, music, websites and so on that support your nomination.

Step Three: Send it in

• Email your nominations todevelopawards@intentmedia.co.ukbefore 5pm GMT on Tuesday, April 15th.

When all nominations are in, they are each carefully appraised by the Develop editorial team. A shortlist for each award is drawn up based on the lobbying documents and industry standing.

Profiles of the shortlisted companies are then sent out to a judging panel made up of 100 industry executives hand-picked by the Develop team.

The judges confidentially disclose their choices, and those nominees with the most votes win in their award category. The names of the judges are only named after the event.

For more specifics on the award categories and how to be nominated, see ourlobbying guide.