Next week’s Develop Awards ceremony is just one week away, and as anticipation builds for the big night we’ve taken a look back at the success stories from previous years.
The Develop Awards is always a great indicator of industry trends, showing where developers are finding the most success, and what studios can strive for.
Last year’s big winners included indie developer Thechineseroom for its hit title Dear Esther, which took away two awards for Use of Narrative and Micro Studio, apps powerhouse NaturalMotion Games, which took home the Business Development prize, Valve and Wargaming.
Gaikai CEO and industry veteran David Perry was honoured with the Development Legend award for his achievements in the industry, including selling the cloud gaming outfit to Sony for $380 million.
You can view the full history of the Develop Awards below, including past winners and images from the nights. We’ve also included this year’s nominees to give you a glimpse at how much the industry has changed over time.
And don’t forget, the Develop Awards 2013 is just one week away. A limited number of places to attend the awards remain. To book a place, contact Kathryn.Humphrey@intentmedia.co.uk or call 01992 535 646 as soon as possible.
Enjoy!
NEW IP
2013 nominees:
Clash of Clans – Supercell
Clay Jam – Fat Pebble
Dishonored – Arkane Studios
Hotline Miami – Dennaton Games
Surgeon Simulator – Bossa Studios
The Room – Fireproof Games
Thomas Was Alone – Mike Bithell
Warface – Crytek
Frontier Developments picks up the award for Lost Winds in 2008
Past winners:
2012: Frozen Synapse (Mode 7 Games)
2011: Enslaved (Ninja Theory)
2010: Heavy Rain (Quantic Dream)
2009: LittleBigPlanet (Media Molecule)
2008: Lost Winds (Frontier Developments)
USE OF A LICENCE OR IP
2013 nominees:
Angry Birds Star Wars – Rovio
DmC: Devil May Cry – Ninja Theory
LEGO City Undercover – Traveller’s Tales
LittleBigPlanet Vita – Tarsier Studios
Magic 2013 – Stainless Games
Sonic All-Stars Racing Transformed – Sumo Digital
The Snowman and the Snowdog – Crash Lab
Wonderbook: Book of Spells – London Studio
Codemasters Birmingham wins the Use of a Licence or IP accolade in 2011
Past winners:
2012: Batman: Arkham City (Rocksteady Studios)
2011: F1 2010 (Codemasters Birmingham)
2010: Batman: Arkham Asylum (Rocksteady Studios)
2009: LEGO Batman (Traveller’s Tales)
2008: LEGO Indiana Jones (Traveller’s Tales)
2007: LEGO Star Wars II (Traveller’s Tales)
VISUAL ARTS
2013 nominees:
Awesomenauts – Ronimo Games
CSR Racing – Boss Alien
Crysis 3 – Crytek
Forza Horizon – Playground Games
Hotline Miami – Dennaton Games
LittleBigPlanet Vita – Tarsier Studios
Rayman Jungle Run – Pastagames
The Room – Fireproof Games
Playdead’s Dino Patti collects its prize for platformer Limbo
Past winners:
2012: Ubisoft Montpellier (Rayman Origins)
Previous Winners (BEST ART & AUDIO)
2011: Playdead (Limbo)
2010: Black Rock Studio (Split/Second)
2009: Media Molecule (LittleBigPlanet) (for Best Art & Audio)
2008: Rockstar North (GTA IV) (for Best Art & Audio)
2007: Rare (Viva Piñata) (for Best Art & Audio)
Audio Accomplishment
2013 nominees:
Crysis 3 – Crytek
Fable: The Journey – Lionhead
Forza Horizon – Playground Games
Hotline Miami – Dennaton Games
Kinect Sesame Street – Soho Productions
Sniper Elite 2 – Rebellion
The Room – Fireproof Games
Wonderbook: Book of Spells – London Studio
Somethin’ Else wins the Audio Accomplishment accolade (2011)
Previous winners:
2012: EA Dice (Battlefield 3)
2011: Somethin’ Else (Papa Sangre)
2010: FreeStyleGames (DJ Hero)
2009: Lionhead Studios (Fable II)
2008: Rockstar North (Grand Theft Auto IV)
USE OF NARRATIVE:
2013 nominees:
Crysis 3 – Crytek
Dishonored – Arkane Studios
The 39 Steps – The Story Mechanics
The Room – Fireproof Games
Thomas Was Alone – Mike Bithell
Xi: Continuum – nDreams
ZombiU – Ubisoft Montpellier
Wonderbook: Book of Spells – London Studio
Past winners:
2012: Dear Esther (Thechineseroom) (Pictured above)
PUBLISHING HERO
2013 nominees:
AppyNation
Kickstarter UK
KISS
NaturalMotion Games
Ripstone
Square Enix London Studios
Strategic Content – SCEE
Valve
Valve picks up the Publishing Hero award for a second time in 2012 thanks to its digital distribution platform Steam
Past winners:
2012: Valve
2011: Valve
2010: Channel 4
2009: Apple
2008: Nintendo
ONLINE INNOVATION:
2013 nominees:
Curiosity – 22Cans
Hitman: Absolution – Contracts – IO Interactive
Illyriad – Illyriad
RaceNet – Codemasters
Smart As – Climax Studios
Turbulenz Platform – Turbulenz
Wargaming became the first winner in the Use of Online category last year
Past winners:
World of Tanks (Wargaming.net) (for Use of Online)
Technical Innovation
2013 nominees:
Dimensional Imaging
GameMaker – YoYo Games
Hitman Absolution Crowd Tech – IO Interactive
Just Dance TV – Ubisoft
Marmalade Juice – Marmalade
Oculus Rift – Oculus VR
Unreal Engine – Epic Games
Wonderbook – London Studio
Naturalmotion and Image Metrics win a Develop Award for their contributions on Grand Theft Auto IV
Past winners:
2012: Geomerics (Enlighten)
2011: Microsoft Research Cambridge (Kinect)
2010: Unity Technologies (Unity 3D)
2009: Media Molecule (LittleBigPlanet)
2008: NaturalMotion/Image Metrics (GTA IV)
Tools Provider
2013 nominees:
Donya Labs
Epic Games
FMOD
Geomerics
Havok
Marmalade
Perforce
Unity Technologies
Autodesk collects the Tools Provider accolade in 2011
Past winners:
2012:Epic Games
2011: Autodesk
2010: Hansoft
2009: Autodesk
Engine
2013 nominees:
CryEngine 3 – Crytek
GameMaker – YoYo Games
Havok Vision Engine – Havok
HeroEngine 2 – Idea Fabrik
Unity Engine – Unity Technologies
Unreal Engine – Epic Games
Mark Reign collects Epic’s first award for best engine in 2009, before the company went on to win the accolade another two times
Past winners:
2012: Unity 3.5 (Unity Technologies)
2011: Unreal Engine 3 (Epic Games)
2010: Unreal Engine 3 (Epic Games)
2009: Unreal Engine 3 (Epic Games)
Services
2013 nominees:
Audiomotion
LocalizeDirect
Nimrod Productions
Pinewood Studios
Player Research
Quantic Dream
Testronic Labs
VMC Game Labs
The 2010 award for services goes to Testology
Past winners:
2012: VMC Game Labs
2011: Audiomotion
2010: Testology
Creative Contribution – Audio
2013 nominees:
David Housden – Thomas Was Alone
High Score Productions – Harry Potter Kinect
Savalas Sound – Halo 4: Spartans Ops
Side – Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch
The Audio Guys – Sonic & AllStars Racing Transformed
Wave Studios – Kinect Sesame Street
Side picks up the accolade for best audio outsourcer in 2012
Past winners:
2012: Side (for Audio Outsourcer)
2011: Side (for previous Audio Outsourcer award)
2010: Side (for previous Audio Outsourcer award)
2009: Side/Sidelines (for previous Creative Outsourcing award)
Creative Contribution – Visuals
2013 nominees:
Axis Animation – Halo 4: Spartan Ops
Cubic Motion – LEGO City Undercover
Faceware Technologies and CounterPunch Studios – Crysis 3
Rabcat – Forza Horizon
Realtime UK – Wargaming trailers
Tarsier Studios – LittleBigPlanet Karting
Axis Animation wins the award in 2011 following its infamous Dead Island trailer
Past winners:
2012: Cubic Motion (for Visual Outsourcer)
2011: Axis Animation (for previous Visual Outsourcer award)
2010: Axis Animation (for previous Visual Outsourcer award)
Recruiter
2013 nominees:
Aardvark Swift
Amiqus
Avatar Games
Creative Personnel
Guru Careers
OPM Recruitment
Datascope
Specialmove
Amiqus circa 2010 comes out in force to collect its award for recruitment
Past winners:
2012: Amiqus
2011: Specialmove
2010: Amiqus
2009: Amiqus
2008: OPM
Micro Studio
2013 nominees:
Big Head Games
Crash Lab
Dennaton Games
Fireproof Games
FuturLab
Hotsauce Interactive
Mike Bithell
Terry Cavanagh
Mojang receives the award for top Micro Studio, going on to become one of the industry’s mose successful developers with runaway blockbuster Minecraft
Past winners:
2012: Thechineseroom
2011: Mojang Specifications
2010: Hello Games
Business Development
2013 nominees:
Abertay University Prototype Fund
Eutechnyx
King
The Foundry
Mediatonic
Mind Candy
Jagex
Wargaming
Michael Acton Smith collects Mind Candy’s award following its success with Moshi Monsters
Past winners:
2012: NaturalMotion Games
2011: Mind Candy
2010: Sony XDev
2009: Playfish
2008: Realtime Worlds
Independent Studio
2013 nominees:
CCP
Crytek
Dlala
Ninja Theory
Playground Games
Sumo Digital
Supercell
Yippee Entertainment
CCP wins best independent studio for its work on popular MMO Eve Online
Past winners:
2012: CCP
2011: Crytek
2010: Quantic Dream
2009: Media Molecule
2008: Splash Damage
In-house Studio
2013 nominees:
Arkane Studios
Boss Alien
Creative Assembly
Criterion Games
IO Interactive
Sports Interactive
Traveller’s Tales
Ubisoft Montpellier
Rockstar North developers collect their award in 2008, before winning the same prize again a year later
Past winners:
2012: Creative Assembly
2011: Media Molecule
2010: Rocksteady Studios
2009: Rockstar North
2008: Rockstar North
2007: Ubisoft France
New Studio
2013 nominees:
22Cans
Born Ready Games
Boss Alien
Dlala
FuturLab
Hotsauce Interactive
Playground Games
Soho Productions
Hello Games celebrates its big win in 2010
Past winners:
2012: Bossa Studios
2011: Mojang Specifications
2010: Hello Games
2009: Media Molecule
2008: Doublesix
2007: Realtime Worlds
Special Recognition: Development Legend
Phil Harrison is honoured with the Development Legend accolade in 2009
2013 winners:
Tim Sweeney and Mark Rein
Past winners:
2012: David Perry
2011: Ian Livingstone
2010: The Gower Brothers (Jagex)
2009: Phil Harrison