MCV Women in Games Awards 2018: The Winners!

The MCV Women in Games Awards 2018 has been a huge success. We had more nominations than ever before, high-quality shortlists and some very deserving winners. Thank you so much to everyone who entered, attended or supported the event – and particularly to Dr Jo Twist OBE, CEO of Ukie, for hosting the afternoon.

This incredible event is free of charge to attend. That simply wouldn’t be possible without the support of our sponsors, so thank you very much to Facebook, Fourth Floor Creative, Splash Damage, Riot Games, Amiqus, OPM Response, Sumo Digital and Ukie.

Here are the full shortlists with the winners highlighted. Congratulations to all our winners and to those shortlisted.

Rising Star of the Year – Development Award – supported by Splash Damage

• Elyse Gymer, 3d character animator, Creative Assembly
• Steph McStea, QA analyst, Team17
• Iva Bachvarova, producer, Good Catch Games
• Vicky Potts, co-founder, Whitepot Studios
• Laura Dodds, art director, Dream Reality Interactive
• Lara Coulson, junior game designer, Ubisoft Reflections
• Connie Duffy, communications and marketing assistant, Ground Shatter Ltd.

Creative Impact Award

• Olha Troiekurova, lead UI artist, Creative Assembly
• Lily Zhu, lead environment artist, Splash Damage
• Simay Dinc, game producer, Recontact:Istanbul
• Doro Kollo, UI designer, Splash Damage
• Anna Hollinrake, senior artist, Dream Reality Interactive
• Emily Knox, level designer, Sumo Digital Ltd
• Andria Warren, director of art production, Rare Ltd

Rising Star of the Year – Business Award

• Gemma Cooper, associate PR manager, Creative Assembly
• Lucy Barnwell, account executive, Warner Home Entertainment UK
• Anita Wong, account manager, Indigo Pearl
• Anne-Lou Grosbois Favreau, product manager, PQube
• Ria Patel, community executive, Square Enix
• Louise Chamberlain, producer, Triangular Pixels
• Laura Durrant, communications executive, Jagex
• Katy Ellis, project manager, Amplify

Businesswoman of the Year – supported by Amiqus

• Korina Abbott, videogame marketing & PR consultant, Kinetic Atom
• Sara Grover, head of marketing, WB Games UK
• Kirsty Rigden, development director, FuturLab
• Alex Moyet, senior international marketing manager, Activision
• Kat Osman, owner, Lick PR
• Louise Marchant, group marketing manager, Ubisoft Entertainment
• Helen Burnill, commercial director, Mediatonic

Journalist of the Year

• Chella Ramanan, freelance writer, Freelance and Glbiz
• Louise Blain, producer, Dialect Inc
• Jen Simpkins, deputy editor, Edge
• Sarah Hadley, co-editor, Everybody Plays
• Alice Bell, editor, Videogamer
• Hannah Dwan, freelance journalist, Freelance
• Danielle Partis, editor, Steel Media

Influencer of the Year – supported by Fourth Floor Creative

• Hollie Bennett, Playstation Access channel manager, PlayStation UK
• Hannah Rutherford, video producer, Yogscast
• Alice Liguori, channel editor, PCGamesN
• Fiona Smith, streamer, Cyborg Angel
• An Coppens, consultant, Gamification Nation

Esports Woman of the Year – supported by Riot Games

• Heather Dower, marketing & communications manager, ESL
• Mary Antieul, senior partnerships and esports manager, BELONG (GAME)
• Jasmine Kanuga, esports tournament manager, Multiplay/ ESL/ Dreamhack
• Caroline Oakes, business development, ESL
• Kirsty Endfield, founder, Swipe Right PR
• Yvonne Hobden, consumer marketing lead at hp uk, Omen

Career Mentor of the Year – supported by OPMJobs.com

• Deborah Farley, head of talent and outreach, UK Games Talent and Finance CIC
• Tara Saunders, head of studio operations, Playstation London Studio
• Jodie Azhar, lead technical artist, Creative Assembly
• Deborah Mensah-Bonsu, community & content manager, Space Ape Games
• Ann Hurley, head of games business development, Testronic
• Lizzie Wilding, VP publishing, Dovetail Games
• Charlene Sharp, lecturer, Staffordshire University

Games Campaigner of the Year

• Emma Smith, talent manager, Creative Assembly
• Rosa Carbo-Mascarell, co-founder, Games For The Many
• Lucy Boxall, studio communications manager, Creative Assembly
• Danic Manojlovic, product manager, CD Media
• Michelle Tilley, senior release manager, Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
• Melissa Phillips, freelance event producer, BAFTA

Outstanding Contribution – supported by Facebook

• Cat Channon, director of international communications, Warner Bros
• Thalita Malago, managing director, AESVI
• Jessica Curry, studio head and composer, The Chinese Room
• Keza Macdonald, games editor, The Guardian

Now a regular fixture in the games industry calendar, the MCV Women in Games Awards was held this year at Headline Sponsor Facebook’s offices off Oxford Street – and the after-party is likely to be running on for some time at a nearby public house.

We were inundated with ticket requests for the event, and fitted in as many people as we were allowed – sorry if we didn’t have space to accommodate you.

This year, the event will be hosted by none other than Ukie’s Dr Jo Twist OBE. Twist was the perfect choice to preside over proceedings, having had a large role in making women more visible in the UK games industry in her capacity as the CEO of the UK trade body.

Thank you to everyone who attended the event, and a special thank you from teh MCV editorial team to our events team for making this all possible. And if you couldn’t be with us then check out pictures of today’s event on Twitter and Instagram.