Press release -
Develop:Star Awards 2019 Winners Announced
Thursday 11 July 2019: The game development community came together to celebrate its best and brightest last night as the winners of the inaugural Develop:Star Awards were announced at the Hilton Brighton Metropole.
The night’s big winners were Sumo Digital, who picked up Best Studio, Weather Factory, who picked up three prizes including Best Micro Studio, Game of the Year winner Overcooked! 2 and Forza Horizon 4, which won two awards.
Jagex won Best Mobile Game for Old School RuneScape, while Amiqus picked up the 2019 Recruitment Star award and Curve Digital picked up this year’s Publishing Star prize.
“What a night,” said Andy Lane, managing director at Tandem Events. “It was a pleasure to see the community celebrating together as we handed out the first of many Develop:Star awards. I’d like to congratulate the winners and thank everyone who came, including our amazing sponsors. We’ll see you all again next year.”
The Develop:Star Awards 2019 winner’s list:
Best Visual Art: Forza Horizon 4 - Playground Games | Xbox Game Studios
Best Narrative: Detroit: Become Human - Quantic Dream | Sony Interactive Entertainment
Best Games Design: Cultist Simulator - Weather Factory
Best Audio, sponsored by Dolby: Tetris Effect - Monstars & Resonair | Enhance
Best Original IP: Two Point Hospital - Two Point Studios | Sega
Best Innovation, sponsored by Amiqus: Cultist Simulator - Weather Factory
Diversity Star: Kish Hirani - BAME in Games
Best Supplier: Amazon Game Tech
Recruitment Star: Amiqus
Best Use of an Engine: Forza Horizon 4 - Playground Games | Xbox Game Studios
Publishing Star, sponsored by GamesIndustry.biz: Curve Digital
Best Mobile Game: Old School RuneScape Mobile - Jagex
Game of the Year: Overcooked! 2 - Ghost Town Games | Team17
Best Micro Studio, sponsored by Hi-Rez Studios: Weather Factory
Best Studio: Sumo Digital
The Develop Star Award: Sean Murray | Hello Games
You can view pictures from the evening here.
The ceremony was hosted by Alan Dedicoat, a legend of the entertainment industry best known for Strictly Come Dancing and for being the National Lottery’s ‘Voice of the Balls’. Alan guided guests through the evening, which culminated with Hello Games co-founder and No Man’s Sky creator Sean Murray accepting the first Develop Star Award.
With the exception of the Develop Star Award, each winner was decided by an industry vote open to more than 4000 people with conference passes to this year’s Develop:Brighton, or who attended over the past three years.
The Develop:Star Awards 2019 were made possible by headline sponsor Unreal Engine and individual award sponsors Dolby, Amiqus, Hi-Rez Studios and GamesIndustry.biz, in partnership with Network N and PlayStation.
The Develop:Star Awards 2020 will take place at the Hilton Brighton Metropole on Wednesday 15 July.
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About The Develop:Star Awards
Taking place alongside the conference, the Develop:Star Awards recognise the very best of the game development community. The achievements of developers and success of great games and creativity will be celebrated across 15 categories, including one ultimate ‘Develop Star’. This award honours an extraordinary game developer for outstanding achievement and contribution to the industry.
About Develop:Brighton conference & expo
The Develop:Brighton conference is where the European developer community comes together to learn from each other and share experiences, be inspired by world renowned experts and gurus, get up-to-date with the latest development tools and techniques, make new contacts and catch up with old ones.
With a programme that is shaped by some of the industry's key figures, the conference touches all levels of the development community from the largest studios to the smallest indies; from development directors to programmers.
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