Develop:Star Awards 2021 Shortlist Announced

Tandem Events has today announced the shortlist for the Develop:Star Awards 2021. The winners will now be selected by an industry vote, open to previous delegates.

Voting opens today, and closes on September 24th. The winners will then be announced at the Develop:Star Awards ceremony on the evening of Wednesday 27 October, during Develop:Brighton 2021.

The shortlists were decided across 17 categories, judged by a panel of industry experts and developers, who reviewed a record number of submissions.

Housemarque’s PlayStation 5 exclusive title Returnal is the most nominated game with six nominations, followed by The Chinese Room and Sumo Digital’s Little Orpheus with five nominations. 

Seven finalists will compete for the Best Studio award: Creative Assembly, FuturLab, Housemarque, Mediatonic, nDreams, Sumo Digital and ustwo games. 

Those who have attended Develop:Brighton since and including the 2017 conference, as well as anyone who registered for this year’s conference, will be invited to vote. Attendees will be contacted directly with further instructions. 

“This incredible collection of games, teams and individuals shows the best the games industry has to offer, and we’re excited to offer the opportunity to recognise and celebrate the hard work of so many over the past year, “said Andy Lane, managing director of Tandem Events.

“I’d like to shout out the new Tomorrow’s Star category in particular, recognising some of the incredible future talent emerging in the industry. Good luck to all our nominees, we’re looking forward to seeing you at the ceremony on 27 October.”

Table bookings and individual tickets for the awards are available to purchase now with an Early Bird discount of up to £400 until 15 September. Further details and links to purchase tickets can be found at: https://www.developconference.com/whats-on/develop-star-awards 

Additionally, MCV/DEVELOP readers can get 10% off with the code KVVKUJ.

All tickets include a three-course dinner and invite to the drinks reception and after party.

The nominees for the Develop:Star Awards 2021 are:

Best Visual Art

Before I Forget – 3-Fold Games

Little Orpheus – The Chinese Room, Sumo Digital

Mundaun – Hidden Fields, MWM Interactive

Returnal – Housemarque, Sony Interactive Entertainment

South of the Circle – State of Play

The Last Campfire – Hello Games

 

Best Narrative

Little Orpheus – The Chinese Room, Sumo Digital

Orwell’s Animal Farm – Nerial, The Dairymen

Returnal – Housemarque, Sony Interactive Entertainment

Röki – Polygon Treehouse, United Label

South of the Circle – State of Play

The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope – Supermassive Games, Bandai Namco

 

Best Game Design     

Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout – Mediatonic, Epic Games

Lost Words: Beyond the Page – Sketchbook Games, Modus Games

Magic: The Gathering Arena (Mobile) – Wizards of the Coast 

Returnal – Housemarque, Sony Interactive Entertainment

Sackboy: A Big Adventure – Sumo Sheffield, Sony Interactive Entertainment

Weaving Tides – Follow the Feathers, Crytivo

 

Best Audio     

A Total War Saga: Troy – Creative Assembly, SEGA

DIRT 5 – Codemasters 

Little Orpheus – The Chinese Room, Sumo Digital

Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales – Insomniac Games, Sony Interactive Entertainment

Returnal – Housemarque, Sony Interactive Entertainment

Sackboy: A Big Adventure – Sumo Sheffield, Sony Interactive Entertainment

 

Best Original IP     

Alba: A Wildlife Adventure-  ustwo games 

Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout – Mediatonic, Epic Games

Little Orpheus – The Chinese Room, Sumo Digital

PowerWash Simulator – Futurlab, Square Enix

Returnal – Housemarque, Sony Interactive Entertainment

Rogue Company – First Watch, Hi-Rez Studios

 

Best Innovation     

Before I Forget – 3-Fold Games 

Hardspace: Shipbreaker – Blackbird Interactive, Focus Home Interactive

Lost Words: Beyond the Page – Sketchbook Games, Modus Games

South of the Circle – State of Play 

The Oeuvre – 89o 

Watch Dogs: Legion – Ubisoft

 

Diversity Star     

Anisa Sanusi – Limit Break 

Cinzia Musio – Splash Damage 

Dan Bernado – Playtra 

Rebecca Sampson – Hangar 13 

Robin Gray – Gayming Mag 

Tentacle Zone Incubator – Payload Studios 

 

Best QA & Localisation    

Keywords Studios  

Localsoft  

Player Research  

PTW  

Testronic  

Universally Speaking  

 

Best Creative Provider     

Atomhawk  

Keywords Studios  

Liquid Crimson  

Pitstop Productions  

PlayStation Studios Creative Arts  

SIDE UK  

 

Best Technology Provider    

GameMaker Studio 2  

Genba Digital  

Keywords Studio  

Unity  

Unreal Engine  

Utopia Analytics    

 

Tomorrow’s Star      

Dominic Shaw – Ukie 

Joshua Brown – Futurlab 

Julia Kenny – SEGA 

Julian Mair-MacFarlane – Mediatonic 

Melissa Chaplin – Robot Teddy 

Reema Ishaque – Splash Damage 

 

Recruitment Star     

Aardvark Swift  

Amiqus Recruitment  

Datascope Recruitment  

OPMjobs  

Skillsearch Limited  

Sumo Group  

 

Publishing Star    

Curve Digital  

Kwalee  

No More Robots  

Team17  

Wales Interactive  

Wired Productions  

 

Best Mobile Game     

A Monster’s Expedition – Draknek & Friends 

Alba: A Wildlife Adventure – ustwo games 

Little Orpheus – The Chinese Room. Sumo Digital

Magic: The Gathering Arena (Mobile) – Wizards of the Coast 

Orwell’s Animal Farm – Nerial, The Dairymen

South of the Circle – State of Play

 

Game of the Year     

Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout – Mediatonic, Epic Games

Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales – Insomniac Games, Sony Interactive Entertainment

Returnal – Housemarque, Sony Interactive Entertainment

Sackboy: A Big Adventure – Sumo Sheffield, Sony Interactive Entertainment

The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope – Supermassive Games, Bandai Namco

The Last Campfire – Hello Games 

 

Best Micro Studio    

Denki  

Hidden Fields  

inkle  

Perchang  

Polygon Treehouse  

 

Best Studio     

Creative Assembly  

FuturLab  

Housemarque  

Mediatonic  

nDreams  

Sumo Digital  

ustwo games