MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
We’re very pleased to announce that the multi-talented Ellie Gibson will be hosting this year’s Develop Awards on Wednesday 11th July. Ellie is best know on TV as the games expert on Dara O Briain’s Go 8 Bit. And with a 10-year stint as a games journalist writing for Eurogamer, The Guardian, Vice and many more, she’s perfectly qualified to take on the role of host for this year’s event.
"The Develop Awards bring together two of my favourite things: an opportunity to recognise the wealth of creative talent we have within the games industry, and complimentary wine. I am very pleased to be part of this year’s event," Ellie told us.
Away from gaming Ellie is also one-half of comedy double act Scummy Mummies. Together with fellow mum Helen Thorn, she co-hosts the UK’s number one parenting podcast, which has now topped 1 million downloads. And after performing to sell-out crowds of wine-swilling mums across the country, my other half and her mates included, she shouldn’t have any problems dealing with a few hundred games developers.
Bringing in a host with serious industry knowledge is just one of the many changes we’ve made to this year’s big night out.
We’ve lengthened the drinks reception (and not just to please Ellie), made the sit-down portion of the meal shorter, reduced the number of award categories – which will then be presented in a faster format – and so create a more interactive, social evening focused on networking and having fun, whilst still celebrating the achievements of the industry!
And we’ve overhauled the awards process too – for which nominations close tomorrow.
That means new categories, clearer criteria, a new entry system and a new judging process to ensure that the right experts are judging your category,, so the industry can trust that the Develop Awards really are the mark of business excellence in video games. That starts with clearer criteria for your entry and easy to use Word documents so you can get internal sign off for your entries.
Our awards remain free-to-enter for all qualifying teams and studios, and they are firmly established as the unrivalled badge of excellence for the UK and European games sector. The awards are presented at a stylish ceremony with over 500 of the industry’s leading figures in attendance, to celebrate the achievements of the industry’s finest teams and individuals.
The Develop Awards are the UK’s key industry awards that recognise every aspect of the varied disciplines of games development and the services that support them – all of which are essential to putting a huge range of brilliant experiences into the hands (or onto the hard drives) of avid gamers. The entry process for the awards is your opportunity to put forward your team or studios best work for the year and highlight your achievement to your peers!
For more details, to see the new categories, and to start the entry process, head to the Develop Awards.
