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About the Develop:Star Awards

Bringing together the game dev community to celebrate the very best games and talent.

The Develop:Star Awards recognise the very best games and talent within the industry with categories that enable studios of every size to shine.

These awards are all about the game dev community celebrating the creative excellence of the game makers behind the best games of the previous 12 months.

The 2024 Develop:Star Awards winners are:

  • Best Visual Art: Alan Wake 2 - Remedy Entertainment | Epic Games
  • Best Narrative: Baldur's Gate 3 | Larian Studios
  • Talent Development Star: nDreams
  • Best Technology Provider: Unreal Engine
  • Best Creative Provider: PitStop Productions
  • Best Technical Innovation: Viewfinder - Sad Owl Studios | Thunderful Publishing
  • Best Audio: Alan Wake 2 - Remedy Entertainment & Epic Games
  • Best Game Design: Helldivers 2 - Arrowhead Game Studios | Sony Interactive Entertainment
  • Recruitment Star: Amiqus
  • Best QA & Localisation: Keywords Studios
  • Marketing Star: Hannah Flynn – Failbetter Games
  • Diversity Star: Moo Yu – POC in Play
  • Tomorrow’s Star: Amy Elliott
  • Sustainability Star: Green Game Jam
  • Best Creative Lead: Sam Lake – Remedy Entertainment
  • Supporting Star: Game Republic
  • Best Original IP: Balatro – LocalThunk | Playstack
  • Best Mobile Game: Sonic Dream Team - HARDlight | SEGA
  • Best Small Studio: inkle
  • Publishing Star: Kepler Interactive
  • Best Game: Baldur’s Gate 3 – Larian Studios
  • Best Studio: Larian Studios
  • The Develop Star Award: Sports Interactive
Best Game Design

This award recognises a team responsible for exceptional and creative game design via the use of controls, level design, pacing and mechanics – across all genres and platforms.

FINALISTS:

  • Balatro - LocalThunk/Playstack
  • Baldur's Gate 3 - Larian Studios
  • DAVE THE DIVER - MINTROCKET
  • Helldivers 2 - Arrowhead Game Studios/Sony Interactive Entertainment
  • Jusant - DON'T NOD
  • Viewfinder - Sad Owl Studios/Thunderful Publishing
Best Audio

Rewarding a game that demonstrates distinction in the use of sound or music to improve player experience – across all genres and platforms.

FINALISTS:

  • A Highland Song - inkle
  • Alan Wake 2 - Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games
  • Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora - Massive Entertainment/Ubisoft
  • Baldur's Gate 3 - Larian Studios
  • COCOON - Geometric Interactive/Annapurna Interactive
  • Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 - Insomniac Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment
  • Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League - Rocksteady Studios/WB Games
Best Original IP

This award will recognise the creation of the best new intellectual property – across all genres and platforms.

FINALISTS:

  • American Arcadia - Out of the Blue Games/Raw Fury
  • Balatro - LocalThunk/Playstack
  • Classified: France '44 - Absolutely Games/Team17
  • DAVE THE DIVER - MINTROCKET
  • Jusant - DON'T NOD
  • Viewfinder - Sad Owl Studios/Thunderful Publishing
Best Visual Art

Recognising a game which demonstrates exceptional achievement in visual art and/or animation – across all genres and platforms.

FINALISTS:

  • A Highland Song - inkle
  • Alan Wake 2 - Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games
  • Baldur's Gate 3 - Larian Studios
  • Chants of Sennaar - Rundisc/Focus Entertainment
  • COCOON - Geometric Interactive/Annapurna Interactive
  • FINAL FANTASY XVI - SQUARE ENIX
Best Narrative

Rewarding a team who have far exceeded expectation in their storytelling to create an outstanding player experience, through innovative or ground-breaking writing – across all genres and platforms.

FINALISTS:

  • A Highland Song - inkle
  • Alan Wake 2 - Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games
  • Baldur's Gate 3 - Larian Studios
  • Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty - CD PROJEKT RED
  • FINAL FANTASY XVI - SQUARE ENIX
  • Starfield - Bethesda Game Studios
Best Technical Innovation

The award which recognises technological innovation in the video game space. This could be a pioneering gameplay experience, a breakthrough new development technique, inventive hardware or anything showing true innovation across all genres and platforms.

FINALISTS:

  • Audiomob
  • COCOON - Geometric Interactive
  • Dead Island 2 - Deep Silver Dambuster Studios, Dambuster Studios
  • Helldivers 2 - Arrowhead Game Studios
  • Marvel's Spider-Man 2 - Insomniac Games
  • Noun Town: VR Language Learning - Noun Town
    Viewfinder - Sad Owl Studios
Sustainability Star

Recognising an individual, team or company that has put in place significant changes to the way their studio or company works to reduce impact and be more sustainable.

FINALISTS:

  • Green Game Jam
  • nDreams
  • PlanetPlay
  • Smartdc
  • Sports Interactive
  • YRS TRULY
Diversity Star

This award celebrates an individual who has shown a commitment to promoting diversity and inclusivity within the games industry.

FINALISTS:

  • Adam Clewes-Boyne, BetaJester
  • Fida Zourob, Games for Love
  • Danielle Udogaranya (aka Ebonix), Evolotu & Black Twitch UK
  • Leon Hijazi-Killin, Sumo Group
  • Liz Prince Amiqus, G Into Gaming & Empower-Up
  • Moo Yu, POC in Play
  • Sara Machado, Sumo Digital & Bird's Eye View
Marketing Star

Recognising a UK-based individual, in-house team or external agency that has shown outstanding achievement in promoting a game – including marketing, PR, influencer relations and community development.

FINALISTS:

  • Claire Sharkey, Freelance
  • Dan Allman, Kepler Interactive
  • FuturLab
  • Hannah Flynn, Failbetter Games
  • ICO Partners
  • nDreams
  • Neonhive
NEW - Supporting Star

This award champions those companies that work with developers to share their understanding of the sector and have provided exceptional support to enable them to thrive and prosper.

FINALISTS

  • Barclays Games and Creative
  • Coutts & Co
  • Fourth Floor Group
  • Game Republic
  • GG Insurance Services
  • Urban Ledgers
Best QA and Localisation Provider

Recognising the organisation that has provided the highest quality of service and contributed the most to usability, testing and localisation within the game developer community.

FINALISTS

  • Keywords Studios
  • Player Research
  • PTW
  • Testronic
  • Universally Speaking
  • Warlocs
NEW - Best Creative Lead

Recognising the achievements of an outstanding individual working as a Creative Director or equivalent creative leadership position within a game development team.

FINALISTS:

  • AJ Grand-Scrutton, CEO, Dlala Studios
  • Andria Warren, Director of Creative Operations, Rare
  • Helen Andrzejowska, Senior Producer, Secret Mode
  • Kostas Zarifis, MD, Rogue Sun
  • Naoki Yoshida, Director & Producer, SQUARE ENIX
  • Sam Lake, Creative Director, Remedy Entertainment
Best Creative Provider

This award recognises the organisation that has provided exceptional audio assets (voice acting, music or sound effects) or visual assets (porting or creating sections of the game) for the game developer community.

FINALISTS:

  • Atomhawk
  • Flix Interactive
  • Liquid Crimson
  • PitStop Productions
  • Room 8 Group
  • SIDE
  • TrailerFarm
Best Technology Provider

For this award we’ll be rewarding the organisation that has provided outstanding hardware and/or technological support for UK game developers. This could include third party engines, motion capture tools, dev kits or microprocessors.

FINALISTS:

  • GameMaker
  • Genba Digital
  • i3D.net
  • PopcornFX
  • Speech Graphics
  • Unity
  • Unreal Engine
Talent Development Star

Recognising an in-house team that has shown outstanding policies and initiatives, and produced impressive results in successfully recruiting, retaining and developing talent within their team.

FINALISTS:

  • Dlala Studios
  • Flix Interactive
  • NaturalMotion Games
  • nDreams
  • REALTIME
  • Ripstone
  • Sumo Group
Recruitment Star

Recognising an external organisation that has shown outstanding policies and initiatives, and produced impressive results in successfully recruiting new team members for development studios.

FINALISTS:

  • Aardvark Swift
  • Amiqus
  • Avatar
  • Datascope Recruitment
  • mustard jobs
  • Skillsearch
Tomorrow's Star

The Tomorrow's Star award will recognise the achievements of new talent in the games industry. Nominees should be below senior management or director level.

FINALISTS:

  • Ackeem Durrant, Surgent Studios
  • Alif Trevathan, Sumo Group
  • Amy Elliott, Sumo Leamington
  • Charlotte Pang, Chirashi Games
  • Dora Vasiliou, Dlala Studios
  • Jazeena McCallum, Surgent Studios
  • Rach Macpherson, Neonhive
Publishing Star

Recognising an organisation that has shown outstanding support helping developers get their game published. This can include via funding, discoverability, research or anything else that helped secure a successful route to market for new games.

FINALISTS:

  • Curve Games
  • Kepler Interactive
  • nDreams
  • No More Robots
  • Playstack
  • Secret Mode
  • TEAM17


Best Mobile Game

This award will be given to the game that offers the best overall player experience on a mobile phone or tablet.

FINALISTS:

  • Cityscapes: Sim Builder - Magic Fuel Games/Playstack
  • Football Manager 2024 Mobile - Sports Interactive/SEGA
  • Lost Words: Beyond the Page - Sketchbook Games/PID
  • MONOPOLY GO! - Scopely
  • Sonic Dream Team - HARDlight/SEGA
  • The Queen's Gambit Chess - Rockwater Games/Netflix Games
Best Game

Rewarding the game that stands out above all others in terms of gameplay, storytelling, art style, character development, creativity and overall player experience – across all genres and platforms.

FINALISTS:

  • Alan Wake 2 - Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games
  • Balatro - LocalThunk/Playstack
  • Baldur's Gate 3 - Larian Studios
  • DAVE THE DIVER - MINTROCKET
  • Helldivers 2 - Arrowhead Game Studios/Sony Interactive Entertainment
  • Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 - Insomniac Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment
Best Small Studio

This award celebrates exceptional studios with ten or fewer employees.

FINALISTS

  • Bytten Studio
  • Geometric Interactive
  • inkle
  • Interflix Media
  • Noun Town
  • Rogue Sun
  • Sketchbook Games
Best Studio

This award celebrates exceptional studios with ten or more employees.

FINALISTS:

  • Arrowhead Game Studios
  • d3t
  • FuturLab
  • Larian Studios
  • nDreams
  • Playground Games
  • Remedy Entertainment

Sponsorship

The Develop:Star Awards offer a range of sponsorship opportunities to help you achieve your marketing & promotional goals. Whatever your aims, there’s something to suit every pocket - all designed to maximise your exposure.

To find out how you can get involved contact us at:

E: [email protected]
T: +44 (0)20 3927 6440

The Develop:Star Award


Sports Interactive
 were the recipient of the 2024 Develop Star Award which recognises outstanding achievements and contributions to the games industry - so congratulations to the Sports Interactive team.


Highlights from the Develop:Star Awards 2024