Develop:Star Awards 2024 Finalists
All this year's entries were evaluated by panels of games industry professionals appointed by the Develop: Star Awards team. The judging panel for each awards category reviewed those entries and selected a shortlist of finalists for that award.
So, listed below we now have a shortlist of finalists in each of the 22 categories with additional information to help you decide who to vote for!
All you have to do is decide on your favourite finalists then go back to the Voting Form and select your winners.
Please note: You don't have to vote for every category, it's one form submission per person and once you've cast your votes and pressed submit you can't go back to change anything.
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
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
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
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
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
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
Audiomob is an audio advertising startup that has been nominated for its impact on the mobile game market. The team has crafting non-intrusive ad experiences for mobile games and developed new audibility technology that has served as a boon for advertisers and mobile game developers alike. - COCOON - Geometric Interactive
The team at Geometric Interactive has been nominated for the innovative game design of COCOON, a game set in a universe with a fundamentally different structure to our own and the sound and visual design to match its trippy, world-hopping gameplay. - Dead Island 2 - Deep Silver Dambuster Studios, Dambuster Studios
Dambuster Studios has been nominated for Dead Island 2's Fully Locational Evisceration System for Humanoids (F.L.E.S.H.) which delivers zombie slicing and dicing in an unforgettably gruesome way. - Helldivers 2 - Arrowhead Game Studios
The Helldivers 2 team at Arrowhead Game Studios has been nominated for the game's level generation, which mixes hand-crafted elements with procedural generation to ensure no intergalactic incursion is the same. - Marvel's Spider-Man 2 - Insomniac Games
Insomniac Games has been nominated for Marvel's Spider-Man 2, the critically and commercial hit PS5 exclusive that pushes the hardware with a host of visual flourishes and performance options that elevated the superhero action. - Noun Town: VR Language Learning - Noun Town
The Noun Town team pushed expectations and possibilities of immersive educational games by leveraging cutting edge mixed reality tech. - Viewfinder - Sad Owl Studios
Viewfinder’s core gameplay mechanic of reshaping reality using found objects is core to the game and the mind-bending experience of playing it.
This award celebrates an individual who has shown a commitment to promoting diversity and inclusivity within the games industry.
Finalists:
- Adam Clewes-Boyne, BetaJester
Adam is co-founder of BetaJester. He was diagnosed with ADHD in April 2022 and since has been instrumental in the creation of Playing Attention, an organisation supporting ADHD people working in games. He has also worked on meet ups for ADHD and neurodiverse game devs and founded the AGDA's special interest group for neuro-inclusion. - Fida Zourob, Games for Love
Head of Community at Games for Love, Fida is a diversity advocate who founded the "Diversity in Games" newsletter, which has amassed over 5,000 subscribers. She has also served as a Women in Games Ambassador and a member of the Women in Games Asia Leadership Team. - Danielle Udogaranya (aka Ebonix), Evolotu & Black Twitch UK
Also known as Ebonix, Danielle is co-founder of Black Twitch UK and CEO & Founder of Evolotu, driving authentic cultural visibility in gaming and media. Her recent work has included working with Electronic Arts on the Urban Homage Kit for The Sims 4, inspired by urban chic culture. - Leon Hijazi-Killin, Sumo Group
Sumo Group's Head of Inclusion and Belonging, Leon this past year created and launched PRISM – Sumo’s internal Inclusion & Belonging community – and has supported its evolution to oversee it embedded further into company structure. He has also worked on many other ongoing programmes within Sumo. - Liz Prince Amiqus, G Into Gaming & Empower-Up
Liz heads up the European specialist recruitment agency Amiqus. In this role, and as the Founder of the pro bono initiative Putting The G Into Gaming, she has been a vocal and active supporter promoting equality/equity, diversity and inclusion in the games industry. - Moo Yu, POC in Play
Moo Yu is co-founder of POC in Play, an independent organisation creating a range of initiatives and events designed to increase the visibility and representation of People of Colour in the video games industry. - Sara Machado, Sumo Digital & Bird's Eye View
Sara is Senior Talent Operations Specialist at Sumo Digital and CEO of Bird's Eye View - which is dedicated to exploring career pathways and progression possibilities within the industry. In 2023 she released the Entry Level Skills Hub a completely free, crowdsourced guide of 12 crucial entry-level roles in gaming.
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
Claire has worked on 15 titles during the eligibility period in a freelance capacity, including Southfield, Cassette Beasts, Total War Pharoah and Pine Hearts. - Dan Allman, Kepler Interactive
As a Senior Marketing Manager at Kepler Interactive, Dan Allman has led Digital Media Campaigns, CRM, Website and Influencer kit creation for a wide array of titles including Pacific Drive, Tchia, Ultros, Unrailed 2 and Eternights. - FuturLab
The FuturLab marketing team has primarily worked on the continued success of PowerWash Simulator, working on new locations based on beloved brands, original content and the launch of the game on Meta Quest. - Hannah Flynn, Failbetter Games
Hannah Flynn has been Communications Director at Failbetter Games for ninte years and during the eligibility period worked primarily on visual novel and dating sim Mark of the Rose. - ICO Partners
ICO Partners worked on the campaign for Baldur's Gate 3, including planning and executing a global press and creator preview event in Belgium and two creator campaigns with over 140 activations. - nDreams
In addition to being a world-renowned developer of VR games, nDreams also publishes and markets many titles includng Synapse, Ghostbusters: Rise of the Ghost Lord, PowerWash Simulator VR and Little Cities: Bigger! during the eligibility period. - Neonhive
Neonhive have been nominated for its work on the 10th anniversary campaign for Fireproof Games' The Room, assembling a campaign that celebrated the success and legacy of the game.
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
The Green Game Jam 2023 raised over $700,000 for eight organizations who are active on the ground in the Amazon, Himalayas, and Western Indian Ocean. More than 85 million daily active users were reached over the activation period by the 40 participating games. - nDreams
nDreams is committed to building a better future for all, and is taking concrete actions to make a positive impact, including electric vehicle charging, environmentally friendly products, minimising the CO2 footprint of events and using carbon-neutral supplies. - PlanetPlay
In 2023 PlanetPlay Founder & CEO Rhea Loucas drove significant progress towards our industry’s sustainability via the company’s primary mission: to be a disruptive NPO, harnessing the power of 3+ billion players within a $190+ billion industry to effect change through the best games and biggest superstars in the world. - Smartdc
Smartdc’s Rotterdam data center is home to several enterprise and gaming clients in both the UK and beyond. Smartdc’s actions have led to a reduced carbon footprint and allowed for data centers to become a positive contributor to the carbon footprint problem. - Sports Interactive
Football Manager became the first game to have fully recycled and recyclable packaging, which last year meant that FM24 (PC/Mac) has 73% less of a CO2EQ use per pack than FM18. In 2023, some territories necessitated physical releases of FM24 Console and included pre-order incentives. In order to do these and maintain our commitment to sustainability, SI offset all of our packaging emissions. - YRS TRULY
Yrs Truly is the only gaming marketing agency in the world with a B Corp status and enacted several policies and programs to continue efforts across environmental, financial, and social responsibilities.
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
Ackeem started off working on Tales of Kenzera: Zau as Surgent Studios' one and only Character Artist. In the middle of development, he took a step up as Lead Artist to manage the entire Art Team and move the team from production to a final, polished product. - Alif Trevathan, Sumo Group
Alif has already made a significant impact on Sumo Group through her role as Inclusion & Belonging Engagement Manager as she confidently, skilfully and empathically engages with key stakeholders throughout the business, from C-Suite to Juniors. - Amy Elliott, Sumo Leamington
Although she’s relatively new to the games industry, Amy Elliott has already shown exceptional skill, talent, and enthusiasm for learning. Since joining, she regularly amazes Sumo Leamington’s Associate Tech Director Graham Mills with her level of professionalism, commitment, fearlessness and resourcefulness when tackling new challenges. - Charlotte Pang, Chirashi Games
Charlotte is a champion of making games with empathy. Through production, art, and animation, she brings passion and care to all her projects. With a particular focus on social impact and meaningful projects, Charlotte has helped develop many projects and taken part in numerous events, such as the Safe Spaces Now Game Jam with Code Coven and UN Women UK. - Dora Vasiliou, Dlala Studios
Taking the beautiful pieces of artwork that her colleagues had put together and creating the engaging and unique worlds of Disney Illusion Island with them. Dora's approach, attitude and quality earned her a non-stop stream of praise from the veteran members of Dlala. - Jazeena McCallum, Surgent Studios
Jazeena joined Surgent at a critical time when the team were gearing up to release their first game and had also grown large enough to require a lot more operational processes to keep the team as happy and fulfilled as possible. She brings a thoughful, fair and grounded approach to operations. - Rach Macpherson, Neonhive
After just nearly 4 years in the games industry Rach has exceeded all expectations, working up from a Marketing Intern, to Senior PR Manager at Neonhive.
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
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
Games Released: For The King II, Lawn Mowing Simulator VR, From Space (Console launch) - Kepler Interactive
Games Released: Pacific Drive, Ultros, Eternights, Scorn (PS5) - nDreams
Games Released: Synapse (PS VR2), PowerWash Simulator VR (Meta Quest), Little Cities: Bigger! (PS VR2) - No More Robots
Games Released: Slayers X, Let’s Build a Zoo: Aquarium Odyssey, Spirittea, Yes Your Grace Mobile, Not Tonight 2 (Switch) - Playstack
Games Released: Balatro, Golden Idol Mysteries: The Spider of Lanka, Cityscapes: Sim Builder, Golden Idol Mysteries: The Lemurian Vampire, AK-xolotl & The Last Faith - Secret Mode
Games Released: A Little to the Left, Make Way, Loddlenaut, Zool: Redimensioned - TEAM17
Games Released: Classified: France '44, Border Bots VR, Headbaners: Rhythm Royale, The Unliving, Blasphemous 2, Gord, Moving Out 2, Trepang2, Killer Frequency
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
This award celebrates exceptional studios with ten or fewer employees.
Finalists
- Bytten Studio
- Geometric Interactive
- inkle
- Interflix Media
- Noun Town
- Rogue Sun
- Sketchbook Games