Press release -
Develop:Star Awards 2024 Finalists Announced As Industry Vote Opens
Winners will be revealed at the Develop:Star Awards, held in the Brighton Dome, on Wednesday 10 July during Develop:Brighton 2024
Thursday 16 May 2024: Tandem Events have today announced the finalists for the Develop:Star Awards 2024, with the winners to be selected by an industry vote open to previous Develop:Brighton attendees.
The vote is open now and closes on Friday 31 May. The winners will be unveiled at the Develop:Star Awards ceremony on the evening of Wednesday 10 July, during Develop:Brighton 2024. Previous Develop:Brighton attendees will be contacted directly later today.
This year, for the first time, the awards will take place at a brand-new venue: the Brighton Dome, located just a short walk from the Develop:Brighton conference and expo at the DoubleTree by Hilton Brighton Metropole.
Shortlists were decided across 22 categories by a panel of industry experts – including the brand-new Best Creative Lead and Supporting Star awards.
Larian Studios, Remedy Entertainment, and Sony Interactive Entertainment are all tied for the most nominations, with six each across the roster of categories. This is thanks to the wildly successful Baldur’s Gate 3, Alan Wake 2, and Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. All three of these games are also up for Best Game.
This year’s shortlist also boasts a wide selection of indies, from developers including Geometric Interactive, inkle and LocalThunk all securing four nominations apiece.
Sad Owl Studios are also up for three awards for Viewfinder, which is nominated for Best Game Design, Best Original IP, and Best Technical Innovation.
“We’re happy to be able to celebrate some of the best that the games industry has to offer and provide a platform for positivity and praise for a hugely talented community that deserves to be celebrated” said Tandem Events Managing Director Andy Lane.
“In addition to our two new awards, we’re looking forward to taking the Star Awards to the Brighton Dome for the very first time”
Elsewhere 2024 hits Balatro and Helldivers 2 are up for Best Game. Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead Game Studios is also up for Best Studio alongside d3t, FuturLab, Larian Studios, nDreams, Playground Games and Remedy Entertainment.
The 22 awards will be joined by The Develop Star Award. This year’s recipient of the award, given in recognition of the remarkable success of an individual or entire studio, will be announced in the coming weeks.
Tables and individual tickets for the awards are available to purchase now with an Early Bird discount offering up to £400 off until 5 June.
Further details and links to purchase tickets can be found here. All tickets include a three-course dinner and invite to the drinks reception and after party.
The finalists for the Develop:Star Awards 2024 are:
Best Game
- Alan Wake 2
- Balatro
- Baldur's Gate 3
- DAVE THE DIVER
- Helldivers 2
- Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
Best Studio
- Arrowhead Game Studios
- d3t
- FuturLab
- Larian Studios
- nDreams
- Playground Games
- Remedy Entertainment
Best Small Studio
- Bytten Studio
- Geometric Interactive
- inkle
- Interflix Media
- Noun Town
- Rogue Sun
- Sketchbook Games
Publishing Star
- Curve Games
- Kepler Interactive
- nDreams
- No More Robots
- Playstack
- Secret Mode
- TEAM17
Best Mobile Game
- Cityscapes: Sim Builder
- Football Manager 2024 Mobile
- Lost Words: Beyond the Page
- MONOPOLY GO!
- Sonic Dream Team
- The Queen's Gambit Chess
Best Creative Lead - NEW
- AJ Grand-Scrutton, Dlala Studios
- Andria Warren, Rare
- Helen Andrzejowska, Secret Mode
- Kostas Zarifis, Rogue Sun
- Naoki Yoshida, Square Enix
- Sam Lake, Remedy Entertainment
Best Game Design
- Balatro
- Baldur's Gate 3
- DAVE THE DIVER
- Helldivers 2
- Jusant
- Viewfinder
Best Audio
- A Highland Song
- Alan Wake 2
- Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora
- Baldur's Gate 3
- COCOON
- Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
- Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League
Best Visual Art
- A Highland Song
- Alan Wake 2
- Baldur's Gate 3
- Chants of Sennaar
- COCOON
- FINAL FANTASY XVI
Best Narrative
- A Highland Song
- Alan Wake 2
- Baldur's Gate 3
- Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty
- FINAL FANTASY XVI
- Starfield
Best Original IP
- American Arcadia
- Balatro
- Classified: France '44
- DAVE THE DIVER
- Jusant
- Viewfinder
Tomorrow’s Star
- 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
Marketing Star
- Claire Sharkey, Freelance
- Dan Allman, Kepler Interactive
- FuturLab
- Hannah Flynn, Failbetter Games
- ICO Partners
- nDreams
- Neonhive
Best Technical Innovation
- Audiomob
- COCOON
- Dead Island 2
- Helldivers 2
- Marvel's Spider-Man 2
- Noun Town: VR Language Learning
- Viewfinder
Best Creative Provider
- Atomhawk
- Flix Interactive
- Liquid Crimson
- PitStop Productions
- Room 8 Group
- SIDE
- TrailerFarm
Diversity Star
- Adam Clewes-Boyne, BetaJester
- Fida Zourob, Games for Love
- Danielle Udogaranya, Evolotu
- Leon Hijazi-Killin, Sumo Group
- Liz Prince, Amiqus, G Into Gaming & Empower-Up
- Moo Yu, POC in Play
- Sara Machado, Sumo Digital and Bird's Eye View
Supporting Star - NEW
- Barclays Games and Creative
- Coutts & Co
- Fourth Floor Group
- Game Republic
- GG Insurance Services
- Urban Ledgers
Talent Development Star
- Dlala Studios
- Flix Interactive
- NaturalMotion Games
- nDreams
- REALTIME
- Ripstone
- Sumo Group
Best Technical Provider
- GameMaker
- Genba Digital
- i3D.net
- PopcornFX
- Speech Graphics
- Unity
- Unreal Engine
Recruitment Star
- Aardvark Swift
- Amiqus
- Avatar
- Datascope Recruitment
- mustard jobs
- Skillsearch
Sustainability Star
- Green Game Jam
- nDreams
- Rhea Loucas
- Smartdc
- Sports Interactive
- YRS TRULY
Best QA & Localisation
- Keywords Studios
- Player Research
- PTW
- Testronic
- Universally Speaking
- Warlocs
For more information visit the Develop:Brighton website and follow us on Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.
Or you can contact the team via email on developstars@bastion.co.uk.
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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 22 categories, plus one ‘Develop Star’ honouring an extraordinary game developer or studio for outstanding achievements and contributions to the industry.
About Develop:Brighton conference & expo
Develop:Brighton brings together the entire UK game dev industry to learn from each other, share ideas and experiences, network, and do business in a friendly and inclusive environment. The event also offers high quality conference sessions - from the industries brightest minds and talents - with practical takeaways that allow delegates to ‘skill-up’ and be inspired to make better games.
With a programme shaped to reflect attendees’ feedback this year’s conference will cover all the hot topics for game makers in 2024. The Expo brings together some of the most innovative companies from every sector of games development. Guests can also keep up-to date with the latest dev tools/tech and get hands on with all the games on display.
Develop:Brighton offers three days of insight, inspiration, networking and fun on England’s south coast.
