Awards

Awards were announced at GaMaYo on 23rd November at Tileyard North

 

Thanks to our Official Partners for supporting our 2023 year of events – Escape Technology, Red Kite Games and Barclays.

Nominations closed on 30th September and Game Republic alongside our Official Partners Red Kite Games, Barclays and Escape Technology and our Award Sponsors have been chuffed to bits with the response. Thanks all for taking time out to nominate your colleagues, studios, games and more.

Below the winners you will see the full list of nominations which were judged by Game Republic, Sponsors and our Boss Judge who had the final say on everything Rhianna Pratchett.

Photos by Johnny Carr johnnycarr.com

Best Small Studio presented by Wayne Smith from Lenovo
Winner: Huey Games

Best Mid-Sized Studio presented by Elaine Dowman from Barclays
Winner: Radical Forge

Best Large Studio presented by Chris Taylor from Eaton Smith Solicitors
Winner: Double 11

Commenting on the studio awards – Chris Taylor of Eaton Smith Solicitors was impressed with the range of nominations “It is wonderful to see such a breadth and depth of games studios in Yorkshire and the North of England, showing what a well-developed ecosystem there is.” 

Elaine Dowman from Barclays added “What was clear in the mid-sized studio category was that companies nominated all shared a common feature of growing but staying true to their roots. Well done to Radical Forge”

Further awards included:

Best Game-Related Research presented by Simon Iwaniszak from Red Kite Games
Winner: IGGI

Inclusivity Award presented by Azaria Narine & Jessica Swiffen from Boneloaf
Winner: Sumo Group

Sustainability Award presented by Richy Pears from Other Things
Winner: Megaverse

Most Innovative Technology Award presented by Neil Parmar from Escape Technology
Winner: Dreaming Methods

Neil Parmar from Escape Technology admired the winning team in particular their Abandoned library project that has won major accolades, he explained “this project used tech to create a moving and powerful experience dealing with environmental disaster and has widened access to immersive technology and raised awareness of global issues at the same time.”

Best Company Boss presented by Matt Hitchcock from Other Things
Winner: Kimberley Turner of Double 11

Studio Hero presented by Chris Lunardi from Barclays
Winner: Anne Van Der Merwe of Red Kite Games

Most Inspiring Course Leader presented by John Stopforth from Escape Technology
Winner: Matt Novak of the University of Huddersfield

Community Player Award presented by Nick Keynes from Tileyard North
Winner: Andrew Crawshaw, Thunkd

Games Legend presented by Simon Iwaniszak from Red Kite Games
Winners: Charles Cecil and Noirin Carmody of Revolution Software

And in the Best Game Ever Made in Yorkshire and The North the same legendary team took the title against 19 other nominated games as Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars was voted Best Game in a public vote.

Speaking about the Games Legends and their work Simon Iwaniszak, Studio Director of Red Kite Games said “‘I feel extremely honoured to be involved with this award – and what’s better than one games legend if not two! Over the last three decades Charles Cecil and Noirin Carmody have been instrumental in ensuring that the games industry in Yorkshire and The North prospers and evolves. In 1989, Charles and Noirin co-founded Revolution Software, a pioneering games studio that went on to develop hit titles such as Lure of the Temptress, Beneath a Steel Sky and my personal favourite, the Broken Sword series. I was 10 years old when I pointed-and-clicked my way through The Shadow of the Templars, a lasting childhood gaming memory, that I still cherish today. Charles and Noirin are the dictionary definition of a games legend, and we’re lucky to have them in Yorkshire!”

This is a very special Awards event celebrating 20 years of Game Republic and we give huge thanks to our Award Sponsors and Official Partners, as well as our headline sponsor and fabulous host Tileyard North for supporting this event which will bring a spotlight to inspiring individuals and companies in Yorkshire and The North. It won’t be formal, it will be celebratory and part of our GaMaYo event which will include 20 game demos, arcades, networking , a quiet zone, bar, caterers and more. We hope to see you all there!

Best Small Studio Award sponsored by Lenovo
Nominees:
Alternative Software
BetaJester
Boneloaf
Cardboard Sword
Claymatic Games
Cooperative Innovations
Cosmic Key
Distinctive Games
Dreaming Methods
Fat Kraken
Five Aces
Fruity Systems
Huey Games
Labrador Studios
Laser Dog/Playstack Leeds
Reflex Arc
Revolution Software
Sigtrap Games
Silent Games 
Thunkd
Tripunk
Triplevision Games
Valorware 

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Best Mid-Sized Studio Award sponsored by Barclays
Nominees:
10:10 Games
Draw & Code
Just Add Water Ltd
Radical Forge
Rebellion North
Red Kite Games
Ripstone
Rockstar Leeds
Staffordshire University – Bulldog Studio
Tanglewood Games
XR Games

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Best Large Studio Award sponsored by Eaton Smith Solicitors
Nominees:
d3t
Double Eleven
Firesprite
Sumo Digital
Team17
TT Games
Ubisoft Reflections

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Inclusivity Award sponsored by Boneloaf
Nominees:
Dan Ahern/Full Ride – Radical Forge
Em Aspinall – Radical Forge
BetaJester
Adam Boyne – BetaJester
One to One Development Trust
Emma Cowling
Huey Games
Pixall.org
Staffordshire University
Sumo Group
XR Stories

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Most Innovative Use of Technology sponsored by Escape Technology
Nominees:
Cooperative Innovations
Dreaming Methods
Huey Games
Reflex Arc
Staffordshire University
Tanglewood Games
Weaseltron
XR Games

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Best Company Boss sponsored by Other Things
Nominees:

Judi Alston – Dreaming Methods
Louise Andrew – d3t
Charles Cecil – Revolution Software
Simon Iwaniszak – Red Kite Games
Arthur Parsons – 10:10 Games
John Sanderson – PitStop Productions
Paul Tapper – Fruity Systems
Kimberley Turner – Double Eleven

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Studio Hero Award sponsored by Barclays
Nominees:

Jason Barlow – Staffordshire University
Fran Boot – Cooperative Innovations
Kristopher D’alterio – Studio Nefce
James Easton – Huey Games
Adam Grimley – Huey Games
Neil Parmar – Escape Technology
David Smith – Red Kite Games
Daniel Thompson – PitStop Productions
Anne Van Der Merwe – Red Kite Games

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Community Player Award sponsored by Tileyard North
Nominees:

Dan Ahern/Full Ride – Radical Forge
Em Aspinall – Radical Forge
Olly Bennett – GameBridge
Adam Boyne – BetaJester
Come Play With Me CIC
Andrew Crawshaw – Thunkd / Leeds Games Toast / GaMaYo
Elaine Dowman – Barclays Games and Creative
Stephen Hey – Radical Forge
Fee Laming – SGN / GaMaYo
One to One Development Trust
Neil Parmar – Escape Technology
Jo Quinton-Tulloch – National Science and Media Museum
Nick Streeter – SpecialEffect
Rosie Taylor  – Safe in Our World
Simran Whitham – Format
Sumo Group

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Sustainability Award sponsored by Other Things

Nominees:
Merge games
One to One Development Trust
Megaverse
Sumo Group
Tileyard North
Cooperative Innovations

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Inspiring Course Leader Award sponsored by Escape Technology
Nominees:
Phil Asquith – Leeds City College
Mike Beardwood –  Staffordshire University
Rob Charlish – Wakefield College
James Cotterill – University Campus Doncaster
Nicola Griffiths – Staffordshire University
Jacob Habgood – Sumo Digital Academy
Adam Harrison – University Centre Leeds
Stuart Lilford – University of Hull
Daryl Marples – University of Huddersfield
Ant Martin – Staffordshire University
Luke Melville – Sheffield Hallam University
Matt Novak – University of Huddersfield
Tom Oliver – Staffordshire University
Andy Sandham – York St John University
Quintus Smit – Mastered
Ruth Whitehead – Leeds City College

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Best Game-Related Research sponsored by Red Kite Games
Nominees:
Leon Xiao
XR Stories, University of York
Steel Minions, Sheffield Hallam University
IGGI – Intelligent Games and Game Intelligence 
Staffordshire University Games Development Department

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Games Legend sponsored by Red Kite Games
Nominees:

Debbie Bestwick – Team17
Carl Cavers – Sumo Group
Noirin Carmody – Revolution Software
Charles Cecil – Revolution Software
Charles Cecil and Noirin Carmody – Revolution Software
Nina Cliff – Sumo Group
Arthur Parsons – 10:10 Games
Martyn Brown – Insight Studios
John Sanderson – PitStop Productions
Bruce Slater – Radical Forge
Ian Stewart – Urbanscan / Gremlin Graphics
Kimberley Turner – Double Eleven
Andrew Crawshaw – Thunkd / GaMaYo
Simon Barratt – Cooperative Innovations
Greg Penninck – Realtime UK / Staffordshire University

Award categories have been sponsored by the following amazing companies…

Games Legend
sponsored by Red Kite Games

Best Large Studio (more than 100 people)
sponsored by Eaton Smith Solicitors

Best Mid-sized Studio (21-100 people)
sponsored by Barclays Games

Best Small Studio (1-20 people)
sponsored by Lenovo

Best Company Boss
sponsored by Other Things

Most Innovative Use of Technology
sponsored by Escape Technology

Community Player
sponsored by Tileyard North

Inclusivity Award
sponsored by Boneloaf

Studio Hero

Most Inspiring Course Leader

Best Game-Related Research

Sustainability Award

and finally…

 

 

Best Game Ever Made in Yorkshire and The North

Nominations closed on 30th September 2023 at midnight.