Game Republic, the largest games industry network in The North has revealed 15 games in the nomination list for The Best Indie Game Made in The North Award sponsored by Xsolla. The GR Awards are an annual event that began in 2023 to mark Game Republic’s 20th Anniversary. They proved so popular that they have continued and grown ever since. This year Game Republic introduced the Martyn Brown Rising Star Award to honour the memory and legacy of Martyn Brown, a games legend in The North and one of the founders of Team17 and the Game Republic network. The Game Republic Awards form part of the 2025 event programme supported by Xsolla, Barclays Games and Creative and Red Kite Games
Commenting about the response to the Game Republic Awards Jamie Sefton MD of Game Republic said “Every year we see more nominations coming through for studios, individuals and games which is testimony to the great work going on across The North. This is a great opportunity to shine a light on the games being produced here.”
The Best Indie Game Made in The North sponsored by Xsolla is subject to a public vote.
Winners will be revealed on 13th November 2025 at GaMaYo with over 400 game developers set to attend the very popular event billed as ‘the largest and friendliest indie game dev gathering in The North’. This year alongside the Awards, attendees will be able to play over 50 new games, join roundtables with experts as well as networking, food and drink in the spectacular setting of WX in Wakefield. The event is being sponsored by HP and AMD with Escape Technology and Plus Accounting.
Jamie explains “The Game Republic Awards are not a formal and traditional Awards event, they are short, funny and friendly taking less than 40 minutes to announce. This ensures everyone gets a chance to do what we all love most – play the games and socialise! The whole event always feels like a real celebration of the games industry and gets better each year, as do the quality of the nominations”
Best Indie Game Made in the North sponsored by Xsolla
- Rules and Rodents – Gravy Crew Games
- Empyreal – Silent Games
- Retro Slam Tennis – New Star Games
- Rugby League 24 – Distinctive Games
- Dunk Dunk – Badgerhammer/Playtonic Games
- Dicealot – Goodview Games/Yogscast Games
- Ascend – Miami Avalon
- Platypus Reclayed – Claymatic Games
- Wyrd Waters – Maximalist
- Vextorial – Vext Games/Dink
- Starship Troopers Continuum – XR Games
- Train Sim World VR: New York – Just Add Water
- Siege and The Sandfox – Cardboard Sword
- Racoon Saloon – Theo Clarke
- Positron – Retroburn
To vote on your favourite game from the list click on the voting form below