Over 500 game developers joined together from across The North and Scotland to celebrate games talent at GaMaYo on 13th November when the Game Republic Awards were revealed. The event was supported by Official Partners Red Kite Games, Barclays Games and Creative and Xsolla and the event was sponsored by HP and AMD with Escape Technology and Plus Accounting
Jamie Sefton, MD of Game Republic presented the Awards and said
“This year we have been blown away by the quality of the nominations of every size of games company that show the significant contributions the Northern games industry is making to the UK games industry.”
In a video, Keith Stuart bemoaned the challenge of judging such a stellar line-up, jokingly asking if the games industry could tone the talent down a little for next year, to make his job easier.
Photos taken by Yijia Zhang studying Journalism at the University of Leeds. The event was also supported by Game Republic Student Club members Louie Taylor and Julia Trojanowska from University of Salford, Daniel Saxton from Wakefield College and Manaal Adam and Yijia Zhang from University of Leeds. Full story on GaMaYo here
Best Game Studios in The North Revealed
Best Small Studio was presented by Matt Plumb of Yogscast Games. Two commendations were presented to Dreaming Methods and Observer Interactive but the winner was DINK.
Speaking about the Best Small Studio category, Boss Judge and Guardian games journalist and writer Keith Stuart said ““In a hearteningly strong category, Dink stood out for its impressive array of projects, its approach to accessibility and its support for other studios and the local dev community. Keep up the wonderful work!”
Matt Hitchcock from Other Things agency presented the Best Mid-Sized Studio Award. Matt said how happy he was to be presenting the award and read out special commendations in the category for Nosebleed Interactive and Steel City Interactive. The winner of Best Mid-Sized Studio Award was Tanglewood Games.
Congratulating the studio Keith Stuart said “Tanglewood Games has brought its experience and technical expertise to some of the biggest video games on the planet, but it’s also a studio that looks after its staff and seeks to make everyone feel valued.”
Best Large Studio was presented by Sam Crich of Eaton Smith Solicitors.
In this category, the Boss Judge made two special commendations for Best large studio – these were Lucid Games and Team17
The winning studio of Best Large Studio was d3t. Speaking about the Award, Keith said “Up against some of the big dogs of the UK game development scene, this studio has impressed this year with its major co-development projects and a strong commitment to the well-being of its staff.”
People Celebrated in Game Republic Awards
Several individuals were commended for their work in several categories this year. Speaking about the individuals recognised in the cetegories Jamie Sefton said
“We must never forget that games are made by people and we have been so inspired this year by the range of individuals who have been nominated for their work.”
Mark Horsfield from Plus Accounting presented the Studio Hero Award. Plus Accounting not only sponsored the award but also supported the event providing a first free drink for all the attendees. In this category of incredible individuals, special commendations were made for Derek Cowap of Radical Forge and Grant Clark of Double Eleven. The winner was Natasha Vincent EA Playdemic
For the winner Keith said “Natasha Vincent has made a hugely positive impact within their studio, supporting staff and driving change. She has also worked on impactful community ventures, showcasing the industry to the next generation of game makers in the region.”
The sometimes forgotten educators in the games industry were celebrated at the event in the Most Inspiring Course Leader Award sponsored by Double Eleven.
Mark South – Co-CEO of Double Eleven shared how pleased he was to be sponsoring such an important Award. A special commendation was made for Michael Smith from York St John University in this category. Mark then quoted Keith Stuart’s comments for the winner Rob Charlish of Wakefield College saying “It is clear that they are hugely knowledgeable and inspiring course leader who is absolutely dedicated to his students. They bring experience and imagination to the course, while motivating learners to achieve their very best.”
The Community Manager Award was presented by Andrew Crawshaw of Thunk’d. In this category, Andrew mentioned that the judge had particularly commended the work of Em Aspinall and Harry Flanagan. The winner was Pedro Silva of Double Eleven. Keith Stuart added a few words to explain his selection. “Community manager is one of the most complex roles in the modern games industry requiring patience, kindness, creativity, technical knowledge and incredible diplomacy skills. Pedro has shown all of these and more.”
A new Award that marks the legacy of the late Martyn Brown was aptly presented by his son Harry Brown. Commenting on the Martyn Brown Rising Star Award – Harry Brown said how pleased he was to be there on behalf of his father and to see this award mark his memory and legacy.
In this category, Keith Stuart gave a special commendation to Marco Ng, Otterweave Games Studio and he said of the winner Sarah York, Panda Cat Games
“For the inaugural Martyn Brown Rising Star Award it was important for us to recognise someone who has had positive impact, not just in their own studio, but for the wider industry. Sarah York has been incredibly supportive to young developers looking to get into games, using their breadth of experience to foster confidence and creativity through the creation of their brilliant cosy game.”
Best Game-Related Research was presented Dr Jackie Mulligan In this category, the judge gave a special commendation for the research team Dr Martin Turner, Dr John Henry, Dr Ashley Williams from Manchester Metropolitan University
For the winner James quoted Keith saying “This is a difficult award because all the work is so fascinating, but this person’s research into emotional experience in games feels vital in an era where whole generations are looking to video games more than TV or film for their stories, heroes and role models.”
Inclusivity Award was presented by Fee Laming. In this category, Keith made special commendations for the work of Betajester and One to One Development Trust. The winner was Safe In Our World. In choosing the winner Keith said “By pointing a spotlight at mental health, and supporting game makers who are struggling, they are doing vitally important work. Considering how tough things are in the games industry at the moment, this is the right organisation doing the right job at exactly the right time.”
Innovative Use of Technology sponsored by HP, AMD with Escape Technology
Neil Parmar from Escape Technology began his presentation by saying how pleased he was to be there on behalf of the sponsors HP, AMD with Escape Technology who has sponsored this innovative use of technology category.
Huey Games and Cooperative Innovations were commended in the category for their work. The winner Reflex Arc was praised by Keith Stuart who said “The sheer range of work Reflex Arc are doing has impressed greatly us this year. From immersive movie experiences, to cutting edge robotics to helping David Hockney create digital art, the scope and ambition is extraordinary. They seem to be operating around five years in the future.”
Games Legend named as Darren Falcus
Games Legend was presented by Simon Iwaniszak of Red Kite Games, sponsor of the Award and Official Partner of Game Republic.
Simon said that he was as always delighted to be sponsoring this category which celebrates the massive impact individuals have on our industry, culture and wider society. He announced Games Legend was Darren Falcus. In selecting this person as Games Legend, Guardian journalist and writer Keith Stuart said
“It is difficult to conceive of anyone who has had more impact on games in the North of England. From his early days as an 80s bedroom coder, to his studios, including Iguana UK and Atomic Planet, to his work with other developers in the area, Darren Falcus has shown singular passion, knowledge and ability. Is there anyone else on earth whose portfolio includes Street Fighter, NBA Jam, South Park, Miami Vice and Carol Vorderman’s Sudoku? I sincerely doubt it. To him, from everyone here, and from me, a lifelong gamer and former Edge writer who interviewed you several times and always learned something wild in the process, thank you.”
Best Indie Game Made in The North won by Empyreal
Best Indie Game Made in The North was presented by Adam Phillips from Xsolla to Empyreal by Silent Games
Adam said “Xsolla is delighted to sponsor this category which has a staggering 15 games nominated this year. What a brilliant range of games! This category was subject to a public vote, and hundreds of votes were received. Congratulations to Empyreal by Silent Games!”
Lifetime Achievement Award presented to Ian Stewart
To end the presentations, Simon Iwaniszak returned to the stage to present a Lifetime Achievement Award to Ian Stewart.
In a short presentation, Simon explained how Ian had started his career 1981 opening a pioneering games shop in Sheffield, Just Micro on Carver Street with business partner Kevin Norburn. Going on to say “Through the shop attracting local games talent such as Tony Crowther, they formed the games company Gremlin Graphics in 1984 where throughout the next two decades they established iconic characters and games such as Monty Mole, Thing on a Spring, Zool, and Actua Soccer – and kickstarted a Sheffield dev scene that went on to spawn Sumo Digital and many other companies – and the reason why there is a National Videogame Museum in the city.
Gremlin Graphics bought DMA Design in 1997 – the home of Lemmings and Grand Theft Auto before selling to Infogrames in 1999. They went on to found Zoo Digital, and later Urbanscan, which has launched new versions of Zool and Bounder’s World and numerous other games.
Keith Stuart, our Boss Judge, said of this person: “The founding of Gremlin Graphics in 1984 was a landmark moment for the games industry. Countless game coders, designers and artists owe their careers to them, and to us journalists, his company helped define what British games were and what they could be. Thanks for all the fun!”
He has always been a fantastic advocate for the games industry here in the North, and someone that utterly deserves this Lifetime Achievement award for his five-decade contribution to the Sheffield, Yorkshire and Northern games industry.”
On a high note and rapturous applause, the event continued with games, networking, food and drinks.
GaMaYo and the GR Awards is a free event for Game Republic members, educational partners, award nominees, sponsors and members of the free indie gamedev network GaMaYo. To find out more visit gamerepublic.net/join-us and/or if you develop games or support game development in The North, join The Great Northern Games Discord. Students studying at educational partner universities and colleges can also join the exclusive Game Republic Student Club. The next GaMaYo event will be at Project House Leeds on 21st May. Tickets are now on sale but free to Game Republic and GaMaYo members.
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