Develop Awards 2008

Thursday 5th June/...The finalists for the Develop Industry Excellence Awards 2008 have today been revealed – with Rockstar and Ninja Theory leading the way with an impressive five nominations apiece.

Now in its sixth year, this year’s Develop Industry Excellence Awards ceremony is being held at the Hilton Metropole, Brighton on Wednesday July 30th, where leading lights from the games industry’s development community will gather for a lavish celebration of their creative genius.

This year’s Awards ceremony is expected to play host to over 500 of Europe’s leading games designers and is the only event in the calendar to exclusively doff its cap to the development community.

With record-breaking sales and huge critical acclaim for Grand Theft Auto IV, Rockstar North boasts four nominations: Visual Arts, Audio Accomplishment, Technical Innovation, Best In-house Developer, with its newest studio, Rockstar London, hoping to scoop the award for Best New UK/European Studio.

Ninja Theory/SCEE Cambridge (Heavenly Sword) are also a strong contender to walk away with the plaudits, nominated as they are in five categories: Best New IP, Visual Arts, Audio accomplishment, Technical Innovation, and Best Independent Developer.

Frontier Development (Lost Winds) and Criterion Games (Burnout Paradise) are also looking to make a splash with three nominations each.

"This year's finalists showcase the massive amount of games development talent found in Europe," said Michael French, Editor of Develop.

"Be it digitally-distributed games, MMOs, first-person shooters or action-adventures, there's no area of the industry that hasn’t been bolstered by Europe’s diverse sector of games development companies in the past year. We wish all of the nominees the best of luck and look forward to seeing them on what's set to be a great night."

The Develop Industry Excellence Awards are voted for by a panel of 100 industry experts.

In addition to the 16 awards voted by a panel of industry experts, two additional awards will be presented on the night – one to a Development Legend, and an overall Grand Prix, both decided by the magazine editorial team.

DEVELOP AWARDS: The finalists in full

CATEGORY: CREATIVITY

Best New IP

Lost Winds (Frontier Developments)

Heavenly Sword (Ninja Theory)

Crysis (Crytek)

World in Conflict (Massive)

Viking: Battle for Asgard (Creative Assembly)

Overlord (Triumph)

Best Use of a Licence

Ferrari Challenge (Eutechnyx)

The Darkness (Starbreeze)

Sega Superstar Tennis (Sumo Digital)

Enemy Territory: Quake Wars (Splash Damage)

Lego Indiana Jones (Travellers’ Tales)

Metal Gear Solid Mobile (Ideaworks3D)

Visual Arts

Rockstar North (Grand Theft Auto IV)

Crytek (Crysis)

London Studio (SingStar PS3 UI)

Frontier Developments (Lost Winds)

Criterion Games (Burnout Paradise)

Ninja Theory/SCEE Cambridge (Heavenly Sword)

Audio Accomplishment

London Studio (SingStar PS3)

Rockstar North (Grand Theft Auto IV)

Ninja Theory/SCEE Cambridge (Heavenly Sword)

Sumo Digital (Sega Superstars Tennis)

Codemasters Studios (Race Driver GRID)

Criterion Games (Burnout Paradise)

Publishing Hero

Codemasters

Nintendo

Sega

LucasArts

Gamecock

1C & 505 Games

CATEGORY: TECHNOLOGY & SERVICES

Tools Provider

Hansoft

Epic Games

Sony & SN Systems

Havok

NaturalMotion

IDV

Technical Innovation

Rockstar North/NaturalMotion/Image Metrics (Grand Theft Auto IV)

Ninja Theory/SCEE Cambridge (Heavenly Sword)

Ideaworks3D (Airplay)

SCEE R&D Team (PhyreEngine)

Geomerics (Enlighten)

Creative Outsourcing

Axis Animation

Side UK

Richard Jacques Studios

Outsource Media UK

The Audio Guys

Nimrod Productions

Services

Testronic Labs

Partnertrans UK

Babel Media

Audiomotion

U-Trax

Recruitment Company

Specialmove

Day One Search

Aardvark Swift

Amiqus

OPM

Games:Edu New Talent Award

Abertay University & Dare to be Digital

Rare

Microsoft

Blitz

University of Derby

Hull University

CATEGORY: STUDIOS

Best New UK/European Studio

Finblade

Konami Paris

Oxygen Studios

Rockstar London

Doublesix

Best Mobile Studio

Progressive Media

Ideaworks3D

Digital Chocolate Finland/Sumea

Distinctive Developments

Business Development

Zoë Mode

Rebellion

Realtime Worlds

Team 17

NaturalMotion

Best Independent Developer

Rebellion

Jagex

CCP

Frontier

Splash Damage

Ninja Theory

Best In-house Developer

Rockstar North

Codemasters Studios

Criterion Games

Sports Interactive

London Studio

Bizarre Creations

SPECIAL INDUSTRY RECOGNITION AWARDS

Development Legend

Grand Prix

Winners for these awards to be announced on the night.

The Develop Industry Excellence Awards 2008 are kindly sponsored by Geomerics, Codemasters, Autodesk, Amiqus, Hansoft.

The event has sold out since its launch in 2003 with over 500 people attending in 2007. For table sales and sponsorship opportunities please contact Jodie Holdway at BHPR on Tel: 01462 456780 or email Jodie.holdway@bhpr.co.uk

Early Bird bookings received before 1st July 2008

£2250 + vat – Gold table seating ten

£1975 + vat – Standard table seating ten.

£199 + vat – Individual seats

Bookings received on or after 1st July 2008

£2475 + vat – Gold table seating ten

£2250 + vat – Standard table seating ten.

£235 + vat – Individual seats