The finalists for the Develop:Star Awards 2026 were:
BEST AUDIO
Winner: Ghost of Yōtei
Shortlisted
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
- Death Stranding 2: On The Beach
- Dispatch
- Mafia: The Old Country
- The Midnight Walk
BEST EDI INITIATIVE
Winner: The Midnight Walk
Shortlisted
- Football Manager for Missing Managers
- Into Games - Boost
- Melanin Gamers
- Out Making Games
BEST GAME
Winner: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Shortlisted
- Blue Prince
- Death Stranding 2: On The Beach
- Dispatch
- Ghost of Yōtei
- Jurassic World Evolution 3
- PEAK
BEST GAME DESIGN
Winner: Blue Prince
Shortlisted
- 9 Kings
- Cairn
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
- Death Stranding 2: On The Beach
- Ghost of Yōtei
BEST MARKETING CAMPAIGN
Winner: Dispatch
Shortlisted
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
- CloverPit
- Ghost of Yōtei
- Monument Valley 3 / The Garden of Life - Multiplatform Release
- The Slayeux Tapestry – Bethesda and YRS TRULY
BEST MOBILE GAME
Winner: PowerWash Simulator
Shortlisted
- Grand Mountain Adventure 2
- HITMAN World of Assassination
- Mindset GO!
- Pine Hearts
BEST IN-GAME ACCESSIBILITY
Winner: DOOM: The Dark Ages
Shortlisted
- Dead Reset
- Pine Hearts Mobile
- Tiny Bookshop
- Unseen Diplomacy 2
- ustwo games – Monument Valley 3 multiplatform release
BEST NARRATIVE
Winner: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Shortlisted
- Dispatch
- Ghost of Yōtei
- Mafia: The Old Country
- The Alters
- TR-49
BEST ORIGINAL IP
Winner: PEAK
Shortlisted
- Date Everything!
- Dispatch
- Ghost Town
- Pieced Together
- The Alters
BEST SMALL STUDIO
Winner: Landfall Games & Aggro Crab
Shortlisted
- Draknek & Friends
- inkle
- Magic Notion
- Neolithic LLC
- Panik Arcade
BEST STUDIO
Winner: Frontier Developments
Shortlisted
- FuturLab
- Hangar 13
- Kinetic Games
- Sandfall Interactive
- Sucker Punch
BEST TECHNICAL INNOVATION
Winner: Crimson Desert (Proprietary BlackSpace Engine)
Shortlisted
- Death Stranding 2: On The Beach
- DOOM: The Dark Ages
- G'AIM'E Lightgun
- Ghost Town
- Ghost of Yōtei
- Jurassic World Evolution 3
BEST VISUAL ART
Winner: Ghost of Yōtei
Shortlisted
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
- Death Stranding 2: On The Beach
- Dispatch
- Mafia: The Old Country
- The Midnight Walk
PUBLISHING STAR
Winner: Sony Interactive Entertainment
Shortlisted
- Hooded Horse
- Kepler Interactive
- Megabit Publishing
- Secret Mode
- Team17
- Yogscast Games
BEST ONGOING GAME
Winner: No Man's Sky
Shortlisted
- FINAL FANTASY XIV Online
- HITMAN World of Assassination
- Phasmophobia
- Rust
- Vampire Survivors
SUPPORTING STAR
Winner: Dead Nice Studio
Shortlisted
- Atomhawk
- Keywords Studios Ltd
- PitStop Productions
- PlanetPlay
- Side
- Sumo Digital
- Testronic
TALENT & RECRUITMENT STAR
Winner: IO Interactive, Talent Recruitment Team
Shortlisted
- Aardvark Swift Recruitment Ltd
- Amiqus
- Double Eleven, Talent and Academy Team
- Lighthouse Games
- Pixel Movement
- Playground Games
- Skillsearch Ltd
TOMORROW'S STAR
Winner: Nicole Gregory, Jagex
Shortlisted
- Ayo Norman-Williams, IO Interactive
- Deevya Patel, EA Playdemic
- Dennis Welling, Electric Square
- Elise Barry, Cloud Imperium Games
- Jing Wang, Hangar 13