The winners of the Develop:Star Awards 2024, hosted last night during Develop:Brighton, have been announced.
The Develop:Star Awards, sponsored by Unreal Engine, saw winners crowned in 22 categories before this year’s Develop Star Award recipient, Sports Interactive, was celebrated for its contribution to the UK game development scene.
It was a big night for Larian Studios following the release of Baldur’s Gate 3 last summer, as they claimed Best Narrative, Best Studio - sponsored by Epic Games - and Best Game - sponsored by Testronic.
The brand-new Best Creative Lead category was won by Sam Lake of Remedy Entertainment, with the developer also taking home Best Visual Art and Best Audio for Alan Wake 2. The other new award this year, Supporting Star, was won by Game Republic.
Elsewhere, A Highland Song developer inkle won Best Small Studio, Best Mobile Game went to SEGA HARDlight’s Sonic Dream Team, and Best Game Design was won by Arrowhead Game Studios’ Helldivers 2.
Balatro took home Best Original IP, while Publishing Star was won by Kepler Interactive.
The full list of winners is below:
- Best Visual Art: Alan Wake 2 - Remedy Entertainment | Epic Games
- Best Narrative: Baldur's Gate 3 | Larian Studios
- Talent Development Star: nDreams
- Best Technology Provider: Unreal Engine
- Best Creative Provider: PitStop Productions
- Best Technical Innovation: Viewfinder - Sad Owl Studios | Thunderful Publishing
- Best Audio: Alan Wake 2 - Remedy Entertainment & Epic Games
- Best Game Design: Helldivers 2 - Arrowhead Game Studios | Sony Interactive Entertainment
- Recruitment Star: Amiqus
- Best QA & Localisation: Keywords Studios
- Marketing Star: Hannah Flynn – Failbetter Games
- Diversity Star: Moo Yu – POC in Play
- Tomorrow’s Star: Amy Elliott
- Sustainability Star: Green Game Jam
- Best Creative Lead: Sam Lake – Remedy Entertainment
- Supporting Star: Game Republic
- Best Original IP: Balatro – LocalThunk | Playstack
- Best Mobile Game: Sonic Dream Team - HARDlight | SEGA
- Best Small Studio: inkle
- Publishing Star: Kepler Interactive
- Best Game: Baldur’s Gate 3 – Larian Studios
- Best Studio: Larian Studios
- The Develop Star Award: Sports Interactive
“Every summer the Develop:Star Awards highlight the phenomenal talent that drives the games industry, and last night was no different,” said Andy Lane, Tandem Events Managing Director.
“The Develop Star Awards isn’t just an evening to celebrate the much-deserved winners, but the games industry as a whole. We’d love to thank everyone involved, everyone in attendance, all the nominees, our winners, our sponsors, and all those who helped make this event possible.”
The finalists in each competitive category were selected by an expert panel of judges, with the winners decided by an industry vote open to previous Develop:Brighton attendees.
The Develop:Star Awards 2024 were supported by headline sponsor Unreal Engine and individual award sponsors Amiqus, Epic Games, PlanetPlay, Testronic, and ustwo games.
The Develop:Star Awards will return next year on Wednesday 9 July, during Develop:Brighton 2025, which will be taking place on 8-10 July.
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About The Develop:Star Awards
Taking place alongside the conference, the Develop:Star Awards recognise the very best of the game development community. The achievements of developers and success of great games and creativity will be celebrated across 22 categories, plus one ‘Develop Star’ honouring an extraordinary game developer or studio for outstanding achievements and contributions to the industry.
About Develop:Brighton conference & expo
Develop:Brighton brings together the entire UK game dev industry to learn from each other, share ideas and experiences, network, and do business in a friendly and inclusive environment. The event also offers high quality conference sessions - from the industries brightest minds and talents - with practical takeaways that allow delegates to ‘skill-up’ and be inspired to make better games.
With a programme shaped to reflect attendees’ feedback this year’s conference will cover all the hot topics for game makers in 2024. The Expo brings together some of the most innovative companies from every sector of games development. Guests can also keep up-to date with the latest dev tools/tech and get hands on with all the games on display.
Develop:Brighton offers three days of insight, inspiration, networking and fun on England’s south coast.
Twitter: @developconf
LinkedIn: Develop:Brighton
Instagram: developbrighton
TikTok: @developconf
