Here’s the shortlist for the MCV/DEVELOP Women in Games Awards 2023!

After an intense and lengthy selection process and hundreds of entries received, the MCV/DEVELOP Women in Games Awards 2023 shortlist has been decided.

It is, as usual, a pleasure and a privilege to celebrate everything women do for video game development in the United Kingdom. Thank you to everyone to has nominated someone, and well done to everyone who has been selected for further consideration. The final judging process will be carried out by a panel of some of the most notable women within the UK games industry, including previous winners of the awards themselves.

Everyone mentioned below will be (or has already been) invited to the awards show at the America Square Conference Centre in London on March 1, 2023, which is where the awards’ winners will first be revealed.

This year’s MCV/DEVELOP Women in Games Awards are sponsored by Creative Assembly, Firesprite, Hangar 13, Amiqus, One Player Mission, Supermassive Games, Rocksteady Studios and Electric Square. If you’d like to talk to us about partnering up on the event, you can still reach out to alex.boucher@biz-media.co.uk

Anyway, here’s the bit you’ve really been waiting for. The nominees are …

Journalism Impact          

• Samantha Greer at Samantha Greer
• Rhiannon Bevan at TheGamer
• Kelsey Raynor at VG247
• Nicola Harper-Williams at Game Accessibility Nexus
• Bryony-Hope Green at British Esports

Career Mentor 

• Meile Bauzyte at Firesprite Games
• Michelle Chapman at Sumo Sheffield
• Adele Simpson at Green Man Gaming
• Louise Andrew at d3t
• Jasmine Hong at British Esports
• Bev B at Wushu Studios

In-House HR and Recruitment Impact

• Tracy Clark at SEGA HARDlight
• Alice Wyman at Rocksteady Studios
• Karen McLoughlin at Sumo Group
• Khally Saarman-Jones at Payload Studios
• Charlotte Pook at Electric Square
• Vikki Neale at nDreams

Games Campaigner       

• Kat Welsford at Splash Damage and SavePoint Industry Gathering
• Georgie Christoforou at Neonhive
• Tamsin O’Luanaigh at nDreams
• Lauren Kaye at She Plays Games
• Esha Mahadkar at Secret Mode

Technical Innovation    

• Gayathri Chittiappa at Firesprite
• Kirsty Fraser at Third Kind Games
• Joanna Haslam at Snap Finger Click
• Essi Suurkuukka at Lab42 Games
• Sofia Romualdo at Supermassive Games

Development Impact    

• May Wong at INTERIOR/NIGHT
• Audrey Profit at The Chinese Room
• Searra Leishman at Hyper Luminal Games (HLG)
• Samantha Luzon at Payload Studios
• Emma Bates at Team17 Digital Ltd.
• Louise Kasemeier at nDreams Studio Orbital

Comms Impact 

• Courtney O’Connor at Supermassive Games
• Rebecca Sweetmore at Futurlab
• Anita Wong at Indigo Pearl
• Lauren Ashling Hill at Activision Blizzard
• Amy Hughes at Kepler Interactive
• Nika Tufnell at Bethesda

Business Impact              

• MJ Widomska at YRS TRULY
• Sally Blake at Silent Games
• Devon Pearce at TrailerFarm
• Kat Schreiber at Disobey
• Jennifer Schneidereit at Nyamyam / Midnight Circus
• Angela Dickson at Activision Blizzard

Creative Impact               

• Alexandra Banks at 10:10 Games
• Rachel Cox at Roll7
• Caroline Marchal at INTERIOR/NIGHT
• Vicky Boyce at Third Kind Games
• Hannah McCarthy at Liquid Violet
• Errol Seymour at Jagex
• Vanesa Tate at King

Educational Impact        

• Zara Sharma at Worcester University
• Marcia Deakin at NextGen Skills Academy
• Dr Mona Bozdog at Abertay University
• Hilary Lok at Dot Dot Fire
• Leah Dungay at National Videogame Museum
• Alice Leaman at British Esports and Women in Esports

Rising Star          

• Sophia Donovan-Spalding at Frontier Development
• Amber Turner at Wizards of the Coast
• Katy Wood at Hyper Luminal Games
• Shelby O’Neil at NVIDIA
• Erika Cope at Team17
• Holly O’Neill at Media Molecule
• Tia Wedderburn at BAFTA