MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
After hundreds of nominations and thousands of votes being cast, the 2022 MCV/DEVELOP Awards were finally handed out on April 28th, during a ceremony at The Brewery in London that was hosted by comedian and game industry veteran Imran Yusuf.
With two years having passed since the last event, guests, supporters and finalists were out in force, representing some of the most celebrated and successful organisations, not just within the UK games industry, but from across the world. Thanks to their efforts over the last two years, the 2022 ceremony was a remarkable occasion, honouring once again the creativity, success and innovation that is forever unique to the gaming industry in the UK.
As in 2020, the finalists were nominated by a select group representing all aspects of the gaming industry, from art, design, programming, to media, publishing, retail, recruitment and beyond. Then it was down to the MCV/DEVELOP readership and editorial team to decide the winners.
Photos from the evening are available via the Awards website, and let’s give our 2022 finalists and winners one last round of applause!
DEVELOPMENT ESSENTIALS
Development Tool of the Year
Finalists: Audiokinetic, Elias Studio 3, GameMaker Studio, SyncSketch, Unity
Winner: Unreal Engine
External Development Partner of the Year
Finalists: Keywords Studios, PTW, Talenthouse Media Foundry, Testronic, Virtuos
Winner: Epic Games
Recruitment Agency of the Year
Finalists: Amiqus, Haptic, InGame Recruitment, OPMjobs, Trust in Soda
Winner: Aardvark Swift
INNOVATION IN GAMES
Visual Innovation of the Year
Finalists: Housemarque and Sony Interactive Entertainment for Returnal, nDreams for Fracked, Polygon Treehouse and CI Games for Röki, Shedworks and Raw Fury for Sable, ustwo games for Alba: A Wildlife Adventure
Winner: Playground Games and Xbox Games Studio for Forza Horizon 5
Audio Innovation of the Year
Finalists: Codemasters and EA for Dirt 5, Housemarque and Sony Interactive Entertainment for Returnal, Shedworks and Raw Fury for Sable, Sumo Digital and Sony Interactive Entertainment for Sackboy: A Big Adventure,
Winner: Housemarque and Sony Interactive Entertainment for Returnal
Gameplay Innovation of the Year
Finalists: Bossa Studios and Curve Games for I Am Fish, FuturLab and Square Enix for PowerWash Simulator, Ground Shatter and Mode 7 for Fights in Tight Spaces, Just Add Water and Rebellion for Sniper Elite VR, Odd Bug Studio and CI Games for Tails of Iron
Winner: Mediatonic for Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout
Narrative Innovation of the Year
Finalists: Codemasters and EA for F1 2021, inkle for Overboard!, Sketchbook Games and Modus Games for Lost Words: Beyond the Page, Supermassive Games and Bandai Namco for The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes
Winner: Acid Nerve and Devolver Digital for Death’s Door
OUTSTANDING STUDIOS
Major Studio of the Year
Finalists: Frontier Developments, Rebellion, Playground Games, Supermassive Games
Winner: Creative Assembly
Indie Studio of the Year
Finalists: Acid Nerve, Bossa Studios, Shedworks, Skyhook Games, ustwo games
Winner: Hello Games
PUBLISHING & PLATFORMS
Major Publisher of the Year
Finalists: Bethesda Softworks, EA, Nintendo, Sony Interactive Entertainment, Square Enix
Winner: Xbox Game Studios
Indie Publisher of the Year
Finalists: Chucklefish, Curve Games, No More Robots, Fireshine Games (formerly Sold Out), Wired Productions
Winner: Slitherine
Platform of the Year
Finalists: Nintendo, Steam, Antstream Arcade, PlayStation, Humble Bundle
Winner: Xbox
REACHING AUDIENCES
PR Agency of the Year
Finalists: Dead Good PR, Honest PR, Indigo Pearl, Renaissance
Winner: Bastion
Creative Agency of the Year
Finalists: Diva, Fourth Floor, ICHI Worldwide, TAKEOFF, YRS TRULY
Winner: Fluid
Campaign of the Year
Finalists: Diva, in collaboration with TfL, MediaCom and Red Consultancy; EA for Kiyan Prince, FIFA 21; Honest PR for Yogscast Jingle Jam; YRS TRULY and Wizards of the Coast for Lycanspiracy, Magic: The Gathering
Winner: Renaissance and Curve Games for The Ascent
Media Brand of the Year
Finalists: GAMINGbible, IGN UK, PCGamesN, RKG, Video Games Chronicle (VGC)
Winner: Eurogamer
RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Retailer of the Year
Finalists: Fanatical, GAME, Green Man Gaming, ShopTo
Winner: Amazon
Distributor of the Year
Finalists: CentreSoft, Click Entertainment, Contact Sales, Genba Digital, Plug In Digital
Winner: Koch Media
JURY AWARDS
Newcomer of the Year
Winner: PressEngine
Games for a Better World
Winner: Nintendo for Animal Crossing
MCV/DEVELOP Legend
Winner: Sports Interactive
