Develop Awards 2010 winners announced

The Hello Games team strike a victory pose

Over 500 games industry creatives stormed Brighton the other day for the Develop Awards, now in their eighth year of celebrating the very best in European games development.

Several rising studios left with high honours, with teams such as Hello Games, developers of Joe Danger, walking away with the Best New Studio and Micro Studio awards, and the developer behind iPhone game Angry Birds, Rovio, taking Best New Download IP.

More familiar names taking awards included Quantic Dream, taking the Best New IP award for Heavy Rain, and Arkham Asylum developer Rocksteady Studios nabbing the award for Best use of a License or IP.

“This year’s role-call of winners is truly impressive,” said Michael French, editor of Develop. “Despite the challenges and changes currently making things very tough for the development sector across the globe, those who have taken home awards tonight have demonstrated the resilience and talent that continues to thrive in the UK and Europe.

“The 2010 list of nominees was incredibly strong, making the accomplishments of these companies and individuals even more impressive. We’d like to offer our congratulations to all the winners and the other finalists.”

Below is a list of the winners in full:

Creativity

Best New IP
Heavy Rain (Quantic Dream)

Best New Download IP
Angry Birds (Rovio)

Best Use of a Licence or IP
Batman: Arkham Asylum (Rocksteady Studios)

Visual Arts
Split/Second (Black Rock Studio)

Audio Accomplishment
DJ Hero (FreeStyleGames)

Publishing Hero
Channel 4

Technology and Services

Technical Innovation
Unity Engine (Unity Technologies)

Tools Provider
Hansoft

Engine
Unreal Engine 3

Services
Testology

Audio Outsourcer
Side

Visual Outsourcer
Axis Animation

Recruitment Company
Amiqus

Studios

Best New Studio
Hello Games

Micro Studio
Hello Games

Handheld Studio
SCE Cambridge

Business Development
Sony XDev

In-House Studio
Rocksteady Studios

Independent Studio
Quantic Dream

Special Awards

Development Legend
Andrew Gower & Paul Gower (Jagex)

Grand Prix
Unity Technologies

Written by Anthony H

Anthony has been playing games for far too much of his life, starting with the MS-DOS classic Mario is Missing. Since then his tastes have evolved to include just about anything, but his soft spot lies with shooters and the odd strategy game. Anthony will inspire you with his prose, uplift you with his wit and lie to you in his biography.