Nominations announced for first-ever Scottish Games Awards

The long list of nominees for the first-ever Scottish Games Awards has been released, celebrating the best games talent in Scotland. The awards - taking place at the Malmaison in Dundee on the 27th of October - will bring together a wide range of disciplines and specialities from across the games ecosystem and beyond, acting as a show of appreciation for those leading the charge across the growing and thriving sector.




The Scottish Games Awards ceremony is the culmination of the first ever Scottish Games Week, a first of its kind suite of events that will take place across Scotland from the 24th - 27th of October. Winners will be announced at the ceremony on Thursday 27th of October, tickets are available now via Citizen Ticket.


The award nominees are as follows:

Art and Animation

• Just Take Your Left (Mehrdad Rezaei)
• Cloudpunk (ION LANDS)
• Galaxy Fight Club (Interference Pattern)
• Train Sim World 2: Island Line 2022 (Rivet Games)
• Autonauts vs Piratebots (Denki)

Audio

• SOLAS 128 (Amicable Animal)
• Train Sim World 2: Island Line 2022 (Rivet Games)
• A Bonnie Odyssey (Astrodreamer Studio)
• Agatha Christie - Hercule Poirot: The First Cases (Blazing Griffin)
• Autonauts vs Piratebots (Denki)

Best Educational Programme

• Glasgow Caledonian University: 3D Art and Animation
• University of the West of Scotland Games Development Programme
• Robert Burns' Farm at Ellisland in Minecraft
• Dundee & Angus College: HN Games Development
• Glasgow School of Art: MSc Visualisation

Best Educator

• Daisy Abbott
• Dr Thomas Methven
• Jane Draycott
• Erin Hughes
• Dr Lynn Love

Best Large-Budget Game

• From the Depths (Brilliant Skies Ltd.)
• Cloudpunk (ION LANDS)
• Mystery Match Village (Outplay Entertainment Ltd)
• Autonauts vs Piratebots (Denki)
• Island Saver (Stormcloud)

Best Small-Budget Game

• Temple of Snek (Aetheric Games)
• The Black Iris (Jamie Ferguson)
• SOLAS 128 (Amicable Animal)
• The Baby in Yellow (Team Terrible)
• Ultimate Supremacy (GameExplosion)

Creativity

• SOLAS 128 (Amicable Animal)
• Cloudpunk (ION LANDS)
• Playhead (Lowtek Games)
• Temple of Snek (Aetheric Games)
• Strange Sickness (Common Profyt Games)

Diversity Champion

• Joanne Lacey
• Searra Dodds
• Tanya Laird
• Lauren Aitken
• Charly Harbord

Lifetime Achievement

• Colin Anderson
• Tanya Laird
• Stuart Martin
• Dave Jones
• Chris Sawyer

Stewart Gilray Award (Community Spirit)

• Malath Abbas
• Colin Macdonald
• Colin Anderson
• Dr Amanda Ford
• Paddy Burns

Technical Achievement

• Conquest.eth (Etherplay)
• Monstrum 2 (Team Junkfish)
• Ultimate Supremacy (GameExplosion)
• A Bonnie Odyssey (Astrodreamer Studio)
• From the Depths (Brilliant Skies Ltd.)

Tools and Technology

• Dislectek
• Murder Mystery Machine
• Kythera AI
• Zappaty
• AdInMo

The long list of entries will now go to the judging panel, chaired by Chris Scullion, and comprising of:

• Brian Baird: Technical Director at Bethesda Games Studios Austin
• Joe Donnelly: Feature Writer at GamesRadar+
• Alisdair Gunn: Director at Glasgow City Innovation District
• Steven Hamill: COO at Scottish Edge
• Keza MacDonald: Video Games Editor at The Guardian
• Jim Trinca: Games journalist and video producer
• Jo Twist: CEO of UKIE

The judges will be tasked with picking a shortlist and winners from each of the categories.

Brian Baglow, Director of Scottish Games Week and Founder of the Scottish Games Network said: “As the founder and director of the Scottish Games Network, I am lucky enough to see on a daily basis, the incredible work being carried out in Scotland and meet the people, the pioneers and the games which are shaping the future of the games ecosystem.

“However, not every game - or person - doing this work gets the visibility they need or deserve. The Scottish Games Awards are designed to address this and showcase the people, the organisations and the games which make Scotland such a wonderful place to create, publish, teach, learn, love (or even play!) games.

“We were thrilled to get such a wide range of entries and such a high level of excellence across each of the categories. I don’t envy the judges trying to select the winners from such a superb range of entries.

“Good luck to every entrant!”

Other events occurring during Scottish Games Week include:

More Than Games - 24th October (Glasgow)

Designed to onboard an audience unfamiliar with the games ecosystem, More Than Games will host an array of speakers to show the uninitiated just how important games are to Scotland’s tech industry. The event will be taking place at the brand new Barclay’s Campus in Glasgow.

Education Symposium - 25th October (Edinburgh)

A meeting of the minds in academia, the Education Symposium will bring together academics from across Scotland to discuss how important educational institutions are to shape the future generations of game development talent.

SGW Industry Conference - 27th - 28th October (Dundee)

Taking place at the Malmaison in Dundee over the course of two days, the Scottish Games Week Industry Conference will bring together a large host of those currently or previously involved in the industry, from all over the world. Panels, talks and networking will be the focus, bringing together the many game developers, engineers, storytellers and more that Scotland houses.

Scottish Games Week is being delivered by the Scottish Games Network and is supported by the Scottish Government’s Ecosystem Fund, delivered as part of its Scottish Technology Ecosystem Review (STER) programme.

Learn more about Scottish Games Week by visiting https://gamesweek.scot/ and buy tickets today through industry leading Scottish ticket site, Citizen Ticket.