Scottish Games Week has announced the finalists for the first-ever Scottish Games Awards, ahead of the ceremony at Malmaison, Dundee, on Thursday 27 October. Celebrating the very best of the games industry across the country, the shortlist includes categories such as Best Large-Budget Game, Best Small-Budget Game, Lifetime Achievement and Diversity Champion.

A world-first event, the Scottish Games Awards will truly showcase and reward those currently working in the games industry. The Awards are sure to be a highlight of Scottish Games Week, taking place next week (24 – 27 October) at venues across Scotland. Limited remaining tickets are available now via Citizen Ticket, with More Than Games and the Education Symposium sold out.

The Scottish Games Awards shortlist is as follows:

Art and Animation

• Just Take Your Left (Mehrdad Rezaei)

• Cloudpunk (ION LANDS)

• Train Sim World 2: Island Line 2022 (Rivet Games)

Audio

• SOLAS 128 (Amicable Animal)

• Train Sim World 2: Island Line 2022 (Rivet Games)

• A Bonnie Odyssey (Astrodreamer Studio)

Best Educational Programme

• University of the West of Scotland Games Development Programme

• Robert Burns’ Farm at Ellisland in Minecraft

• Dundee & Angus College: HN Games Development

Best Educator

• Daisy Abbott

• Erin Hughes

• Dr Lynn Love

Best Large-Budget Game

• From the Depths (Brilliant Skies Ltd.)

• Cloudpunk (ION LANDS)

• Island Saver (Stormcloud)

Best Small-Budget Game

• The Black Iris (Jamie Ferguson)

• SOLAS 128  (Amicable Animal)

• The Baby in Yellow (Team Terrible)

Creativity

• SOLAS 128  (Amicable Animal)

• Cloudpunk (ION LANDS)

• Temple of Snek (Aetheric Games)

Diversity Champion

• Joanne Lacey

• Searra Dodds

• Tanya Laird

Lifetime Achievement

• Tanya Laird

• Dave Jones

• Chris Sawyer

Stewart Gilray Award (Community Spirit)

• Malath Abbas

• Colin Macdonald

• Dr Amanda Ford

Technical Achievement

• Monstrum 2 (Team Junkfish)

• A Bonnie Odyssey (Astrodreamer Studio)

• From the Depths (Brilliant Skies Ltd.)

Tools and Technology

• Dislectek

• Murder Mystery Machine

• Kythera AI

A judging panel of industry experts, chaired by Chris Scullion, will now select winners for each category. The panel includes:

• 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

Chris Scullion, Features Editor at VGC and author of The N64 Encyclopedia said: “The quality of the nominees in this inaugural Scottish Games Awards is a testament to the level of talent that can be found in all sectors of the Scottish games industry. It was an honour to chair the judging panel for the first ever Awards, and I look forward to it being a catalyst for future celebrations of this thriving industry for years to come.”

Winners will be announced at the Scottish Games Awards at Malmaison, Dundee, on Thursday 27 October.

Brian Baglow, Director of Scottish Games Week and Founder of the Scottish Games Network said: “It has been inspiring to see the whole games awards unfold and take shape. From the call for entries it was clear that the judges were going to have a difficult task given the quality of the people, organisations and games which were received. 

Scotland is home to some of the most creative, talented and passionate people creating, teaching, or working in the global games ecosystem. I’m delighted we are able to recognise and celebrate them as part of Scottish Games Week. 

I’d like to thank Chris and the judges for all of their hard work and wish all of our finalists the very best of luck. We will see you in Dundee!”

The Scottish Games Awards ceremony is the culmination of Scottish Games Week, a first-of-its-kind suite of events that will take place across Scotland from the 24 – 27 of October.  Other events occurring during Scottish Games Week include:

More Than Games – 24 October (Barclays Campus, Glasgow) SOLD OUT

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 – 25 October (CodeBase, Edinburgh) SOLD OUT

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 – 27 – 28 October (Malmaison, 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. Scottish Games Week is sponsored by Blackadders LLP and Johnston Carmichael.