The first-ever Scottish Games Awards will be happening later this month, but the ball is already rolling. The awards show is part of a week-long conference and tradeshow event called Sottish Games Week. The whole event will run from October 24 through October 28, with the Industry Conference holding speakers from all over the gaming industry on the 27 and 28. Also on October 27 is the Scottish Games Awards!
The Games Awards has 12 categories that showcase a variety of aspects of gaming. From Art and Animation to Best Educator to Lifetime Achievement, this is a huge list of worthy candidates. There are five entries in each category, and a panel of seven judges is in the process of creating the shortlist now. The judges include several industry professionals as well. They are 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), and Jo Twist (CEO of UKIE).
Here are the 12 categories and the current candidates:
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 director of Scottish Games Week and founder of the Scottish Games Network, Brian Baglow, is thrilled to have such a big list that was easy to create. He knows first-hand that Scotland has so much talent in the video game industry, so seeing that each category has so many strong candidates does him proud. He says that not all of the talented game creators in Scotland get the level of visibility or recognition that they deserve. The Scottish Games Awards is just one more step towards celebrating diversity in gaming, so we’re happy for all of the nominees and future winners!
