Shortlist announced for the 2017 Australian Game Developer Awards

Melbourne International Games Week is almost upon us and with it comes The Australian Game Developer Awards. These awards are the annual national industry awards for games developed by Australian studios and are held annually by the Game Developers Association of Australia (GDAA). They recognise and reward excellence and innovation in games created by developers in the Australian games industry. The Australian Game Developer Awards will be held at Game Connect Asia Pacific (GCAP), the leading Australian conference for the game development, interactive media and screen tech industries.

Sixteen diverse games have been shortlisted this year, all aiming for the prestigious ‘Australian Game of The Year’ award as well as 7 other categories. In a major change this year, some categories have been altered. All traditional award categories except ‘Studio of The Year’,‘Game of the Year’, ‘Industry Champion’ and the ‘Adam Lancman Award’ (the industry’s highest recognition for an individual’s contribution), were removed to enable judges to evaluate games as a whole offering.

CEO of the GDAA, Antony Reed, said “the creative diversity of games coming out of Australia is a standout and many worthy titles don’t fit within typical awards categories. Judges looked at a wide range of criteria including artistic aesthetic, audio and technical excellence, design and innovation, narrative and accessibility to reward exceptional games based on their unique qualities, rather than specific parts.”

The full shortlist of games up for the Australian Game of the year Award are:

• Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles – Prideful Sloth
• Gerrymander: Rig the Election – Good Egg Games
• Hollow Knight – Team Cherry
• BATTLESTAR GALACTICA Deadlock – Black Lab Games
• Paradigm – Jacob Janerka
• FRAMED 2 – Loveshack
• Hand of Fate 2 – Defiant Development
• Forts – EarthWork Games
• Miss Fisher and the Deathly Maze – Tin Man Games
• Ticket to Earth – Robot Circus
• Putty Pals – Harmonious Games
• Symphony of the Machine – Stirfire Studios
• DATA WING – Dan Vogt
• Earthlight: Arcade – Opaque Space
• Charming Runes – Mighty Games Group
• Hacknet: Labyrinths – Team Fractal Alligator

Having played many of these titles I don’t envy those having to judge the winner from such a strong line up. Award winners will be announced at Melbourne International Games Week during the Australian Games Developer Awards ceremony at the GCAP conference on Wednesday 25 October.  Entrance is open to GCAP ticket holders and as always check back with us here at Checkpoint to find out more.