The Develop:Star Awards 2025 has announced its shortlist

Tandem Events has announced the shortlist for this year’s Develop:Star Awards, which are going to take place on July 9, 2025 at the Brighton Dome Corn Exchange during this year’s Develop:Brighton Conference.

The shortlist was chosen by a panel of industry experts and game developers, who reviewed more than 400 submissions across the show’s 17 categories.

Voting for the winners is also now open and will close on May 30, 2025.

Anyone who has attended the Develop:Brighton Conference within the past three years is eligible to cast their votes, and has been contacted already with a form.

“We’re happy to get the chance to give recognition to some of the best games, studios, and games makers of the last year, and cotinine to provide a platform for an industry that deserves to be celebrated,” said Andy Lane, Tandem Events’ Managing Director.

The Develop:Star Awards 2025 shortlist is as follows:

Best Audio

• Astro Bot
• Atomfall
• Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
• Monument Valley 3
• Tales Of Kenzera: Zau
• Thank Goodness You’re Here!

Best EDI Initiative – NEW

• Brainspark Games
• Ensemble (part of London Games Festival)
• Limit Break Mentorship
• Out Making Games
• Playground Games
• Women in Games

Best Game

• Astro Bot
• Atomfall
• Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
• Split Fiction
• Still Wakes the Deep
• Thank Goodness You’re Here!

Best Game Design

• Astro Bot
• Expelled!
• Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
• Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II
• Thank Goodness You’re Here!
• Two Point Museum

Best Marketing Campaign – NEW

• Animal Well
• Dungeons of Hinterberg
• FuturLab – PowerWash Simulator
• HITMAN World of Assassination
• Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
• Monument Valley 3
• PlanetPlay’s Make Green Moves

Best Mobile Game

• A Little to the Left
• Maid of Sker
• Monument Valley 3
• Paper Trail
• PBJ – The Musical
• Sniper Elite 4

Best In-Game Accessibility – NEW

• Atomfall
• Mythwrecked: Ambrosia Island
• Paper Trail
• Sea Of Thieves – Custom Text Overlay
• Silent Hill 2
• Trash Goblin

Best Narrative

• Closer the Distance
• Expelled!
• FINAL FANTASY XIV: Dawntrail
• Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
• Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II
• Thank Goodness You’re Here!

Best Original IP

• Paper Trail
• Stellar Blade
• Still Wakes the Deep
• Thank Goodness You’re Here!
• Uncle Chop’s Rocket Shop
• Vampire Therapist

Best Small Studio

• Coal Supper
• Cyberwave
• Newfangled Games
• Polygon Treehouse
• Shared Memory
• Spilt Milk Studios

Best Studio

• Facepunch Studios
• FuturLab
• Hazelight Studios
• Larian Studios
• Rebellion
• Team Asobi
• The Chinese Room

Best Technical Innovation

• Astro Bot
• Code Wizards Group
• Harold Halibut
• Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
• Lego Horizon Adventures
• Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II

Best Visual Art

• Dungeons of Hinterberg
• Harold Halibut
• Neva
• Paper Trail
• Songs of Silence
• Still Wakes the Deep

Publishing Star

• Curve Games
• Fireshine Games
• No More Robots
• Playstack
• Raw Fury
• Secret Mode
• Team17

Supporting Star

• Coutts
• GG Insurance Services
• Green Man Gaming
• PitStop Productions
• Room 8 Group
• Side
• Tanglewood Games
• Unreal Engine

Talent & Recruitment Star

• Aardvark Swift
• Amiqus
• Datascope Recruitment
• Playground Games Recruitment Team
• Skillsearch Limited

Tomorrow’s Star

• Emma Marshall-Newson, Sumo Digital
• Francesca White, Behaviour Interactive
• Gurvinder Bisran, BOM
• Marco Ng, Otterweave Game Studio
• Melodie Showell, Side
• Summer Davies, BLAST
• Valeriya Lakhtikova, Dovetail Games

This year’s Develop:Star Award will also go to Sam Lake, Creative Director at Remedy Entertainment.

For more information on the Develop:Star Awards, you should visit the Develop:Brighton website.

As a reminder: if you do intend to go to the conference, you can use the code KCSXKW for an additional 10% off your ticket price as an MCV/DEVELOP reader.