After two digital editions, the award returns to the big stage. In addition to the nominees and laudators, numerous guests of honor and representatives of the German games industry are expected to attend. The German Developer Award is the oldest award in the games industry and has been presented annually since 2004. It honors outstanding achievements in the development of video and computer games from Germany, Austria and Switzerland. This year's event will be hosted for the first time by games.nrw e.V., the representative body of the digital games industry in North Rhine-Westphalia. In close cooperation with the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW, KölnBusiness Wirtschaftsförderung and game - Verband der deutschen Games-Branche, the award has been further developed this year.

Among the important innovations are:

Sharpening of the award categories

In order to ensure that all award categories can be judged equally, categories where it is difficult for the jury to make an objective assessment decision have been eliminated. In addition, the duration of the awards ceremony is to be reduced. The categories "Best Studio," "Best Publisher," "Best Mobile Game," "Most Wanted," and "Longest Running Game" have been dropped.

The new award category "Best Game Beyond Entertainment" will honor a game that takes the value of games beyond pure entertainment. This can include, for example, games with outstanding artistic or cultural value. Educational games, health games, can also be awarded in this category. The term was first introduced by the BAFTA Games Awards. Other new categories include "Best Casual Game" and "Best Technical Achievement."

Jury and modified rulebook

Jury work and the rulebook have also been revised. For example, the way of judging is to become even more transparent. For example, entrants can request a jury summary of their submission after the event. Work on the expert juries requires active participation and many years of experience in the respective category. The jury members will be announced shortly. In addition, submitted games must have been developed primarily in German-speaking countries (Germany, Austria, Switzerland). This also includes that the majority of the development budgets were invested there and that the majority of the teams are based there.