The German Developer Award is the oldest award for the development of outstanding computer games from German-speaking countries. The prize will be awarded in 2022 in 13 categories. Hot contenders for an award this year are the game "LEGO Bricktales" by Clockstone Studio from Innsbruck with four nominations, followed by "Chorus" by Fishlabs from Hamburg and "The Wandering Village" by Stray Fawn Studio from Zurich with three nominations each. The new award category "Best Game Beyond Entertainment" will also be exciting. Here, for the first time, a game will be honored that takes the potential of games beyond pure entertainment. The games "Beholder 3" by Paintbucket Games, "White Shadows" by Monokel and "Wo ist Goldi?" by Wegesrand are in the running for the award.

The best games of the year are determined in a two-stage jury process. First, 5-member expert juries deliberate on the best games in twelve categories. From the nominated games in the specialist categories, the "Grand Jury" then determines the "Best German Game" and the nominees in this category by voting. Games that were developed primarily in the German-speaking region (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) are eligible for the award. This also includes the fact that the majority of the development budgets were invested there and the majority of the teams are based there.

The nominated games and their developer teams at a glance

Best German Game

The nominees in the "Best German Game" category will be determined by the Grand Jury and announced on November 16, 2022.

Best Indie Game - presented by game Verband

• ITORAH (Grimbart Tales, Kaiserslautern)
• Revita (BenStar, Buchenbach)
• White Shadows (Monokel, Cologne)

Best Casual Game

• Idle Ant Colony (Bling Bling Games, Karlsruhe)
• LEGO Bricktales (Clockstone, Innsbruck - Austria)
• Wildshade: Horse Racing (Tivola, Hamburg)

Best Game Beyond Entertainment

• Beholder 3 (Paintbucket Games, Berlin)
• White Shadows (Monokel, Cologne)
• Where is Goldi? (wayside, Mönchengladbach)

Best Game Design

• LEGO Bricktales (Clockstone, Innsbruck - Austria)
• The Cycle: Frontier (YAGER Development, Berlin)
• The Wandering Village (Stray Fawn Studio, Zurich - Switzerland)

Best Audio Design

• Chorus (Fishlabs, Hamburg)
• Hell Pie (Sluggerfly, Essen)
• ITORAH (Grimbart Tales, Kaiserslautern)

Best Graphics

• Chorus (Fishlabs, Hamburg)
• Destroy All Humans! 2 - Reprobed (Black Forest Games, Offenburg)
• LEGO Bricktales (Clockstone, Innsbruck - Austria)

Best Story

• Beholder 3 (Paintbucket Games, Berlin)
• Cleo - a pirate's tale (Greycap Audiovisual Mediadesign, Wegberg)
• The Fermi Paradox (Anomaly Games, Berlin)

Best Technical Achievement

• Chorus (Fishlabs, Hamburg)
• LEGO Bricktales (Clockstone, Innsbruck - Austria)
• The Wandering Village (Stray Fawn Studio, Zurich - Switzerland)

Innovation Award

• BEETHOVEN // OPUS 360 (agon e.V., Bonn)
• The Wandering Village (Stray Fawn Studio, Zurich - Switzerland)
• Townsmen VR (HandyGames, Giebelstadt)

Special award for social engagement

• Antura &the Letters (TH Cologne / Cologne Game Lab, Cologne)
• esports player foundation: Equal Esports Initiative (Cologne)
• LetsPlay4Charity e.V. (Berlin)

Ubisoft Newcomer Award

• Light of Atlantis (DrownTown, Hamburg)
• Lose Ctrl (Play From Your Heart, Berlin)
• Paws and Leaves - A Thracian Tale (grownarts, Brake)