The nominations for 2023 have been announced!
11/16/2023 - On Thursday, December 7, 2023, the games industry will meet for the German Developer Award (DEP) in Cologne and celebrate the best computer games of the year from German-speaking countries. Daniel Budiman and Lynne Glaner will host this year's big show at the Flora. Following the work of the 160-strong "Grand Jury", all the nominations have now been decided.
The nominations and winning titles were determined in a two-stage jury process. From 187 submissions, the expert juries first deliberated on the best games and projects in the specialist categories. The "Grand Jury" then selected the nominees for the "Best German Game" from these nominated games. Five games are nominated three times this year and are therefore hot contenders for an award. Chained Echoes by Matthias Linda, Dome Keeper by Bippinbits, EVERSPACE 2 by ROCKFISH Games, Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew by Mimimi Games and SIGNALIS by rose-engine are in the running.
Kristin Janulik, project manager and deputy chairwoman of games.nrw: "Our guests can look forward to a particularly exciting awards ceremony this year with some new features. Behind the scenes, we have also been able to further develop the award together with the industry and have, for example, reintroduced the 'Studio of the Year' category. We would like to thank all the companies and experts who support the DEP as idea providers, sponsors or with their commitment and expertise in the jury's work."
The nominated games and their developer teams:
Best German Game
- Chained Echoes (Matthias Linda, Ratingen - NRW)
- EVERSPACE 2 (ROCKFISH Games, Hamburg)
- Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew (Mimimi Games, Munich - Bavaria)
Studio of the Year
- Deck13 Interactive (Frankfurt am Main - Hesse)
- Mimimi Games (Munich - Bavaria)
- Paintbucket Games (Berlin)
Best Indie Game
- Chained Echoes (Matthias Linda, Ratingen - NRW)
- Dome Keeper (Bippinbits, Radeberg - Saxony)
- SIGNALIS (rose-engine, Hamburg)
Best Casual Game
- Spells & Secrets (Alchemist Interactive, Düsseldorf - NRW)
- Sticky Business (Spellgarden Games, Stuttgart - Baden-Württemberg)
- Thronefall (Grizzly Games, Berlin)
Best Game Beyond Entertainment
- Duru - About Mulle and Depression (Twisted Ramble Games, Berlin)
- Friedrich Ebert - The Road to Democracy (Playing History, Berlin)
- Nature? Political. (Tiny Crocodile Studios, Berlin)
Best Game Design
- Chained Echoes (Matthias Linda, Ratingen - NRW)
- Dome Keeper (Bippinbits, Radeberg - Saxony)
- EVERSPACE 2 (ROCKFISH Games, Hamburg)
Best Audio Design
- The Settlers: New Alliances (Ubisoft Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf - NRW)
- Fall of Porcupine (Critical Rabbit, Cologne - NRW)
- Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew (Mimimi Games, Munich - Bavaria)
Best Graphics
- The Settlers: New Alliances (Ubisoft Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf - NRW)
- SIGNALIS (rose-engine, Hamburg)
- Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew (Mimimi Games, Munich - Bavaria)
Best Story
- Ad Infinitum (Hekate, Berlin)
- Fall of Porcupine (Critical Rabbit, Cologne - NRW)
- SIGNALIS (rose-engine, Hamburg)
Best Technical Performance
- EVERSPACE 2 (ROCKFISH Games, Hamburg)
- Farming Simulator 22 - Platinum Edition (GIANTS Software, Schlieren - Switzerland)
- Railway Empire 2 (Gaming Minds Studios, Gütersloh - NRW)
Innovation Award
- Dome Keeper (Bippinbits, Radeberg - Saxony)
- Marble Maze (Fox-Assembly, Hamburg)
- Touch Type Tale - Strategic Typing (Pumpernickel Studio, Münster - NRW)
Special prize for social commitment
- Andreas Gottschalt (Halberstadt - Saxony-Anhalt)
- GAME:IN (Cologne - NRW)
- Loot for the World (Berlin)
Ubisoft Newcomer Award
- Misgiven (Symmetry Break Studio, Hamburg)
- Tiny Bookshop (neoludic Games, Cologne - NRW)
- Tom the postgirl (Oopsie Daisies Studio, Zurich - Switzerland)
Source: Press release
- www.deutscherentwicklerpreis.de/
