This year, the big award ceremony will be held for the first time in the historic Gürzenich in Cologne's old town. In addition to the nominees, numerous guests of honor and leading figures from the German games industry are expected to attend.

The DEP is the oldest award for outstanding computer games in Germany. Since 2004, the politically independent award has been supported by the great commitment of the games industry. The award ceremony is organized by games.nrw e.V., which represents the interests of the games industry in North Rhine-Westphalia.

From 233 submissions, the expert juries have nominated 17 titles to compete for one of the coveted trophies. With four nominations each, "Closer the Distance" from Osmotic Studios in Hamburg, "Enshrouded" from Keen Games in Frankfurt am Main and "ODDADA", developed by Sven Ahlgrimm and Mathilde Hoffmann, have the best chances of winning one or more awards. Keen Games is also nominated, alongside CipSoft and ROCKFISH Games, in the "Studio of the Year" category.

The best games of the year are determined in a two-stage process. First, 5-member expert juries deliberate and determine the nominees and first-place winners in a total of 13 categories. The "Grand Jury" then selects the "Best German Game" from all the nominated games and determines the nominees in this category. Both the specialist juries and the "Grand Jury" are made up exclusively of honorary experts from the industry. Games that have been significantly developed in Germany, Austria or Switzerland are eligible for the award.

The nominated games 2024 and their teams

Best German Game

• The nominees in this category will be announced on November 4, 2024

Best Indie Game

• Dungeons of Hinterberg (Microbird, Vienna - Austria)
• ODDADA (Sven Ahlgrimm and Mathilde Hoffmann, Berlin and Hamburg)
• Shapez 2 (tobspr Games, Aachen - NRW)

Best Casual Game

• CubeQuest - A QB Game (Stephan Göbel, Kassel - Hesse)
• Footgun: Underground (Turtle Knight Games, Weiterstadt - Hesse)
• ODDADA (Sven Ahlgrimm and Mathilde Hoffmann, Berlin and Hamburg)

Best Game Beyond Entertainment

• Closer the Distance (Osmotic Studios, Hamburg)
• EMYO (refutura, Cologne - NRW)
• Vampire Therapist (Little Bat Games, Berlin)

Best Game Design

• Dungeons 4 (Realmforge Studios, Munich - Bavaria)
• Enshrouded (Keen Games, Frankfurt am Main - Hesse)
• Songs of Silence (Chimera Entertainment, Munich - Bavaria)

Best Audio Design

• Closer the Distance (Osmotic Studios, Hamburg)
• Enshrouded (Keen Games, Frankfurt am Main - Hesse)
• REVEIL (Pixelsplit, Eschborn - Hesse)

Best Graphics

• Harold Halibut (Slow Bros., Cologne - NRW)
• ODDADA (Sven Ahlgrimm and Mathilde Hoffmann, Berlin and Hamburg)
• Songs of Silence (Chimera Entertainment, Munich - Bavaria)

Best Story

• Closer the Distance (Osmotic Studios, Hamburg)
• Harold Halibut (Slow Bros., Cologne - NRW)
• Suzerain: The Kingdom of Rizia (Torpor Games, Berlin)

Best Technical Achievement

• Enshrouded (Keen Games, Frankfurt am Main - Hesse)
• Harold Halibut (Slow Bros., Cologne - NRW)
• Shapez 2 (tobspr Games, Aachen - NRW)

Innovation Award

• Closer the Distance (Osmotic Studios, Hamburg)
• Enshrouded (Keen Games, Frankfurt am Main - Hesse)
• ODDADA (Sven Ahlgrimm and Mathilde Hoffmann, Berlin and Hamburg)

Special prize for social commitment

• Aerosoft (Büren - NRW)
• Friendly Fire (Berlin)
• Sebastian Sterzik (Berlin)

Ubisoft Newcomer Award

• Dawn of Defense (6side Studio, Zülpich - NRW)
• Dung Slinger (Acorn Interactive, Berlin)
• Map Map - A Game About Maps (Pipapo Games, Hamburg)

Studio of the Year

• CipSoft (Regensburg - Bavaria)
• Keen Games (Frankfurt am Main - Hesse)
• ROCKFISH Games (Hamburg)

The NRW prize for young female developers is awarded without nominations.