Develop Industry Awards Finalists Announced

Organizers of the 2006 Develop Industry Excellence Awards in the UK have announced the finalists for this year’s ceremony, with over 60 UK and European game development companies being named. For the first time, the Grand Prix award will be decided by a 50 strong judging panel, although only three companies have been announced as finalists: Project Gotham Racing developers Bizarre Creations, Perfect Dark creators Rare and Buzz! trivia game makers Relentless Software. A partial list of finalists is as follows: NEW STUDIO Bigbig Ankama Games Rocksteady MOST IMPROVED STUDIO Rebellion Kuju Beautiful Game Studios NEW CONSOLE IP Buzz! (SCEE External/Relentless) Pursuit Force (Bigbig) Black (Criterion) Kameo (Rare) Spartan: Total Warrior (Creative Assembly) NEW PC IP The Movies (Lionhead) Fahrenheit (Quantic Dream) Sniper Elite (Rebellion) Rag Doll Kung Fu (Mark Healey) IN-HOUSE DEVELOPMENT TEAM Rockstar Leeds Criterion Rare Sports Interactive Creative Assembly INDEPENDENT DEVELOPER Relentless Sumo Digital Bizarre Creations Kuju Rebellion Traveller’s Tales DEVELOPMENT LEGEND Richard and David Darling Charles Cecil Michel Ancel The final winners in each category will be announced as part of the Develop In Brighton conference, with an awards ceremony due to take place on Wednesday, July 12th.