The winners of the fifth annual Develop Industry Excellence Awards have been announced with no landslide victories, but instead recognizing a diverse range of titles and studios such as Evolution for its MotorStorm and Zoe Mode for its PSP exclusive Crush.
MotorStorm and Crush both picked up awards for best new intellectual property, with Traveller’s Tales finding dual awards for both best independent developer and, with its Lego Star Wars II, best use of a license.
Ian Hetherington was given the Development Legend Award for his work in co-founding Psygnosis serving as ex-managing director of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. He currently serves as chairman of Evolution Studios and Crackdown developer Real Time Worlds.
The Grand Prix award was given to Sony, for its ability to "deliver a new hardware format that has inspired developers around the world to make cutting-edge next generation games, and continue its tradition supporting great ideas devised by both its internal studios and external partners."
A full list of the winners follows:
New Console IP
MotorStorm (Evolution/SCEE External Development)
New Handheld IP
Crush (Zoe Mode)
Best Use of a License
Lego Star Wars II (Traveller's Tales)
Visual Arts
Rare (Viva Pinata)
Audio Accomplishment
FreeStyle (B-Boy)
Publishing Hero
Sega
Innovation
Real Time Worlds (Crackdown)
Tools Provider
Havok
Best Use of Online
Eden Studios (Test Drive Unlimited)
Services & Outsourcing
Babel Media
Recruitment Company
Datascope
New UK Studio
Realtime Worlds
Handheld Studio
Rockstar Leeds
Business Development
Blitz
Independent Developer
Traveller's Tales
In-house Developer
Ubisoft France
Development Legend
Ian Hetherington
Grand Prix
Sony
Said Develop editor Michael French, “The fact that no one company dominated the awards this year shows what a diverse range of talent this industry boasts. It’s been a brilliant year for games, with new hardware allowing developers to really stretch their imagination with new ways to play – so competition for these prestigious awards has been fiercer than ever. Whilst the winners and the finalists will undoubtedly grab the headlines, everyone involved in games development should be applauded for continuing to broaden the market and those playing our games. Here’s to another fantastic 12 months.”
