Here are the finalists for the 2023 MCV/DEVELOP Awards!

UPDATE (APR. 6): Voting is now open. Just head to the MCV/DEVELOP Awards site to select your preferred finalists.  

We’re pleased to announce the shortlisted nominees for the 2023 MCV/DEVELOP Awards, which this year will take place on May 11, 2023 at 8 Northumberland Avenue in London. 

The MCV/DEVELOP Awards celebrate the talent, innovation and excellence of the British video games industry, bringing together people from across the country that are working in the best medium in entertainment.

This year’s awards are also extra special, as the show will also serve as a celebration of the 25th anniversary of the first issues of The Market for Home and Computer Video Games (or MCV for short!) rolling off the presses in September 1998. 

The 2023 winners will be decided by a combination of a panel voting and a public vote. That vote will commence in a few days. In the meantime, here are the finalists:

Recruitment Agency of the Year

• Aardvark Swift
• Amiqus
• Eleven Eleven
• Be Different
• Skillsearch
• Datascope
• One Player Mission
• Avatar Games Recruitment

Creative / Co-development Partner of the Year

• Warp Digital
• SIDE
• Super Spline Studios
• Code Wizards
• Sumo Digital
• Airship Interactive
• Xsolla
• Room 8 Group

QA / Localisation Partner of the Year

• PTW
• Keywords Studios
• Testronic
• Universally Speaking
• Lionbridge
• LocalSoft
• TransPerfect
• Allcorrect

Hardware Innovation of the Year

• VelocityOne Flight (Turtle Beach)
• The A500 Min (Retro Games Ltd)
• Evercade EXP (Blaze Entertainment)
• Razer Blade 15 2022 (Razer)
• Split Pad Compact (Hori)
• Steam Deck (Valve)
• Playdate (Panic Inc)

Visual Innovation of the Year

• Total War: Warhammer 3 (Creative Assembly/SEGA)
• OlliOlli World (Roll7/Private Division)
• Need For Speed Unbound (Criterion Games/Electronic Arts)
• F1 22 (Codemasters/Electronic Arts)
• LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga (TT Games/Warner Bros. Games)
• Card Shark (Nerial/Devolver Digital)
• Scorn (Ebb Software/Kepler Interactive)
• Two Point Campus (Two Point Studios / SEGA)

Audio Innovation of the Year

• Metal: Hellsinger (The Outsiders w/ Warp Digital/Funcom)
• Rollerdrome (Roll7/Private Division)
• F1 22 (Codemasters/Electronic Arts)
• Sniper Elite 5 (Rebellion)
• LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga (TT Games/Warner Bros. Games)
• Far: Changing Tides (Okomotive/Frontier Foundry)
• Ixion (Bulwark Studios/Kasedo Games)

Accessibility Innovation of the Year

• Who Pressed Mute on Uncle Marcus? (Wales Interactive)
• As Dusk Falls (INT.NIGHT/Xbox Game Studios)
• The Quarry (Supermassive Games/2K Games)
• Need For Speed Unbound (Criterion Games/Electronic Arts)
• Sniper Elite 5 (Rebellion)
• Trivial Pursuit Live! 2 (Snap Finger Click/Ubisoft)
• Grapple Dog (Medallion Games/Super Rare Originals)

Narrative Innovation of the Year

• The Case of the Golden Idol (Color Gray Games/Playstack)
• As Dusk Falls (INT.NIGHT/Xbox Game Studios)
• GRID Legends (Codemasters/Electronic Arts)
• Citizen Sleeper (Jump Over The Age/Fellow Traveller)
• Eternal Threads (Cosmonaut Studios/Secret Mode)
• A Little to the Left (Max Inferno/Secret Mode)
• Desta: The Memories Between (ustwo games)
• Not for Broadcast (NotGames/tinyBuild)

Gameplay Innovation of the Year

• Total War: Warhammer 3 (Creative Assembly/SEGA)
• Arcade Paradise (Nosebleed Interactive/Wired Productions)
• Little Cities (Purple Yonder/nDreams)
• Strange Horticulture (Bad Viking/Iceberg Interactive)
• The Entropy Centre (Stubby Games/Playstack)
• Rollerdrome (Roll7/Private Division)
• Kynseed (PixelCount Studios)
• PlateUp! (It’s happening/Yogscast Games)

Major Studio of the Year

• Creative Assembly
• Codemasters
• Jagex
• Rebellion
• Sumo Digital
• Supermassive Games
• nDreams
• Frontier Developments

Indie Studio of the Year

• Nosebleed Interactive
• Wales Interactive
• INTERIOR/NIGHT
• Hello Games
• Payload
• FuturLab
• Purple Yonder
• ustwo games

Major Publisher of the Year

• SEGA
• Wizards of the Coast
• Electronic Arts
• Kwalee
• Sony
• Xbox Game Studios
• Outright Games
• Bandai Namco

Indie Publisher of the Year

• Yogscast Games
• Secret Mode
• Fireshine Games
• Kepler Interactive
• Wired Productions
• Slitherine Software
• Team17
• Playstack

Media Brand of the Year

• People Make Games
• IGN
• Eurogamer
• NME
• VGC
• Bitmap Books
• Pocket Tactics
• TheGamer

PR Agency of the Year

• Premier Games
• Lick PR
• Swipe Right
• Renaissance
• Honest PR
• Big Games Machine
• Dead Good PR
• Bastion

Creative Agency of the Year

• Fourth Floor Creative
• TakeOFF
• ICHI Worldwide
• YRS TRULY
• Fluid
• Neonhive

Campaign of the Year

• Explosive Alan for Mental Health Foundation
• Fourth Floor Creative for Two Point Campus
• Renaissance/Wired Productions for Martha is Dead
• Bastion for Ballantine’s x Borderlands: The Game
• Fireshine Games for Core Keeper
• Swipe Right and Coffee Stain Publishing for Goat Simulator: The Musical Motion Picture
• Warner Bros. Games for LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga
• EA Sports for FIFA – The Women’s Football Summit

Event of the Year

• WASD
• Scottish Games Week
• Insomnia Gaming Festival
• Develop:Brighton
• PGC London
• London Games Festival
• EGX

Digital Distributor / Retailer of the Year

• Meta Store
• Playstation Store
• Nintendo eShop
• Microsoft Store
• Epic Games Store
• Green Man Gaming
• Fanatical

Physical Distributor / Retailer of the Year

• Amazon
• GAME
• Contact Sales
• ShopTo
• Argos
• Funstock

We’ve also decided upon the Newcomer of the Year, For a Better World and Legend awards, but will be keeping their recipients a closely guarded secret until the night of the show on May 11.

If you’d like to book a table for the MCV/DEVELOP Awards, you can do that now. 

The 2023 MCV/DEVELOP Awards are sponsored by the Savvy Games Group, Amiqus, One Player Mission, Diva and Arcade 1UP. If you’d like to ask us about branding and/or sponsorship opportunities, you can reach out to Alex Boucher at alex.boucher@biz-media.co.uk.