Develop Industry Excellence Awards Announced

The third annual Develop Industry Excellence Awards took place last night in London, rewarding a number of European publishers, developers and companies. Judged in secret by a jury of fifty independent industry experts, the winners were announced in eighteen separate categories. These included Lego Star Wars developer Traveller’s Tales for Most Improved Studio, Best Independent Developer and Best Use Of A License. Total War creator Creative Assembly was awarded the overall Grand Prix Award, while new Eidos Interactive owners SCi won the Publishing Hero award. Elite co-creator David Braben picked up the Development Legend Award. The eighteen categories and winners in full are: STUDIOS CATEGORY – Sponsored by EA Partners NEW UK/EUROPEAN STUDIO (DEBUT TITLE): Juice Games MOST IMPROVED STUDIO: Traveller's Tales MOBILE GAMES STUDIO: Morpheme HANDHELD GAMES STUDIO: SCE Studio Liverpool INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY CATEGORY NEW CONSOLE IP – Sponsored by Infinium Labs Corporation: Fable (Big Blue Box/Lionhead) NEW PC IP: Football Manager (Sports Interactive) BEST USE OF A LICENCE: Lego Star Wars (Traveller's Tales) INNOVATION, SERVICES & TECHNOLOGY CATEGORY BEST USE OF ONLINE – Sponsored by NCsoft: Digital Illusions (Battlefield 2) ART & SOUND: Criterion Studios (Burnout 3: Takedown) INNOVATION: Morpheme (Bluetooth Biplanes) TOOLS PROVIDER: Havok SERVICES AND OUTSOURCING: Babel Media RECRUITMENT COMPANY: Datascope INDUSTRY LEADERS CATEGORY – Sponsored by ATI Technologies GmbH PUBLISHING HERO: SCi IN-HOUSE DEVELOPMENT TEAM: Rockstar North INDEPENDENT DEVELOPER: Traveller's Tales DEVELOPMENT LEGEND: David Braben GRAND PRIX AWARD: Creative Assembly Stuart Dinsey, managing director of Intent Media, which publishes trade monthly Develop, said: "The British and European games development community remains a creative powerhouse of ambition and opportunity. The Develop Industry Excellence Awards pay homage to the people who are driving the future of interactive entertainment."