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EUROPEAN VIDEOGAMES DEVELOPERS CELEBRATED AT 4TH ANNUAL INDUSTRY 'OSCARS'

Bizarre Creations, Criterion and Sony rewarded for formidable talent at Develop Industry Excellence Awards

Thursday 13 July 2006/...Last night, over 400 leading figures from the UK and European computer and video games development community gathered at the Hilton Metropole in Brighton for the biggest night in the development community's calendar, the Develop Industry Excellence Awards. Winners on the night included Sony which walked away with awards in three categories. Criterion received the In-house Development Team for its dedicated console work and Bizarre Creations, the highly regarded development team based in North West England took home two awards including the coveted Grand Prix. The development community in the UK and Europe is highly regarded across the world. Its creative talent and expertise produce many of the world's most popular games. Bizarre Creations' output for Xbox 360 brought it recognition for Best Use Of Online thanks to the success of Geometry Wars 2. The title plays to the strengths of Microsoft's Live Arcade. The judges also regarded its work on the automotive tour-de-force Project Gotham Racing 3 which led the developer to scoop the biggest award of the night - the Grand Prix Award. Sony Computer Entertainment Europe picked up both the Innovation and New Console IP awards for its collaboration with Relentless on the phenomenal quiz game, Buzz. Additionally, Sony found itself named as the Publishing Hero of the Year. Criterion gained further approval from the development community, receiving awards for Art & Sound and for the Best In-House Development Team. Stuart Dinsey, Publisher of Develop Magazine and Managing Director of Intent Media, said: "The games development community is perhaps one of the world's great unsung creative industries. The Develop Industry Excellence Awards marks the time of year when the people who are at the creative coal-face of the business are recognised for just how remarkable they are. Congratulations to all the winners, and indeed to everyone who entered." The 18 categories and winners in full are: STUDIOS CATEGORY sponsored by nVIDIA NEW UK/EUROPEAN STUDIO BIGBIG STUDIOS MOST IMPROVED STUDIO REBELLION MOBILE GAMES STUDIO sponsored by Nokia Ngage GAMELOFT HANDHELD GAMES STUDIO ROCKSTAR LEEDS INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY CATEGORY NEW CONSOLE IP BUZZ (SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT EUROPE EXTERNAL DEVELOPMENT/RELENTLESS) NEW PC IP FAHRENHEIT (QUANTIC DREAM) BEST USE OF A LICENCE KING KONG (UBISOFT) INNOVATION, SERVICES AND TECHNOLOGY COMPANY BEST USE OF ONLINE BIZARRE CREATIONS (GEOMETRY WARS: RETRO EVOLVED) ART & SOUND CRITERION (BURNOUT REVENGE/BLACK) INNOVATION SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT EUROPE EXTERNAL DEVELOPMENT/RELENTLESS (BUZZ CONTROLLERS) TOOLS PROVIDER NATURALMOTION SERVICES & OUTSOURCING SIDE UK RECRUITMENT COMPANY OPM RESPONSE INDUSTRY LEADERS CATEGORY PUBLISHING HERO SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT EUROPE IN-HOUSE DEVELOPMENT TEAM CRITERION INDEPENDENT DEVELOPER TRAVELLER'S TALES DEVELOPMENT LEGEND CHARLES CECIL THE GRAND PRIX AWARD BIZARRE CREATIONS The Develop Industry Excellence Awards 2006 are sponsored by Nokia and nVIDIA. The Develop Industry Excellence Awards were designed to seek excellence in every facet of the UK and European development business, from new start-up studios to multi-team in-house developers, as well as tools providers, service providers and publishers. Judged in secret by a jury of 50 independent industry experts they single out those companies who keep this part of the globe at the very forefront of game development. Develop magazine is the international monthly for games programmers, artists, musicians and producers. It is published by Intent Media. The Develop Industry Excellence Awards are managed by Intent Media and Barrington Harvey. PRESS CONTACT: KATHRYN HUMPHREY BARRINGTON HARVEY TEL: +44 (0)1462 456780 FAX: +44 (0)14562 456781 Kathryn.Humphrey@bhpr.co.uk Issued by: Barrington Harvey, Troopers Yard, Bancroft, Hitchin SG5 1JW
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