Update: Nominations for the German Developer Award 2024 (DEP)

The studios and games nominated for the German Developer Award 2024 have been announced. The expert juries have selected 17 titles from 233 submissions. Games that have been nominated multiple times include Closer the Distance from Osmotic Studios, Enshrouded from Keen Games and Oddada from Sven Ahlgrimm and Mathilde Hoffmann. Update: The three nominees for 'Best German Game' have also been chosen.

News-Update - 4 November 2024

The three nominees for 'Best German Game' have also been announced. They are Closer the Distance by Osmotic Studios from Hamburg, Enshrouded by Keen Games from Frankfurt am Main and Harold Halibut by Slow Bros from Cologne.

'Outstanding games, a new venue and a colourful stage show: this year's awards ceremony promises to be particularly exciting. We would like to thank our public sponsors and all the companies and experts who support the DEP as partners and sponsors or with their expert input in the jury,' says Kristin Janulik, DEP project manager at games.nrw.

The German Developer Award 2024 (DEP: Deutscher Entwicklerpreis) will be presented in Cologne on 3 December 2024. The evening will be hosted by Daniel Budiman and Lynne Glaner.

Original news - 22 October

Following the selection by the expert juries, the nominations in 13 of the 14 categories have now been finalised. From a total of 233 entries, the expert juries have nominated 17 titles. With four nominations each, Closer the Distance from Osmotic Studios in Hamburg, Enshrouded from Keen Games in Frankfurt am Main and Oddada, developed by Sven Ahlgrimm and Mathilde Hoffmann, have the best chances of winning one or more awards. Nominated in the Studio of the Year category are Keen Games, CipSoft and Rockfish Games. Once again, the award is open to games that have been developed primarily in Germany, Austria or Switzerland.

The nominees in the main category 'Best German Game' have not yet been decided. The 160-member 'Grand Jury' will now begin its work. The nominations will be announced on 4 November 2024. This year's award ceremony will be held for the first time in the Gürzenich in Cologne's old town (tickets). In addition to the nominees, numerous guests of honour and leading figures from the German games industry are expected to attend.

Best German Game

• Closer the Distance (Osmotic Studios, Hamburg)
• Enshrouded (Keen Games, Frankfurt am Main - Hesse)
• Harold Halibut (Slow Bros., Cologne - North Rhine-Westphalia)

Best Indie Game

• Dungeons of Hinterberg (Microbird, Vienna - Austria)
• Oddada (Sven Ahlgrimm and Mathilde Hoffmann, Berlin and Hamburg)
• shapez 2 (tobspr Games, Aachen - North Rhine-Westphalia)

Best Casual Game

• CubeQuest - A QB Game (Stephan Göbel, Kassel - Hesse)
• Footgun: Underground (Turtle Knight Games, Weiterstadt - Hesse)
• Oddada (Sven Ahlgrimm and Mathilde Hoffmann, Berlin and Hamburg)

Studio of the Year

• CipSoft (Regensburg - Bavaria)
• Keen Games (Frankfurt am Main - Hesse)
• Rockfish Games (Hamburg)

Best Game Beyond Entertainment

• Closer the Distance (Osmotic Studios, Hamburg)
• Emyo (refutura, Cologne - North Rhine-Westphalia)
• Vampire Therapist (Little Bat Games, Berlin)

Best Game Design

• Dungeons 4 (Realmforge Studios, Munich - Bavaria)
• Enshrouded (Keen Games, Frankfurt am Main - Hesse)
• Songs of Silence (Chimera Entertainment, Munich - Bavaria)

Best Audio Design

• Closer the Distance (Osmotic Studios, Hamburg)
• Enshrouded (Keen Games, Frankfurt am Main - Hesse)
• Reveil (Pixelsplit, Eschborn - Hesse)

Best Graphics

• Harold Halibut (Slow Bros., Cologne - North Rhine-Westphalia)
• Oddada (Sven Ahlgrimm and Mathilde Hoffmann, Berlin and Hamburg)
• Songs of Silence (Chimera Entertainment, Munich - Bavaria)

Best Story

• Closer the Distance (Osmotic Studios, Hamburg)
• Harold Halibut (Slow Bros., Cologne - North Rhine-Westphalia)
• Suzerain: The Kingdom of Rizia (Torpor Games, Berlin)

Best Technical Achievement

• Enshrouded (Keen Games, Frankfurt am Main - Hesse)
• Harold Halibut (Slow Bros., Cologne - North Rhine-Westphalia)
• shapez 2 (tobspr Games, Aachen - North Rhine-Westphalia)

Innovation Award

• Closer the Distance (Osmotic Studios, Hamburg)
• Enshrouded (Keen Games, Frankfurt am Main - Hesse)
• Oddada (Sven Ahlgrimm and Mathilde Hoffmann, Berlin and Hamburg)

Special Award for Social Commitment

• Aerosoft (Büren - North Rhine-Westphalia)
• Friendly Fire (Berlin)
• Sebastian Sterzik (Berlin)

Ubisoft Newcomer Award

• Dawn of Defense (6side Studio, Zülpich - North Rhine-Westphalia)
• Dung Slinger (Acorn Interactive, Berlin)
• Map Map - A Game About Maps (Pipapo Games, Hamburg)

The NRW Sponsorship Award for young developers will be awarded without nominations.

The German Developer Award is the oldest award for computer games in Germany. The politically independent prize has been supported by the games industry since 2004. The award ceremony is organised by games.nrw e.V., the association representing the interests of the games industry in North Rhine-Westphalia. The German Developer Prize is sponsored by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW, KölnBusiness and game - the German Games Industry Association.

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