The German Developer Award 2020 celebrated its premiere as a live stream. With success. Instead of a show full of embarrassment, there was game entertainment, talk and award ceremonies at an appealing presentation level. The show was hosted by Fabian Siegismund, Lara “Loft” Trautmann, Daniel “Budi” Budiman and Valentina Birke. The stars of the evening, however, were the developers, publishers and their video games.
What ended in a kind of disaster for the games industry last year has turned out much better this time - despite Corona and the lack of an on-site audience. The German Developer Award celebrated its online show premiere as a live stream, and it was an all-round success. No Ina Müller, no embarrassment: this simple formula worked. The moderator led through the German Computer Game Award 2019, which failed.
Iron Harvest: Best German Computer game of the year
Instead, the organizers recruited industry experts to guide the online show: Fabian Siegismund, ex-Gamestar editor, who toughened himself up for his work as a front pig in front of the camera by making a guest appearance on the TV series Richter Alexander Hold; Lara “Loft” Trautmann, voice actress with her own let's play channel; Daniel "Budi" Budiman, moderator at Rocket Beans, connoisseur of the scene and charming clown, as well as Valentina Birke, whose heart beats for game culture and indie games. With all the joke: The composition of this round was the first big coup of the makers of the German Developer Award. The idea worked. The show was entertaining, games-oriented, and worthy of the industry. Chapeau!
Hats off to the numerous developers and publishers who have received awards for their achievements. The big winner is the Bremen studio King Art, which was able to clear several prizes, including the particularly prestigious one for the best German video game of the past year: the real-time strategy game "Iron Harvest". With awards in the categories “Best German Game”, “Best Game Design”, “Best Sound” and “Best Studio”, a total of four trophies went to Bremen.
"Rarely before have the nominees been so close together in the jury's assessments."
Christian Müller, Managing Director of Aruba Events
The award ceremony, originally planned as a gala in December 2020, was postponed due to the corona pandemic and took place as an entertaining online show.
“The high quality of the submissions is not only reflected in the excellent winning titles. The jury's vote was also particularly narrow this year," says Christian Müller, Managing Director of Aruba Events GmbH, organizer of the German Developer Award. He is pleased that the outstanding achievements of the developers were recognized despite the corona pandemic and that the winners were also duly celebrated in the new live stream concept.
Corona: The show took place for the first time as a live stream - there were still masks, for example in the direction. Photo: German Developer Award 2020
What industry experts could almost guess has happened: Paintbucket Games has also won awards for that courageous game that addresses the resistance against National Socialism: "Through the darkest of times". The action takes place during the Third Reich; the concept convinced the 76 jurors. Paintbucket Games won the German Developer Award 2020 for “Best Story” and “Best Indie Game”.
Exciting and important: Gaming without borders. The project sponsored by "congstar" received the special prize for social commitment. Gaming and video games are more popular than ever, connecting people across cultures and ages. But among the more than 2,5 billion gamers worldwide, there are many who have more difficult access to the world of games due to physical or mental disabilities. For this reason, the mobile phone provider congstar has been supporting the project as part of its gaming activities since April 2020. It's about testing video games for accessibility together with inclusive youth groups.
In five weekly inclusive game tester groups, digital games and assistive technologies are tested in the Cologne area. Through targeted (media) educational methods and networked learning, taking into account individual skills, the participants should learn to appreciate the diversity of an inclusive community and specifically promote their strengths. The results of the tests are posted on the accessible project website www.gaming-without-borders.de made available to all interested parties.
Everyone involved is very happy about the award: “Promoting inclusion in the gaming area is a matter close to our hearts. It is nice to see that this is also meeting with approval in the industry ”, says Saskia Moes, project manager. “We never expected that our project would get so much attention so early. That of course encourages us all the more to make assessments on the website accessible to everyone, ”adds Julius Ricken, project member.
All winners of the German Developer Award 2020
- Best German game
Iron Harvest, developer: King Art GmbH, Bremen - Best studio – presented by the “game” association
King Art GmbH, Bremen - Best publisher
Assemble Entertainment GmbH, Wiesbaden - Best game design
Iron Harvest, developer: King Art GmbH, Bremen - Best sound
Iron Harvest, developer: King Art GmbH, Bremen - Best graphics
SpellForce 3 - Fallen God, developer: Grimlore Games GmbH, Munich - Best story
Through the Darkest of Times, developer: Paintbucket Games, Berlin - Best indie game
Through the Darkest of Times, developer: Paintbucket Games, Berlin - Best mobile game
High Rise, developer: smpl Games, Berlin - Innovation award - special award from the city of Cologne
Jessika, developer: TriTrie Games UG, Cologne - Special award for social engagement - presented by Gaming-Aid
Gaming without borders, ComputerProjekt Köln eV, Cologne - Most Wanted
Everspace 2, developer: Rockfish Games GmbH, Hamburg - Long-running
Anno (series), developer: Ubisoft GmbH, Mainz / Düsseldorf - Newcomer Award
Whalien, developer: Forbidden Folds, Pischelsdorf (A) - Advancement award for young developers - Special prize for the Film and Media Foundation NRW
Golden Orb, Witten
The German Developer Award is the oldest award for the development of outstanding computer games from German-speaking countries and has been awarded since 2004. The German Developer Award is supported by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, the Film and Media Foundation NRW and the "KölnBusiness" Wirtschaftsförderungs-GmbH. Partners of the German Developer Award 2020 are Making Games, Ubisoft and game - Association of the German Games Industry.
| Preview | Product | Rating | Price | |
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Iron Harvest (PC) * | 9,80 EUR | Buy |
Last updated on 8.03.2023/XNUMX/XNUMX / Affiliate Links / Images from the Amazon Product Advertising API. * = Affiliate links. Images from Amazon PA API
