Our programme members, ANALOG Events, hosted the Game Dev Hero awards this week in Brighton in partnership with AARDVARK SWIFT.
This month the games community gathered in Brighton for a week of community, networking and collaboration across the sub-sector. During this time the Game Dev Heroes awards were hosted to celebrate the success of indie games developers across the country. Our programme member, Alex Boucher, and founder of Analog Events, was one of the awards main hosts and organisers. Having founded the awards ceremony seven years ago to act as an event “for developers, by developers”, the event co-founders (Alex and David) spoke throughout the night about the awards being a reclaiming of celebration in the games industry and the right to celebrate their success outside of larger corporate boundaries and sponsorships. The event took place at the Komedia in Brighton and was filled with a packed room of game developers.
After a tough year for the gaming industry, the sentiment of the room was one of comradery and strength. In the opening speeches Alex and David noted the resilience of those in the room, and the tough year the games industry has had.
The Awards
The awards categories were nominated by peers and voted for by a panel of judges. Presented by representatives from the event sponsors, there were fourteen awards up for grabs in categories such as ‘Rising Star’, ‘Design’, ‘Progression Advocate’ and ‘Leadership’.
There were many heartfelt moments in the speeches and it was an opportunity to share messages of support and encouragement for the community. Winner of the ‘Progression Advocate’ award, Karla Reyes, said “Entertainment shifts culture, and culture shifts society”.
Analog founder and programme member Alex Boucher closed out the event with two words of encouragement to the room, “hold fast”.
We hope that events such as this will help continue to encourage and uplift the games industry.
Find out more about Analog on our cohort page below.
