Thank you to everyone who submitted nominations for Game Dev Heroes 2019! We were completely astounded to receive over 550 nominations this years - it's an amazing response, packed full of some truly heartfelt and inspiring nominations. We've compiled the category shortlists below, but again really want to emphasise how impressed we've been with the quality and quantity of your submissions!
Every one of the people below has impressed and inspired, and is already seen as an unsung hero or role model to others, and we hope you'll join us in congratulating their achievement.
There are so many amazing & appreciated people working in games development & we thank everyone involved for their contributions so far as we hand over to our judging panel.
Winners will be revealed on 9th July in Brighton. Keep an eye on our social channels or join our mailing list on the banner below for updates on the event.
Art + Animation
Kristrun Fridriksdottir
Technical Animator, Sports Interactive
Shayleen Hulbert
Character Artist, Freelance
Conrad Hughes
VFX Artist, nDreams
Amy Pearson
Lead/Senior Artist, Mediatonic
Xin Ran Liu
Art Director & Co-Founder, Kitfox Games
Nick Rodgers
Head of Animation, Frontier Developments
Li Sheng
Principal Animator, Rockstar North
Danny Sweeney
Senior Character Artist, Creative Assembly
Design
Ian Ball
Design Director, Rocksteady
Jai Bunnag
Project Lead, Finifugu & Friends
Alejandro Arque Gallardo
Game Designer, Square Enix Europe
Joanna Haslam
Senior Designer, Snap Finger Click
Mihai Irimescu
Level Design Director, Fun Labs
Shelley Preston
Senior Designer, Rare
Melissa Prosser
Technical Designer, Flix Interactive
Jonathon Wilson
Level Designer, Hangar 13
Writing + Narrative Design
Ed Fear
Senior Writer/Designer, Mediatonic
Chris Gardiner
Narrative Director, Failbetter Games
Rebecca Haigh
Writer, Freelance
Jon Ingold
Narrative Director / Co-Founder, Inkle
Xalavier Nelson Jr
Writer / Narrative Designer, Freelance
Ed Sibley
Lead Narrative Designer, Fusebox Games
Peter Stewart
Writer, Creative Assembly
Olivia Wood
Narrative Editor, Writer & Content Editor, Failbetter Games
Reece Banbury
Programmer, Bossa Studios
Alex Darby
Lead Developer, darbotron
Dave Ducker
Senior Web Programmer, Lockwood Publishing
Lauren Filby
Lead Developer, National Insecurities
Louise Malinowski
Senior Technical Animator, EA Ghost Games
Hugo Millet
Senior Game Programmer, Sony London Studio
Neil Millstone
Lead Developer, Maze Theory
Charlie Scott-Skinner
Programmer, Infinite State Games
Sound
Jim Croft
Head of Audio, Frontier Developments
David Garcia Diaz
Audio Lead, Ninja Theory
Graham Gatheral
Senior Sound Designer, Rebellion
Niamh Houston (Chipzel)
Game music composer, Freelance
Edward Lau
Audio Programmer, Codemasters
Meg Rice
Production Manager & Voice Director, OMUK
Graham Schroeter
SFX Designer, Freelance
Bogdan Vera
Audio Programmer, Media Molecule
Production
Dan Bergin-Holly
Producer, Fortitude Games
Lottie Bevan
Producer & Co-Founder, Weather Factory
Rachael Gregg-Smythe
Producer, Playstation Manchester Studio
Wajhi Jafri
Senior Producer, Remedy Entertainment
Elizaveta Kostyukhina
Product Manager, Supersolid
Chris Murphy
Producer, Square Enix Collective
Caoimhe Roddy
Producer, Freelance
Richard Wood
Producer, Firesprite
QA
Abby Flores
QA Technician, UsTwo Games
Holly Gordon
Senior QA Tester, Rocksteady Studios
Jack Joyce
Senior QA Lead, Sports Interactive
Niamh Thompson
Senior Functional Tester, Sony Liverpool Studio
Daniel Schofield
QA Analyst, Team 17
John Strine
QA , Improbable
Katie Weeks
Embedded Tester, Rare
Lee Wood
Senior Tester, Cloud Imperium Games
Marketing & Community
Tom Dent
Community Manager, Media Molecule
Hannah Flynn
Communications Director, Failbetter Games
Ben Maltz-Jones
Social Media & Marketing Executive, Rebellion
Sally Morgan-Moore
Product Manager, Frontier Developments
Claire Sharkey
Head of Marketing & PR, Weather Factory
Gina Peach
People & Culture Manager, Studio Gobo
Bee Wakefield
Marketer, Freelance
Jo Worrall
EMEA and ANZ Brand Manager, Bethesda Softworks
Leadership
Adam Chapman
Director, Liquid Violet
Aj Grand-Scrutton
CEO, Dlala Studios
Adam Myers
CEO, Failbetter Games
Patrick O’Luanaigh
CEO, nDreams
Marilena Papacosta
Head of Communications, Frontier Developments
Neil Ralley
CEO, 505 Games
Tim Woodley
Head of Publishing, Hello Games
Lily Zhu
Art Lead, Splash Damage
Max Downton
Content Marketing Manager, Splash Damage
Kate Edwards
CEO, Geogrify
Kirsty Fraser
Programmer, VooFoo Studios
Co-organiser, Rainbow Game Jam
Loukia Kyriakidou
Games Artist, Freelance
Co-Founder, Women Making Games NE
Robin Milton
Games Lead & Course Manager, Access Creative College
Vikki Neale
HR Manager, nDreams
Chella Ramanan
Games Writer, 3-Fold Games
Co-Founder, POC in Play
Anisa Sanusi
UI Designer, Hutch Games
Founder, Limit Break Mentorship
Annie Clare
Studio Coordinator, Sony London Studio
Amy Cross
Studio Coordinator, Sumo Digital
George Corner
Event Manager, Resonate Total Gaming
Adam Da Rocha
Operations Manager, Tenhut Games
Georgina Felce
Studio Operations Manager, Big Pixel Studios
Silvana Greenfield
Operations Director, 505 Games
Tina Lauro Pollock
Director, Brain and Nerd
Michelle Rendall
Director of Business Operations, Polystream
Tom Rothamel
Lead Developer, Ren'Py
Bruce Slater
Founder, Radical Forge