Debut Award Show Acknowledges Diverse Winners Across Games Industry

SAN FRANCISCO – Aug. 30, 2021 – The International Game Developers Association’s (IGDA) inaugural Global Game Industry Awards (GIGA) show at devcom 2021 celebrated 39 peer-nominated winners during the event’s broadcast on Friday, August 27, 2021. Highlighting various outstanding achievements in fields related to Art, Writing and Narrative, Engineering and Technology, Audio, Design, Support, and Miscellaneous categories, the event acknowledged the efforts of global teams driving the industry forward.

Created as a partnership between the IGDA and devcom, with the intent to fill an absence of game award shows that highlight the accomplishments of individuals and their teams, the inaugural GIGA awards celebrate a diverse array of games industry professionals. It was generously sponsored by Xsolla Clubs, Keywords Studios, and Ubisoft Montréal. 

A complete breakdown of the GIGA winners is detailed below, broken into disciplines and subcategories:

Art

• 2D Animation – Supergiant Games’ Hades
• 2D Character Design – Supergiant Games’ Hades
• 2D Environment Art – Moon Studios’ Ori and the Will of the Wisps
• 3D Animation – Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us Part II
• 3D Character Art – CD Projekt RED’s Cyberpunk 2077
• 3D Environment Art – Sucker Punch’s Ghost of Tsushima
• Cinematography – Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us Part II
• UI Art – Supergiant Games’ Hades
• Visual Effects – Nolla Games’ Noita
  

Audio

• Music Composition – iD Software’s DOOM Eternal
• Sound Design – Sucker Punch’s Ghost of Tsushima
• Voice Acting – Supergiant Games’ Hades

Design

• Accessibility Innovation – Ubisoft Montreal’s Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
• Gameplay Design – Mediatonic’s Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout
• Level Design – Valve Corporation’s Half-Life: Alyx
• Serious Game Design – Dry Cactus’ Polybridge 2
• Systems Design – Supergiant Games’ Hades
• UI/UX – Supergiant Games’ Hades

Engineering and Technology

• Achievements in New Technology – Valve Corporation’s Half-Life: Alyx
• Artificial Intelligence – Ubisoft Montreal’s Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
• Audio Technology – Sucker Punch’s Ghost of Tsushima
• Engine Technology – Epic Games’ Unreal Engine 4
• Gameplay Technology – Valve Corporation’s Half-Life: Alyx
• Graphics Technology – Nolla Games’ Noita
• Networking Technology – Asobo Studios’ Microsoft Flight Simulator
• Systems Technology – Ubisoft Toronto’s Watch Dogs: Legion

Support

• Community Management – Innersloth’s Among Us
• Customer Support – Mediatonic’s Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout
• Marketing – Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass
• Production/Management – Insomniac
• Quality Assurance – iD Software’s DOOM Eternal
• Research & Analytics – Asobo Studios’ Microsoft Flight Simulator 

Writing and Narrative

• Dialogue – Supergiant Games’ Hades
• Narrative Design – Supergiant Games’ Hades
• Story – Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us Part II
• World Building – Sucker Punch’s Ghost of Tsushima

Miscellaneous

• Representation – Supergiant Games’ Hades
• Upcoming Indie – Kinetic Games
• Diversity and Inclusivity – Microsoft

Following the devcom-produced award show, data pertaining to audience viewership from the ceremony was made available. Over 12,000 viewers tuned into the award show broadcast, with 7,932 peak concurrent viewers and 26,000 total views across all channels.

“The inaugural GIGA broadcast was an amazing opportunity to celebrate beloved games, and champion the people whose hard work too often goes unacknowledged,” said Renee Gittins, executive director, IGDA. “By focusing on the human aspect of game development, we are honored to have an award ceremony not only highlighting games but, more importantly, recognizing the talents of a diverse group of international developers.”

For more information, follow the IGDA Twitter and IGDA Facebook or join the IGDA Discord.

Assets

GIGA VOD
Logos and Headshots

About the International Game Developers Association (IGDA®)

The International Game Developers Association (IGDA) is the world’s largest nonprofit membership organization serving all individuals who create games. The mission of the IGDA is to support and empower game developers around the world in achieving fulfilling and sustainable careers.

As an international organization, the IGDA is a San Francisco, CA.-based 501(c)6 non-profit professional association and a global network of collaborative projects and communities of individuals from all fields of game development – including programmers and producers, designers and artists, as well as writers, business people, QA team members, localization experts, and everyone else who participates in any way in the game development process. The IGDA brings together developers at key industry conferences, and in over 150 Chapters and Special Interest Groups (SIGs), to improve their lives and their craft.

For more info, please visit www.igda.org.

Media Contact

Kaylah Humphrey / Ray Porreca

Stride PR for IGDA

kaylah@stridepr.com / raymond@stridepr.com