The TIGA Games Industry Awards are running for the fifth time, highlighting some of the best videogame creations. The registrations are now open for titles to be nominated across 35 categories. With virtual reality (VR) now available to consumers for the first time since the awards began, this could be the first year TIGA could award a prize to a VR title.
Of the 35 award categories available, Best Audio Design, Best Visual Design, Most Original Game, Best Debut Game, Best Creative Gameplay and Game Of The Year are the six most hotly contested. The Game Of The Year category is voted for entirely by the public, with last year’s winner netting 30,000 individual votes.
One VR title that will be nominated is The Assembly by British studio, nDreams. TIGA member and nDreams CEO Patrick O’Luanaigh will be entering the VR videogame into the TIGA Games Industry Awards 2016 with the hope of scooping the ceremonies first ever VR win.
“We’re incredibly excited to be submitting our first major VR game, The Assembly, to the TIGA awards. We’re especially proud of the game’s innovative movement mechanics, which we custom built for VR so that players can freely explore the world of The Assembly as easily and as comfortably as in a standard first-person game,” said O’Luanaigh. “We’re also eager to show off all the amazing work we’ve done with positional audio and how it really brings the game’s story to life. Above all, it’s fantastic to see TIGA embracing the exciting changes in gaming that VR has brought and we look forward to seeing dedicated VR categories emerge in the not-too-distant future.”
The 35 award categories are as follows:
- Best Action and Adventure Game
2. Best Arcade Game
3. Best Casual/Social Game
4. Best Educational Game
5. Best Racing Game
6. Best Sports Game
7. Best Strategy Game
8. Best Role Playing Game
9. Best Puzzle Game
10. Best Creative Gameplay
11. Best Debut Game
12. Diversity Award
13. Most Original Game
14. Best Audio Design
15. Best Visual Design
16. Best Game by a Small Studio
17. Best Art/Animation/Trailer Supplier
18. Best Audio Supplier
19. Best Education Initiative and Talent Development
20. Best Educational Institution
21. Best Independent Studio: large
22. Best Independent Studio: small
23. Best In-house Studio
24. Outstanding Leadership Award
25. Best Legal Services Supplier
26. Best Publisher
27. Best QA Provider
28. Best Recruitment Agency
29. Best Start Up
30. Best Tax and Accountancy Firm
31. UK Heritage Award
32. Best Engines, Middleware, Tools and Technology Award
33. Best Technical Innovation
34. Outstanding Individual Award
35. Game of the Year
If you wish to enter a videogame into one of the above categories head to the TIGA Awards website. The closing date for entries is 23:59 GMT, 12th August 2016. VRFocus will continue its coverage of TIGA, reporting back with any further announcements.
