The winners of the annual Dstars Awards have been announced today. Italian developers have voted for their colleagues across categories like Game of the Year, Management Star, Best New Studio, and Industry Star.
Over 130 Italian video games professionals from around the world have cast their votes across multiple categories.
Here’s the full list of the nominations and awardees:
BEST SPECIAL INITIATIVE (Awarded to a special initiative not directly connected with game development making an impact on the community): IVIPRO Days;
BEST DEVELOPMENT SCHOOL (Awarded to the best school (public or private) with a dedicated development program or complete focus on it): Digital Bros Academy;
BEST NEW STUDIO (Awarded to the Italian studio with the best debut game released on the market (console/PC/mobile) in 2021. No Early Access): Cordens Interactive;
STUDIO OF THE YEAR (Awarded to the studio that achieved the most important international results in terms of positioning/brand awareness with its games): Milestone;
GAME OF THE YEAR (Awarded to the best Italian videogame released on the market (console/PC/mobile) in 2021. No Early Access): Hot Wheels Unleashed (developed by Milestone);
ART & ANIMATION STAR (Awarded to an individual for his/her outstanding contribution in art (concept/2D/3D) or animation for his/her studio/game): Fabio Capone, Co-Founder of NAPS team;
PROGRAMMING STAR (Awarded to an individual for his/her outstanding contribution in programming or tech-related tasks for his/her studio/game): Domenico Barba, Co-Founder of NAPS team;
DESIGN STAR (Awarded to an individual for his/her outstanding contribution in design or creativity related tasks for his/her studio/game): Luca Cafasso, former Lead Game Designer at 3DClouds;
PRODUCTION STAR (Awarded to an individual for his/her outstanding contribution in production, leading the studio to a/multiple smart release/s on the market (console/PC/mobile)): Yves Hohler, Co-Founder of Broken Arms Games;
MARKETING, PR & BIZ DEV STAR (Awarded to an individual for his outstanding contribution in PR, marketing and business development for his studio/game): Francesco Bruschi, CEO and Lead Project at 3DClouds;
MANAGEMENT STAR (Awarded to an individual for his/her outstanding contribution in managing a game studio (brand awareness/financial results)): Elisa Farinetti, Business developer at Broken Arms Games;
JOURNALISM STAR (Awarded to the best Italian journalist writing about game development and related topics on major mainstream outlets (online/print)): Lorenzo Fantoni, journalist at Italian Tech;
FAR STAR (Awarded to an individual that achieved outstanding results doing his/her job abroad as an Italian game developer): Gero Miccichè, Development Director at Electronic Arts;
INDUSTRY STAR (Awarded to an individual that has earned personal visibility worldwide, helping to bring attention on the Italian game development scene): Luisa Bixio, Vice President at Milestone;
GAME WORLD OBSERVER RECOGNITION AWARD (A special prize by Game World Observer, awarded by the editorial team to the most important Italian professional for his contribution to the dev scene in 2021): Luisa Bixio, Vice President at Milestone;
GUIDING STAR (A special prize by the DStars board, awarded to an individual or a studio whose leadership and contribution have proved outstanding for the whole game development scene in Italy since it exists): Milestone.
The full list of the contenders is available here.
DStars Connects will be held on March 27 and streamed on WNHub. The event will also feature talks by different games industry experts and specialists, including Josh Sawyer of Obsidian Entertainment and Seamus Blackley, known as the creator of the original Xbox console.