The Dutch Game Awards returned, this time as part of Dutch Game Week in Breda. Grunn was named best game. Among the other winners, Gamebasics, now Miniclip NL, received the Best Studio award.
Dutch Game Week
Alongside the Dutch Game Awards, the Dutch Game Week business conference offered roundtables, talks by inspiring creators and a showcase floor featuring a range of titles in development. The award nominees were also on display.
Dutch Game Week in Breda brought together a broad mix of the games industry: AAA studios, indies, entertainment and serious game developers, publishers, freelancers, students, policymakers, content creators, esports, film and music professionals, and even youth workers. This broad representation encouraged more cross-pollination than had previously been the case at Dutch Media Week.
Breda's Chassé Theatre proved a fitting venue. The awards show was spectacularly staged, with categories following one another at pace and smoothly hosted by Martine Spaans. There was little sign of any possible hesitation about the location: visitors from across the Netherlands and beyond found their way to the event, and the auditoriums were very well filled.
The Dutch Games Association organised several afternoon sessions with studio owners such as Laurens Rutten, Koen Deetman and Deloryan Hommers, who shared their experiences of running a game studio.
The awards
The Dutch Games Association presented a large number of prizes, including four special awards that particularly stood out this year.
The Best Studio Award went to Gamebasics (Miniclip NL), a studio active for more than two decades and currently led by managing director Dave van Velzen, who accepted the award.
Ivo Wubbels, managing director of Engine Software, the Netherlands' oldest games company, received the Career Award. Engine Software has a long track record in the Dutch games industry and a history dating back to the MSX scene.
The Inclusion Award went to lawyer René Otto, who has spent years working for equality and inclusion within the sector.
Poki was named Best in Business, recognising its strong commercial success and visibility in the international market.
There was also a Student Award. Three student groups from The Hague University of Applied Sciences submitted entries this year. Unfortunately, none secured a nomination. Competition was fierce: two games from BUas and one from HKU made the final three. Ultimately, The Final Print came out on top.