Scottish games studio Denki has picked up the Best Developer trophy at the 2008 TIGA Awards, held in central London last night.
Denki was nominated, alongside fellow UK developers Blitz Games and Sumo Digital, as the development company which has made the greatest contribution to independent game development in the UK last year.
TIGA – The Independent Game Developers Association - is an industry body for companies in the UK which create videogames. Each of the awards were voted for by member companies.
Denki is renowned within the games industry for its focus on original game design, high-quality conversions of top-tier brands and carefully managed project development. The company is best known for its work on interactive digital television gaming where, in the past seven years, it has released nearly seventy titles through companies including the UK's Sky Television and DIRECTV in North America. Denki's releases include both original games and many based on leading brands from the likes of Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, Sky Sports, LEGO, Namco, Eidos and DreamWorks.
“It's a great honour to be chosen as the best independent developer,” said Denki's Internal Development Manager, Gary Penn, “particularly considering the significant achievements of our fellow nominees”. “We’re proud of having retained our independent status through what have been some very tough times for indie developers over recent years. We're especially delighted that our colleagues and peers within the industry rate Denki so highly and would like to thank everyone who voted for us.”
Building on their experience within the Game Boy Advance and digital television markets, Denki has recently turned its attention towards the Casual and Indie games sector.
“The new opportunities afforded to independent game developers by digital distribution means that games are becoming a far more inclusive pastime,” said Gary. “You can now play games on your television, mobile phone, web browser and even your MP3 player as well as the traditional games consoles people are already familiar with. This change means that for the first time in a generation we have the opportunity to re-engage with people who would never consider themselves ‘gamers’. The next challenge for the games industry is to start creating entertainment which will appeal to people who never normally play any sort of videogames. Denki is ideally positioned to deliver these new types of game and we already have several titles we’re very excited about in development.”
Denki is working on a number of forthcoming branded titles for interactive television as well as several yet-to-be announced games, based on original intellectual property for other platforms.