Here are the Belgian Game Awards 2020 Winners!
The Belgian Game Awards 2020 were hosted in a crowded venue in Kortrijk Xpo on Friday 21 February. Out of an impressive 49 homegrown games, the seven-headed professional jury was allowed to announce the best games in different categories after thorough testing.
Furthermore, the audience at home got to vote for their favourite title, the best studio has been chosen and three new esports-related awards also made their first appearance.
Without further ado, let's get to the list of winners:
Best Student Game of the Year
No Players Online is an atmospheric horror game by DAE Student Adam Pype and Audio-wizard Viktor Kraus. The game takes place on the abandoned servers of first-person shooter games from the nineties and is a kind of play on the nostalgic feelings that these can still evoke.
No Players Online received international acclaim and has long been the most popular game on the itie.io indie game platform.
Most Anticipated Game of the Year
30 Birds turned out to be a jury favourite and left the competition behind. RamRam Games has been working for over a year on this visually stunning adventure game in which you lead the main character Zig through a picturesque world, toeing the line between 2D and 3D. The game is planned to release later this year.
Best Serious Game of the Year
Brukel was able to convince the jury with an overwhelming majority in this category. The game tells the story of the 92-year-old grandmother of developer Bob De Schutter, and the traumatic experiences she experienced during WWII. Grandmother Bie also narrated the narration for this game herself, which only adds to the 'gaminiscing' experience (gaming + reminiscing) that Bob De Schutter conceived.
Best Mobile Game of the Year
Blue won in the mobile category in what turned out to be a very tight race. The tightly-styled puzzle game from solo developer Bart Bonte was well received worldwide, which translated into several hundred thousand installs since its release in October 2019.
Check it out on Android or iOS
Best Narrative
Journey For Elysium grabbed the prize for the best storyline this year. The power of this atmospheric VR game lies in its compelling story, inspired by Greek mythology. In the desolate black-and-white world, you must make your way through various challenges and puzzles to finally reach Elysium, where redemption awaits you.
Best Debut Game of the Year
Brukel was also awarded the win in this category, which was conceptualized to celebrate brand new IP's by brand new studios. The fact that its creator was able to take home multiple trophees at the Belgian Game Awards is another testament to its quality.
Best PC/Console Game of the Year
Nanotale took home what is perhaps the most prestigious award of all. This typing game is a niche in itself, and the only Belgian game of its kind. Nanotale is the long-awaited successor to the popular Epistory, which was released in 2016. Although the game has not yet been released in its entirety, it still managed to win the most jury votes!
Audience Award
Brukel scored a third award and this time it has won the popular vote! Game Mania hosted an online polling round and after narrowing down the 17 potentials titles to 4 nominees, Brukel emerged victorious.
Best Studio of the Year
Triangle Factory has been around for ten years and has focused on both mobile games and virtual and augmented reality games during that period. The studio now has 17 employees, generated more than € 1 million in revenue in 2019, and has experienced a year-on-year growth of more than 50% over the past three years.
Lifetime Achievement Award
Swen Vincke received the prize for 'best PC / console game' last year for Divinity: Original Sin 2. This year he was honoured with a prize for having a strong impact on the Belgian and international gaming industry. As founder of Larian Studios in 1996, Swen Vincke has been putting Belgium on the map for almost 25 years as a game development country, and with Divinity: Original Sin 2, Larian Studios managed to win the hearts of millions of gamers worldwide.
Best Competition of the Year
The ESL Proximus Championship came out as the best Belgian esports competition of the year. In this league, the best eight teams battle it out in two popular games: League Of Legends and Counter Strike: Global Offensive. They compete for a prize pool of no less than € 20,000, which undoubtedly explains the success!
Best Rookie & Pro Player of the Year
Bryan "Badjian" Badjie made it into the "best rookie esports player of the year" category, and makes a name for himself in the NBA2K basketball game. At the end of last year he put down a great performance during the NBA2K European Invitational, and meanwhile he is dreaming aloud of a place in the 'big boys' NBA esports league.
Gabriël "Bwipo" Rau is a 21-year-old League of Legends pro who was born in Bruges and is half-Brazilian. He's been awarded the prize of "Esports PC Rookie of the Year" at the Esports Awards in 2018 and has been a force to be reckoned with in the competitive scene since.
