This year, the Australian Game Developer Awards (AGDAs) were held again at The Forum in Melbourne, Victoria. The Interactive Games and Entertainment Association (IGEA) put on the awards show, with the nominees coming from a panel of 80 experts. ABC’s Gemma Driscoll and Harry Jun hosted the show once again, live and streaming it on Twitch.

Seventeen awards were given out during the night, with five states and territories represented among winning games from the Northern Territory, Australian Capital Territory, Victoria, Queensland, and New South Wales. Conscript solo developer Catchweight Studio took three awards during the night, including ‘Game of The Year,’ ‘Excellence in Art,‘ and ‘Excellence in Emerging.‘ Chaos Theory Games won two awards, ‘Excellence in Impact‘ for Crab God and ‘Studio of the Year.’

Jordan Mochi said the following after winning the Game of The Year Award for Conscript.

“The idea for CONSCRIPT came from my days at university studying history. Originally, I had no idea what I wanted the game to be, but I knew I wanted to create a survival horror game. From there, I began the ambitious task of teaching myself as many disciplines of game design as I could, from coding to art, sound design, marketing, and so much more. To receive the Game of the Year Award for 2024 feels like such a momentous achievement and is a culmination of so many years of hard work. Thank you to all the judges, and congratulations to all the nominees and winners tonight.”

Two awards were handed out for The Rising Star 2024 Award. The first went to Chloe Appleby, the Program Curator and Strategic Projects Manager at Powerhouse Museum. She expressed her desire to continue building the NSW game development scene through free social events and exhibitions. The second went to Ben Armstrong, who has a longstanding history of advocacy for First Nations representation in video games. Ben rightfully called everyone in attendance to check out Blaktasia, which GUCK showcases at Big Games Night Out on Thursday in Federation Square.

Ross Symons, founder of Big Ant Studios, won the Adam Lancman Award for his continued contributions to the Australian development scene and his advocating for the video game industry to government.

The complete list of winners is below, with pics I captured during the night of the winners.

  • Game of the Year: CONSCRIPT, by Catchweight Studio (VIC)

  • Excellence in Art: CONSCRIPT, by Catchweight Studio (VIC)

  • Excellence in Narrative: Capes, by Spitfire Interactive (QLD)

  • Excellence in Sound Design: Cozy Caravan, by 5 Lives Studios (QLD)

  • Excellence in Accessibility: Bears In Space, by Broadside Games (QLD)

  • Excellence in Mixed Reality: Max Mustard, by Toast Interactive (QLD)

  • Excellence in Impact: Crab God, by Chaos Theory Games (NSW)

  • Excellence in Emerging: CONSCRIPT, by Catchweight Studio (VIC)