Nominations for this year’s Australian Game Developer Awards have been announced.

Leading the pack with six nominations is 2pt Interactive’s space-adventure game Heavenly Bodies. Cult of the Lamb, which has seen a massive playerbase thanks to numerous Twitch streams, follows Heavenly Bodies with five nominations. The full list of nominations can be seen below.

CEO of IGEA, Ron Curry said this about this year’s event:

“The AGDAs is an opportunity to celebrate the diversity of talent and projects here in Australia. These awards highlight the creativity amongst Australian game developers as we see new, creative IP and Australian-told stories having significant success on the international stage. We can see that successful games tend to be those that are also inclusive and accessible, and we are delighted that Australian game developers are embracing these elements, as are those who enjoy playing games.

This year’s awards are filled with quality games from across Australia; from small, medium and large developer teams. With the Federal Digital Games Tax Offset due for introduction soon, Screen Australia direct funding and multiple new and improved incentives available from State governments, the Australian games industry is well poised to take advantage of our international reputation and establish a thriving game development ecosystem.”

The ceremony will take place on October 5 at The Forum Melbourne as part of Melbourne International Games Week. Queens of the Drone Age podcast hosts Rae Johnston, Angharad Yeo, Tegan Jones and Amanda Yeo will host the event.

Angharad Yeo also said this about the ceremony:

“The AGDAs is one of the first award ceremonies to kick off the games industry awards season. It's exciting to see Australian games that were celebrated at the AGDAs in previous years go on to be recognised internationally. For example, Unpacking - made by Brisbane studio Witch Beam - won the AGDAs Game of The Year Award in 2021, then went on to win over thirty awards internationally. The AGDAs is a bit of an oracle of what is to come for Australian games and studios.”

Tickets for the event are on sale to the general public here. The ceremony will be livestreamed on Twitch.

2022 Australian Game Developer Awards nominations

Game of the Year

• Heavenly Bodies

• Wylde Flowers

• Cult of the Lamb
   

 Excellence in Art

• Age of Darkness: Final Stand

• Cult of the Lamb

• Heavenly Bodies
   

 Excellence in Gameplay

• Cult of the Lamb

• Heavenly Bodies

• JUSTICE SUCKS
   

 Excellence in Narrative

• You Will (Not) Remain

• Wylde Flowers

• Wayward Strand
   

 Excellence in Sound Design

• JUSTICE SUCKS

• Cult of the Lamb

• Heavenly Bodies
   

 Excellence in Music

• Cult of the Lamb

• Heavenly Bodies

• Age of Darkness: Final Stand
   

 Excellence in Technical Design

• Puzzle Quest 3

• Age of Darkness: Final Stand

• Heavenly Bodies
   

 Excellence in Accessibility – Presented by VicScreen

• Wylde Flowers

• Raw: Emotions Unite Us

• Lost and Hound
   

Excellence in Mobile Games

• Dream Hopper

• Wylde Flowers

• Hot Lap League
   

 Excellence in AR/VR

• Flush Back

• Raw: Emotions Unite Us

• Table of Tales: The Crooked Crown
   

 Excellence in Serious Games (Applied/Impactful)

• Kinder World

• Wayward Strand

• Raw: Emotions Unite Us
   

 Excellence in Emerging Games (Student or Early Career)

• Fantasy Town Regional Manager

• Queer Man Peering Into A Rock Pool.jpg

• Born Punk
   

 Excellence in Ongoing Games (Games as a Service)

• The Oregon Trail

• It's Literally Just Mowing

• Crash of Cars