Techland, authors of the hit Dying Light 2: Stay Human, and Flying Wild Hog, whose as many as four games have been nominated for awards, proved to be the biggest winners of the first act of the competition for the Digital Dragons Awards statuettes. The winners will be announced on May 15 during the gala at the Digital Dragons conference in Krakow.
Best Polish Game, Best Polish Game Design, Best Polish Game Art, Best Polish Game Audio, Best Ongoing Polish Game and Best Foreign Game are the categories in which the most prestigious awards in the Polish game industry will be given. The list of nominated titles was created by the Polish gamedev community, which voted for the nominees in a poll prepared by the conference organizer, the Krakow Technology Park.
Sure bets and surprises
Certainly no one will be surprised by the nominations for Dying Light 2: Stay Human. One of the biggest hits of 2022 has been recognized in every category intended for Polish games. The flagship work of Wroclaw-based Techland is a combination of a story-driven action game set in an open world and a survival horror game. The sequel to the acclaimed 2015 title allows the player to traverse a post-apocalyptic, zombie-infested city while forcing them to make difficult, morally ambiguous decisions.
Shadow Warrior 3, Trek to Yomi (four nominations each), Evil West (three nominations) and Space Punks (one) are, in turn, the four games released by Flying Wild Hog recognized by the gamedev community. Thus, the Warsaw-based company has almost a triple or quadruple chance to win in every category intended for Polish games.
As many as three nominations – including in the most prestigious category of Best Polish Game – went to the puzzle game Railbound from the Lodz-based Afterburn, which tells the story of dogs that… travel by train. This game is worth paying special attention to, as exactly a year earlier it was honored with another award given during the Digital Dragons conference, intended for independent games.
“Railbound won the Best Mobile Game award at last year’s Indie Showcase, but has been celebrating success not only on phones, but also on PC, boasting “Overwhelmingly Positive” ratings on Steam. This year, they may win at the Digital Dragons Awards. I’m happy to see Polish games jumping up the various rungs on the Digital Dragons ladder. It’s proof of their development and quality, as well as the good noses of not only our jurors, but also ours. And the whole community,” says Jacek Wandzel, coordinator of Digital Dragons Awards and Indie Showcase.
The winner in the Best Polish Game category will receive a special prize funded by the conference’s technology partner, AMD, in the form of a professional PC kit, at the heart of which is an extremely powerful Ryzen Threadripper Pro processor.
A year of beautiful games
The largest number of games – seven – have been nominated in the Best Polish Game Art category.
“2022 was a year of truly visually impressive, stylistically diverse Polish games and the nominations reflect this: there are 7 titles in this category, each looking completely different. And there could have been as many as 12, as the nominations here were decided by singular votes. Let’s hope that every year Polish developers make the choice so beautifully difficult for all of us,” says Jacek Wandzel, coordinator of Digital Dragons Awards and Indie Showcase.
Best Ongoing Polish Game is a category introduced this year. Intended for MMO and live service games or productions supported long after release or leaving early access, it responds to the changing mobile or online game market and new publishing models. Among the games nominated in this category were acclaimed online productions such as The Wolf: Online RPG Simulator (Rage Quit Games) or Gloria Victis (Black Eye Games), but also the continuously supported Dying Light 2 or Cyberpunk 2077, steadily improved by CD Projekt RED since its high-profile release.
Nominations for the best foreign games were also selected. The list included a place for record-breaking megahit Elden Ring or an unexpected hit, the adventure game Stray, trending on social media because of the game’s protagonist – a cat.
2023 Digital Dragons Awards Nominees
About the awards
Digital Dragons Awards are the oldest and most prestigious awards in the Polish game industry. Their winners are chosen by a jury of experts and the entire gamedev community, which create the list of nominees via an open survey. The awards will be presented during the gala ceremony on the first day of the Digital Dragons international B2B conference for the game industry, to be held on May 15-16, 2023 at the ICE Congress Center in Krakow. Tickets for the conference can be purchased on the organizer’s website.
MAIN SPONSOR
Techland is one of the biggest and best-known Polish game developers with studios in Wroclaw and Warsaw. For over 30 years, they’ve carried a tradition of providing gamers with unforgettable experiences. They’re an international team of over 400 highly-skilled professionals driven by passion for gaming, always striving for the best quality.
They’re fueled by the support of their global community built on the foundation of successful AAA franchises such as Call of Juarez, Dead Island or Dying Light. The gamers’ trust in their games has resulted in their newest project, Dying Light 2: Stay Human, selling more than 5 million copies across all platforms within the first month after release.
On top of continuously growing the world of Dying Light through a robust post-launch support plan for Dying Light 2: Stay Human, they’re also working on an unannounced AAA Open World Action RPG set in a brand new fantasy universe; their biggest project to date.
Techland’s mission strictly determines every aspect of their work: they want to create unforgettable experiences.
MAIN PARTNER
Województwo Małopolskie is the Main Partner of the event: the regional authorities implementing a range of projects that serve innovation and economic development of Małopolska, and its attractiveness for investors. Małopolska is a perfect location for running business, particularly based on new technologies. Evidence of that is the number of new ventures growing every year, including dynamically developing tech start-ups. Thanks to the massive support given to entrepreneurship and the optimal utilization of EU funds and other public funds, Województwo Małopolskie positively stands out among other voivodships.
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