[Industry news] TIGA Games Industry Awards 2026 – Finalists Announced

This is a press release posted alongside our usual editorial content.

TIGA, the trade association representing the UK video games industry, is delighted to announce the shortlists for the prestigious TIGA Games Industry Awards 2026.

The Awards celebrate excellence across the breadth of the UK games sector, recognising the achievements of developers, publishers, educational institutions, service providers and individuals who contribute to its continued success.

From outstanding games, creative design and technical innovation to education, leadership, workplace wellbeing and professional services, this year’s finalists demonstrate the exceptional talent, ambition and expertise found throughout the industry.

The winners will be revealed at the TIGA Games Industry Awards ceremony at Plaisterers’ Hall, London, on Wednesday November 18^th 2026. Bringing together professionals from across the sector, the ceremony will be a celebration of the people, organisations and achievements helping to make the UK one of the best places in the world to develop video games.

THE 2026 SHORTLISTS

 

GAMES CATEGORIES:

ACTION AND ADVENTURE GAME

• Fumi Games: MOUSE: P.I. For Hire
• Gearbox Entertainment: Borderlands 4
• Odd Dreams Digital/Secret Mode:  Everything is Crab
• Playground Games: Forza Horizon 6
• Pearl Abyss: Crimson Desert
• Soul Assembly: Street Gods
• Sony Interactive Entertainment: Ghost of Yotei
• Sony Interactive Entertainment: Saros
• Warner Bros. Games: LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight

ARCADE GAME

• ESDigital Games: Flying Pigs
• Playtonic Games: Super Yooka-Laylee Kart
• Rhino Rock Studios: OUTBLAST
• Sony Interactive Entertainment: Saros
• Soul Assembly: Street Gods
• Soul Assembly: Home Invasion
• Trema Coding Ltd: The Bloom Initiative
• University of Staffordshire: Chamber
• Wales Interactive: Sker Ritual

 

AUDIO DESIGN

• Frontier Developments: Jurassic World Evolution 3
• Gearbox Entertainment: Borderlands 4
• IO Interactive: 007 First Light
• Morefun Studios x POSTRED: Roco Kingdom
• Playground Games: Forza Horizon 6
• Sony Interactive Entertainment: Ghost Of Yotei
• Sony Interactive Entertainment: Saros
• Sumo Digital/Secret Mode: NUTMEG!
• Supermassive Games: Directive 8020
• ZA/UM Studio: ZERO PARADES: For Dead Spies

 

BEST USE OF A LICENCE

• Dovetail Games: Thomas & Friends™: Wonders of Sodor
• EA Playdemic: Golf Clash
• Feenix Group: Formula E: Electric Lap
• FuturLab: PowerWash Simulator 2 – STAR WARS Pack
• IO Interactive: 007 First Light
• Outlier: Mars Attracts
• Playground Games: Forza Horizon 6
• Soft Boiled Games: MicroMacro: Downtown Detective
• Sugar Creative: Echoes of Revolution

 

CASUAL GAME

• Ant Workshop: Into the Slimy Mines
• Doraccoon: RACCOIN: Coin Pusher Roguelike
• EA Playdemic: Golf Clash
• FuturLab: PowerWash Simulator 2
• London College of Communication x Crawicks Studio: Gridwalker
• Ludus Pax Studios: Tiny Terra Spaces
• Odd Dreams Digital/Secret Mode: Everything is Crab
• Soul Assembly: Drop Dead: The Cabin
• Soft Boiled Games: MicroMacro: Downtown Detective

 

CREATIVITY IN GAMES

• Filipe ‘Subtales’ Rodrigues: Gloomy Juncture
• Funny Fintan Softworks: Don’t Stop, Girlypop!
• GrosChevaux: Cardburners
• IO Interactive: 007 First Light
• Lab42 Games/Secret Mode: A Storied Life: Tabitha
• Lozange Lab: Game Settings
• SFB Games: The Mermaid Mask
• Sumo Digital/Secret Mode: NUTMEG!
• ZA/UM Studio: Zero Parades: For Dead Spies

 

DIVERSITY

• Amiqus/Empower Up
• Bryter: Women Gamers Study
• Imaginarylab: Whirlight – No Time to Trip
• imissmyfriends.studio: Fishbowl
• Sony Interactive Entertainment: Saros
• SpecialEffect: OpenDrive
• Triangular Pixels: Unseen Diplomacy
• Women in Games
• ZA/UM Studio: Zero Parades: For Dead Spies

 

EDUCATIONAL/SERIOUS/SIMULATION GAME

• astragon Entertainment GmbH: Firefighting Simulator: Ignite
• Discipleship Tech: The Serpent & The Seed
• Erabit: Mini Airways
• Playerthree and BBC Bitesize: Planet Planners on Roblox
• Dovetail Games: Train Sim World 6
• Frontier Developments: Elite Dangerous
• FuturLab: PowerWash Simulator 2
• University of Staffordshire: Beacon Bounce
• Yaldi Games: Out and About

 

HERITAGE IN GAMES

• Ant Workshop: Into the Slimy Mines
• Buckinghamshire New University: MooooN
• Dovetail Games: Train Sim World 6
• Sony Interactive Entertainment: Saros
• Sumo Digital /Secret Mode: NUTMEG!
• University of Staffordshire: The Fungus Among Us
• Wales Interactive & Dark Rift Horror: Dead Reset
• Wales Interactive: Sker Ritual
• Warner Bros. Games: LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight

 

NARRATIVE/STORYTELLING

• Blue Backpack GmbH: The Berlin Apartment
• IO Interactive: 007 First Light
• Lab42 Games/Secret Mode: A Storied Life: Tabitha
• SFB Games: The Mermaid Mask
• Sony Interactive Entertainment: Ghost Of Yotei
• Sony Interactive Entertainment: Gods of War Sons of Sparta
• Sony Interactive Entertainment: Saros
• Supermassive Games: Directive 8020
• Wales Interactive & Dark Rift Horror: Dead Reset

 

PUZZLE GAME

• Games Stitch: Elsewhere Electric
• Giraffe Head Studios: RMF’s Ragdoll Physics Experiments
• Hyper Luminal Games/Secret Mode: Pine Hearts
• Lab 42 Games/Secret Mode: A Storied Life: Tabitha
• Out of the Blue Games: Call of the Elder Gods
• Perchang: Perchang World
• Playstack: Golden Idol Investigations: The Curse of the Last Reaper
• Soft Boiled Games: MicroMacro: Downtown Detective
• University of Staffordshire: HardWhere?

 

SOCIAL GAME

• Blackbird Interactive/Secret Mode: Escape the Backrooms
• Snap Finger Click: It’s Quiz Time: GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ Edition
• Soul Assembly: Last Stand
• Soul Assembly: Drop Dead: The Cabin
• Super Studios: Masters of Mayhem
• Supermassive Games: Directive 8020
• Torn Ltd: Torn
• University of Staffordshire: Super Turbo Shrimp Blasters

 

STRATEGY GAME

• Ant Workshop: Into the Slimy Mines
• Chimera Entertainment: Songs of Silence
• Doraccoon: RACCOIN: Coin Pusher Roguelike
• Merlin Game Studios: Chessman Adventures
• Slitherine Ltd: Broken Arrow
• Team 17: Sintopia
• Torn Ltd: Torn

 

VISUAL DESIGN

• Gearbox Entertainment: Borderlands 4
• IO Interactive: 007 First Light
• Pearl Abyss: Crimson Desert
• Playground Games: Forza Horizon 6
• SFB Games: The Mermaid Mask
• Sony Interactive Entertainment: Ghost of Yotei
• Sony Interactive Entertainment: God of War Sons of Sparta
• Supermassive Games: Directive 8020
• Wales Interactive: Sker Ritual

 

VR/XR/AR/MR GAME

• Games by Stitch: Elsewhere Electric
• Soul Assembly: Home Invasion
• Soul Assembly: Last Stand
• Soul Assembly: Drop Dead: The Cabin
• Sugar Creative: Echoes of Revolution
• Triangular Pixels: Unseen Diplomacy
• Vertigo Games: Thief VR: Legacy of Shadow
• Wales Interactive: Maid of Sker VR
• XORWIRE Games: Stupid Chimp Slop

 

BUSINESS CATEGORIES:

 

ART/ANIMATION/TRAILER SUPPLIER

• Big Farmer/Trailer Farm
• Liquid Crimson
• Room 8 Group

 

AUDIO SERVICES SUPPLIER

• PitStop Productions
• Soundcuts Ltd

 

CO-DEVELOPMENT PARTNER

• Flix Interactive
• Lab 42
• Red Kite Games
• Rhino Rock Studios
• Rocket Science Group
• Room 8 Group
• Side
• Sumo Digital

 

COMMITMENT TO ESG

• Dovetail Games
• PlanetPlay
• Playground Games
• Rhino Rock Studios
• Testronic
• University of Staffordshire

 

COMMITMENT TO WORKPLACE WELLBEING

• Dovetail Games
• Manchester Metropolitan University School of Digital Arts (SODA)
• Playground Games
• Testronic

 

EDUCATION INITIATIVE

• Birmingham City University
• EA Playdemic
• Manchester Metropolitan University
• Norwich University of the Arts
• University of Portsmouth
• University of Staffordshire
• University of Surrey

 

EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION

• Birmingham City University
• Bournemouth University
• London College of Communication, University of the Arts London
• Manchester Metropolitan University
• Norwich University of the Arts
• University of Hertfordshire
• University of Portsmouth
• University of Staffordshire
• University of Surrey

 

IN-HOUSE RECRUITMENT & TALENT DEVELOPMENT

• Playground Games
• Rocket Science Group

 

LARGE STUDIO

• Dovetail Games
• EA Playdemic
• Flix Interactive
• Playground Games
• PlayStation Studios XDEV
• Steel City Interactive
• Sumo Digital
• Supermassive Games

 

LEGAL SERVICES SUPPLIER

• Eaton Smith LLP
• Fragomen LLP
• Lewis Silkin LLP
• Mishcon de Reya LLP
• Stevens & Bolton LLP
• Wiggin LLP

 

OUTSTANDING LEADERSHIP

• Ash Habib, CEO Steel City Interactive
• Ben Lavery, Tess Sanders-Smith, and Samantha Lester, Keywords Creative Marketing
• Gemma Brown and Rob O’Farrell, Co-CEOs, Dovetail Games
• Liz Prince MBE, Business Manager, Amiqus
• Rhea Loucas, CEO, PlanetPlay
• Sharon Baylay-Bell, Executive Chair, Testronic
• Stuart Muckley, CEO, Code Wizards Group

 

PUBLISHER

• Dovetail Games
• Secret Mode
• Slitherine
• Supermassive Games
• Wales Interactive

 

QA AND/OR LOCALISATION PROVIDER

• Quantic Lab
• Side
• Testronic

 

RECRUITMENT AGENCY

• Amiqus
• Datascope
• Top of the Game

 

SERVICES PROVIDER

• 1minus1
• Code Wizards Group
• Finstock Capital
• GG Insurance Services
• Maverick Media
• Multiplay, part of Rocket Science Group
• PitStop Productions
• Room 8 Group
• Side
• Testronic

SMALL STUDIO

• Ant Workshop
• Dlala Studios
• Perchang
• Rhino Rock Studios
• SFB Games
• Wales Interactive

 

TAX AND ACCOUNTANCY FIRM

• Affect Accountancy
• Price Bailey
• Plus Accounting

 

TECHNICAL INNOVATION

• Code Wizards Group
• Side

 

SPECIAL AWARDS:

 

GAME OF THE YEAR

Voted for by attendees of the TIGA Games Industry Awards 2026.

 

OUTSTANDING INDIVIDUAL OF THE YEAR

The winner will be announced during the ceremony.

Dr Richard Wilson OBE, CEO of TIGA, said:

“The TIGA Games Industry Awards 2026 shortlists provide a fantastic showcase for the creativity, technical expertise and entrepreneurial drive of the UK video games industry. Our finalists represent every part of this dynamic sector, from studios and publishers creating outstanding games to the educators developing future talent and the service providers whose expertise helps businesses to thrive.

“Being shortlisted is a significant achievement and reflects the talent, dedication and ambition of everyone involved. Congratulations to all our finalists. We look forward to bringing the industry together at Plaisterers’ Hall on November 18th for a memorable evening celebrating their success.

“I would also like to thank our sponsors for their invaluable support and for helping TIGA to recognise excellence across the UK games industry.”

The TIGA Games Industry Awards 2026 are sponsored by Abertay University, Eaton Smith, Lee & Thompson, Quantic Lab, Supermassive Games and University of Staffordshire (Silver Sponsors); Bournemouth University, Code Wizards, Flix Interactive, Lockwood Publishing, Playground Games, Plus Accounting, Price Bailey, Stevens & Bolton, Testronic and Wiggin LLP (Bronze Sponsors). SpecialEffect is the TIGA Games Industry Awards Charity Partner.