The Allan Labor Government is backing local games studios to take their creations to the next level, with the winner of the inaugural Melbourne International Games Week Award announced at the 2023 Australian Games Developer Awards (AGDAs).
Minister for Creative Industries Colin Brooks celebrated the winner O'Saurus Studios, an emerging Victorian games studio - propelling the future of these local designers.
The studio will receive a six-month mentorship facilitated by Creative Victoria which features professional networking opportunities, business mentoring, introductions to investment connections and PR support.
Established in 2021 and based at ACMI's co working space ACMI X, O'Saurus was founded by Maddy Clute, a former software engineer whose passion for storytelling and art led her into games. The studio is currently working on its debut game, Call of the Golden Valley, a first-person mystery game set in Victoria's high country.
The MIGW award celebrates Victoria's reputation as the nation's home of digital games. It was created to support Victorian digital games studios that are less than five years old, which have recently released a game or have a game in development.
Among the Victorian winners were PlaySide Studios, which was named Studio of the Year, and Summerfall Studios, which took out the Game of the Year, Excellence in Accessibility and Excellence in Music awards for its game Stray Gods.
The annual AGDAs are a national event celebrating outstanding games and individual achievements by Australian game developers. This year's awards are part of the biggest-ever Melbourne International Games Week.
As part of this year's supersized Games Week program the AGDAs are partnering with ACMI from 6-8 October to present a showcase of Australia's best games for fans to try out and vote for the coveted ACMI Audience Award.
The Games Week program also includes the first ever Big Games Night Out, a free public event taking place tonight that will transform Fed Square into a games wonderland. From 6-8 October, the 10th PAX AUS will see tens of thousands of games fans converge at Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre.
Find out more about O'Saurus Studios at osaurusstudios.com. Melbourne International Games Week runs until Sunday 8 October. See what's on at gamesweek.melbourne
As stated by Minister for Creative Industries Colin Brooks
"Congratulations to the team at O'Saurus Studios. This award will open doors and provide priceless support as they continue to grow their games business and hopefully join the ranks of other Victorian studios finding global success."
"Victoria has a strong and growing games industry and we are proud to back local studios though initiatives like this award, Melbourne International Games Week, our new $15m games rebate and VicScreen programs."
As stated by O'Saurus Studios Founder and Creative Director Maddy Clute
"We are thrilled at O'Saurus Studios to receive this award. It's a tremendous honour and we're so excited to work with Creative Victoria over the coming months."
