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Press release:
A highlight of the annual Nordic Game conference, this year’s edition of the Nordic Game Awards takes place in the Unreal Theatre, the main auditorium of Slagthuset, on Thursday, 18 May at 18:00.

Here are the games nominated for the 2017 Nordic Game Awards:

Nordic Game of the Year – Small Screen
Nordic studios make great games in all formats, and mobile platforms in particular have seen many stellar Nordic titles. Some of the latest standouts have been nominated for the “Nordic GotY – Small Screen” award, including Supercell’s smash hit “Clash Royale”.

“Clapper”, Bridgeside Interactive (SE)
“Clash Royale”, Supercell (FI)
“Mekorama”, Martin Magni (SE)
“Space Marshals 2”, Pixelbite Games (SE)
“Twofold Inc.”, Grapefrukt Games (SE)

Nordic Game of the Year
Nordic GotY – the most prestigious award of the show and highpoint of the 2017 Nordic Game Awards. A fun fact is that all of the nominated studios have previously taken the stage at Nordic Game. This year, Playdead opens NG17 with an “insider” tech talk about their multiple award-winning title “INSIDE” (here), veteran hit-maker IO Interactive will delve into the AI of “Hitman” (here), Massive Entertainment CEO David Polfeldt joins legendary Japanese game designer Fumito Ueda in a much anticipated “fireside chat” (here), while both EA DICE and “Owlboy” creator Jo-Remi Madsen have spoken at past Nordic Game conferences.

“Battlefield 1”, EA DICE (SE)
“Clash Royale”, Supercell (FI)
“Hitman”, IO Interactive (DK)
“INSIDE”, Playdead (DK)
“Owlboy”, D-Pad Studio (NO)
“Tom Clancy’s The Division”, Massive Entertainment (SE)

Best Audio nominees
As with all the categories, the competition here is fierce. The “Battlefield” series is well-known for its striking audio, and the latest chapter is no exception, being nominated for several awards already. This is also the case for Playdead and their award-winning title “INSIDE” – and with three other very strong contenders, it’s looking like a tough decision for the jury:

“Battlefield 1”, EA DICE (SE)
“GoNNER”, Art in Heart (SE)
“Hitman”, IO Interactive (DK)
“INSIDE”, Playdead (DK)
“Owlboy”, D-Pad Studio (NO)

Best Fun for Everyone nominees
A special award for the best children’s, family, social or casual game that’s suitable (and enjoyable) for a wide range of people and ages. The headliners in this category include “Clapper”, which took the “Indie Sensation Award” at NG16, as well as the latest “Salon” release from veterans at Toca Boca and the crazy sports game “Stikbold! A Dodgeball Adventure”:
“Clapper”, Bridgeside Interactive (SE)
“Fuzzy House”, Fuzzy House (DK)
“Mussila: Musical Monster Adventure”, Rosamosi (IS)
“Stikbold! A Dodgeball Adventure”, Game Swing (DK)
“Toca Hair Salon 3”, Toca Boca (SE)

Best Debut nominees
The “Best Debut” award goes to a Nordic studio that has released its first game in 2016, not counting beta or early access. Five very talented and promising studios are competing in this category, among them Antagonist with “Through the Woods”, a chilling third-person psychological horror game set in a forest on Norway’s western coast.

“Clapper”, Bridgeside Interactive (SE)
“GoNNER”, Art in Heart (SE)
“Manual Samuel”, Perfectly Paranormal (NO)
“Stikbold! A Dodgeball Adventure”, Game Swing (DK)
“Through the Woods”, Antagonist (NO)

Best Technology nominees
Nordic games are famous for many reasons, not least for their high-tech polish. Just look at some of the titles in the running for this year’s “Best Technology” award: breath-taking VR design in “EVE Valkyrie”, multiplayer innovation in “Tom Clancy’s The Division” and ground-breaking AI programming in “Hitman”. Every nominated game has a very good reason to be here.

“Battlefield 1”, EA DICE (SE)
“EVE Valkyrie”, CCP (IS)
“Hitman”, IO Interactive (DK)
“INSIDE”, Playdead (DK)
”Tom Clancy’s The Division”, Massive Entertainment (SE)

Best Game Design nominees
The nominees for “Best Game Design” include five of the past year’s most successful and critically acclaimed Nordic games. Competing with the four AAA heavy hitters on the list is “Owlboy”, a slick homage to old-school 2D adventures that took Norwegian developer D-Pad Studio eight years to complete.

“Battlefield 1”, EA DICE (SE)
“Hitman”, IO Interactive (DK)
“INSIDE”, Playdead (DK)
“Owlboy”, D-Pad Studio (NO)
“Tom Clancy’s The Division”, Massive Entertainment (SE)

Best Art nominees
Games in this category are nominated for their high level of artistic achievement. Headliners this year are “Battlefield 1” and “INSIDE”, but look out for the “dark horses” – not least of all the beautiful, “yarn-made” art of “Unravel”.

“Battlefield 1”, EA DICE (SE)
“GoNNER”, Art in Heart (SE)
“INSIDE”, Playdead (DK)
“Owlboy”, D-Pad Studio (NO)
“Unravel”, Coldwood Interactive (SE)

Congratulations to all the nominees for the 2017 Nordic Game Awards. See you at the show!

About the Nordic Game Awards
The Nordic Game Awards is organised by the Nordic Game Institute in cooperation with Nordic Game Resources and the Nordic Game event team.

The Nordic Game Institute consists of the following game producer associations in the region: Dataspelsbranschen (SE), Icelandic Gaming Industry (IS), Neogames (FI), Spillprodusentforeningen (NO) and Producentforeningen (DK).

The organisers appoint the NGA jury, this year with the following members: Bjarki Thor Jónsson (Iceland), Juho Kuorikoski (Finland), Rune Fjell Olsen (Norway), Niklas Sintorn (Sweden) and Astrid Mie Refstrup (Denmark).

About the Nordic Game conference
Nordic Game is the leading games conference in Europe, and 2017 is its fourteenth year. Gathering over 2,000 games industry professionals in Malmö annually, Nordic Game is the one and only “home turf” meeting place for the highly successful game developers of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.
Learn more about Nordic Game 2017, 17-19 May at Slagthuset in Malmö, Sweden at conf.nordicgame.com.

Jonas “O.J” Ek
The Gaming Ground
Twitter: @TheGamingGround