The finalists for 2020

GAME OF THE YEAR

This award recognises the best mobile game released over the last year based on creativity, innovation and success.
To be eligible for this award, games must have been given a full release from October 1st 2018 onwards.

• Bad North
• Call Of Duty: Mobile
• Dungeon Faster
• Elder Scrolls: Blades
• Grindstone
• Manifold Garden
• Mutazione
• Neo Cab
• Old School RuneScape
• Pokémon Masters
• Raid: Shadow Legends
• Rumble Stars
• Sayonara Wild Hearts
• Sky: Children of the Light
• Star Trek Fleet Command

BEST DEVELOPER

Any mobile games company with 11 or more staff that has released a game, or successfully grown an existing game, during the last year, as well as successfully expanded their business and made an impact on the industry through innovation, creativity and other initiatives.

• DeNA
• East Side Games
• Feral Interactive
• HARDlight
• Mediatonic Games
• Niantic
• Plarium Global
• PlayRix
• Simogo
• thatgamecompany
• Timi Studios
• ustwo games

BEST INDIE DEVELOPER

This accolade recognises the achievements of a team of up to 10 developers that have released a game, or successfully grown an existing game, during the last year.

• Agens
• Ant Workshop
• Airraport
• Crescent Moon Games
• Hidden Layer
• Italic Pig
• Noodlecake Studios
• Starberry Games
• Stave Studios
• ThroughLine Games
• Thoughtfish
• Triband

BEST PUBLISHER

Any company that has supported another developer in releasing a game on mobile devices during the last year, whether through publishing support, marketing, co-development or investment.

• AppLovin – Lion Studios
• BoomBit Games
• Gismart
• HandyGames
• Kwalee
• Netmarble
• Playdigious
• Rogue Games
• Scopely
• Tamatem
• Tilting Point
• Voodoo

BEST GAME ENGINE

This award is open to third-party tech companies that provide game engines that help power mobile games development.

• Black Desert
• Buildbox
• Cocos Creator
• Cocos2d-x
• Construct 3
• Gideros Mobile
• Unity
• Unreal Engine

BEST TOOLS PROVIDER

This award is open to any company providing tools for developers to help make games for mobile platforms. This does not include game engines.

• AppOnboard Studio
• Articy Software
• COALA
• Game of Whales
• Nekki
• QUASU.io
• Simpool
• Wappier

BEST ADVERTISING & UA

This accolade is for companies that support the ecosystem through enabling user acquisition or monetisation through advertising and are helping to drive this fast-growing business in games and developers to acquire more users.

• AdTiming
• Anzu.io
• Bidease
• Chartboost
• Facebook
• Fyber
• Google
• ironSource
• Minimob
• MoPub by Twitter

BEST MARKETING TEAM

This award recognises the best internal or third-party marketing team that has created campaigns fueling the growth of games over the last year. This can be through any medium, including online, TV or other.

• Imperia Online JSC
• It’s Always Sunny: The Gang Goes Mobile [East Side Games]
• Tony Hawk’s Skate Jam [Maple Media]
• Mattel Digital Games & Creative Mobile Marketing Team
• Outplay Entertainment
• Plarium Global
• Rovio Entertainment
• Star Trek Fleet Command, Asia Pacific [Scopely]
• Tamatem
• Tilting Point
• Wooga
• Zynga

BEST ANALYTICS/DATA TOOL

Any company that supports developers and publishers develop their games and run marketing campaigns through analytics tools and/or providing data on market performance.

• App Annie
• App Ape
• AppsFlyer
• deltaDNA
• GameAnalytics
• GameRefinery Game Intelligence / Market Intelligence
• Ogury
• Reflection
• SensorTower
• SOOMLA

BEST QA & LOCALISATION SERVICE PROVIDER

This accolade awards companies that have supported mobile games over the last year in the areas of quality assurance and localisation, ensuring that both new releases and updates go live with as few problems as possible and are localised appropriately for target markets.

• Amber Studio
• GameScribes
• LocalizeDirect
• MoGi
• Tamatem
• Testronic
• Universally Speaking

BEST INNOVATION

Any developer, or technology company that is pushing the boundaries of what’s possible on mobile devices through a new technology, be it hardware or software. This can be an innovative tool or unique use of technology that benefits the industry as a whole.

• Apple Arcade
• askblu.ai
• Buildbox Software
• Cascadeur
• Simpool
• Lab Cave Ad Mediation Analytic Platform

BEST GAAS TOOLS & TECH

This award recognises the companies that are supporting live games on the market through back-end services to ensure game servers run smoothly and help developers implement special online features.

• ChilliConnect
• GameSparks/AWS
• Google Cloud
• Photon Quantum
• PlayFab
• Tenjin
• XtraLife

BEST RECRUITMENT AGENCY

Any recruitment agency that over the last year has supported mobile game companies in finding and employing the best staff to develop new games, create new tools or offer key services.

• Aardvark
• Amiqus
• Datascope
• Games Factory Talents
• OPM Response

BEST AUDIO/VISUAL ACCOMPLISHMENT

This accolade is for any game pushing the boundaries of the medium through audio and/or visual accomplishments. To be eligible for this award, games must have been given a full release from October 1st 2018 onwards.

• Alien: Blackout
• Assemble With Care
• Black Desert Mobile
• Elder Scrolls: Blades
• Harry Potter: Wizards Unite
• Manifold Garden
• Monomals
• Ordia
• Raid: Shadow Legends
• Sayonara Wild Hearts
• Sky: Children of the Light
• The Gardens Between

BEST STORYTELLING

This award recognises games that show stellar writing and narrative design. To be eligible for this award, games must have been given a full release from October 1st 2018, or for titles released before this date have received significant new content in the last year.

• Assemble With Care
• Captain We Have a Problem
• Dear Esther
• Forgotton Anne
• Inmost
• Mutazione
• Neo Cab
• Six Ages
• Telling Lies
• The Stillness of the Wind

BEST LIVE OPS

This award recognises the impact of significant updates, in-game events or excellent community management over the last year for games released in 2019 or before, that have helped take a game to the next level and sustain a title’s life.

• Asphalt 9: Legends
• Avakin Life
• Empires & Puzzles
• June’s Journey: Hidden Objects
• MARVEL Strike Force
• Merge Dragons!
• Old School RuneScape
• Pokémon GO
• Tanks a Lot!
• VIP Baloot
• Warhammer: Chaos & Conquest
• Yahtzee With Buddies

BEST SERVICE PROVIDER

This award is for any third-party service provider or outsourcer that supports developers in making games, whether through art, audio, trailers, UX, or other services.

• Anzu.io
• Bidease
• Braavo
• Dimoso
• Lab Cave
• Simpool
• Skillz
• Starloop Studios
• SuperScale
• yellowHEAD’s Creative Services

BEST MOBILE ESPORT

This award recognises and celebrates the most impressively implemented and strategically sustained mobile esport experience of the past 12 months.

• Arena of Valour / Honor of Kings
• Asphalt 9: Legends
• Clash of Clans
• Clash Royale
• Free Fire
• Guns of Boom
• Mobile Legends: Bang Bang
• PUBG Mobile
• Summoners War
• World of Tanks Blitz

BEST PARTY GAMING

A brand new addition for 2020, this award sets out to recognise the title able to deliver the most socially enthralling offline multiplayer – that’s local, same room, pass-the-controller – gaming experience of the past year.

• Hogwash
• Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes
• Pac-Man Party Royale
• Raiders of the North Sea
• Too Many Cooks
• Zombicide: Tactics & Shotguns

RISING STAR

This special award recognises a person from any corner of the globe who has demonstrated a considerable amount of success, influence, and impact despite their relatively recent arrival within the mobile games industry.

A shiny new addition for 2020, the Rising Star Award is selected directly by the organisation committee of the Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards..

TO BE ANNOUNCED IN JANUARY.

MOBILE LEGEND

This special lifetime achievement award recognises a person from anywhere in the world who has achieved a considerable amount of success in their career and has acted as a pioneer in the mobile games space.

The Mobile Legend is a special award to recognise an outstanding contribution to the mobile games industry selected directly by the organisation committee of the Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards.

TO BE ANNOUNCED IN JANUARY.

POCKET GAMER PEOPLE’S CHOICE

This is the only award voted for by consumers and recognises the best new game that received a full release during the last year. This award was open for voting through PocketGamer.com, with the winner to be revealed on the night of the ceremony.

The People’s Choice Award is shortlisted by the expert journalists at Pocket Gamer following readers’ submissions, and voted for directly by the games playing public directly on www.pocketgamer.com – this year’s finalists can be found below.

• Assemble with Care
• Bad North
• Blue
• Brawl Stars
• Call Of Duty: Mobile
• Dungeon Faster
• Grindstone
• Manifold Garden
• Mutazione
• Neo Cab
• Oceanhorn 2: Knights of the Lost Realm
• OCO
• Pokémon Masters
• Rumble Stars
• Sayonara Wild Hearts
• Second Galaxy
• Sky: Children of the Light
• Tangle Tower
• Void Tyrant
• What The Golf?