The Finalists for 2021

BEST PUBLISHER

Any company that has supported another developer in releasing a game on mobile devices during 2020, whether through publishing support, marketing, co-development or investment.

• Annapurna Interactive
• Kwalee
• MY.GAMES
• NetEase
• Netmarble
• Scopely
• Supersonic
  
• Tencent
• Tilting Point
• Zyngax

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 2020 or before, that have helped take a game to the next level and sustain a title’s life.

• Clash Royale
• Empires & Puzzles
• FarmVille 2: Tropic Escape (Mega Cruise)
• Hill Climb Racing 2
• Jurassic World Alive
• MARVEL Contest of Champions
• Sonic Forces
• Star Trek: Fleet Command
• Subway Surfers
• Summoners War: Sky Arena
• The Tribez

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.

• Alison by yellowHEAD
• AppsFlyer
• askblu.ai
• DeltaDNA / Unity
• Dive
• Game IQ by App Annie
• GameAnalytics
• GameRefinery by Vungle
• Sensor Tower
• Tilting Point Analytics Platform

BEST GAME ENGINE

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

• Buildbox
• Cocos Creator / Cocos2d-x
• Construct 3
• Gideros Mobile
• Pearl Abyss’s Proprietary Game Engine
• Roblox (LUA)
• Unity
• Unreal Engine

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.

• HUAWEI Ads Platform
• Ludo.ai
• M.A.D tronics underwater AR mobile headgear
• Niantic (Pokémon GO lockdown reworking)
  
• The Complex (Wales Interactive / Good Gate)
  
• Upland – A Virtual Property Trading Game
• WAM.app

GAME OF THE YEAR

This award recognises the best mobile game released last year based on creativity, innovation and success.
To be eligible for this award, games must have been given a full release from January 1st 2020 onwards.

• Alba: A Wildlife Adventure
• Among Us
• Bird Alone
• Dead Cells
• Garena Free Fire
• Genshin Impact
• Gumslinger
• Harry Potter: Puzzles & Spells
• Hitchhiker – A mystery game
• MARVEL Realm of Champions
• Northgard
• Pokémon GO [2020 lockdown reworking]
• Roundguard
• Shadow Fight Arena
• Songbringer
• Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic ll – The Sith Lords
• The First Tree
• The Pathless
• Through the Darkest of Times
• Warhammer Quest: Silver Tower

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.

• AdInMo
• Admix
• AudioMob
• Bidease
• Bidstack
• Facebook
• Luna Labs
  
• Tapjoy
• Unity Ads
• Zorka.Agency

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 (or received a significant and noteworthy expansion) during 2020.

• Alba: A Wildlife Adventure
• CSR Racing 2 (Elite Tuners expansion)
• Far: Lone Sails
• Genshin Impact
• Gumslinger
• Recontact London: Cyber Puzzle
• Shadow Fight Arena
• The BTS Universe Story
• The First Tree
• The Pathless

BEST INFLUENCER MARKETING AGENCY

Successfully connecting brands with their target audience in an age of increased digital noise is no mean feat. This new award recognises and celebrates the team that has managed its influencer outreach better than its competitors.

• Game Influencer
• Matchmade
• Opera Event
• PocketWhale
• Viral Nation
• Wehype
• WeQ
• Zorka.mobi

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.

• Anzu.io
• AppOnboard
• Bigabid
• Escape Team
• Game UI Database
• Gridly
• modl.ai
• PickFu
• TENTUPLAY
• Wappier

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 2020.

• Aconite
  
• Dreamfeel
  
• Drimia Interactive
  
• Innersloth
  
• MegaCrit
  
• MiniDragon
  
• Teatime Games
  
• Ustwo Games
  
• Wonderbelly Games
  
• Xigma Games
  

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.

• Azure PlayFab
• ChilliConnect / Unity
• GameSparks / AWS
• Google Cloud
• Gridly
• modl.ai
• Photon Engine
• Tenjin
• XtraLife

BEST PR/MARKETING TEAM

This award recognises the best third-party PR agency or internal marketing team that has created campaigns fueling the growth of games during 2020. This can be through any medium, including online, TV or other.

• Big Games Machine
• Bytro Labs
• Dimoso
• Kabam
• Scopely
• Swipe Right
• SYBO Games
  
• Tilting Point
• Tripledot Studios
• Zynga

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 during 2020, or for titles released before this date have received significant new content in the last year.

• Alba: A Wildlife Adventure
• Bird Alone
• Far: Lone Sails
• Hitchhiker – A mystery game
• Interrogation: Deceived
• Orwell: Keeping An Eye On You
• Recontact London: Cyber Puzzle
• The Pathless
• Through the Darkest of Times
• Unmemory
  

BEST QA & LOCALISATION SERVICE PROVIDER

This accolade awards companies that have supported mobile games over 2020 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
• Keywords Studios
  
• LocalizeDirect
• MoGi Group
• PTW
• Saudisoft
• Testronic
• Universally Speaking

BEST DEVELOPER

Any mobile games company with 11 or more staff that has released a game, or successfully grown an existing game, during 2020, as well as successfully expanded their business and made an impact on the industry through innovation, creativity and other initiatives.

• East Side Games
• Game Insight
• Gameloft
• Innersloth
  
• Jam City
• Kwalee
• miHoYo
  
• Niantic
• Pearl Abyss
• Tilting Point
• TiMi Studio Group

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.

• Aardvark Swift Recruitment
• Amber
• Amiqus
• Keywords Studios
• Luna Labs, an ironSource company
• Pollen VC
• PUGA Studios
• SuperScale

BEST GAMES INDUSTRY LAW FIRM

A brand new inclusion in this year’s line-up, and one that shines the light on the legal team with the games industry’s most effective, ace attorneys.

• Field Fisher
• Gamma Law
• Harbottle & Lewis
• IE Law Group
• Osborne Clarke
• Sheridans
• VERSUS.legal
• Wiggin LLP

INVESTOR OF THE YEAR

Another new category for 2021, which aims to showcase either an investor or investment within the mobile games industry that has played a vital role in the success and growth of a company.

• 1Up Ventures
• Agnitio Capital
• Bitkraft
• Galaxy Interactive
• Hiro Capital
• London Venture Partners
• Makers Fund
• MY.GAMES Venture Capital
• Play Ventures

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 new addition since 2020, this award is selected directly by the organisation committee of the Mobile Games Awards.

TO BE ANNOUNCED DURING THE AWARDS CEREMONY IN JULY.

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 DURING THE AWARDS CEREMONY IN JULY.

POCKET GAMER PEOPLE’S CHOICE

This is the only award nominated and voted for by consumers, and recognises the best new game that received a full release during 2020. This award was open for voting through PocketGamer.com throughout June 2021, 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.

• Alba: A Wildlife Adventure
• Aztec Ride
• Beyond a Steel Sky
• Clusterduck
• Crash Bandicoot: On the Run
• Crying Suns
• Dead by Daylight Mobile
• Dungeon Dogs – Idle RPG
• Genshin Impact
• Guardian Tales
• Gumslinger
• League of Legends: Wild Rift
• Root Board Game
• Roundguard
• Sid Meier’s Civilization VI
• Slay The Spire
• Solitaire Cruise Card Games: Classic Tripeaks Game
• SpongeBob: Krusty Cook-Off
• The Bonfire 2: Uncharted Shores
• The Pathless