First Minister to open Scottish game awards

First Minister to open Scottish game awards

First Minister Humza Yousaf will open the second edition of the Scottish Games Awards. 

After its launch last year, the ceremony will take place in November at Platform in Glasgow as part of the Scottish Games Week. 

Judges have also been announced, with the list featuring from top Scottish game industry stakeholders to an MSP. 

Currently, the panel includes Brian Baird, Technical Director at Bethesda – creator of popular games such as the Fallout series – as well as notable sector journalists such as The Guardian’s Games editor, Keza McDonald. 

Brian Baglow, director of Scottish Games Week, said: “We could not be happier to welcome Scotland’s First Minister to open this year’s ceremony.” 

“Scotland has a global reputation when it comes to games, but too often the conversation gets stuck on past success.” 

Also returning as chair of the panel is author Chris Scullion, who recently released the fifth book of his video game encyclopaedia series – The N64 Encyclopaedia. 

He said: “The inaugural Scottish Games Awards last year was a fantastic way to raise awareness of some of the most talented game developers in Scotland. 

“I'm delighted to be returning to chair the judging panel for this year's awards and have no doubt the calibre of entries will be just as impressive.” 

The panel will select winners from 15 categories, rewarding the best of Scotland's gaming ecosystem over the past year. 

“I’m very grateful to Chris and all of the judges for taking part in this year’s competition. I know they’ll have a tough job picking out winners from the amazing entries we’re receiving, but there are some incredible games in there, so it should be a lot of fun too.” 

Nominations for the awards will close this Friday, with everyone within the industry welcome to put their name forward. 

Last year’s winners included the videogame Cloudpunk, which took home with three awards.