Experience The 2017 Bit Awards for the first time (or again) on Youtube.
We aimed to make this year’s Bit Awards bigger, better and more personal than ever. And that’s exactly what we did. Accompanied by the jazz stylings of The Bits band, host Ruffin Prentiss brought class and panache to the boldest Bit Awards yet. We turned the theater into an interactive game show with Colleen Macklin, the Adventure Society, and Quiplash. Game Changer Honoree, Warren Spector, inspired us to dream bigger. Our Rising Pixel Award Winners were presented their surprise wins with touching tributes from their colleagues and loved ones. And we featured 14 trailers, game and release date premieres across the pre-show and ceremony.
Most importantly, the talented developers in our community and their standout games were the real stars of the night. And below is a full roundup of everything that happened:
2017 GAME CHANGER
Presented by Ted Price
Warren Spector, OtherSide Entertainment
During his keynote address for Game Changer Honoree, Warren Spector reminded all the developers in attendance to persist in their pursuit of new and original games. He urged the crowd to “not settle” and dream up more immersive and engaging games. He left us inspired and his words perfectly matched the tone of the ceremony as Bit Awards aimed to go bigger than ever for its third year.
And here are your winners of the night…
BEST STUDENT GAME
Presented by Dan Butchko
Sumer by Studio Wumpus
BEST XR GAME
Presented by Pete Vigeant
Panoptic by Team Panoptes
BEST STYLE
Presented by Sherri Smith
Yi and the Thousand Moons by David Su
PLAYER’S CHOICE AWARD
Presented by Lucie Pohl
The Ultimate Clap Back, Mot & Dot LLC
TABLETOP GAME OF THE YEAR
Presented by Colleen Macklin
University of Dope by Vance Hall LLC
MOBILE GAME OF THE YEAR
Presented by Dalton Gray
Calculator: The Game by Simple Machine
PC/CONSOLE GAME OF THE YEAR
Presented by Warren Spector
Perception by The Deep End Games
RISING PIXEL – BOSTON
Presented by Ruffin Prentiss
Ryan Canuel, Petricore, Inc.
RISING PIXEL – SAN FRANCISCO
Presented by Chetan Surpur
Sorob Raissi, Spreadshot Studios
RISING PIXEL – NEW YORK CITY
Presented by Ruffin Prentiss
MaryMartha Ford-Dieng, The Ultimate Clap Back
The Performances
The Bits band
The Bits band led by Zac Zinger, composer a composer on Street Fighter V, kicked off the night with an impressive amount of Jazz-infused themes from Mario Kart to Starcraft to Persona 4. He and his band scored the night with video game themes all night long, including a musical tribute to Game Changer Warren Spector.
David Su, Dominique Star, and Laila Smith
Boston developer David Su brought his video game musical: Yi and the Thousand Moons to life on the main stage with a one-of-a-kind performance featuring vocalists Dominique Star and Laila Smith.
The Premieres
- Next Up Hero by Digital Continue revealed its Early Access release date as January 11th, 2018.
- SpiritSphere DX by Eendhoorn Studios (developer) and Fabraz (publisher), made its playable debut at the Bit Awards pre-show arcade.
- Set sail in the Treasure Adventure World by Robit Games in Q1 2018.
- Burgal’s Bounty coming out on Android and iOS to be released on February 15th, 2018.
- Lamplight City by Grundislav Games premiered its’ trailer. Track your partner’s killer in this new detective adventure game.
- Simple Machine debuted a new mobile game based on our favorite social platforms, Tweetz.
- A new trailer for rhythm game Sound Sky by HIGHKEY Games featured designing drumbeats and creating songs to share with the world.
- LIONPLEX debuted their trailer for 16-bit styled arcade brawler, Neon Krieger Yamato.
- Charming 2.5D side-scrolling platformer, Ayo the Clown, by Cloud M1 has announced it’s 2018 release.
- Mystery shrouded this space survival game in the teaser for Never Go Home by Goodnight Games.
- Cubism announced it’s coming out in 2018. A minimalistic yet challenging VR puzzle game.
- Flint Games revealed their new trailer for the successor of Blitz Keep, Blitz Keep Unleashed.
- Josh Craig and Benjamin Poynter of Looking Glass unveiled a new trailer for their experimental, planetary skating game, Doors to the City.
- Eos Interactive shared a release date for Q1 2018 for their local competitive hotseat VR game, The Take.
- The Magic Masks trailer debuted a world in which players master mask abilities to solve dozens of challenging puzzles.
The Moments
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