NEWS: PIETRO RIGHI RIVA AND PAOLO TAJÉ ARE AMONG THE WINNERS OF THE 2021 ITALIAN VIDEO GAME AWARDS

Fron left to right: Paolo Tajé, Nicolò Tedeschi and Pietro Righi Riva (Photo: Courtesy of Santa Ragione)

On July 1 2021, the Italian Interactive Digital Entertainment Association hosted the annual Italian Video Games Awards (IVGA). The event - which took place at the Museum of Ancient Ships in Pisa - was presented by RaiNews 24’s Dario Marchetti - who appeared in-person in Tuscany - and British journalist Aoife Wilson, live from the United Kingdom. Milan-based independent studio Santa Ragione (Pietro Righi Riva, Paolo Tajé and Nicolò Tedeschi) received the Outstanding Italian Company award, while Julian Palacios, who gave an incredible GAME TALK on November 11 2020, won several awards, including Best Italian Game for his poetic Promesa. Lorenzo Redaelli’s Milky Way Prince - The Vampire Star - a visual novel entirely developed during the second edition of the Master of Art of Game Design at IULM University and later published by Santa Ragione to wide acclaim - was also nominated in the Best Debut Game category. Funded in 2010, Santa Ragione is currently developing the eagerly awaited horror game Saturnalia. The Italian Video Game Awards are part of First Playable, Italy’s leading B2B event about video games which took place on July 1-2 2021. Above all, the IVGA are a celebration of Italian game design: the nominations exemplify the ingenuity and creativity of Italian game designers. There were five categories overall (see below), and the shortlists were selected by an international panel of judges, who volunteered their time to take part in the selection process.

IVGA 2021 Winners:

Best Italian Game - Promesa - Eremo (watch Julian’s GAME TALK here)
Best Debut Game - Beyond Your Window - Team SolEtude
Best Innovation - Griefhelm - Johnny Dale Lonack
Outstanding Italian Company - Santa Ragione
Outstanding Individual Contribution - Mauro Fanelli (Mixed Bag)
 
The judges recognized Santa Ragione as an Outstanding Italian Company for its groundbreaking visual and interactive design. They also celebrated the studio’s diverse portfolio which includes titles such as Fotonica, Wheel’s of Aurelia, and MirrorMoon EP, among others. The three person team - Pietro Righi Riva, Paolo Tajé and Nicolò Tedeschi - are internationally known for their unique, experimental approach to gaming. Righi Riva and Tajé teach GAME PRODUCTION and GAME STUDIO respectively in the M.A. in Game Design at IULM University.
 
Thalita Malago, Director General of IIDEA congratulated both nominees and winners: “We’re happy for all the creative talent who were nominated and won awards at the 2021 IVGAs. We know that the competition was extremely high and that the judges commented that it was hard to pick winners because there was so much variety, talent and ingenuity expressed by Italian game development this year. To stand out in such a competitive field, and against the additional challenges posed by the ongoing health emergency, is an incredible achievement.”
 
The organization of the IVGA ceremony and panel of jurors follows the recent publication of the fifth biennial Italian Census by IIDEA and IDG Consulting. The census data revealed an extremely young, buoyant, and upbeat sector, which kept growing in 2020 despite the global pandemic. The overwhelming majority of games nominated for the five categories this year were artistic, independent games developed by small studios.

Full list of nominees:

Best Italian Game
A Painter’s Tale: Curon 1950 - Monkeys Tales Studios
Beyond Your Window - Team SolEtude
Griefhelm - Johnny Dale Lonack
Promesa - Eremo
Redout: Space Assault - 34BigThings

Best Debut Game
Beyond Your Window - Team SolEtude
Griefhelm - Johnny Dale Lonack
Milky Way Prince - The Vampire Star - Eyeguys
Promesa - Eremo
Willy Morgan and the Curse of Bone Town - Imaginary Labs

Best Innovation
A Painter’s Tale: Curon 1950 - Monkeys Tales Studios
Change Game - Melazeta
Fly Punch Boom! - Jollypunch Games
Griefhelm - Johnny Dale Lonack
Promesa - Eremo

The winners of the two additional categories - Outstanding Italian Company and Outstanding Individual Contribution were announced during the ceremony without lists of nominees.

Full list of jurors:

Chris Dring: Head of B2B at ReedPop, which covers GamesIndustry.biz, B2B events at PAX and EGX, plus other special projects.
Alex Hutchinson: Creative Director responsible for Journey to the Savage Planet, Far Cry 4, Assassin's Creed 3, Spore, Sims 2 and more.
Rami Ismail: Dutch-Egyptian independent video game developer
Ryan Lambie: Editor, Wireframe Magazine
Eugene Maleev: Business Head at Xsolla
Liana Ruppert: Editor, Game Informer
Chris Schilling: Deputy Editor, Edge Magazine

Watch the full ceremony here

Errata corrige: originally the article erroneously stated that Promesa won the Debut Game of the Year. Although nominated, the prize went to Beyond Your Window by Team SolEtude. Promesa received three nominations overall.