Unity Awards 2021: The results are in

We recently announced the winners of this year’s annual Unity Awards across all categories – from top games and community Insiders to Asset Store and digital twin innovation. Here’s the video announcement in case you missed it at GDC.

Want to know what our winners had to say? Check out their speeches in this blog post or give their creations a try via the Steam pages linked below.

Whatever the vision for your game – simple or complex, with 2D or 3D visuals – a great gaming experience blends concept, innovation, and creativity into one stellar package.

Effective mobile games combine unique concepts, creative visuals, and intuitive controls, for delight designed to fit right in your pocket.

“Blip blop blip blop. Townscaper is a bloppy game. Houses are cute. I wanna thank my family for supporting me through this process.” – Oskar Stalberg, Raw Fury

All games have their own set of challenges, but this category looks at creators who grapple with unprecedented design dilemmas to forge the future of AR/VR games.

“We are thrilled that I Expect You To Die 2 won the Unity Award for best AR/VR game! Thank you to everyone who voted, and to everyone who contributed to IEYTD2 – from the development team and the amazing musicians and actors in the game to Unity. The players and the community, all secret agents at heart, inspired us to make this sequel. From Schell Games to all of you, thank you so much!” – Schell Games

Let’s take a moment to get excited about some of the remarkable projects currently in development. Looking at 2022 and beyond, this is one game that we can’t wait to play.

“We’re honored that Hollow Knight: Silksong won the 2021 Unity Award for the most anticipated game, and hugely appreciate all of the fans who support us as we work on the game. Thank you so much. We’re looking forward to the day we can share the game with you all. It can’t be too much longer, surely!” – Team Cherry

Whether you’re playing online with strangers around the world or in-person with friends on your couch, multiplayer games bring people together. These dynamic experiences are tailored to help us connect.

“Thanks to everyone who voted for me and Crab Game. Really makes me feel like we live in a society. Big shoutout to all the other entries as well, all-around awesome entertainers and multiplayer games! Also shoutout to my mom.” – Dani

Whether AR, VR, games across genres with a storytelling or solutions focus, a strong social impact experience aligns concept and creativity with UN Sustainable Development Goals to create a powerful project.

“We’re honored that Baba Yaga has received the social impact award. Led by Director Eric Darnell, it has always been our team’s vision to explore humanity’s precarious relationship with nature through the intersection of art and innovation with our most creatively ambitious storytelling endeavor to date. Special mention goes to our inspiring all-female cast – Executive Producer Jennifer Hudson, Kate Winslet, Daisy Ridley, and Glenn Close – as well as Codirector Mathias Chelebourg, and our passionate partners at the United Nations Act Now campaign, Conservation International, Meta/Oculus, and Unity.” – Baobab Studios

Real-time technology lets artists and agencies unleash their creative freedom to produce immersive experiences that make us think and feel – that entertain and inspire us.

“We’re over the moon that Namoo received the Unity Award for best animated short and so proud of our incredibly talented team. Special mention goes to Director Erick Oh, Executive Producer John Cho, and partners at both Meta/Oculus and Unity. The north star for the film came from a deeply personal place for Erick, but it was created to honor all of those who came before us with the hope that everyone who experiences it can find a part of themselves in it – thank you for this award!” – Baobab Studios

This category celebrates some of the fantastic projects developed by creators who are studying at an educational institution – and shaping the future ahead.

“First, we’d like to thank DigiPen and all of the amazing faculty for supporting us and guiding us as we made Metamorphos. Specifically, we’d like to thank Alain Schneuwly, Brigitte Samson, Chris Onorati, Christopher Orth, and Richard Rowan.

Metamorphos is the embodiment of the skills we’ve gained and the friendships we’ve made at DigiPen. 26 students worked on this project over its four-semester development cycle, taking many of us from our halfway point at DigiPen through to our graduation. We’ve poured in our love for games to make Metamorphos, and are so thankful we’ve been able to share that with such a large audience. We’re honored to be nominated among such amazing works that showcase an incredible dedication to crafting compelling experiences. It’s absolutely humbling to be awarded best student project by Unity, and we couldn’t be more grateful.” – DigiPen

Devlogs are deep dives into the development of a single project with behind-the-scenes profiles that are sure to inspire.

“I’ve spent the last seven years talking about game design on YouTube, so it was about time I gave it a go myself. I’m absolutely delighted that people have been enjoying my gamedev journey so far, and I’m thrilled to receive this award. Unity has proven to be an awesome tool for this series: It’s easy to learn, super powerful, and full of useful features. I’m happy to use it, and recommend it.” – Mark Brown

A good tutorial engages and challenges you to see things differently. These creators strive to make you learn and laugh at the same time.

“Thanks to everyone who voted for me and Crab Game. Really makes me feel like we live in a society. Big shoutout to all the other entries as well, all-around awesome entertainers and multiplayer games! Also shoutout to my mom.” – Dani

Hundreds of extraordinary Unity content creators produce valuable videos for hobbyists and professionals to sharpen their skills.

“Thank you to Unity for this awesome award and thank you to everyone who voted! I’m very happy that people enjoy my videos and have learned a lot from them. I started making videos because I enjoy learning things and wanted to share my knowledge with others. It’s always great when I see a comment saying my videos helped them start their game development journey. Gamedev in Unity just gets more and more awesome, so stay tuned for many more tutorial videos! Thanks for watching!” – Code Monkey

By livestreaming their development in Unity, these creators share deep insight that empowers others to enhance their own capabilities.

“Thank you Unity for the award and for the great tools you provide. Thank you to my family and my offline friends who have been so understanding of my unusual lifestyle. And of course, thank you so much to my community who has been along for the two-year journey making STRAIN. You are all incredible people. Stay cool. :)” – Lana Lux

Creators in AEC are using real-time 3D in innovative and impactful ways – from design collaboration and data visualization to interactive training and virtual showrooms.

“We want to thank the Unity community for this exciting award. Thanks to our Losci team for their focus and commitment to changing the way strategic space planning is done, enabling a major shift from office-centric to human-centric design across all stages of the design, engineering, and construction lifecycle. And a big thanks to Unity for making this possible by enabling us to build in your powerful Unity environment with amazing VR and behavioral analytics.” – Losci

Designing and engineering a vehicle in VR, training complex machinery, and reimagining in-person experiences: These are the projects revolutionizing industries with real-time 3D.

“We would like to thank you for choosing Fetal Heart VR and believing in our mission. We hope that with Fetal Heart VR – and thanks to the capabilities of VR, Meta Quest, and Unity, we will be able to democratize access to ultrasound training and improve the congenital heart detection during pregnancy, which clinically still remains at a very low level worldwide.” – MWU Software

No matter the size or experience of your team, this publisher’s time-saving tools and art packs can empower you to achieve your creative vision.

“At Blink, we pride ourselves on helping independent developers succeed by providing them with innovative tools and high-quality art. We know that even with the excellent products available in the store nowadays, mixing assets from different publishers is often a difficult task. At Blink Art, we create asset types from all categories that combine seamlessly together. I am very grateful for all the amazing individuals part of our team and community, none of this would have been possible without you. This award is truly yours.” – Thomas Vuilliomenet, Founder & CEO of Blink

The Asset Store brings together our community and extends Unity’s capabilities with tools built to save you time and push performance to the next level.

“From day one, our mission with RPG Builder has been to allow everyone to create their dream game without ever writing a single line of code. Winning this award really makes us feel like we’ve succeeded with that goal! We want to thank everyone who voted and supported us throughout the year, this award inspires us to work even harder in the years to come!” – Thomas Vuilliomenet, Founder & CEO of Blink

By doing some of the heavy lifting, these assets stand out for their ability to help artists of all backgrounds fulfill their creative vision.

“I am extremely honored by this award. Feel is the project I’m the most passionate about, and it means a lot to me that it resonates with so many people. I’d like to thank all my users for their support, I’m humbled and appreciative. I’ll continue my efforts to help bring juice to every game out there in a fun and easy way!” – More Mountains

Whether you’re creating massive modular environments, cool visual effects, or fun and exciting characters, these asset packs will bring your ideas to life.

“Wow this is fantastic news for everyone at Synty Studios. It’s a huge honor to get recognition for our hard work from our peers, and we gladly accept this award.

POLYGON – Dungeon Realms is the much anticipated sequel to our popular POLYGON – Dungeons pack. There was a lot of drive from the team to go above and beyond what we had done previously and the team brought its best when it came to the design of the world. We want to specifically thank the art team who worked on Dungeon Realms including Justin, Jason, Andrew, Cameron, and Mike for their hard work; it wouldn’t have been possible without the teamwork and passion each of you have for your craft. 

Synty Studios prides itself on creating artwork for developers around the world, and we love seeing the cool stuff that gets created with our assets. It really is special to be a part of such an awesome community. Again thank you for this award.” – Synty Studios

Finally, we want to thank all of you in the community who joined us in celebrating and voting for these talented Unity creators! Be sure to join us again next year for an even bigger celebration.