Digital Dragons 2023 took place on 15th-16th May, at the ICE Kraków Congress Centre in Kraków, Poland. One of the biggest business to business conferences in Europe, this year’s event attracted over 2,300 guests from across the gaming sector. With VIP visits to respected locations such as the Wieliczka Salt Mine and Wawel Royal Castle, Digital Dragons celebrates not just the best of the Polish games industry, but also the best of Poland.
Digital Dragons Awards
As well as speeches from industry professionals, a showcase of indie games and the announcement of Feardemic’s Fearfest, the annual conference also holds their Digital Dragons Awards, the prestigious awards ceremony which celebrates Polish games. This years award ceremony was hosted by Radosław Nałęcz and Tadeusz Zieliński, who also co-host talkshow Faux Paux on Polsat Games, alongside Head of Digital Dragons, Anna Krampus-Sepielak. Music for the gala was performed by Kraków Streetband.
Categories and Winners
The “Special Recognition Award” was awarded to Łukasz Hacura, founder of Anshar Studios. Anshar Studios was founded in 2012. A developing and publishing company, their most recent release was Gamedec with plenty more projects on the way as they celebrate their 10th anniversary. You can find a full list of nominees here.
Award | Winning Game | Developers |
Best Polish Game | Dying Light 2: Stay Human | Techland |
Best Polish Game Design | Dying Light 2: Stay Human | Techland |
Best Polish Game Art | Serial Cleaners | Draw Distance |
Best Polish Game Audio | BLACKTAIL | The Parasight |
Best Ongoing Polish Game | Cyberpunk 2077 | CD Projekt Red |
Best Foreign Game | Elden Ring | From Software |
Indie Games Showcase
One of the many attractions of the Digital Dragons conference is the Indie Games Showcase, where a whole floor is reserved for indie devs to set up, promote and market their games. Then, based upon participant and judges feedback, the winners of the showcase were announced on the final evening of Digital Dragons.
Award | Game | Developers |
Special Recognition | Hank: Drowning on Dryland | My Next Games |
Community Vote | Backpack Hero | Jaspel |
Best Indie Game: 1st Place | Sacrifire | Pixelated Milk |
Best Indie Game: 2nd Place | Tarnished Blood | Juggler Games |
Best Indie Game: 3rd Place | The Wandering Village | Stray Fawn Studio |
Techland Special Award | Through The Nightmares | Sandman Team |