South Australian Game Exhibition at Adelaide Studios showcases the state's video games- developing top talent
Inaugural winner of the 2024 South Australian Game Exhibition (SAGE) Elevate Award, Jonathon Anderson-Wills (second from left) of Jonniemadeit with SAGE Elevate sponsor Cam Rogers of Cam Rogers Legal (left), South Australian Film Corporation game: development strategy executive Patrick Webb and South Australian Film Corporation head of communications and marketing Petra Starke. Below: Part of the 2,000-plus crowd at SAGE in the film corpration's Adelaide Studios sound stages.
Images by Matthew Kroker and Naomi Jellicoe, courtesy South Australian Film Corporation.
The 2024 South Australian Game Exhibition (SAGE) at Adelaide Studios was highlighted by awards to the state’s top video game developers.
The exhibition, the second presented by the South Australian Film Corporation at its Glenside studios in Adelaide attracted more than 2,000 people to experience the best in South Australian-made video games and meet the talented people behind them. The video games expo more than doubled in size in 2024, with a two-day extended programme showcasing South Australian games ingenuity and innovation from 32 local studios and developers, enhanced by panel discussions featuring industry heavyweights.
Two major awards were presented at the event. The SAGE Award for best in exhibition, with a $2,000 prize from the South Australian Film Corporation, went to We Made A Thing Studios for itsgame Box Knight – a funny, silly and irreverent role-playing roguelike action game where the player becomes a office hero in a toxic workplace. The SAGE Elevate Award, with a prize of $1,000 in legal services from SAGE partner and games industry specialist Cam Rogers Legal went to Jonathon Anderson-Wills of Jonniemadeit for Uncle Unco, a single player game inspired by his six- and eight-year-old niece and nephew, with a cute hand-drawn style.
South Australian Film Corporation Kate Croser Kate Croser said the corporation created SAGE to champion and connect the state's game developers directly with their audiences – the gamers, fans and the next generation of game developers, as well as providing essential networking opportunities for the industry. She said the corporation was “proud to be the state’s ‘all screen agency’, supporting and funding local video game development and production as part of our support for all segments of the state’s screen industry. South Australia’s video game development and production sector is thriving”. The corporation was committed to cementing South Australia’s reputation as a leading location for developing games through initiatives such as the state’s video aame development rebate and events like SAGE.
