Valve's Gabe Newell: "Independent game developers are the bedrock of our industry"

The Indie Publishing Awards 2021 ceremony aired yesterday for the first time.

Devolver Digital was named best indie publisher. Victoria Tran of Innersloth won the Community Management of the Year award. Steam picked up the prize as best the indie storefront of the year.

Accepting the award, Gabe Newell said: “Independent game developers are the bedrock of our industry, for their willingness to take risks, for their innovation, and for their willingness to go places that the rest of us aren’t ready to go yet. We would not be where we are as an industry without them.”

Other notable appearances included PlayStation’s Shuhei Yoshida, Minecraft head Helen Chiang, and OtherSide Entertainment’s Warren Spector.

Below is the full list of winners:

Community Management of the Year
Victoria Tran, Innersloth

PR & Marketing Campaign of the Year
Fall Guys

Investor of the Year
Kowloon Nights

Crowdfunding Campaign of the Year
Sea of Stars by Sabotage Studios

Unsigned Game of the Show
3rd Place: Thirsty Heroes (Bit by Bit Studios)
2nd Place: Hell is Others (Strelka Games)
1st Place: Harmony’s Odyssey (MythicOwl)>

Publisher of the Year
Devolver Digital

Storefront of the Year
Steam

Special Recognition Award:
Wings