The UK Best Places to Work Awards 2026 took place at the Royal Institution in London on October 1, with special awards going to Dink, Hangar 13, Jagex: The RuneScape Company, NaturalMotion Games, Rare, and Snap Finger Click.
The awards ceremony took place after the GamesIndustry.biz HR Summit, which was attended by 79 representatives from 41 companies, including AAA, AA, and indie studios, as well as consultancy firms, training providers, and educational institutes.
The main Best Places to Work awards recognised a total of 25 firms across three categories – small, mid-sized, and large companies – for their excellence in supporting staff. These awards are judged on the basis of an employee survey (worth 80% of the score) and a company survey (worth 20%).
The Best Places to Work Awards 2026 was sponsored by Amiqus, Playground Games, IO Interactive, Games London, and Special Effect.
“What makes these events especially valuable is how well they complement each other,” said Liz Prince MBE, Business Manager at Amiqus. “The HR Summit creates space for honest discussions, shared learning and new ideas, while the Best Places To Work Awards shine a spotlight on the studios and businesses that are turning those ideas into action. Bringing the industry together to both learn from each other and celebrate success helps raise standards for everyone, and we’re proud to play a part in that.”
“We’re proud to support GI.Biz in recognising the UK’s best mid-sized Video Game Studios,” said Paul Evans, Director of HR & Recruitment at Playground Games. “These are not only teams that are creating brilliant games, but studios who are also setting the standard for what a great place to work looks like in our industry”.
The winner of this year’s G Into Gaming award was Jo Haslam, currently Design Director at Snap Finger Click following a long career at Mediatonic, Relentless and the BBC. Liz Prince MBE presented the award, describing Haslam as “one of those rare people who leads with both empathy and action in perfect unison,” and “an inspiring woman and a natural leader.” Snap Finger Click also left with both a Best Places to Work Award and this year’s Diversity Award.
Rare once again took the Environmental Award, sponsored by Games London, while Middlesborough indie Dink won the Education Award, presented by IO Interactive Chief Development Officer Veronique Lallier.
The full list of winners is below, and you can see a full photo gallery on this page.
Small company winners
- Fireshine Games
- Lively
- MLC Studio
- Playstack
- Silent Games
- Snap Finger Click
- Stellar Entertainment Software
- Swipe Right
- Tanglewood Games
- Uplift Games
Mid-sized company winners (presented by Playground Games)
- Behaviour Interactive UK
- Electric Square
- Expression Games
- Fenris Creations
- Hangar 13
- HundredStar Games
- Kinetic Games
- Maverick Games
- Rare
- Studio Gobo
- Wushu Studios
Large company winners
- Frontier Developments
- Jagex: The RuneScape Company
- Playground Games
- TT Games
G Into Gaming Award (presented by Amiqus)
- Jo Haslam, Snap Finger Click
Corporate Social Responsibility Award (Presented by Special Effect)
- Jagex: The Runescape Company (winner)
- NaturalMotion Games
- Playground Games
- Rocksteady Studios
- Wushu Studios
Diversity Award
- Maverick Games
- NaturalMotion Games
- Rare
- Snap Finger Click (winner)
Education Award (Presented by IO Interactive)
- Dink (winner)
- Electric Square
- Jagex: The Runescape Company
- Rocksteady Studios
- Two Point Studios
Environmental Award (Presented by Games London)
- NaturalMotion Games
- Playground Games
- Rare (winner)
- Rocksteady Studios
Health and Wellbeing Award
- Behaviour Interactive UK
- Hangar 13 (winner)
- NaturalMotion Games
- Rare
- Rocksteady Studios
Training and Development Award
- Behaviour Interactive UK
- Jagex: The Runescape Company
- NaturalMotion Games (winner)
- Playground Games
HR Hero Award
- Yvonne Dawes, Frontier Developments
- Tuoya Joe, HundredStar Games
- Gary Martin, Jagex: The Runescape Company
- Carmen Martino, Playstack
- Anna Stone, Playground Games
- Leah Wilson, IO Interactive (winner)